Beauty Beyond Appearance: Embracing How You Feel not How You Look
Experience in life. It’s everything. Whether you are battling hardships and disease, you can feel relief from the pain through beautiful experiences. If you stand at a mountaintop or walk through an overflowing garden, you will feel something incredible - life.
Good, beautiful, loving experiences. They are everything. They make you feel good. They make you feel alive.
In a world fixated on outward appearances and societal standards of beauty, it's easy to lose sight of what truly matters—how we feel in our body, how we feel in our mind, how we feel about others, how we feel about ourselves.
True beauty transcends physical attributes. True beauty comes from within, and is cultivated by the experiences we choose to participate in. True beauty radiates from a place of inner harmony, the love that God has for us, and this builds our confidence. The transformative power of gentle living and Ayurvedic wisdom is here to help us feel the good experiences in life, from our very own personal space we call home, nurturing our inner landscape can profoundly enhance our perception of beauty and well-being.
At the core of our existence lies the undeniable truth that beauty is not merely skin-deep but is intricately woven into the fabric of our being. It's about embracing our unique essence, celebrating our strengths, and embracing our imperfections as badges of honor that tell the story of our journey through life. When we prioritize how we feel over how we look, we unlock a newfound sense of liberation and authenticity that allows us to shine from within. Touching our skin with nourishing oils, butters and clays, gives to us experiences that cultivate an inner beauty, an eternal beauty, as the experience of touch, smells and time, cares for our soul not just our skin.
Gentle living offers a pathway to rediscovering our inherent beauty by inviting us to slow down, tune into our inner voice, and cultivate practices that nourish our body, mind, and spirit. By prioritizing self-care, mindfulness, and connection with nature, we create a fertile ground for inner transformation, paving the way for a deeper appreciation of ourselves and the world around us.
In the realm of Ayurveda, beauty is synonymous with balance—a harmonious alignment of body, mind, and soul that emanates from a place of holistic well-being. Ayurvedic skincare rituals honor this principle by incorporating natural ingredients, mindful practices, and the love that God has for us into daily routines, nurturing the skin from the inside out and enhancing its innate radiance.
Central to Ayurvedic philosophy is the concept of "agni," or digestive fire, which governs metabolism, digestion, and overall vitality. Just as we assess our agni to determine our dietary and lifestyle needs, we must also attune to our skin's signals to provide it with the care it requires. By observing our skin daily and responding to its needs with oils, butters, clays, and other natural remedies, we honor its innate intelligence and support its optimal health and vitality.
As we embark on this journey of self-discovery and embracing the love that God has for us, we come to realize that true beauty is not about conforming to external standards or chasing perfection but about embracing our authenticity and honoring our unique essence, through the aging years, through the mess of life experiences. By cultivating a deep sense of your inner worth, the sacredness of your inner joy, and gratitude, that has nothing to do with how you look on the outside - that is when we begin to see ourselves through the lens of divine love and compassion, recognizing the inherent beauty that resides within each of us.
Each of us can be happy and can feel good inside no matter how age has touched us. Happiness and feeling good inside is something you can give to yourself at any moment, during your self-care practices.
Beauty is not a reflection of our physical appearance but a testament to the love, kindness, and grace that emanate from within. By prioritizing how we feel and not how we look, we unlock the secret to true and lasting beauty—a radiant glow that shines forth from a heart filled with divine love, authenticity, and acceptance.
How will you participate in your life in a way that makes you feel alive and beautiful inside?
Journeying together,
Kari Prabhakar