Breath and Your Skin
Did you know that there is a peaches-and-cream-glow-inducing treatment for your skin you can start right this second?
Its no secret that oxygen is essential for healthy, skin cell function (as well as its essential for just being alive!). Also crucially important is our ability to exhale carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide is a waste our bodies produce through a process called cellular respiration- more on that below- and since it is a waste, its really important that we expel it).
Science Note: Our cells use the oxygen we inhale to help convert nutrients into energy (this is essential for many things, but also truly essential for healthy skin), and through this process of cellular respiration, carbon dioxide get created. We expel the carbon dioxide when we exhale.
(Mother Earth Note: Trees, incidentally, utilize carbon dioxide and sunlight to create oxygen…and oxygen is what we humans need to take in when we inhale. Humans exhale carbon dioxide- which trees need along with sunlight!- to photosynthesize. Trees and humans are made for each other! So inhale and exhale deeply near the trees…we make a complete, life-supporting circle together.)
When we breathe, its mostly done unconsciously. Its something we do all day and all night, all year, year after year, forever and ever until the end of our lives. Since it happens on autopilot, its surprisingly common for us to fall into habitually breathing shallowly, or to periodically hold our breath unconsciously (described to me as “self-asphyxiation” by a yoga instructor…ack) or to not exhale fully. When we feel anxiety or fear or stress or tension the probability of inhaling shallowly and exhaling incompletely increases. This is a double whammy, because shallow inhaling and incomplete exhaling sends a stress signal back to our bodies…creating a stress feedback loop of ongoing stress. It is generally no fun of course, to experience this, but it is also really hard on our skin…remember our skin needs oxygen to thrive. Exhaling incompletely means we are not fully removing the carbon dioxide waste our cells produce, which will start to diminish our health, which will in turn also diminish the health of our skin as this waste builds up.
Repeating here! A lack of oxygen intake and incompletely expelling carbon dioxide caused by chronic, shallow breathing effects how our skin looks. (Sadly, this is not a good effect.) Dermatologist Whitney Bowe describes it from a stress-related perspective in an interview on this topic in The Cut:
“Dr. Bowe poetically describes ‘the slow boil of ongoing, unremitting stress from life in general’ as a ‘big-time skin villain,’ noting that deep breathing benefits the skin because it benefits the body’s stress response. Chronic stress (which can manifest as anxiety, depression, burnout, et al.) activates the sympathetic nervous system. This sets off a chain of unpleasant events, including ‘surges in stress hormones such as cortisol and the subsequent breakdown of tissues such as collagen,’ as well as garden-variety inflammation and oxidation, says Dr. Bowe. Over time, the skin looks older and is less equipped to protect itself from environmental aggressors. It produces more sebum and even ‘leaks’ water, leaving it simultaneously oily and dehydrated, a truly terrifying combination. ‘Any of the Big Four skin conditions — acne, eczema, rosacea, and psoriasis — can be part of this picture,’ the dermatologist adds.”
It is with relief that I report that the converse is also true! Breathing properly makes your skin look better. Dr. Bowe walks us through it:
“Mindfully inhaling and exhaling won’t keep your boss from emailing you at 11 p.m. or reverse climate change, but it will activate the parasympathetic nervous system to make you feel — and look — less stressed, regardless of what’s going on around you. ‘It triggers the relaxation response, a term popularized by Dr. Herbert Benson at Harvard Medical School,’ Dr. Bowe explains. ‘The body releases chemicals and brain signals that relieve tension in your muscles, slow down your organs, and increase blood flow to your brain. Scientists now theorize that the biological events taking place during the relaxation response essentially prevent the body from translating psychological worry into physical inflammation.’
In the book The Mind-Beauty Connection, psychodermatologist Dr. Amy Wechsler writes that the lymphatic system ‘gets a serious boost from deep breathing.’ This system is the body’s garbage collector, but better. Lymph fluid gathers and disposes of toxins (‘including those that can downgrade your skin health,’ according to Dr. Wechsler), and leaves nutrients and infection-fighting white blood cells in its wake. But the lymphatic system is lazy, and if you eat too much salt or don’t drink enough water or skimp on exercising, it’s like, ‘Nah.’ A stagnant lymphatic system can lead to swelling, infection, and lowered immunity; it’s even said to cause dull skin and breakouts. Deep breathing gives it a nice little kick in the butt or, as Dr. Wechsler writes, ‘causes the lymph to gush through the lymphatic vessels.’”
Okay! We’ve got it! Breathing well equals more gorgeous skin. Now, how does one breath well?
(This is actually such a hot topic that there are “breath work coaches”, “breath work facilitators” and professional “breathing instructors” dedicated to helping people figure it out! Serious athletes will sometimes work with professionals on breathing techniques because proper breathing can actually help you increase sustained energy and endurance. Some mental health professionals incorporate breath work techniques into their healing practices to aid in anxiety and stress reduction and to help facilitate emotional healing. Truly!)
For a brief overview, healthy breathing includes the whole diaphragm, not just the shallow breathing of the upper chest only. When done well it will also help us to feel more ease, and more relaxation. (If trying to breathe using your whole diaphram leaves you with more tension, something is amiss.) Sometimes an unusually good yoga class or meditation instruction will provide truly beneficial breathing instructions, but to get more specific than that, there are entire books and articles and videos on breathing techniques- (also called “breath work”), delving into the benefits and the techniques of breathing well.
Here are a few places to get you started~
Articles~
Breathe Your Way to Better Skin
How to Get Better Skin Naturally through Breath Work
Why Learning to Breathe Properly Could Change Your Life
Videos~
The First Four Exercises of Mindful Breathing
Yoga Plus Deep Belly Breathing
Yoga Plus Breathwork for Anxiety and Stress
Yoga Plus Breathwork for Self-Doubt
Introduction to Mindfulness Breathing
Coming Home to Breath Meditation
Like anything else worthwhile, the key is to practice breathing well correctly and consistently. Breathing well not only benefits your skin, it benefits all of you.
“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.”
~Etty Hillesum
Blog written by Marna Herrington with Rich Earth Organic Skin Care Studio
Blog copy editing and polishing provided by Karen-Eileen Gordon (MsGordonLovesWriting@gmail.com)
This blog is not intended to take the place of in-person consultations with qualified skin care and health care practitioners.
This blog is for the purpose of education and fun only. All images and text in this blog are under the legal ownership of Rich Earth Organic Skin Care Studio, or permission of use has been granted for this specific blog only. Permission is not granted for this text or these images to be copied and used out of the context of this blog, or for commercial purposes. If any part of the text is quoted in an article or other blog for educational purposes, a hyperlink to this page must be included.