We’ve teamed up with The Mindfulness Project to bring a moment of mindfulness into your daily skincare routine and help to improve your mental health. Use code UpCircleMindfulness10 for 10% off all workshops, courses and retreats with The Mindfulness Project, valid for bookings made before 31 March 2021.

The worries and uncertainty of everyday life can leave us feeling down and stressed - not surprising with all that's going on in the world currently! With poor mental health comes a weakened immune system which can affect your skin and lead to breakouts and other skin conditions like eczema.

Science has proven that mindfulness offers a broad range of mental health benefits from reducing stress to improving relationships, as well as supporting your physical wellbeing. All of which contribute to better mental health and subsequently better skin.

Mindfulness is a process of training our attention to focus on the here and now, interrupting negative thought patterns.

Building mindfulness into your skincare routine can help to create a regular practice which can follow through into everyday life, leaving you feeling more grounded. Here's our five easy steps:

1. Pause and breathe

Before you start, ensure you are in space where you won’t be disturbed. Take a pause, close your eyes or lower your gaze, and ensure you’re comfortable. If possible, give yourself a bit of extra time for your skincare routine.

2. Notice how you feel

Take a mental survey of your body and mind. How do you feel today? Try to relax your muscles, noticing any thoughts or areas of tightness, such as the shoulders, forehead or jaw. Sense your feet touching the ground and try to tune into your breath. There’s no need to change the breath, simply listen and observe movements in the body as you breathe in and out.

3. Begin slowly

Once you’re focused, take your time as you begin your skincare routine. If your thoughts start to wander off at any stage, simply bring yourself back to what you’re doing, using your breath as an anchor to focus your attention.

4. Listen to your senses

Keeping your breath in mind, tune into your senses with each product you apply. Try not to go too quickly, moving through each step with intention and remembering that your experience is unique to you. There’s no right or wrong.

SIGHT
You might start by looking in the mirror at the unique shapes and lines that make up your face. Try looking at yourself as if you were a stranger; perhaps having never seen a human before. Or maybe you look at the packaging of your products. What do you notice? Maybe it’s something you’ve never thought about before.

Bring your awareness to what happens when you go to use the product. How does it move from the container to your hand or muslin cloth? Watch with a sense of curiosity. You might even imagine where the ingredients have come from and the journey they have taken to get to you, like the UpCircle Body Cream, made with date seeds all the way from Israel.

SOUND

As you work through your routine listen for any sounds, either in the room or in the background. Can you hear running water? Or do you make any sounds as you move through your routine? Pay attention to the sound of spray products, like our soothing Face Toner.

TOUCH

When you apply the product to your face and notice how it feels. It is rough or smooth? Does it foam up or soak into your skin? What sensations do you feel as you move it around on your skin or as you splash water on your face? It might simply be the touch of the air on your wet skin that comes to your attention or a soft towel stroking your face.

SMELL

Zone in on your sense of smell. What do you observe? How does it make you feel or does it bring about any emotion? Does the rich coffee smell of the UpCircle Coffee Scrub make you feel energised? Can you smell anything else aside from your skincare product? Maybe fresh air through a window or bathroom cleaner. At this point, you might also notice any tastes in your mouth. Or perhaps nothing at all.

5. Savour the moment

Once you’ve completed your routine take a moment to savour the experience before you rush back into the day. Enjoy this moment of feeling refreshed and acknowledge the act of self-care you’ve just taken for yourself. Remember, your practice can differ entirely from one day to another, even if you repeat the exact same process. As emotions, thoughts and physical feelings change each day, so too will each practice.

Now it's time to build your own perfect skincare routine.