The one minute habit for silky skin: dry brushing

I had heard about dry brushing for years, but never really committed to a regular habit until about a year ago. Then, I wrote a giddy post (December 2012) about how body brushing makes your skin silky smooth.

I added the habit to my daily morning routine and hit it out the park without fail every AM for 6 months. I am not exaggerating when I say my skin felt utterly silky. Beyond super softness, dry brushing loosens dead skins cells, uncovers new radiant skin underneath, increases skin moisture, boosts the immune system, moves lymph, removes toxins, and lessens cellulite. This is a whole heap of benefits for a 1 minute investment of time. I loved the impact, told anyone who would listen how amazing and easy it was, and vowed to do this every day… for life.

But then something happened.

I tidied up. I broke my beautiful habit by simply tidying up the bathroom and moving the dry body brush about 70 cm away into a cabinet out of sight. The next day I went into my bathroom and jumped into the shower. Half way through my hand flies up to my forehead. Doh! I forgot to body brush. Next day – same thing. And so on for about a week… I kept forgetting. And that was it. For about 2 months I just slipped out of the habit, doing it one day here and there, but not getting back into the routine. Finally, after what I affectionately call my “skin alligators” came back, I knew I had to do something! Scaly, dry, dull winter skin had returned with a vengeance.

So I un-tidied.

The body brush now has pride of placement on the bathroom counter right next to the shower. My habit has been restored and skin is silky and radiant once more.

I recently read an interview with Dr. Mehmet Oz who mentioned that “in order to make as few decisions as possible to save this energy for later in the day, I automate everything before noon.” His morning routine includes stretching, bathing, yoga, breakfast, reading, and time with his wife. Lots of things happen but they are pre-decided which eliminates the need to waste energy thinking about them every day.

President Obama is also a fan of routines. Obama tries to declutter his mind by cutting down on non-vital decisions.  He routinises his life by wearing the same colour suits everyday and has a set 1AM bedtime and 7AM waketime to avoid wasting energy. 

I think this tale of skin desiccation raises one of the key things that makes the difference in whether you create change in your life. A lot of people are in the same boat I was in: They really want to do it. They believe in it. They have the steps to do it. They have the 1, or 2 or 5 minutes of time to do it in. They just don’t have a trigger or reminder or system to successfully make sure they add that new thing to their life, every day.

In my shower situation for example I didn’t think through why I was missing the body brushing. When I’m groggy in the AM, I stumble into the bathroom, see the body brush and that triggers me to dry brush without thinking. When I moved it, my trigger was gone.

Body brushing has a tiny time commitment and huge payout. For a quick 30 second primer on how-to body brush – go here. I recommend it highly and hope you will try building it into your daily routine. 

Natural Beauty Tip No. 5:  Dry brush your skin for 1 minute a day.

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