Spiritual Lessons My Acne Taught Me

Having acne always felt shameful, frustrating, and upsetting. Having dealt with chronic acne for over a decade, I saw it as a nuisance in my life, something I wished would just go away.

On the other side of learning how to naturally keep my skin clear, I realized that acne is one of the most profound teachers I have ever encountered. Acne taught me how to love myself, love my body, and live a life with more joy, freedom, and happiness than I could have ever imagined.

Acne was the gateway for me to my spiritual journey. So today, I'd love to share with you some of the beautiful spiritual lessons that have come out of my 25+ year journey in acne healing.

1. Acne taught me that how I treat my body matters. This may seem obvious, but I didn't grow up with this understanding. I grew up eating mostly processed foods - cereal or pastries for breakfast, chicken nuggets and french fries for lunch, spaghetti and chicken pot pie dinners. Of course my body was upset, but I didn't really understand that connection as the reason.



What I was eating was so normal (and still is!), but it was never normal to my body. So my body expressed that upset in the form of acne. It wasn't just that - I also gained weight and my diet no doubt fueled the chronic depression I lived with as well. 



Learning how to eat well took many years of learning and unlearning. The me back then would never believe that I would be happier eating fresh vegetables, fruits, and whole foods. But I'm far and beyond more happy than I was in the past.

2. Acne taught me that my body speaks to me. When we go to the doctor about pain, most of the solutions that are offered is how to shut the pain up. But if we don't find a way to address the reasons why the body is upset, the pain will find other ways to show up. This is why chronic conditions often end up unresolved in the western medicine system. 



I worked with three dermatologists to try and clear my acne. The tools they offered me were always various creams and prescriptions that tried to cover up the problem. But my acne never went away under their care because the underlying reasons of what was harming my body were never addressed.

3. Acne taught me how to live more in alignment with the earth. Modern human life has deviated far from earth based living, and in so many ways we are seeing the consequences of that. Not just in acne, but in other chronic diseases, collective mental health breakdowns, and lack of happiness in our everyday lives.



Learning to live in more alignment with the earth through healthy eating has brought me more joy than I could have ever imagined. It was a process, but healing my acne helped to get me started. It broke me free of some major food addictions to be able to ground in the true essence of what my body desires to be fed.

4. Acne taught me how to have healthy boundaries. We live in an unhealthy society. That's painful for me to accept, but it's true. Going with the flow means going with the pain that is the baseline of this society. Acne taught me how to say "no" to foods that would cause harm to my body and break me out. By learning to say no to that, I was able to learn how to more easily say no to other things that were harmful too.



I live a more unconventional life and I am so grateful for that! There is way more joy, magic, and happiness on this path for me, and I have found so many others who are living similarly to share the journey with. And every time I go into a more challenging space where things are more "normal" (hello weddings and holidays!), I take it as an opportunity to practice my boundaries while loving where everyone in the room is at.

5. Acne taught me how to love myself. We can't really love ourselves while we are hurting ourselves. Acne taught me where I was hurting myself and through that, I was able to reverse and clear out things (mostly foods!) from my life that were not in alignment with loving myself. Acne helped me to grow the emotional muscles to love myself and live a more authentically aligned life.

I see it as part of my role as acne healer to help people not only learn how to clear their skin, but to address the emotional and spiritual healing that is a part of this journey. Healing acne is not just about creating clear skin, it's about helping my clients live more happy, joyful, free, and fulfilling lives from the inside out.



If this is speaking to you and you're interested in possibly working with me, I would love to connect. You can book a free 15 min discovery call with me here for us to have a deeper conversation about where you are on your acne journey and how I can help. Booking link: www.calendly.com/elise-may/intro.

Wherever you are and whatever help you receive, may you be healed, empowered, and live the joyfully clear skin life you deserve.

May we all be healthy, happy, and free!