When we look in the mirror, we can’t help but focus on our appearance, particularly our skin. We see wrinkles and new spots that weren’t there the year before, and we (hopefully) start getting checked at the doctor’s office for irregular moles. (Please do it; it can save your life.) The sun can cause significant damage to our skin.

We also have another layer of skin: the layers of our minds.

These layers are built up over the years from our emotional experiences. There’s an expression about peeling the onion to get to the root of ourselves. I’m referring to these layers.

Creatures shed their skin (molting) to grow bigger. Once the old skin is shed, new growth can occur. We must do the same with our emotional selves to grow and evolve.

 

I’ve been going through the molting stage this past year, like I am shedding my old skin. I’m grateful that I’m strong enough to feel it all without breaking down. And with each shedding experience, I also feel lighter, more in touch with myself, and more focused on my life.

Our internal skin layers hold our old memories, both happy times and past pain. How do we maintain the beneficial layers while eliminating those that weigh us down?

It’s simple: Focus on the good while releasing all the painful ones. Being grateful for those good experiences keeps them with us while still shedding the old skin we no longer need.

Just as we use a loofah (natural or plastic) or a scrub to remove dead skin and debris from our bodies, the same principle applies to opening our minds to remove all toxic thoughts. These are the negative junk thoughts that flood our minds every day—the ones that tell us we’re not good enough or make us doubt ourselves—and they all must be sloughed away.

 

It may not sound like a pleasant thing to do, but removing our old interior skin can be as satisfying as getting rid of dry, calloused skin on our heels to reveal soft, new skin. I used to use a pumice stone or callus file to remove the dead skin on my heels, but I’ve been using Kerasal Intensive Foot Repair for years, and it’s the best thing for repairing cracked, dry heel skin. It keeps my heels soft.

We’ve all heard the saying, “You need to have a thick skin.” That refers to taking criticism by having a tough outside shell to defend yourself against feeling hurt. But our inside “skin” is even more important than that.

If our thoughts are making us sick or depressed, it’s time to shed them and make way for new, healthy thoughts of thinking about feeling healthy and happy. Our thoughts are everything! Seriously. We can control our lives simply by thinking more positively, and the first step is to shed the old skin of yesterday.

Visualizing ourselves sloughing off the dead skin of the past can feel refreshing and uplifting. Imagine a loofah sponge inside our minds scrubbing away painful memories, such as words that hurt us that we’ve held on to for far too long. Images that keep us stuck in feelings of anger, shame, or any other negative memory can burden our present happiness. See all the old skin being sloughed away and rinsed away down a drain, gone forever. You will feel so much lighter as a result.

Just as we must protect the skin on the outside of our bodies by bathing, sloughing off dead skin cells, using lotions and sunscreen, and limiting our time in the sun, we must also protect our inner skin. Shedding the old is good for us. Releasing the old, toxic stuff that weighs us down can help us manifest great things in our lives, such as healthier relationships that are ultimately better for us.

Don’t fear shedding the old skin. Let it go.

 

Thank you for reading this.

 

To our skin,

Francesca

 

Created by a human for humans.

 

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