Skin: Healing Beyond The Physical

2020

2017

I’ve felt called to share this for a while but after sharing about it to all those on my online empath journey last year, I was shown just how important it is as so many silently suffer with skin issues and it can be so challenging to navigate. One of the deepest healing processes I’ve been through in this lifetime is with my skin and the shame that was mixed up in it all. It was always hard to know what came first but now I understand that the root went way beyond my physical body, deep into my subtle energetic bodies. I feel called to share a little about my journey in the hope it reaches those who need to hear it. I could write a book about my process because it took place over many years since I was a teenager so for now I want to keep it as to the point as I can. I want to give another perspective to healing from something that may seem “physical” in the hope that anyone who may be suffering from skin disorders or physical manifestations of any kind knows there may be another way. 

I started to get spots on my face when I was still in primary school. I remember the shame I felt and the cruel “pizza face” remarks from some of the boys didn’t help. My skin got worse as I got deeper into my teens so when I was 16 the doctor put me on the contraceptive pill. This was not a good decision but I had no idea at the time because there was no awareness of the damage the pill does to the body. I was given various pills over the following years including Yasmin and Dianette which are potent contraceptive pills taken especially to ‘help’ with acne. The pills did balance my skin but I was still suffering with breakouts each month with my cycle. I remember how many different expensive skin products and toxic peels I tried in my younger years out of desperation, which I now know caused so much permanent damage. I would get temporary relief but then it would breakout again. No matter how much topical stuff I tried I just couldn’t create a shift because I needed to go beyond the physical to get to the root cause.

I had a spiritual awakening 10 years ago in 2011 which led me to come off the contraceptive pill in 2012 as I suddenly realised I did not want to fill my body with toxins any longer and I wanted my womb to have a natural cycle each month. I also woke up to the fact I had been plastering over something that my body was trying to communicate to me, and in the most obvious place, my face. It has been 9 years since I came off the pill and I have been on a deep healing journey ever since. When I came off the pill my body went into complete shock. I suffered hair loss, anxiety, depression and cystic acne breakouts - worse than I had ever had before. It was one of the most challenging times of my life which only took me deeper into self-loathe. I held so much shame that I didn’t even know how to express how I felt. Instead I put on a happy face and got on with it. Not realising that it would make things worse with my skin by holding everything inside. Luckily my inner strength to carry on without medication in order to get to the root of the acne was far greater than the pull to plaster over it again. In 2013 doctors advised me to take Roaccutane which is another potent pharmaceutical medication which strips your skin and often clears it, but the side effects are intense on the body and can cause long lasting damage to your organs. I don’t blame anyone for taking any of these things by the way or hold any judgement. The suffering acne causes is so deep, I know that people just want a way out and I had gone there myself for many years. However, I knew by that point that it was time for me to heal from the inside out. It was time for me to face my wounds and understand why I held such low self-worth. Luckily my spiritual path took me on a journey of self-discovery. As I held space for others in my healing practice over the last 7 years I also consistently delved deep into my own stuff. 

I have used many natural healing modalities to work through the blockages that were manifesting in my body. My skin was essentially saying ‘I’m not OK’ and ‘I need to release this pain and this is the only way I know how’ and eventually I came to see this myself, but it had to be a gradual process because there was a lot of pain to purge. When it comes to natural healing methods I have explored so many over the last 9 years and all of them have a key part to play as they each flow into one another. However, when it comes to this specific issue with my skin, I found homeopathy to be extremely powerful. I have worked with various homeopaths over the years, all with slightly different techniques and approaches but every single practitioner reflected back the same message - I was holding trauma from the past that needed to be purged out of my system. Whether it was from shamans in the Amazon jungle or various healers I worked with in London - the same message would come forth from spirit. The deep seated trauma was impacting my hormones and in turn my skin and it was held within my womb space, which comes to no surprise as any unprocessed trauma that we do not process or healthily release can end up sitting within the sacral area/womb. I was also diagnosed with PCOS many years ago too which relates to hormonal imbalances, acne and infertility. However, by then I understood that it was all linking into one another, and the emotional root was the same for it all. I remember how being diagnosed with PCOS made me feel like I would be in an endless cycle of hormonal and skin imbalances unless I went on medication. Yet I was able to heal my ovaries holistically and have enjoyed a pain free, flowing bleed each month aligning with every Full Moon or New Moon cycle for around 6 years now. I was also able to conceive my first child Violet unexpectedly last year in 2020 when I wasn’t even trying, even though I was told I would struggle to be fertile. A powerful reminder that a diagnosed issue is rarely final. It is simply a label and you have the power to change it and take ownership of your body and your health. 

Without going into detail I worked through inner child pain, sexual trauma and ancestral wounds. I am also an empath which means I process a lot of energy in my system because I physically feel the emotions of others within my own body. It took a good few years and many different healing processes and modalities to work through the layers, and let me add that layers of healing are continuous in our lifetime so there will be many more to face but this particular process went full circle. It was rarely easy having to face the pain as each layer shed from my being. I had to sit with my shadows. I had to face myself time and time again in all the darkest places within, which I was too scared to look at before. I gave form to stuck emotions and trauma that had been stored in my body, with the help of homeopathy, plants and energy work. When I started integrating womb work into my healing practice a few years ago it catapulted me into my own womb healing journey, and this is when I got really deep into the core wounds in my feminine. The same wounds that were communicating to me through my skin on my face. Homeopathy was incredible for this because I finally found the perfect guide 2 years ago who I have worked with consistently ever since and who I have sent many family members, friends and clients to see. She treats me from a much deeper place than any homeopath had before. From a place of spiritual, energetic and emotional intelligence, enabling me to receive the power of homeopathic remedies deep into the root of my issues. It was the missing link for me and although it was far from an easy ride for the first year especially, I would do it all again in a heartbeat. I literally watched my skin clear as I purged each layer after experiencing deep healing processes with the remedies. It required me to really do the work but seeing the results helped me continue when things felt too much.

It has been a journey of profound synchronicity to uncover the truth and layers that had manifested on my skin, however, right now I just want to shine a light upon the innate connection our body has with our emotions and thoughts. Therefore it is integral to take your power back and look deeper into physical ailments or skin disorders if you really want to shift it. Yes using natural products has helped my skin greatly and I would recommend that to anyone as a starting point. Get rid of any toxins that you put in your body or on your skin through make up, cleaning products, shampoo etc. Switch to natural products - essentially stuff so pure you could eat it. Tune into your environment - do you have mould in your home? Is it damp or dark? Yes diet is important too and can have a huge impact on our body and skin. Stay hydrated with good quality filtered water and avoid sugar and dairy. However, it is usually an emotional blockage that is at the root of the manifestation if it still doesn’t shift after you make these lifestyle changes. I remember years ago when I was deep in the thick of it thinking to myself how am I on a whole foods plant based diet and living a lifestyle that is free from alcohol and all major allergens, yet I know so many people with clear skin who are doing the opposite and living a toxic lifestyles? I didn’t allow myself to go to those places of victimhood too often as I knew they didn’t help the situation but if it ever did I witnessed it and came back to gratitude that my body is communicating with me. What I was shown was that our thoughts and emotions can be way more toxic than anything we can eat or consume. I always came back to trust in my own individual journey as a deep initiation on my path. My mind would also wonder to feelings of guilt that I was even bothered about my skin when there were people so much worse off than me. However, this too does not serve because I believe everything is relevant to us in terms of our own personal journey. 

If your in a similar position right now with anything physical, it is important to accept that it will not be an overnight process to heal. It may span months or even years like mine did but I honestly wouldn’t change it for the world. I have learned so much about myself and the depth of the healing I have experienced personally enables me to channel it into the space I hold for others. The compassion and resonance I feel for those who suffer with skin issues is immense. The passion I feel to help those who suffer with self-loathe and low self-worth is beyond measure. Most of all I have been able to clear so many layers within me in preparation for my child to come through my womb - all thanks to my skin letting me know I needed to. Layers that had been carried down from generation to generation and now were able to stop at me. Layers of crippling shame and self-loathe that I had carried within me for so many years. I have spirit to thank for this too for bringing me home to myself in ways I never knew possible. For reminding me that the light I witness in others is also within me. I thank Mother Ayahuasca for guiding me to my truth. I only sat in ceremony with this divine plant medicine twice in 2018 but it was life changing. I received streams of messages which have all unfolded in my life since. The spirit told me how it is my soul mission to work with the divine feminine through womb work, and in doing so I would heal myself in preparation for my baby to come who was waiting in spirit. She took me on a journey to witness myself on a soul level so I could acknowledge my divinity, rather than staying so stuck in my humanness and physical body all the time. It was like a lifetime of shame melted away in that ceremony. Through following the guidance or it naturally unfolding afterwards my life changed and so did my emotional and physical health. It really set me up to begin my deep dive inwards with my wonderful homeopath, Dawn, who synchronistically entered my life the following year.

I cannot tell you how liberating it feels to be comfortable in my own skin asI write this now. I literally see the scars and marks on my face from acne and I give thanks for the journey. I give thanks for the gifts. I give thanks for the strength it has ignited within me. I NEVER thought I would feel this way. I thought I would always loathe myself. I thought it would never end but here I am in acceptance of myself exactly as I am, and I am so far from what society would call the perfect skin. I have marks, scars and damaged texture to my skin due to what it has been through. However, this is me and I embrace the skin that I am in as the divine vessel that it is. 

If you are suffering with this right now then let me be the sign you need to go deep into the root of the physical manifestation. I could not be where I am now if I had not have journeyed into the darkness. As a result my physical body has been able to rebalance and heal. Our bodies are more intelligent than we can comprehend. They hold memories, emotions and imprints. They are constantly taking to us through pain, ailments and manifestations. When we listen and use holistic methods to uncover those layers, then we can experience profound shifts on every level of our being. The way I always see it through my experience in my own life and in my healing practice holding space for others - the physical body is the final part of the process - the root begins deep in the spiritual energy. There are an abundance of gifts you can receive from taking your health into your own hands in mind, body, emotions and spirit. It’s time for us to shake up the idea that taking a pill is going to solve all of our problems like society has made us believe. Instead we need to delve deep within and in turn we can see long lasting shifts from the inside out. 

I hope this heart rambling meets those who need to hear it. I hope anyone who suffers in the ways mentioned in this share knows that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. If you have any questions about anything please reach out.

Much Love

Josie X

P.S. Some of my recommendations for natural skin products are listed below! I tend to just use warm water and a bamboo cloth to wash my face at the moment as I found the more simple and natural, the better, however, I also use some incredible products which I love and highly recommend!

Super Cells - Hydromist - I fill it with filtered water and use on clean/bare skin before I put serum on and go to sleep. It is incredible as I really notice the life force and hydration it gives my skin

https://mysupercells.com/products/hydromist-skin-rejuvenator

Bluem - Finger Lime Serum - I use this morning and night as my all in one moisturiser and I love it. I have super sensitive skin so it is rare to find something which feels so soothing and natural yet it really gets to work :)

https://www.bluem.com.au/collections/new-arrivals/products/repair-serum-finger-lime

Isha - Shungite Face Wash & Shungite Face Mask - My friend Shireen makes these beautiful natural skin products which I used for a while as they are amazing! She is in the midst of a big re-launch but you can contact her via shireen@ishaskin.com to check if you can order the products still! Just let her know I passed you over :)

Living Libations - I love this range of essential oil products and I have recently being using the Rose line

https://www.gloworganicbrighton.co.uk/collections/vendors?q=Living%20Libations