Taking accountability
Maybe it's because I am 30, maybe it's the start of a new year, or maybe it's an unknown universal shift but I have recently felt empowered to own up to a lot of my mistakes and start taking some accountability. I am the type of person who can admit when I'm wrong but often time it comes after a fit of defensiveness and a little bit of self-victimizing. Lately, I have recalled a couple of instances in which I needed to take accountability and didn't have the emotional intelligence to do so. It's difficult to look back and think "I should have done this better" but having grown up in this field I have to give myself a little credit for doing my best and learning along the way. As much as I can't help but cringe at some of my reactions in the past, I want to share a few of them with you. Hopefully, this can help shed some light on where we can oftentimes fall short as people, but recognize that there is always room to grow and get better.
Our emotions and their energetically paired organs
Over the last couple of months, I have found myself being able to immediately put into application some newfound knowledge. In the past, I may have learned something from a class or a program and any connection it would have for my life or work just didn't really click right away. I can’t even begin to tell you how my career path has been limited in the type of education that I have been seeking. Most classes were repetitive or sales-driven so my experience with clientele was my preferred form of continuing education. Each individual would have such a special case that I would find myself needing to do extensive research to help them get to the root of their case. From doing this type of custom care I found myself really getting to know the ins and outs of how the body works on a physical level. What recently clicked for me was the connection between emotion and your internal systems. So when you are experiencing a chronic emotion, what physical part of your body is out of balance?
When one door closes...
I think that it’s safe to say that all of us are aware of how social media can be a tricky platform to navigate, right? I remember in our pre-instagram world when a couple could break up without the whole world finding out at the same time and feeling entitled to share their opinions about it. So I find that I often don't know what to share and when if I'm going through a major transition. I am sure that many of you are aware of a few changes that have been going on with me and, after an unexpected miscommunication with an event announced last week, I think it’s finally time for me to address the elephant in the room. Don’t worry, James and I are not breaking up and the puppy is still a beautiful angel that we’re so excited to call our own fur baby.
Why are we afraid of aging?
The conversation on aging is one that I’ve exhausted in my time as an esthetician. If you have recently had a consultation with me you may have read the following: “I’d like to mention that I use the term aging very literally. I don’t believe in the shameful labeling of “anti-aging” and have been advocating for the removal of that oxymoron of a marketing term for a decade now. So if by any means that word is triggering for you please let me know.” I make my point pretty clear right away that I don’t want to waste my time with someone who wants a quick fix and shame themselves into thinking they need to turn back the clock. But regardless of how much I advocate for self-acceptance and self-love, I still feel the pressures to keep up with it all. How can I expect you to move past this if I get sucked into the bullshit too?
Consistency might be key, but why do we sometimes drop off?
Last week I got my first facial in well over half a year. Mind you I take great care of my skin but a true facial is rare for me. I felt so incredible afterward that I actually said: “wow, this must be why I’m in business!” People ask me all the time, how often do you get a facial? And it’s sort of embarrassing that the answer is almost always never. The reason why comes in two parts;
1 - I don’t work in a spa setting anymore where I am able to get treatments with my coworkers on my downtime.
2 - I’m really not the best when it comes to consistency with services.
My hair seems to always be a few months out from when I should have gotten it cut, I am a little late on follow-ups with my healers, I don’t get massages nearly as often as I need to, my exercise schedule is never consistent and most of the time an appointment gets prompted by someone else who is bugging me to book. I’m truly grateful for those prompts and utilize them just as much in my practice because of my own failure to launch when it comes to active consistency. So why do we get stuck? I want to explore a little bit of that today since I’m right there with you and what to do to navigate it all.
Acne without the stigma.
If you know me, you know I love movies. I especially love this time of year when all of the year’s best movies are recognized and the industry that rules the city I live in gets to showcase its most impressive talents. Each aspect of the movie-making process is honored, including the makeup department which is often overlooked as a vital part of the process unless the film includes impressive prosthetics. The film that really got me to notice their makeup departments artistic choices was Lady Bird.
An ode to my dark circles...
When I wake up in the morning I don't often get to go and meditate, set an intention, and journal for 20 minutes. I would love to continue the facade that my industry has created and have you think that I'm as well-balanced as some other bloggers seem, but I'm not. Most mornings I'm up by 6:15/6:30, I throw my hair up into a messy bun, grab my glasses and start my list of to-dos. Lately, this has included training my new puppy, Josie. Josie is a dream come true for my husband and I but this little babe has definitely thrown a wrench into my little Virgo controlling lifestyle. My sleep is all off, I'm having to run out the door to potty train, I'm trying to clean up all her toys, all just in time to me to take on my first client of the day. I couldn't be more grateful for her but it's been rough. When I finally do get a chance to catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror I notice the subtle changes that this new life has brought. My face is a little less radiant than usual and my eyes are puffy, dark and extra tired. But the truth is I like my dark circles. There, I said it! I am a skin therapist and I am admitting to liking something about myself that isn't perfect.
A new kind of resolution
You know that feeling you have when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve and you feel like you can start anew? That feeling can be awfully intimidating and exhilarating at the same time. To feel the pressure to shed old habits overnight can oftentimes set us up for failure which can eventually lead to shame. This year, I set a new intention. One without the shackling feeling that a resolution may previously have had. The intention was inspired by my last client of the year, Cassie of Candid Health, which is to take things one day at a time. We all have different ways of working through patterns and releasing what needs to be let go and in the past when I would find myself backtracking more than anything if I set a strict resolution up for myself. Like a lot of entrepreneurs, I march to the beat of my own drum and regardless of my work ethic where I could go about a busy schedule with no problem, it was never fulfilling and I would fall back hard to old patterns and escapism. The intention to take things one day at a time for a workaholic like me is the most freeing and self-loving act I can think of at this point in my life.
2018; the year of finally loving the skin you're in
I honestly can’t believe we are in our last week of 2017. I know that when 2017 started I was sitting high with expectations but was also riddled with anxiety with what was to come. The shifts that have occurred were not always what I expected. Some have been what I have feared, but others have truly changed me for the better. Now I feel grounded in what I anticipate may be the first ever year I finally feel comfortable in my skin. It’s easy to look like you have it all together but when certain things finally do click in your life it can shift your entire perspective. I try my very best to educate all of my clients that when they finally surrender to let this shift happen they actually start to love the reflection in the mirror. So today I want to talk about why 2018 is the year of finally loving the skin you’re in…
Holding space and letting go...
I’ve been so excited to come to back to this very spot and write to all of you for this week’s post. As much as I want to jump on the bandwagon of writing a gift guide or a holiday how-to, it’s a little overplayed and I’m a little late in the game. My intention behind this post is to talk about space. Whether it’s holding it, giving it, receiving it or simply understanding your need for it - it is an essential part of growth and healing. Space is something I have often not allowed myself the time to have for many reasons that at the end of the day are all fear based. I don’t give myself time to relax, be alone, or just not busy often because I’ve been nervous about what will come up for me. While on my honeymoon I finally got it, that space I was seeking and so much came up for me.
I'm about to get real honest here...
If you know me, you know that one of my best and worst qualities is that I’m a workaholic. I get a lot done in a day but it’s often at the expense of having a social life or taking a vacation. Being in a service based industry I rely on my clients to pay my bills and regardless of manifesting major abundance over the last several years, I still think that I can't stop taking the work. It never dawns on me until I realize how little I was able to see my parents when they visited for 3 weeks, how I’m booked in every day my husband has off, and how I am hardly available to attend the events of my community members. It’s really vulnerable for me to admit this to myself because I often get the response of “you’re probably too busy, I’ll just book with you next month” and my answer will always be “I’m never too busy for you”. I’m so honored that people reach out to me for facials and rarely will I ever say no because I genuinely love the work. So when my wonderful mother-in-law offered to assist my husband and me with a trip for our honeymoon last Christmas, I knew this was my opportunity to take an unapologetic vaca. However, as the last few weeks went by and we were slowly approaching the honeymoon of my dreams, I started to panic. That’s when I realized that Mercury was going into retrograde and if I know anything about this weird shift in the universe, it’s that it is an opportunity to test your faith in a higher power and my ability to handle anything with grace. So here it goes...
Traveling Skin Blues
Over the last weekend, I had a lot of new and regular clients ask about the inevitability of stressed skin during travel. I was certain that I addressed this on a blog somewhere but realized that this subject has been skipped almost entirely in the last 2 years of the blog! What a disservice this has been! Traveling is already so frustrating and stressful so the last thing you want to worry about is your skin having a meltdown as a result. Though I’m not the expert on extensive travel (I’ve never been to Europe or across any major ocean), I have traveled for 24 hours plus before and to multiple climates. I also have experienced just about any major setback as in lost luggage, flights canceled, and the sprained ankle while crossing borders (remember that?), so I can speak to the unexpected. Since I have a major trip aka my HONEYMOON coming up soon as well I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about prep for in case of emergency so your skin doesn’t go crazy.
Express gratitude and embrace change...
When I was in beauty school I remember how a lesson in acne led into one of the most powerful life-changing discussions. We were exploring the root causes of acne and how that can be related to stress on all accounts (physical, emotional, etc.). The simple solution our guest teacher had for stress management was to express gratitude and embrace change. At 18, this had me totally shook! It was so simple but it was something I never really sat down to think about how the combination of those two seemingly simple action could turn your entire life, and health, around. My expression of gratitude is a daily practice, however, I do like to take the opportunity to sit deeply on this topic whenever I can. So with Thanksgiving around the corner, I wanted to share my gratitude for the year with all of you. 2017 was not at all what I expected, especially since 2016 felt like we all were hit by a bus. I sort of expected it to be a little easier but with so many life changes it’s easy to think back on it now and realize that this year was going to be a big one. Emotionally, financially, physically, all the things just grew towards a new level I never thought was possible. Without my gratitude practice, I don’t think I could see this year as positively as I do but the old saying still runs true: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That’s where the embracing change part creeps in. It’s one thing to express gratitude but when life is throwing you all sorts of curve balls, it’s how you embrace the journey that truly transforms you.
Skin Solutions for the body
I have to admit that when I do a facial I mostly do consider what’s going directly on the face. But as you can imagine, since skin covers the whole body it isn’t the only place in which we can experience imbalance. The skin is a communicator of what is going on internally so it can be difficult to determine why we all of a sudden could be experiencing a rash or breakout in an odd place. Skin conditions that aren't on the face can be just as damaging to our self-esteem. With these weather shifts and increase in the holiday celebrating there are a few pesky skin conditions that most of us struggle with but never talk about. Today I want to talk about how to support your whole body for best body skin practices.