Hey babes, it's me, Tiffanie and I want to have a heart-to-heart with you. I was recently digging through my old notebooks full of scribbled thoughts, notes, and ramblings and I stumbled upon a page I had written more than two years ago with the heading, "Skin Loving Exercise." The second line read, "Listen with your heart, not with your fear" and it immediately grabbed my attention. The rest went on to focus on "cognitive dissonance" and I drafted an exercise for you (well, for both of us) but never shared it! Why not? I don't know! Maybe because that was over two years ago and I didn't have the confidence to ask something like this of you yet? Either way, it was on my heart for a reason, so here we are. I invite you to join me in this skin loving exercise and approach it with an open mind and soft heart. But first things first, let's talk about cognitive dissonance and what it means. 

Cognitive dissonance: Mental tension is created when our behavior is inconsistent with our thoughts or beliefs. When aware, that underlying tension can motivate us to make an attitude change that can produce consistency between positive thoughts and behaviors. 

Basically, cognitive dissonance forces us to be aware of the "good" things when we mostly tend to focus on the "negative" things. 

Are you ready for your skin loving exercise? Here we go...

1. Look at your skin and note all the things you like.
2. Write them down. Yep, you heard me. Grab a pen and paper and physically write them down. *Your brain will try to note all the things you don't like but don't include those. 
3. Repeat this exercise every week for at least 4 - 6 weeks. 

Each time you repeat this exercise the things you like about your skin will become more salient (noticeable) and the negative noise will get a little quieter. 

Are you ready for some brownie points? If you feel compelled to share your Skin Loving Exercise, feel free to post about it in the Sweet Cheeks VIP group to help encourage other women to practice cognitive dissonance  and see the value that talking kindly to ourselves can bring. Remember, you are motivating people who pretend to not even see you. There is so much power in that! Not a Sweet Cheeks VIP member yet? Request access here. 

This exercise can be something you can do at any point in your life and can be especially beneficial if you're going through a hard time, struggling with physical changes in your body or if you just need a little pick me up. 

I encourage you to let your guard down and talk to yourself as if you were talking to your best friend, your daughter, your mother, or someone you deeply love and admire. And above all, listen to yourself with your heart and not with your fear. 

xo Tiffanie, the Skincare Queen