Christmas can be a time where all your focus goes outwards to meeting other people’s needs and wants instead of that fabulous sequin ensemble. Orchestrating large scale festivities causes us to lose touch with ourselves and in conjuring up the magic for everyone else, we might notice that there’s a distinct lack of it left for us.

Worse still, it also makes your skin suffer. The mind-skin connection, termed Psychodermatology, is widely documented and in times of heightened stress (see extended family visitation), and unpredictability (holiday plans updating quicker than an airport departures board), skin can often fall to its knees.

“The brain evolved to be uncertainty-averse. When things become less predictable — and therefore less controllable — we experience a strong state of threat. You may already know that threat leads to “fight, freeze, or flight” responses in the brain. You may not know that it also leads to decreases in motivation, focus, agility, cooperative behavior, self-control, sense of purpose and meaning, and overall wellbeing,” explains the Harvard Business Review. ‘Fight or flight’ refers to cortisol; an ancient and vital hormonal response to times of danger and pressure but if it's allowed to linger too long once the event has passed, the result is destructive inflammation. Inflammation compromises organ function, weakens the immune system and accelerates the skin’s aging process. Signs of inflammation in skin presents in a merry myriad of ways, most commonly unexplained bouts of redness, hypersensitivity, puffiness and the overnight assembly of fine lines and wrinkles.

Now let’s skip ahead to the good news; great skin has a lot to do with knowing what you want. That means that in being decisive, using proven grounding techniques and flexing that emotional muscle memory, we not only reinforce our mental health, but our physical and skin health too. Be better in tune with your desires and your immune system and skin will be all the stronger for it. Why? Because psychodermatology aside, a clear mind sleeps better, which in turn bolsters the immune system and brings down inflammation throughout the body. Now is definitely the time for checking in with yourself and identifying your wants. But how to go about that?

In the midst of granting everyone else’s Christmas wishes, work out one of your own. That might be an hour to yourself with the door fully locked, a long walk with just your partner, or sole control of the Spotify playlist. Choose something that will meet your needs and thus, support your central nervous system.

Prioritizing your skincare regime will benefit your skin and mind. The simple yet tactile act of applying skincare, dissipates anxiety, lifts mood and focuses you on the task ahead. Double down with the LYMA Laser that acts as a master switch in dialing up gene expression to combat cellular inflammation and rebuild the extracellular matrix, increasing skin’s resilience to external stressors.

It’s easy to see everyone supine on the sofa whilst you're staring down hours of clearing up and become a silent volcano of rage. Don't hit that hot and flustered cliche, instead ask if you can make it a team effort and all celebrate with a game afterwards. Your stress levels will be lower, your mood will lift and you might love your family a mince pie more.

Using your allotted laser skin transformation time as an opportunity for stillness and to check in with yourself is just plain smart.

1. Hold the Laser on your third eye for inner focus but also for plumping out targeting forehead lines.

2. Glide the Laser from your cheeks, outwards and upwards to your temples for pressure release but also for to lift and sculpt your facial contours.

3. Press the Laser gently onto your closed eyelids; a powerful acupressure point to release mental tension but also improves skin tension to lift hooded lids.

4. Use the 3 minutes when holding the Laser still on a target area, to practice Box Breathing. Inhaling for the count of four, holding for four, exhaling for four and holding again for four. Then move the Laser onto the next area you want to treat and start again.