Your skin is not the problem. You are.
Your skin is not the problem.
You are.
Does that sting a little? It should. The truth hurts, but only when we it’s true.
There is nothing wrong with your skin. Nor is there something wrong with you. But perhaps there is something wrong with your perception of you.
I’ve been wanting to write this post for quite some time now. I hesitated because I didn’t want to hurt feelings.
But a recent scooter accident in northern Thailand gave me a new take on life. Although it was one of the most painful experiences of my life, it left me with one of the greatest feelings in the world—the feeling of not giving a f*&k. I now know, first hand, life truly is too short. Too short to not live and speak my truth.
I feel called, now more than ever, to say the things I NEED to say regardless of how others react.
I also feel called to pursue my deepest passions. And I have to be honest with you, skincare is not one of them. For the past year I’ve been pumping out blog after blog, insta post after insta post, offering after offering. I wanted to help. Genuinely, I did.
But it’s not skincare that drives me. It’s so much more complex and meaningful than that. I don’t want to JUST talk about celery juice and what to wash your face with. If I want to help, I need to talk about the real reason you have acne.
And the truth is…
Your skin is not the problem. You are.
I can’t tell you how many women have reached out to me this past year. Hundreds. I can feel the desperation in their words as if it were my own.
After so many of the same conversations, I started to ask myself, “what’s the REAL problem here?”. I know this isn’t just strep. There is something much, much deeper at play here.
I began to notice a pattern. Not just with the women I was working with, but within myself. After all, it takes one to know one.
We were eating all of the “right” foods, doing all of the “right” things.
But why did we feel stuck?
Why are you doing all of the “right” things and still not healed and happy?
The truth is:
You have little to no self-worth. You are anxious as f*&k. You need to be in control. You are afraid.
I feel like I just dropped a 100LB brick-filled backpack I’ve been carrying around for years after typing those words. It’s one thing to say this to myself. It’s another thing saying this to you.
But am I wrong?
Granted, not every adult dealing with acne has these issues. I’m simply speaking from my personal experience, and from the experience of the hundreds of women I’ve encountered throughout this journey.
Accepting that about myself (without judgement) was the hand that turned the page in my personal healing story. I still juiced my celery every morning, but the majority of my energy went towards lovingly and gently changing my self-perception.
How could my skin be happy if I wasn’t? How could my skin love me if I wasn’t loving it?
If you want to heal your skin, truly heal, you have to understand that food is secondary. I cannot CANNOT stress this enough. You can drink all of the celery juice in the world, eat all of the smoothie bowls, avoid all of the gluten, but if you’re in a toxic relationship (with yourself), at a job you hate, not expressing yourself creatively, you will never truly heal.
You must learn to love yourself AS YOU ARE.
You must find healthy outlets to express yourSelf (this does not include work).
You MUST MUST MUST surrender and trust something bigger than you.
I wish I could create this perfect, healing package and ship it over to you for a mere $9.99 with a guarantee for clear skin. But the secret is, there is no secret formula. There is no one way to heal. There is no right way to heal. There is simply YOUR way.
But I will say this: The most important thing you can do on your healing journey is affirm…
I am already healed. I am already there.
Glowing, healthy, happy skin is not in some distant future. There is no future. The future is simply an extension of the now. So if now you’re affirming “I’ll be happy when I heal”, that’s all the future will ever be—you, waiting to be healed and happy.
But if you affirm “I am healed. I am already there.”, that’s your future, that’s your extension of the now, happy and healed right here, right now.
I will say it again. Your skin is not the problem. You are. If you put your energy towards healing those negative thought patterns and habits, trust me, not only will your skin heal, but so will your heart.
Now, let’s focus on loving ourselves AS WE ARE. Not beating ourselves up, ever, for anything, but rather celebrating every little effort and win on our healing journeys. Becoming best friends with that gorgeous girl staring back at us in the mirror. Unconditionally loving her just as she is. There’s nothing she needs to do, prove, give up, earn. She’s perfect and loved just as she is!
So, skin sister, can you promise me you’re going to put the hammer down and stop fixing things that just need loving?
Moving Forward
If any of what I just said is speaking to you, we need to chat. My One-On-One Skincare Coaching Sessions focus on shifting the relationship with your skin from one of attack and battle to one of love and appreciation. After all, the secret to getting what you want is to be grateful for what you have.
Together we will work on getting you to that happy place where you love and appreciate your skin just as she is. Then, we can truly heal.
Click here to schedule your session today!
One last thing before you go! I am SOOOOOO excited to announce that I am writing an e-book!!! I’m putting everything I’ve learned from my travels around the world, Medical Medium living and the work with my clients into one simple 12-Step Guide to Healing Your Acne Holistically. It’s all about love, spirituality and of course food and will be released soon! Stay tuned! I’ll keep you guys updated.
If you have any questions in the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Leave a comment below, click on the Connect page or send me a DM on Insta. I would love to hear from you!
Happy Healing Gorgeous!
Janelle
Hi! I’m Janelle, celery juice junkie, solo-traveling soul-seeker, over-sharing storyteller, healing foods expert, chronic deep thinker, spiritual self-help bookworm, sober Miami girl, papaya eating fanatic, eager grocery shopper, and free spirit foodie, sharing my journey into awakening and love for conscious food, kinda like Anthony Bourdain meets Oprah.
I created The Free Spirit Foodie in 2016 as a way to process a lay off, a year-long solo trip around India, and a search for God. It evolved into a sacred digital space to share everything I was experiencing and learning.
We’re talking solo-female traveling, plant-based living, holistic healing, and all of the AHA moments in between. Thank you for joining me on this journey. May you be reminded you are not alone and that living an authentic life is our only purpose.
Want to learn more about me? Click here to read my full story. It’s a crazy one.
Download My Conscious Grocery Shopping List—it’s free! I’ve included the healing produce that saved me, the sweet and salty snacks that satisfy me, and the yummy body care that does me no harm. Enjoy!
I wrote an e-book just for you! Your Face Isn’t Dirty: A 12-Step Guide To Healing Your Acne Holistically (literally everything you need).
Let’s be Insta friends. Slide into my DM and say hi—I love to connect with my awesome readers.
