7 questions to find your INNER beauty
Find your inner beauty! Beauty is not about what you look like, it’s about how you feel. Ask yourself these 7 questions to find your inner beauty. Embrace the beauty already within you!
HOW DO WE EVEN DEFINE BEAUTY?
The thing about beauty is that is indefinable by nature. What one person finds to be ‘beautiful’ another will find ‘ugly’. There is no set criteria for what defines beauty. So why do we strive so hard to be ‘beautiful’ when we’re not even sure what it is? And why do we try to be beautiful when we know that everyone’s perceptions of beauty are and always will be different?
Yes, media, TV, films, magazines can try to feed us perceptions of what beauty is but most of these images of ‘beauty’ are either highly edited or entirely made up. What we see in the media are very rarely real representations of reality. Even our phones now have filters so we can look photo-shopped, more or less tanned, thinner, curvier, or have flawless skin. So being at a loss for defining beauty, I have adopted Coco Chanel’s definition:
“Beauty begins the moment you decide to become yourself”
BEAUTY IS BEING TRUE TO YOURSELF!
Therefore being true to yourself and setting your own standards around what is best for you right now, in this very moment, is the only way we find true beauty. And isn’t that the case. When you see someone who is so comfortable in their skin, and living life on their terms, doing the things that light them up from inside, they seem to have an almost imperceptible glow, an aura of… ‘beauty’. Beauty is not a specific aesthetic condition. Beauty grows from inside out. At the end of the day when you take away our makeup, clothes, even our skin, we are all just pieces of raw meat.
TURN AWAY FROM MESSAGES FROM THE MEDIA THAT SAY YOU ARE NOT ENOUGH!
How many times have you looked at a magazine or commercial, or billboard and felt terrible upon seeing what appears to be a super human with shiny white teeth beaming down at you saying “if you buy this then you will look like me and then you will be happy.” It’s so easy to get sucked in, it’s as if they really do have superpowers.
The next minute you find yourself at a gym you hate, running on a treadmill going nowhere, and then rushing to the supermarket to buy only one carrot because that is all you think you deserve. On the way out you see a makeup store and decide you must buy some more concealer, God forbid someone see that pimple that is developing on your chin. Then when you arrive home to turn on the TV there are even more super humans telling you that’s not enough. Now you need an ab burner, a new dress, new heels, a haircut, protein shakes, eyelash extensions, bigger muscles…. And it keeps going until nothing you do is ever nor ever will be enough. And you know why? Because these are not your perceptions of beauty. These are perceptions of beauty from someone else being force-fed to you.
CHOOSE CLOTHES, MAKE-UP, FOOD, EXERCISE THAT IS TRUE TO YOU!
Now I’m not saying exercise, make up, or clothes are bad things – these can be wonderful things in our lives but it’s how we choose them. Exercise is essential in maintaining healthy systems. Food is essential in maintaining healthy systems. Clothes are essential in maintaining healthy systems. But it’s about choosing the exercise, food, clothes that are right for you. Not for the superhuman on the TV advertising the next super food, not for the person sitting on the bus next to you, not for your best friend, but for you! Be true to yourself. What is it that nourishes your body and mind and lights you up? This is what beauty is! Unleashing your true self!
Try out some creative, expressive workouts here!
7 QUESTIONS TO GUIDE YOU TO INNER BEAUTY
1. What gets you moving?
If the gym does not light you up, find what does. Does a walk along the beach light you up? A creative dance class? A boxing session in the backyard with your best bud?
2. Why you do this movement?
Is it because of how it makes you feel? Or is it only because of how it makes you look?
3. What nourishes your body?
Don’t follow every fad or diet that comes along and take it as the Gospel. Find what works for you. What food energises you? What food makes you feel light? What food is easy to digest? You don’t have to be paleo, gluten-free, sugar-free, lemon-juice only… every person is different, therefore what works for everyone is different and will also change from time to time.
4. What clothes do you feel most comfortable in?
What clothes makes you feel free to be you? What clothes express who you are? Just because three quarter skinny jeans are in at the moment doesn’t mean baggy pants are out. What clothes make you feel like you. If none of your wardrobe does, then go searching for your style, your external expression of you. Doesn’t mean you have to break the bank either – perhaps you and your friends can get together to exchange some clothes, your local op shop might have some hidden treasures, or maybe your existing wardrobe just needs a re-vamp. Cut some length off that three quarter skirt you never really liked, add some lace to that shirt you think is too revealing.
5. If you wear make up, ask yourself why?
Is it for a special occasion? Is it because you love make up and like to try different colours according to how you feel on that day? Is make up an extension of your self expression? Or is it because you are trying to hide something? Can you be OK with your imperfections?
6. What activities, hobbies, interests light you up and make you feel inspired?
If that’s an easy question for you then make sure you include these in your life every single day. If you love being in nature and you can’t be in it every day, take a moment to sit under a tree on your lunch break and feel its energy. If you haven’t found what lights you up yet, keep exploring. Try new things, join new groups, meet new people, travel. When you find things that you love to do, you will find you have less time to worry about how you look.
7. What makes you unique?
Every single person on this planet is different. Even if we chose to all wear the exact same things and do the exact same things we would never look or do these things exactly the same.
Spend more time worrying about how you feel rather than what you look like. When you light up and love yourself unconditionally then your beauty that is already within you will blossom even more.
“Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.”
~ OSCAR WILDE ~
Peace.
Love.
Namaste.
Emma