Identifying with a dis-ease such as rosacea can become a hurdle on your journey to healing. In this post, we’re going to dive into why you want to stop identifying with rosacea and how to get about doing that. 

I wrote this piece for folx who’ve had rosacea for 5, 10, 15, 20+ years… and need tools to stay the course.

If that’s not you, skip to the exercise at the end, it’ll be useful no matter where you are on your journey to glow.

PS: There’s a bonus dare at the end if you’re up for it!

Caroline Dalia Kaliani, XO

Have you ever thought…
“I don’t remember what my skin used to look like without rosacea…”

If you’ve had rosacea for a long time, you probably have created some kind of routine around it.

A sensitive skincare routine to calm your skin
Sunscreen to protect your easily aggravated skin
A makeup routine so you’re ready to “face the day”
A daily routine of supplements, checking your food (what to eat, what not to eat…) to avoid a flareup or your skin getting worse
An evening routine (take off makeup, light therapy, soothing mask, meditation…)

But what about your thought routine?

Do you look in the mirror every day, apprehending what your skin is going to look like? Do you get angry / deflated / hopeless at the lack of progress?
Or maybe you ignore it and continue with your day…?

Maybe some days your skin looks great so you feel hopeful — yay!! Some days your skin looks blotchy and inflamed so you question all your hard work and if you’re ever going to get there.

Have you ever stopped to think how your thoughts are impacting your healing journey?

The thoughts we think in our everyday life reinforce a pattern, a belief and our identity. They shape our reality. For example: if you think you’re never going to heal, your thoughts become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The other tricky thing is that, if you’ve had something for a while; a pain, an illness, rosacea… you kind of get used to it — even if you don’t like it.

You go through a rollercoaster of emotions, losing or regaining hope depending on how “your” rosacea behaves that day. (Ever notice that people say things like “my rosacea” or will tell stories about “their rosacea”? This, unconsciously, creates yet another level of identification with it.)

Top this off with the fact that pharma-medicine has told you rosacea is a chronic, incurable disease, and now the belief has set in. You’re never gonna get rid of “your” rosacea.

Now, unconsciously, rosacea is part of your identity. And that makes it that much harder to heal. (To understand why we would never abandon a part of ourselves, even one we despise, we need to unpack traumas and how they protect us. We dive into this topic in-depth in Self-Heal.)

But for now, I’ll say this:

You can create a new identity — one that serves you — by breaking the thought patterns that are keeping you stuck. And you do that by bringing awareness to your thoughts. You can also interrupt thought patterns when you spot them, but that takes a bit of practice and mastery.

Practices that help bring awareness to your thoughts are:
Mindfulness practices
Meditation
Pranayama
Yoga
QI gong
Walks in nature (in silence)

Bottom line is this…

You don’t have to identify with rosacea, just as you don’t have to identify with the thoughts and beliefs that cross your mind 60,000 times a day. (Just like you don’t have to believe a narrative that profits from making you being sick so they can sell you pharmaceuticals for the rest of your life.)

Our thoughts nourish our mind and every cell in our body.

Thoughts can keep you stuck or open you up to a fresh, new possibility.

If you’re someone who has “tried everything” on your journey to glow but have not yet delved into “state of mind” or emotional healing, then that may very well be the missing piece of your puzzle.

Visualization to stop identifying with rosacea and call in clear skin

Here’s a fun exercise to re-wire your brain so it can support the healing of your skin:

Start by getting into a parasympathetic state by doing a few rounds of deep breathing.

With your eyes closed, summon an image of a time when your skin was healthy. Maybe you were 20, 30 or 12 years old.

Maybe you’re recalling your beautiful freckles or your skin dewy and gorgeously sun kissed after a day at the beach…
Maybe your skin was white as snow, silky smooth, radiating glowing health…

Stay there for a moment, so you can feel it.

Deep breaths.

Then, come back to the present moment while staying in the feeling. Pull the vision IN the present moment.

If you want to go up on the mastery level, envision your skin fully healed when you look in the mirror. See the younger you with luminous skin staring back at you. Anchor this vision, this remembrance, into your body. Feel it in every cell.

Continue this exercise daily until you feel a shift in your mind and in your cells.

After doing this exercise for a while, notice your dreams. You may receive a message or wake up feeling “different” as if something shifted in you.

Our brain has the capacity to re-wire itself by recreating new neuro-pathways. By envisioning your skin as healed, you’re sending signals to your brain so it can create a new neuro-pathway where healing is possible.

You are powerful and magical. Never forget that.

Caroline Dalia Kaliani

PS: You read this post to the end!

Here’s a dare I have for you:

Every time you look in the mirror, say something nice to yourself.

Here are some ideas:

“Hey hot stuff, you’re looking mighty fine today ;)” <– wink at yourself
(When I do this I crack up, makes my day!)

“I love you, you are beautiful.”

“Thank you for being you, you magnificent womxn.”

“You are magical.”

“Hey, Goddess!”

“Hey, Sexy!” <– blow yourself a kiss 🙂

You can also say it as an affirmation in the first person:

“Wow, my skin is amazing today!”

“I am beautiful, I am blissful, I am powerful.”