It’s a new day and you’re waking up early to turn on that juicer. You feel ready. There’s no way you’ll fail this time! This time, you’re going to stick to it, a healthy clean diet filled with trendy raw food recipes, green juices, and salads galore! There’s no way that that amazing toffee your mom always makes is even going to come near your face, no sir!

You my friend, are about to embark on the journey to health- the one that’s sure to be fail proof to get you clear. This is the diet where you won’t slip up because this time you’ll be determined. You’re going to get clear this time, you just know it!

Before you get too excited, let’s hold back for just a second because I want to ask you something very important: How do you feel about yourself? I mean really?

What do you think about when you see yourself in the mirror? What about when you compare yourself to others? Do you even like yourself deep down inside? I bet you feel pretty helpless. Maybe you’re feeling desperate or even depressed over your acne. Maybe you even feel like all anyone ever notices is your skin and they never see you for you. You may be constantly wondering how you can just get rid of your acne because to you, no one will respect, or love, or even see you at all. Amiright? I know you must be feeling some doubt about yourself.

But why? Why do you feel this way? Has this feeling been there even before acne?

Before you can embark on a journey that is meant to make you healthy, you must first find a way to love yourself because let’s face it, to live a fulfilled life you NEED to love yourself!

Prior to having some pretty severe acne, I was confident in myself and was able to travel to Japan on my own and live there for a few years when I was fresh out of high school, no problem. As the years progressed though, I found that my self-esteem began to suffer as the stress began to pile up. I was no longer able to stand confidently in front of others without hoping that they ignored my acne. I couldn’t put my all into working in groups with other classmates because I worried about not putting enough makeup on my spots to hide them.

Are Emotions Causing Your Acne?

There was never a time when I didn’t spend tons of time trying to hide my flaws. I didn’t want to be viewed as imperfect. I would wake up extra early so that I had enough time to pile on concealer. The amount of stress and lack of sleep this caused was enough to drive anyone crazy! And then, there was this crazy DIET I was on.

The diet I went on was so restrictive that I couldn’t possibly hope to live a normal life trying to stay on it. If I ate anything even remotely unhealthy, I would feel so ashamed, so saddened and let down that my acne problems only got worse.

So, do emotions have to do with acne? ABSOLUTELY!

As you may already know, stress plays a huge factor here. When I began feeling embarrassed, ashamed, depressed, and even angered about just a few spots, they got way worse than they would have if I had just been okay with the acne to begin with.

It’s so much better to accept yourself and still carry on with confidence. Sure, people might notice your spots, but you know what? If you are confident in yourself, those people are going to forget about external “flaws” and appreciate your personality. They will appreciate you for being you.

All of the stress you may be having over acne can really be attributed to repressed emotions. It may sound like no big deal, but when you think about how negative emotions can cause bad chemical reactions in your body, you may want to step back for a second and really think about how they affect you. It can be really damaging! Don’t let acne legitimize your low self-esteem! Don’t continue to believe that you’re not good enough because you know what? You don’t owe perfection to anyone. Don’t believe that when your acne finally clears that all of your problems will be solved. It’s NOT the acne.

So many of us have this premonition that they want to start a business, meet more people, or go out on a date…once your skin is clear. Once your skin is clear, you will be able to begin your life. Once your skin is clear you can finally become a health coach, you can date that sexy man/woman, you can live your life. But not now, not yet…not until you can put your best face forward out into the world. You stay in instead of go out. You hide instead of shine.

I know what you’re thinking! “Tash, I feel this way BECAUSE of my acne”. But you know what? What if I told you that these feeling are fueling this vicious cycle? That NOT feeling good enough in your own skin is actually making it worse? I absolutely believe that acne is associated with how you feel about yourself.

So let’s be honest, if I told you to yell out loud “I LOVE AND ACCEPT MYSELF!” would you believe yourself? Perhaps if you said it to yourself often enough, you would! Now, I can’t heal your self-doubt, you will have to make that journey one step at a time. What I CAN do is give you permission to LIVE life by LETTING yourself live. Don’t let a crazy diet, self-doubt, or other people hold you back! It may be doing more harm than good.

When you finally start letting yourself live, healing and self-love will follow. Yep… even for acne =) 

For more great acne healing articles look below:

3 Steps to Improve your Female Hormonal Acne – Anyone Can do It!
6 Skincare Tips That Cleared My Acne Naturally
10 Things You Can Do Right Now To Improve Your Acne
What are the Best Oils for Your Skin Type?