This post is a continuation from the post, “Finally Releasing Another Unhealthy Habit.”
UPDATE
The “bad” news is…I still have this face picking habit—especially with my chin, forehead and lips. The reason the word bad is in quotes, is because it’s ultimately not bad news since the continuation of this habit has forced me to dig deeper within myself to find out the root cause of it.
The irony of face-picking is that the more I have an urge to squeeze out pimples, peel scabs (from picking pimples), and rip dry skin off of my lips in order to clear unwanted stuff in and on my face, the more scars I develop, and the more I highly irritate my face.
After rereading the post mentioned above, I realized that the title was inaccurate. I didn’t finally release the unhealthy habit of face-picking—as much as I put forth some effort to convince myself at the time—although it was definitely the first stepping stone to the goal.
Note: Image on right found next to link => www.sexhealthdoc.com (thank you)
The good news is that I noticed that I mostly participate in my face-picking while watching TV with my husband, which is during the evenings on weekdays, and during certain shows during the weekend.
This is progress for me since I used to pick at my face much more often, especially my lips (until they bled) while my husband was driving.
I eventually figured out that my high anxiety of being in a moving car stems from a total of three major car accidents within a three year period, which explains the usual excessively sweaty palms, racing heartbeat, and being highly sensitive to loud noises and sudden, jerky movements. Note in pink: Added on March 18, 2015: Abraham Curing Your Insecurities and Feelings of Unworthiness (A very helpful, inspiring, empowering video related to this section)
In order to alleviate some of the stress while in a moving car, I focus on positive thoughts and positive visualizations using my imagination (e.g., what I would love to experience, the Violet Flame, flying and weaving around the puffy, white clouds while sprinkling beautiful sparkles of various colored light onto the Earth below, etc.), which help to create positive feelings.
When I hear music that I resonate with on the radio, I listen to it and do my soft sing-along and mini dance while sitting in the car. When none of the radio stations play music that’s harmonious to me or my husband, I turn it off for some quiet time.
Sometimes, I even bring some of my crystals with me for the ride, and I trust that its loving energies help soothe and comfort me, as well as help me to transmute any negative energies around me.
I first wondered if the less TV I watched, the less face-picking that I would end up participating in.
I have a feeling that perhaps my anxiety while watching TV stems from a struggle between the part of me who enjoys watching certain stimulating TV shows that shares life lessons (i.e., uplifting with humor, thought-provoking, inspiring) with my husband—one of our few quality times together—that conflicts with another part of me who feels guilty for watching TV because it’s known to lower our vibrational frequency.
Just as our soul communicates to us—through our physical body’s expression of excitement—that we are in alignment with who we truly are/our soul’s highest intentions/our life purpose/our soul mission, I trust that our soul also communicates to us—through our physical body’s expression of anxiety, and any other thoughts and feelings that stem from fear energy— what doesn’t highly resonate with us.
I thought that watching TV in moderation is what doesn’t resonate with me, but I realized that feeling guilty about anything is what doesn’t resonate with me.
As long as I’m following my path of excitement—even to the smallest degree, which informs me that I’m in alignment with my True Self—then it doesn’t matter what I watch, what I eat, what I do, and who I choose to Be.
I realized, how can I accept and love myself unconditionally if I continue to judge myself?
And if I can’t even accept and love myself unconditionally, how can I do it for others? I must continue practicing to embrace the all of me and others as Divine Spirit within me.
I also noticed that throughout the majority of the day, I don’t pick at my face because I’m usually working on my blog, meditating, chanting mantras, making intention statements, creating artwork, or reading teachings (i.e., books, websites, blogs) that uplift, encourage, inspire and expand my consciousness.
So basically, whenever I’m living and Being in the present Moment of Now as Divine Presence within me, I have no need to do or be anything other than my authentic True Self/Healed, Integrated and Balanced Soul (of Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine Energies/Consciousness) merged with Divine Spirit/All That Is—a balance of both negative and positive energies/Yin and Yang.
The following are some helpful readings that resonate with me:
- 3 Key Steps To Stopping Your Compulsive Skin Picking – I won’t pretend that I never ever pick–I still backslide sometimes–but with a little work, I’m mostly hands-off these days.: I love the refreshing honesty of the author’s comment right after the title of this post. I highly resonate with this reading, and its very helpful tips, to include dealing with the root causes of face-picking, as well as being kind to oneself. The “scanning” for things to pick on one’s face also spoke loudly to me because it helped me to realize that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. I plan on using my new mala (that has a string of 108 beads) to keep my hand busy whenever I do happen to watch TV.
- Skin Picking Disorder: Frequently Asked Questions: For this reading, the following quoted section under the sub-title, “What is the treatment and is it effective?” was very helpful, especially the part about being close to a mirror since I also have a tendency to pick at my face in front of a mirror right before I take a shower:
“Another approach to treatment is called Stimulus Control (SC), which involves modifying physical aspects of a skin picker’s environment to reduce sensory input that leads to picking. For example, if looking closely at your skin in the bathroom mirror causes you to pick your face, then the sensory input of seeing your pores needs to be modified. Try putting a piece of tape on the floor to remind you not to get too close to the mirror. If just touching your skin is a trigger for you, you might wear gloves, Band-Aids, or rubber fingertips to prevent you from feeling your skin and help you resist the urge to pick. Or you might be instructed to avoid or alter situations that are high risk to you, such as sitting for long periods of time reading or using the computer. Overall, it is important to recognize that skin picking can be a complex problem and might need to be approached from several different angles to treat it properly.”
