Ask Luke Reichle: The 60-second stress relief spa
May 25, 2012 7:00 AM by Luke Reichle
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 Ask Luke Reichle
Secrets of the red carpetYou've got questions, and we've got answers! SheKnows' contributing beauty and style expert, Luke Reichle, is taking your submissions and dishing out no-fuss answers! Today, we're talking about how to chill out and get a refreshing new look!  Do you want to change your look? The best way may be with a change of outlook. Here’s the embarrassing truth about me. I started meditating when I was 18. Oh, not from some drive to seek enlightenment but because I heard that if you meditated, you wouldn’t wrinkle. As shallow as this might make me sound, it turns out that there’s something to it. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, stress can cause your skin to be, “more sensitive and more reactive,” and can make many conditions, from rosacea to acne, worse. As far as wrinkles go, well, have you ever heard the phrase, “worry lines?” I’m all for your face having character, but stress fractures? I don’t think so.
So my dear, if life is showing up on your face, and you want to know some ways to remove stress, here are three things you can do to give your face a vacation from potential worry lines and future wrinkles. Stress relief tip #1: Take a beauty breathOxygen! What a concept! If you’re like me, when you get busy or stressed out, sometimes you forget to breathe – your breathing is shallow or you may even find yourself holding your breath. Nothing will drive the bloom of youth from your face like constricting the flow of oxygen. Do this now: Breathe in through your nose for a count of five, hold it for a count of three and release it slowly through your mouth for a count of seven.
You can do this sitting, standing, driving, in a meeting or in an elevator and it’s a great prelude to a good night’s sleep. Even if you do it just once a day, you’ll find the effect remarkable. You may even find it addictive. Stress relief tip #2: Take… how can I put this delicately… a dumpA mind-dump that is. Sometimes it seems that there is just so much to do, so many bases to cover, so many people making demands on your time, that it’s all swirling in your head like a vortex of doom. Who wouldn’t be stressed out! One solution is to get it out of your head and down on paper. Do this now: Take a pad and write down everything — all the dialogue that’s running in your mind. All the lists, tasks, notes, to-do’s, concerns, worries and woes. Take a few beauty breaths while you’re at it. Feel your face relax.
You can choose to do something with the list or not. Prioritize it into immediate, moderate or long-term action. Or not. Whichever makes you feel less stressed. The purpose of the mind-dump is to get it out of your head, even if just for a few minutes. Stress relief tip #3: Take satisfactionSo much of our time is spent creating a better life for ourselves and our loved-ones. We work. We struggle. We experience victory. We encounter defeat. Maintaining a constant state of striving can take its toll and keep us from seeing the beauty of what’s here now. Do this now: Take a beauty breath. Look around you. Be satisfied with who you are, where you are and what you have.
That’s it. Sounds simple, though this one may take some practice. So… make it a practice. Practice satisfaction. Ambition is a beautiful thing but know this: Wanting what you have Start out easy. Do one of these stress relief tips a day for 60 seconds. Even this small amount will create some space, space where stress will take a back seat to beauty.
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