Crazy I know, but one day I just started doing it.

As I would go through my skincare routine every morning, and evening, I began to say "I love you, and you, and I especially love you" (to the bigger pimples) as I rubbed my cleanser, serums, lotions and whatever other elixirs I felt like that day.

I’m not quite sure why I started or what exactly made me do it. But doing it made me feel better about my breakouts. It honestly did.

And it reminded me of something I used to do years ago, where I would name the really big pimples. I would then go around introducing him to my friends, and other weird stuff like that. By making it into a little bit of a joke, it was easier than trying to hide it and hate it every time I looked in a mirror.

Now, I don’t believe that by me saying “I Love You” is healing my acne, but it did create a significant shift in my perspective towards my zits. I stopped picking at my skin when I started thinking more fondly of it. And I started taking better care of it, taking more time each day.

And it made me want to do things nice things like drink more water and eat better food to nourish my body and my skin.

Google “power of positive words experiment” and you’ll see science fair like set ups where someone takes the same food (an apple cut in half, or rice scooped from the same pot), keep them in two separate containers, and each day these people say sweet, nice things to one, and hateful, mean things to the other.

Guess which one started decaying and molding faster? Yup, the one that was spewed all the negativity, and hate.

I believe in the power of energy because it changes how you act towards something. And what you put out into the world is what you receive (not always of course).

It’s very similar to changing your perspective towards your menstrual cycle. If you can start looking at it in a positive, loving way, you’ll begin to learn how to coexist with your own unique cycle.

So I challenge you to start looking into not only your mirror, but to you life in general with love and understanding. Say kind, loving words to yourself. Hell, set up your own apple experiment if you’d like. And I guarantee you’ll be surprisingly pleased with the results.