Beauty - How to Succeed

Overview

The concept of Beauty can refer to a particular person, a special place, an object of interest or even the concept of an idea, all of which can provide a perceptual experience related to pleasure, meaning or satisfaction. The study of beauty is intrinsically a part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology and culture. In the form of a cultural creation, beauty has become extremely commercialised.

The characterisation of an "ideal beauty" is represented in a person who is admired, or possesses features widely associated with beauty in a particular culture. There are many historical figures that have come to personify beauty itself, such as Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, and Marilyn Monroe. The subjective experience, which refers to the sensory buzz and awareness associated with a perceptive mind, related to "beauty", often involves the interpretation of some entity as being as one and in harmony with nature, which may lead to feelings of attraction and emotional well-being.

Beauty, as expressed by the popular saying, is in the eye of the beholder. In its most profound sense, beauty may engender a salient experience, which refers to a state or quality of standing out relative to neighboring objects, of positive reflection about the meaning of one's own existence. Something that reveals or resounds with personal meaning may indeed be regarded as an object of beauty.

In classical Greek mythology, beauty was associated with the idea of "being of one's hour". Accordingly, a ripe fruit, which is "of its time", was considered beautiful, whereas a young woman trying to appear older or an older woman trying to appear younger would not be considered beautiful.

History of Beauty

It was in the submissions of the ancient Greek philosophers, such as Pythagoras, that the earliest Western appreciation of beauty was to be found. The school, personified by Pythagoras, discovered that there was a strong connection between mathematics and beauty.

In particular, they noted that objects proportioned according to the golden rule, which can be expressed as a mathematical constant with a value of 1.618, seemed more attractive. In fact, this view of symmetrical structures that were in proportion is based on ancient Greek architecture.

It has been found that people whose facial features are symmetric and proportioned, in accordance with the golden ratio, are considered more attractive than those whose faces are not. Another important factor is that of symmetry since it suggests the absence of any hereditary or acquired defects. In fact, one of a number of aesthetic characteristics, including being average and that of youth, which are associated with the health, physical attractiveness and, ultimately, the beauty of a person, is associated with the concept of symmetry, especially that of facial features.

Even though there may be significant changes in image and fashion, it has been found that people's interpretation of beauty may be defined in a number of ways. In this respect, eyes that are large and a complexion that is soft and clear, are especially desirable. Further, such features are most certainly considered beautiful, irrespective of gender, and certainly regardless of culture.

Interestingly, the features of a newborn baby are inherently attractive, and youthfulness is a timeless characteristic that is always associated with beauty. Early in child development, there is evidence to suggest that an affinity for beautiful faces emerges, and this definition of attractiveness is regardless of their gender or culture.

Beauty - How To Succeed

What is Taught in Beauty Schools?

The question as to just what, exactly, is taught in beauty school is quite a commonly asked one. The typical questioner will tend to be someone like a father, or an uncle, who is told by his daughter (or niece) that - after carefully weighing her options - she has decided that she will be going to a beauty school! Now the man understands what is taught in, say, a business school. He also understands what is taught in a medical school. What is taught in dentistry or a law schools are also things he can imagine. But beauty school? What is taught in beauty school? What is a beauty-school, in the first place?

Now in order to bring ourselves to a point where we can appreciate what is taught in a beauty school, it would be a good idea to appreciate the fact that beauty is an art, and a fine art at that. To the casual observer, the various things that are done in the pursuit of beauty seem to be very simple things: hair plaiting (or other hair treatment), nail painting, facial treatment, manicure, pedicure...these seem to be very simple things. But to the person involved in them, there is simply no telling the difficulty that is in involved in them. True, they may not be physically taxing things, but it is the finesse with which they have to be handled, and the rather delicate nature of the people on whom they are done, which makes them difficult. Such understanding gives us a vantage point from where we can get to appreciate what is taught in beauty schools.

One of the most fundamental things that are taught in beauty-schools is simply the appreciation of beauty. At this stage, the students are not even being told how to make their clients beautiful, but simply how to appreciate beauty. Unless you can appreciate beauty, there is no way you can give it to someone else.

Another fundamental thing that students in beauty-schools learn is how to make them beauty - having gained an appreciation of the beauty concept. People won't trust you with the task of making them beautiful when you happen to be quite a mess yourself. A beautician has to be beautiful in one or another, and the more it can be clear that her beauty is as a result of deliberate effort, the more confident would her clients be in entrusting her with their looks.

Yet another set of things that students in beauty-schools will learn are the various procedures through which beauty can be 'artificially created' or enhanced. We are talking about the whole range of technical skills here: from facial treatment skills, to hair treatment and styling skills, and onto procedures such as manicures and pedicures...which are the specific things that the beautician's clients will be looking for, in terms of services.

Refined people skills, sales and marketing as well as the fundamentals of psychology would be other things that students in beauty schools will be taught. The latter would be useful when you take into consideration the fact that most of the clients who seek a beauticians services not only want to be beautified, but also reassured about their beauty and general worth as human beings.

The Beauty Walk - Nature's Anti-Depressant

Nature's Anti-depressant

Have you ever taken a walk in the woods and felt a deep sense of peace and beauty envelop you? Have you ever walked by the ocean and sensed the power and majesty of its beauty filling you with inspiration? Have you ever hiked a mountain and when you reached the top felt awe as the expansive vista before you took your breath away? Nature is a great resource for re-connecting with your beauty. The nature of your nature in nature comes to life as life blooms naturally around you. We are beings of nature; it is our natural state to commune with the elements, to see ourselves as a part of the whole and at one with all that is. Aligning with the beauty of nature is aligning to your own nature, your sense of well-being and natural beauty as well.

When we move our bodies, and our bodies are made for movement, we allow exciting feel good chemicals to course throughout our bodies. Endorphine's are our bodies natural anti-depressants, they are stimulated by movement and positive emotions, they pick you up and lighten up your mood as you get your inner engines burning. Activating endorphins through physical movement and/or positive emotions and thoughts, can shift your burden of depression in no time at all.

The amazing thing about the Beauty Walk as a means of fighting off depression is this; not only are you releasing the feel good chemicals in your body, you are also infusing your Self with the beauty and magnificence of life around you.

The Beauty Walk

The Beauty Walk is exactly what you imagine it to be, it is walking and moving and breathing in the bounty of life that surrounds you. Becoming one with it all. For the truth of every human being and every particle on this planet is that we are all made of the same rich radiant substance of the Universe. All that is of beauty outside of you is also within you. You can never be separate from your own source of beauty.

With depression we tend to sink into ourselves, shutting off the light within us, and shutting out the light of the world around us. We feel disconnected and dis-engaged. Taking yourself on a beauty walk is a way to reconnect to the abundance of life and re-engage in the world. Just noticing the rustling of the leaves in the tree and thinking of how wonderful that sound is, as if the tree is speaking to you, or watching a bird fly over head, with strength and speed as it soars in the sky, that bird is alive and moving with purpose, take that energy inside of yourself, as if you are drinking up the experience and make it your own. Like the bird, you can move with strength and purpose. The beautiful blue of the sky, the light of the moon, the vibrant colors of flowers, these are all part of nature's profound beauty and perfection of life, just as you are, just as every human being is. Take in the profound beauty of nature and equate yourself to it, mingle with it, become it and allow it to become you too. This beauty is on the inside.

One of the greatest discoveries of my life, and possibly the greatest thing I do for my self, my body, mind and spirit is to take my 'Beauty Walks'. The Native American Indian's have an expression that I have loved since the day I first discovered it, I saw it on a bumper sticker once and I have been looking for that bumper sticker ever since. It said "Walk in Beauty". How wonderful is that?

I have been a walker for many years, it is my favorite form of exercise, it is the way I meditate and formulate my creative endeavors. It is the way I de-stress and release the garbage that rummages through my mind. Walking is a great way to ground yourself and circulate energy. It is rhythmic and it is the easiest most natural form of exercise. I have a background in natural health and healing, I have studied and practiced the healing arts of color, sound, touch, aromatherapy, nutrition and energy therapies for years. I understand that a healthy mind, body and spirit lead to a greater sense of joy, well-being and peace throughout our lives and I use the tools of these various healing modalities to infuse my own life as well as those of my clients. I have also known that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", an expression we all learn as children. To see beauty is to be beauty, this is something we have all heard but how often do we remember it?

I don't know when it happened exactly, it was a gradual process but at some point, I realized I was combining all these components together and turned my daily walks into what I call 'Beauty Walks'. I am proud to say it; I actually tell people I am going on my Beauty Walk, as hokey as it may sound, because I know it is an inspired action. I have shared this inspired action with many girls, women and men hoping to inspire them too, offering them a tool to feel more health and wholeness in their daily lives. I share it because I am inspired every time I take my beauty walk and the key element to the whole process is infusing my self with beauty, it is a totally sensual experience. I will add that I believe I am becoming more and more beautiful as a woman and a person inside and out because of these walks.

In my own experience of the Beauty Walk, I will admit that the first ten minutes or so are about decompressing. All the stuff of the day swirls through my head, my issues and disappointments, tasks I need to finish, things I am uncomfortable about etc. All of it surfaces until I get into the rhythm and start noticing what is around me.

When you physically take your Beauty Walk, I invite you to notice the beauty, even in a city, within all things around you wherever you may be. Notice architecture, colors of homes and buildings, see if you can find the beauty in a person walking by you. Open yourself to being a mirror of beauty and be the beauty that you see. You can use this to inspire your own form of exercise or use it as a meditation to ground, center and beautify yourself at anytime.

The Outer Glow From an Inner Beauty

Beauty is a quality possessed by an object or a person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the senses. When we think of the beautiful, we equate it with a positive feeling of pleasure or goodness. Beauty is a subjective experience that could lead to powerful feelings of attraction and emotional well being. As society imposes a strong expectation on women to be beautiful, beauty can present a standard of comparison and may cause resentment and dissatisfaction when not achieved. Beauty may have inspired humans throughout history, but the quest of beauty can sometimes lead to obsession and eating disorders.

As too much emphasis is placed on superficial beauty, the inner person tends to be undermined. Outward beauty can remain to be superficial. Although the media puts emphasis on outward physical beauty, it cannot be denied that inner beauty has withstood the ages. Intelligence, kindness and creativity are some of the qualities of inner beauty. Glitz and glamour may elicit awe-inspiring emotions, but inner beauty can stir a being to the depths of its soul. We tend to create our own criteria for judging the beauty of a woman. Prominent cheekbones, deep set eyes, luscious lips, flawless skin and perfect hair coupled with a shapely figure.

Society has created a standard of beauty that has become a mould that every woman wants to fit in. It can be a frustrating endeavor to try to fit in within the limits of outward physical beauty. Inner beauty, on the other hand has no limits. Inner beauty surpasses and transcends. Inner beauty sees no need to fit into a standard as it has the liberty to follow the dictates of its own virtues. Outward beauty may just be well the icing on the cake, but inner beauty is the complete substance within which is a blend of many fine characteristics such as etiquette and good manners, intelligence and character, charm and sense of humor, creativity and social and family values.

That inner beauty that makes a woman whole within will make her radiant on the outside with a warm and ready smile for everybody and soulful eyes that see good in all things. Just as there is a marked difference between a dear intricately hand-woven Persian carpet and a cheap machine made carpet, so is there a distinct disparity between shallow outward beauty and genuine inner beauty. Outward beauty can go to the extent of perfection but it remains spurious if it is ill-bred and heartless. Inner beauty on the other hand is elegantly hand knotted, each and every silky colorful thread so carefully crafted to create an astounding design of character and personality that fashions the masterpiece of a uniquely beautiful woman.

Inner beauty is a unique art on its own. Outward beauty can only be more appreciated if it stems from an inner beauty that sees a more noble purpose other than superficiality and vanity. For a woman to be truly beautiful, inner beauty must be inherently cultivated while the physical beauty is enhanced. It is well worth it to take care of yourself and your inner beauty. The next time you look into the mirror, ask yourself what true beauty is and if you are indeed beautiful. Once you take time to nourish your inner beauty, no doubt that that inner beauty will eventually come out on the surface.

Only then will you see that you are truly a beautiful woman.

What is Taught in Beauty Schools?

The question as to just what, exactly, is taught in beauty school is quite a commonly asked one. The typical questioner will tend to be someone like a father, or an uncle, who is told by his daughter (or niece) that - after carefully weighing her options - she has decided that she will be going to a beauty school! Now the man understands what is taught in, say, a business school. He also understands what is taught in a medical school. What is taught in dentistry or a law schools are also things he can imagine. But beauty school? What is taught in beauty school? What is a beauty-school, in the first place?

Now in order to bring ourselves to a point where we can appreciate what is taught in a beauty school, it would be a good idea to appreciate the fact that beauty is an art, and a fine art at that. To the casual observer, the various things that are done in the pursuit of beauty seem to be very simple things: hair plaiting (or other hair treatment), nail painting, facial treatment, manicure, pedicure...these seem to be very simple things. But to the person involved in them, there is simply no telling the difficulty that is in involved in them. True, they may not be physically taxing things, but it is the finesse with which they have to be handled, and the rather delicate nature of the people on whom they are done, which makes them difficult. Such understanding gives us a vantage point from where we can get to appreciate what is taught in beauty schools.

One of the most fundamental things that are taught in beauty-schools is simply the appreciation of beauty. At this stage, the students are not even being told how to make their clients beautiful, but simply how to appreciate beauty. Unless you can appreciate beauty, there is no way you can give it to someone else.

Another fundamental thing that students in beauty-schools learn is how to make them beauty - having gained an appreciation of the beauty concept. People won't trust you with the task of making them beautiful when you happen to be quite a mess yourself. A beautician has to be beautiful in one or another, and the more it can be clear that her beauty is as a result of deliberate effort, the more confident would her clients be in entrusting her with their looks.

Yet another set of things that students in beauty-schools will learn are the various procedures through which beauty can be 'artificially created' or enhanced. We are talking about the whole range of technical skills here: from facial treatment skills, to hair treatment and styling skills, and onto procedures such as manicures and pedicures...which are the specific things that the beautician's clients will be looking for, in terms of services.

Refined people skills, sales and marketing as well as the fundamentals of psychology would be other things that students in beauty schools will be taught. The latter would be useful when you take into consideration the fact that most of the clients who seek a beauticians services not only want to be beautified, but also reassured about their beauty and general worth as human beings.

Beauty Spells Really Make You Beautiful

Beauty spells are the most important need of a young girl. These spells are meant to make you beautiful. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, as some poet once said, but beauty spells are something that can really spice up your complexion and beauty. Magick can be used to induce beauty within the individuals.

Spells are all the more important in the contemporary world where beauty is considered to be equivalent to success. The first in beauty is the first in might, it is said. All the power rests in the one that is the most beautiful. Beauty spells are probably the most sought for in the modern world. The world looks upon the beautiful with a lot of respect and consideration.

What makes you beautiful counts the most in these situations. Your sense of inner happiness and completeness are what constitute your beauty, so you need spells to be healthy and happy and remain healthy and happy. Beauty are the most important for a person to be happy and feel important. This is where magick could help. More and more people in the world are vying for beauty spells because beauty is the most sought after attribute in the world.

Magick can actually make you feel good about yourself and the world around yourself. Beauty spells can alter a lot around you; they can make the world beautiful and charming. The three easiest beauty spells that can work for you are.

Hair beauty Skin beauty Eye beauty It can be surprising but magick can be good for enhancing your beauty. A spell can be cast upon you to make you beautiful, or one could be deterred from being made beautiful by use of beauty spells.

Your hair can be made to look more beautiful using such spells. Magick can add a lot of beauty to your dark hair, or it can be used for making your hair appear in a light color. Your skin can be made to look good, it could be made to glow in the sun and even under artificial illumination. It does not matter if you have acne or pimples, or you want to look younger than you actually are. A good beauty spell can always work the magick for you. There is always the correct one for everyone.

There are a host of web sites on the Internet that offer all kinds of different spells for different purposes. You can find one for beauty. Some beauty spells are very powerful and have a lot of magick in them. You must always choose the correct spell at the correct time and for the appropriate occasion. This is the only way to ensure that all your spells work out with the desired results. You can even use a spell to enhance your own beauty. The important point to be kept in mind when casting beauty spells of any sort is that you cannot undo any spell you have cast upon yourself.

Health & Beauty Tips

Everyone loves to look beautiful. There are many advantages of looking beautiful. A gorgeous woman always receives attention. She marries the best catch. She gets to be the cheer leader. She dates all the attractive boys. She even manages to participate in the beauty pageants and win a crown for her country. Hence, women look out for simple beauty tips to enhance their beauty.

The skin care beauty tips are meant for all. Anyone can make a significant difference in their appearance with the help of the natural beauty tips. Unassuming girls use the y secrets tips to become more attractive, while the beautiful girls use them to preserve their appeal and look good for a longer period of time. In fact, even an ugly lady can look highly attractive by following the correct beauty tips for face.

Due to its high popularity, different women's magazines make these fashion beauty tips an integral part of their editions. These health and beauty tips appear with religious regularity in an effort to boost the sale of the magazines. The editors hire the experts from the beauty industry who share their secrets with the readers. Many a times, the readers are also encouraged to send in their queries which the experts answer by giving various health beauty tips. Now, one can even look for summer beauty tips on the Internet. There are several sites devoted on tips on beauty that boast of a high traffic rate. So, one can get the help of these tips and work towards improving her overall appeal.

These best beauty tips work towards enhancing each and every aspect of your personality. They offer advice on beauty that range from your crowning glory to your lovable feet. You are basically flooded with numerous tips that teach you to maintain your hair, eyes, face, hand, feet, etc. They also offer you tips on hair styling and the right selection of clothes for a particular body-type. Other than this, makeup beauty tips also include guidelines on current fashion and the correct method of applying make-up. Hence, if a girl is really keen on improving her looks then she could immensely upgrade it by following the correct beauty tips.

The current male generation has also become fashion conscious. They buy designer wear and go for beauty treatments. They color their hair and sport different styles. They wear various accessories like earrings, chains, bracelets, etc. Hence, observing this trend, men's magazines have also started providing fashion and beauty tips for men.

So, regardless of your sex, you can look attractive and appealing by following the correct beauty tips and secrets.

The Mystique of Beauty - The Intuitive Capability of Man to Know Truth and Good

Beauty is one of the most difficult term to define yet one of the easiest terms to understand. We all know what is beautiful and what is not. It does not take a second for a person to say if a girl, a child, a man , a place, a song or a poem is beautiful or not. Yet we hardly know why it is beautiful. All we know is that we like beautiful things and feel good when we see or hear something beautiful.

Random House dictionary, defines "beauty" as a characteristic present in a person, place, object or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning or satisfaction to the mind or to the eyes, arising from sensory manifestations such as a shape, color, personality, sound, design or rhythm.

Yet no one knows, what are these characteristics that make a thing beautiful? Since beauty is based on the perception of the person, it is often said that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Beauty is also considered to be only skin deep which means that beauty is superficial and it lacks any substance.

The opposite of beauty is ugly i.e. what gives us a bad feeling. When we see an ugly thing, we just don't like it and want to close our sensual perception and mind from that thing. Everyone wants to see beauty and become beautiful and dread to become ugly. While we see a beautiful thing or meet a beautiful person, we just want to keep on looking. Einstein used the concept of beauty to explain the Theory of Relativity i.e. how time can expand or contract

"You spend 30 minutes with a beautiful girl, it seems like a moment. You spend a moment sitting on a hot stove, it seems like 30 minutes".

Beauty is so important to human beings that they can do anything to look beautiful or achieve beautiful things in life. The pursuit of human life seems to become beautiful or acquire beautiful things in life. Beauty has such a powerful attraction that it bewilders all logic and rationality of the person and sometime the attraction become fatal. Why is beauty such a powerful force?

Beauty means Truth and Good

In the ancient philosophies, the material body is believed to be the material reflection of the soul, the spark of the universal soul or God. Hence, if the person is good, it is because the person has a beautiful soul. It is because of the beauty of the soul that people do good actions in this world. People find their parents and friends beautiful, because they are good to them. We can hardly find any beauty in our enemies as they are not good to us. When a friend turns enemy, the same person cease to be beautiful.

In Indian philosophy God is said to have three manifestations in this world i.e. Truth, Good and Beautiful (Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram). Hence when we find something beautiful, it is only because it has the truth and goodness in it.

Scientists discover secrets (truths) of nature, because they find universe beautiful (Difficult to imagine?). Einstein said "I have deep faith that the principle of the universe will be beautiful and simple."

Jules Henri Poincare, a famous French mathematician and scientist said

"The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living."

The discovery of truth is, therefore, to with the beauty it holds. For a scientist, the universe is not a dead object but he sees beautiful pattern and aesthetics in the nature, which helps him find the secrets of nature. While most of the people find the world as an ugly place due to its imperfectness like inequality, injustice, disorder, a poet sees the same world as beautiful and creates poetry. A poet can only make beautiful poetry, if he finds beauty in nature and human beings. A logical person or a critique of the world can never find these truth of the world as he can never see beauty in this world.

The Evidence of Beauty

Since beauty needs no logic, people often accuse beauty of being superficial. The rational people or scientists accept no facts to be true unless proven objectively by experiments and investigations. They often blame the perceptions of beauty as biased and prejudiced which has developed in the people in the process of evolution.

We all know that a human body looks beautiful, if it is within a particular range of body weight depending upon the height of the person. We don't find the body beautiful, if it is either too thin or too fat. Yet we can't say why only a particular weight should make the body beautiful? However, the scientists have discovered that what we perceive as beautiful is actually the best body weight for health and longevity. A study conducted by more than a million participants by the US Cancer Prevention [1] concluded that

.. optimum body mass indexes to be between 23.5 and 24.9 for men and 22.0 and 23.4 for women. As body mass index increased, risk of death increased. Men and women, with body mass indexes of 40.0 or higher, increased the risk of death by 250% and 200% respectively. In contrast, underweight men and women, with body mass indexes of 18.5 or lower, increased the risk by 26% and 36% respectively.

Thus, the perception of beauty is not superficial as it is supported by robust scientific research. If, we can imagine how we, can perceive beauty of the body, we can easily notice that our perception of beauty perhaps vary in the same proportion as the effect of body weight on health as if our mind already knows what is good for the body even without going through the long process of research.

Once a scientist described to Einstein, how long years of experimentation and research lead to the discovery of the scientific theory. The wife of Einstein promptly remarked that her husband (Einstein) would have developed the same theory on a piece of paper. Einstein never conducted any experiments, but developed the soundest of the scientific theories from the imagination of his mind as man himself a replica of the universe.

We all have the inherent capability to distinguish the good from the evil and the truth from the untruth by our ability to see beauty. When we eat an apple, we don't have to send it to laboratory to know if it is rotten or fresh. We can simply by looking at it can know that it is fresh. A beautiful apple is also a good apple for health.

What is Good?

The first thing to understand is what is good? We can define goodness from the perspective of self and the world. One can be good to the world, if his actions are for the good of the world. Similarly, one can also be good if his actions are good for him. An ugly man, therefore, must be one who is not only bad for the world but also bad for himself.

However, we can argue, why one would like to do anything that is harmful to self. Yet there is no dearth of such actions. For example, if one eats too much and become obese, it is surely not good for his own health. Similarly smoking, additions etc are also not good for one's own self. All selfish actions are initially good for the person but gradually become bad for him, if these actions are not good for the society. The challenge thus lies in finding a way that is not only good for self but also good for the society. All successful persons and businessman finds a way to find their good in the goods of others. For example, Bill Gates is the richest person in the world, not by doing any harm to the society but by bringing tremendous benefit to the society. As a consequence, he also became a rich man.

However, when a person focuses only on selfish benefit without any concern for the world, he creates an imbalance in the world that makes the person bad. This leads to the path of untruth and evil. Such a person gradually becomes unattractive and ugly as the evil starts getting reflected on his body and the face.

What is good also depends on the person and the situations. A sunny day many look beautiful in the cold winters and cold countries but extremely unattractive for the people of the tropical and warm countries. The woman may look extremely beautiful to a lover but only ordinary to other men and women. Hills may be beautiful for the people living in the plain or in hotter places but may look unattractive to the native who may find the modern world of malls and urban life more attractive. A western music may be attractive to some but repulsive to others.

Thus our perception to beauty has also a purpose. The attraction depends not only the object of beauty but also our mental makeup. We find beauty in things that complements ourselves. It force of attraction due to beauty can be compared with the force of attraction of the electric changes. The opposite attracts and once they meet they neutralize each other. So often we are attracted towards something which we lack. Often, we are not even aware what is missing unless we find something attractive. The beauty is thus a guide to achieve the missing something in us so that we can have more fulfilling and contented life.

Yoga: The Secret of Beauty

The secret of the natural beauty lies in the mantra truth, good and beauty (Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram). To look beautiful outside, one has to be good inside. The good feeling can come only by being good and truthful. If one becomes bad for others, he has to pay the price with his beauty.

Yoga, one of the ancient methods for good heath, means union. It defies all scientific theories as people use yoga to reduce weight and become healthy not by burning calories in gym or by medication but simply by effortless postures of the body designed many thousands of years ago that requires discipline of the body and mind. Yoga means union i.e. the union of body and mind with the soul on personal level and the union of individual soul to the universal soul or the soul of the world on he other level. Yoga, is used all over the world, to make oneself beautiful as it beings the goodness and truth in the person. However, once the person become beautiful, he automatically gets he proper body weight and also fitness and good health.

The Challenges of being Beautiful

Some people are born beautiful but other acquires beauty by conscious effort. Often the most become people become unattractive due to their lifestyle and evil actions. Who would find beauty in a obese man or woman or in a criminal. However, often very ordinary looking person become very attractive because of their achievements. It is particularly true about man who seems to become more attractive with their achievements and good deeds.

As believed in the Indian philosophies, beauty is the manifestation of God in this world. Hence, if a person start doing evil acts, he start drifting from God to Devil. Soon the person would start looking ugly too. His face and body would transform in a way that he would lose all beauty. He would lose health and fitness. He would fall sick frequently. He would become overweight or underweight so as to lose his vitality and health. His face would become cruel or pale devoid of serenity and beauty.

It is not a mere coincidence that no dictator or evil person has ever been beautiful. Conversely, a beautiful person can not be cruel or evil. One proof of this statement is that women, who epitomize beauty, can hardly kill innocent people or commit murder. Woman represents beauty hence they also mean what is good for the society. They risk their own life to create a new life.

We also find that all children are beautiful. It is not a mere a coincidence that all children are also good. They love every creation of the world including innate objects like dolls, toys and animals. Most of the cartoon films and the children's film show kindness to animals. Yet as a man grows, he losses his beauty, if he starts losing goodness.

Secret of Beauty

Beauty is one of the biggest desire of human beings hence a great biggest business opportunity for the businessmen. The cosmetic industry is a multi-billion dollar business today all over the world. Yet can any cosmetics make you beautiful. The beauty due to cosmetics is truly superficial and often causes long term harm to the person. The true secret of beauty lies in discovering truth and goodness in the world and within oneself. Once a person has acquired inner beauty, his body and face start emitting the beauty of the soul to the world. One must also use his or her perception of beauty as a guide to achieve a more fulfilling life in this world. Beauty is, therefore, the most beautiful thing in the world as it comes to every person naturally without any training or study, yet it represents the truth and goodness of this world.

References:

[1] Body Weight and Mortality: What is the optimum weight for a longer life? URL; jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/hliving/BMIwords.html

Beyond The Beauty Trap

If you ask one hundred women, "Do you want to be beautiful?" most of them will say they do. But, if you ask them, "So what do you think of beautiful women?" Most will have some pretty strong opinions. They will tell you that beautiful women are "thin, confident, perfect, well-dressed, and that they get what they want." They will tell you that it takes a lot of time, energy, and money to look beautiful. They will also say that beautiful women are usually born that way. These statements are all myths -- they are not true, but we tend to believe them.

And lurking just beneath the surface, the myths get even worse. When questioned more closely, many women will also report that beautiful women are "vain, self-centered, egotistical, selfish, and basically, not very nice." I have asked tens of thousands of women of all ages and social groups these questions and share with you that this is what many women experience. They also think that they would have to be perfect. And until they are perfect in every way, then they cannot be beautiful.

If we think this way, we are in a trap! We think we want beauty, but the concept carries a lot of baggage with it. And if it's as bad as some think it is, we should be avoiding it! The unfortunate result is that very few women have been able to be happy or satisfied with their appearance. Yet, we live in a world where others judge us and we judge ourselves on how we look.

Most women don't want to be vain. In fact, the fear of becoming vain -- or being perceived as vain -- keeps many women from seeing and experiencing their beauty. This becomes very understandable when you look up the word "vain" in the dictionary. It is defined as, "having no real value, idle, worthless, useless, foolish, silly." With this definition, I can see why no one would want to be seen in these ways.

Another definition of vain is "having or showing undue or excessive pride in one's appearance or accomplishments." If a woman thinks that she is worthless or has little real value, then any small amount of personal pride is "excessive and undue," and can make her uncomfortable.

Pride is a very tricky word. It has two completely different meanings and they are quite contradictory. One definition is "inordinate self-esteem; conceit" and the other is, "a reasonable or justifiable self-respect." So, let's think of false pride as, "conceit" and true pride as, "self-respect."

Now, the plot thickens. It's not just becoming vain that we fear. Women are afraid that others will think they are vain and so they either keep putting themselves down, or trying to prove that they are good enough. So, in several different ways, vanity is related to fear.

Vanity comes out of feeling worthless or unworthy to some extent and trying to prove you are not. So, every step toward finding your true worth is a step away from vanity.

Both vanity and false pride seem to come from trying to pretend that you are something that you are not. Let's give this up! Every single woman I've ever met had her own beautiful qualities. Very few women realize their beauty fully and some have not realized their beauty at all. They are all just at different stages of learning their worth and beauty.

Realizing our beauty is not something that we were ever taught to do. And we were never shown how to do it. To top it off, we live in a world and society that teaches us that it's bad to think too highly of ourselves. We are also told that we can never be perfect, but that we should be perfect. So it should be no surprise that women have so many mixed emotions about these issues. Beauty, the way society has defined it so far, is a pretty impossible goal.

The real problem with the common notion of beauty is that we often see it as something comparative and competitive. This is really a very silly idea that we don't apply to the rest of nature. We don't go to the zoo and discuss, "Which is more beautiful a giraffe or a zebra?" When we go for a hike in the mountains we don't analyze or evaluate, "Which is more beautiful an oak tree or a pine tree?" But for some odd reason, we apply this strange thinking to our appearance as women. Let's stop it.

Women have to realize how much of a lose/lose situation this is. No matter how much you perfect your appearance, there will always be someone out there who is thinner, prettier, or younger, etc. All women lose at these limiting, either/or type of comparisons. Let's leave competition for sports.

I used to say that we've needed to redefine beauty. But if you look in the dictionary, you'll see that "beautiful" really means, "generally pleasing; excellent." I'll buy that. "Beauty" is defined as "the combination of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit." That really is sounding better, isn't it?

If we can go along with the idea that all flowers are beautiful and all mountains are beautiful, why can't all women be beautiful? We shouldn't have to stretch our imagination too much to include ourselves with the rest of nature!

It's really a matter of harmony. Just as there is already beauty and harmony in forests and deserts, there is already beauty in people. They just need to realize it. If you went on a walk with someone who did not see beauty in the woods, would you change your opinion? I don't think so.

Harmony is a pleasing or congruent arrangement of parts. It's knowing that, as part of nature, you are put together well. That's exactly what I've seen in studying thousands of women (and men, too.) We are put together very congruently. Nature is very consistent in giving giraffes long necks and zebras get stripes. There are patterns in women also.

The pattern in you is there whether you see it or not. Just because a flower doesn't see it's harmony, doesn't mean it's not there. Fortunately, unlike a flower, you have the ability to discover your harmony. And when you do, you'll be able to have the experience that you're already beautiful. Then your clothes don't make you beautiful, they enhance the beauty you already have. Your make-up doesn't make you beautiful, it brings out the beauty you already have.

Finding your true beauty will never occur until you stop trying to be anyone else. Just be you. But, you have to look for and discover the beauty and the harmony. Ever since I discovered the patterns in people, people have become beautiful to me.

The approach of finding harmony in yourself does not create vanity because it is not about undue or excessive pride. It's about finding your true worth and value. Remember, we said that "true pride" is self-respect. Every woman's goal should be to find her true value. It's an area in which most of us have no training, but it is possible and thousands of women have learned to see the harmony in their natural pattern.

Discovering your harmony leads you to finding your true value and builds your confidence. Confidence is the quality or state of being certain. Confidence stresses faith in oneself and one's powers without any suggestion of conceit or arrogance. You can learn to find strength in being you.

Beauty That Stands Out

We always get conscious with the way we look or, in other words, we always want to look good and be beautiful. Whether we want to impress someone or it is simply our character that wants to be presentable, we all have our own reasons. Beauty is attractiveness, a desired appearance people want to have. For that reason, some are even willing to spend much to be beautiful. Is beauty then costly? Well, people have different opinions about everything, but in essence, what is beauty? How can one say one is beautiful? Is beauty a choice that can be worked out for?

Beauty in the way we look:

Beauty is first cited in the physical appearance of a person. Ladies that have an admirable eyes, nose, lips, and face are just termed beautiful. For beauty that one can see at first glance, that's outside beauty. Who doesn't want to have it? Nowadays, that is given much emphasis. A large bulk of beauty products have been out in the market giving the customers a large option. And, a large number of people are lining up for them. From your hair to your feet, you can purchase products that will make you look gorgeous. You can do styling your hair, coloring your nails, and apply beauty products and treatments to your face. These will make you look better and even the best that you wished to be. But, remember that the best way to look beautiful in the outside is to be neat and clean. This impression is ever lasting and makes a woman fairer in sight and loved to be with.

Beauty in the way we talk:

Aside from the beauty that one can see is the beauty that one can hear. Let a woman speak and one will surely be stunned by her when she know the right words to say. Words, at all points, show intelligence, and it effects attractiveness. There is an impact in the way people speak which will make them remarkable or not. By all means, we ladies, must also grasp this beauty in the way we talk. Politeness, tactfulness, and word of honor are those that we must learn. They are virtues that will make one beautiful.

Beauty in the way we move:

Well, not every one have the same preferences and personality. We all were born out of different families that influenced us to be what we are and what we like to do. And, of course, if we want to be real, we'll move and act to what we truly are. Being true to your self, that is, not to mimic others' person, is a beauty that is there right in you. It is a beauty that will make one as much attractive as one with a pretty face. It will become awkward when we try to portray a much strange image. Still, being true and making good to what you are, is a "thumbs up"! Eyes will spot your difference from the rest and that will make you stand out.

Beauty, inside and out, are noticeable at first glance and in time's process. What is important is to be beautiful in both aspects. Then, you'll see it and you'll know it, you're beautiful!

The Mystique of Beauty - The Intuitive Capability of Man to Know Truth and Good

Beauty is one of the most difficult term to define yet one of the easiest terms to understand. We all know what is beautiful and what is not. It does not take a second for a person to say if a girl, a child, a man , a place, a song or a poem is beautiful or not. Yet we hardly know why it is beautiful. All we know is that we like beautiful things and feel good when we see or hear something beautiful.

Random House dictionary, defines "beauty" as a characteristic present in a person, place, object or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning or satisfaction to the mind or to the eyes, arising from sensory manifestations such as a shape, color, personality, sound, design or rhythm.

Yet no one knows, what are these characteristics that make a thing beautiful? Since beauty is based on the perception of the person, it is often said that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Beauty is also considered to be only skin deep which means that beauty is superficial and it lacks any substance.

The opposite of beauty is ugly i.e. what gives us a bad feeling. When we see an ugly thing, we just don't like it and want to close our sensual perception and mind from that thing. Everyone wants to see beauty and become beautiful and dread to become ugly. While we see a beautiful thing or meet a beautiful person, we just want to keep on looking. Einstein used the concept of beauty to explain the Theory of Relativity i.e. how time can expand or contract

"You spend 30 minutes with a beautiful girl, it seems like a moment. You spend a moment sitting on a hot stove, it seems like 30 minutes".

Beauty is so important to human beings that they can do anything to look beautiful or achieve beautiful things in life. The pursuit of human life seems to become beautiful or acquire beautiful things in life. Beauty has such a powerful attraction that it bewilders all logic and rationality of the person and sometime the attraction become fatal. Why is beauty such a powerful force?

Beauty means Truth and Good

In the ancient philosophies, the material body is believed to be the material reflection of the soul, the spark of the universal soul or God. Hence, if the person is good, it is because the person has a beautiful soul. It is because of the beauty of the soul that people do good actions in this world. People find their parents and friends beautiful, because they are good to them. We can hardly find any beauty in our enemies as they are not good to us. When a friend turns enemy, the same person cease to be beautiful.

In Indian philosophy God is said to have three manifestations in this world i.e. Truth, Good and Beautiful (Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram). Hence when we find something beautiful, it is only because it has the truth and goodness in it.

Scientists discover secrets (truths) of nature, because they find universe beautiful (Difficult to imagine?). Einstein said "I have deep faith that the principle of the universe will be beautiful and simple."

Jules Henri Poincare, a famous French mathematician and scientist said

"The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living."

The discovery of truth is, therefore, to with the beauty it holds. For a scientist, the universe is not a dead object but he sees beautiful pattern and aesthetics in the nature, which helps him find the secrets of nature. While most of the people find the world as an ugly place due to its imperfectness like inequality, injustice, disorder, a poet sees the same world as beautiful and creates poetry. A poet can only make beautiful poetry, if he finds beauty in nature and human beings. A logical person or a critique of the world can never find these truth of the world as he can never see beauty in this world.

The Evidence of Beauty

Since beauty needs no logic, people often accuse beauty of being superficial. The rational people or scientists accept no facts to be true unless proven objectively by experiments and investigations. They often blame the perceptions of beauty as biased and prejudiced which has developed in the people in the process of evolution.

We all know that a human body looks beautiful, if it is within a particular range of body weight depending upon the height of the person. We don't find the body beautiful, if it is either too thin or too fat. Yet we can't say why only a particular weight should make the body beautiful? However, the scientists have discovered that what we perceive as beautiful is actually the best body weight for health and longevity. A study conducted by more than a million participants by the US Cancer Prevention [1] concluded that

.. optimum body mass indexes to be between 23.5 and 24.9 for men and 22.0 and 23.4 for women. As body mass index increased, risk of death increased. Men and women, with body mass indexes of 40.0 or higher, increased the risk of death by 250% and 200% respectively. In contrast, underweight men and women, with body mass indexes of 18.5 or lower, increased the risk by 26% and 36% respectively.

Thus, the perception of beauty is not superficial as it is supported by robust scientific research. If, we can imagine how we, can perceive beauty of the body, we can easily notice that our perception of beauty perhaps vary in the same proportion as the effect of body weight on health as if our mind already knows what is good for the body even without going through the long process of research.

Once a scientist described to Einstein, how long years of experimentation and research lead to the discovery of the scientific theory. The wife of Einstein promptly remarked that her husband (Einstein) would have developed the same theory on a piece of paper. Einstein never conducted any experiments, but developed the soundest of the scientific theories from the imagination of his mind as man himself a replica of the universe.

We all have the inherent capability to distinguish the good from the evil and the truth from the untruth by our ability to see beauty. When we eat an apple, we don't have to send it to laboratory to know if it is rotten or fresh. We can simply by looking at it can know that it is fresh. A beautiful apple is also a good apple for health.

What is Good?

The first thing to understand is what is good? We can define goodness from the perspective of self and the world. One can be good to the world, if his actions are for the good of the world. Similarly, one can also be good if his actions are good for him. An ugly man, therefore, must be one who is not only bad for the world but also bad for himself.

However, we can argue, why one would like to do anything that is harmful to self. Yet there is no dearth of such actions. For example, if one eats too much and become obese, it is surely not good for his own health. Similarly smoking, additions etc are also not good for one's own self. All selfish actions are initially good for the person but gradually become bad for him, if these actions are not good for the society. The challenge thus lies in finding a way that is not only good for self but also good for the society. All successful persons and businessman finds a way to find their good in the goods of others. For example, Bill Gates is the richest person in the world, not by doing any harm to the society but by bringing tremendous benefit to the society. As a consequence, he also became a rich man.

However, when a person focuses only on selfish benefit without any concern for the world, he creates an imbalance in the world that makes the person bad. This leads to the path of untruth and evil. Such a person gradually becomes unattractive and ugly as the evil starts getting reflected on his body and the face.

What is good also depends on the person and the situations. A sunny day many look beautiful in the cold winters and cold countries but extremely unattractive for the people of the tropical and warm countries. The woman may look extremely beautiful to a lover but only ordinary to other men and women. Hills may be beautiful for the people living in the plain or in hotter places but may look unattractive to the native who may find the modern world of malls and urban life more attractive. A western music may be attractive to some but repulsive to others.

Thus our perception to beauty has also a purpose. The attraction depends not only the object of beauty but also our mental makeup. We find beauty in things that complements ourselves. It force of attraction due to beauty can be compared with the force of attraction of the electric changes. The opposite attracts and once they meet they neutralize each other. So often we are attracted towards something which we lack. Often, we are not even aware what is missing unless we find something attractive. The beauty is thus a guide to achieve the missing something in us so that we can have more fulfilling and contented life.

Yoga: The Secret of Beauty

The secret of the natural beauty lies in the mantra truth, good and beauty (Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram). To look beautiful outside, one has to be good inside. The good feeling can come only by being good and truthful. If one becomes bad for others, he has to pay the price with his beauty.

Yoga, one of the ancient methods for good heath, means union. It defies all scientific theories as people use yoga to reduce weight and become healthy not by burning calories in gym or by medication but simply by effortless postures of the body designed many thousands of years ago that requires discipline of the body and mind. Yoga means union i.e. the union of body and mind with the soul on personal level and the union of individual soul to the universal soul or the soul of the world on he other level. Yoga, is used all over the world, to make oneself beautiful as it beings the goodness and truth in the person. However, once the person become beautiful, he automatically gets he proper body weight and also fitness and good health.

The Challenges of being Beautiful

Some people are born beautiful but other acquires beauty by conscious effort. Often the most become people become unattractive due to their lifestyle and evil actions. Who would find beauty in a obese man or woman or in a criminal. However, often very ordinary looking person become very attractive because of their achievements. It is particularly true about man who seems to become more attractive with their achievements and good deeds.

As believed in the Indian philosophies, beauty is the manifestation of God in this world. Hence, if a person start doing evil acts, he start drifting from God to Devil. Soon the person would start looking ugly too. His face and body would transform in a way that he would lose all beauty. He would lose health and fitness. He would fall sick frequently. He would become overweight or underweight so as to lose his vitality and health. His face would become cruel or pale devoid of serenity and beauty.

It is not a mere coincidence that no dictator or evil person has ever been beautiful. Conversely, a beautiful person can not be cruel or evil. One proof of this statement is that women, who epitomize beauty, can hardly kill innocent people or commit murder. Woman represents beauty hence they also mean what is good for the society. They risk their own life to create a new life.

We also find that all children are beautiful. It is not a mere a coincidence that all children are also good. They love every creation of the world including innate objects like dolls, toys and animals. Most of the cartoon films and the children's film show kindness to animals. Yet as a man grows, he losses his beauty, if he starts losing goodness.

Secret of Beauty

Beauty is one of the biggest desire of human beings hence a great biggest business opportunity for the businessmen. The cosmetic industry is a multi-billion dollar business today all over the world. Yet can any cosmetics make you beautiful. The beauty due to cosmetics is truly superficial and often causes long term harm to the person. The true secret of beauty lies in discovering truth and goodness in the world and within oneself. Once a person has acquired inner beauty, his body and face start emitting the beauty of the soul to the world. One must also use his or her perception of beauty as a guide to achieve a more fulfilling life in this world. Beauty is, therefore, the most beautiful thing in the world as it comes to every person naturally without any training or study, yet it represents the truth and goodness of this world.

References:

[1] Body Weight and Mortality: What is the optimum weight for a longer life? URL; jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/hliving/BMIwords.html

Where Do Beauty Marks Come From? Some Common Facts Related To Beauty Marks

A beauty mark is a dark mole on the face, neck or shoulder which is considered attractive. If we look at them from a medical point of view, we can find the answer to the question - "where do beauty marks come from"? Beauty spots are usually a melanocytic nevus which is underdeveloped.

You should know that not all moles are considered as "beauty marks". A beauty spot should not measure more than a centimeter and should not protrude out, that is, it should not be a polypoid. The second significant point is that the mark should be symmetrical in nature. Symmetry has a natural appeal to human eyes and looks beautiful. A disproportioned mole is usually not referred to as beauty spot.

A beauty spot is usually located on the face, somewhere on the cheek, or around the lips. They should not be too many in number.

Usually the marks appear on the face within 20 years of age. If someone develops them afterwards they may or may not be favourable. If a beauty mark protrudes out then it is referred to as a mole.

A lot of people prefer to create a beauty spot on their skin, if they do not have one. During the 18th century, creating a false beauty spot on your face became a common fashion statement. False beauty marks can be applied as a form of make-up or can be tattooed.

A common, interesting Greek myth is associated with beauty spots. They say Gods were jealous of those who looked too perfect and hence created a small dark mark on their faces, just to disturb their perfection.

Some celebrities known for their beauty marks are Marilyn Monroe, one of the most sensuous women, who created a vogue for beauty marks during the 19th century. Other celebrities who sport a beauty mark on their face include Madonna, Eva Mendes, Mandy Moore, Demi Moore, Mariah Carey, Molly Sims, Natalie Portman, and Robert DeNiro and how can we miss out Cindy Crawford?

However, beauty of a person does not depend on whether they possess a beauty spot or not. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. A lot of women who have beauty marks are found trying to remove them from their faces, while a lot others who do not have one, artificially get them on their faces. It is one's style statement which matters.

The Beauty Walk - Nature's Anti-Depressant

Nature's Anti-depressant

Have you ever taken a walk in the woods and felt a deep sense of peace and beauty envelop you? Have you ever walked by the ocean and sensed the power and majesty of its beauty filling you with inspiration? Have you ever hiked a mountain and when you reached the top felt awe as the expansive vista before you took your breath away? Nature is a great resource for re-connecting with your beauty. The nature of your nature in nature comes to life as life blooms naturally around you. We are beings of nature; it is our natural state to commune with the elements, to see ourselves as a part of the whole and at one with all that is. Aligning with the beauty of nature is aligning to your own nature, your sense of well-being and natural beauty as well.

When we move our bodies, and our bodies are made for movement, we allow exciting feel good chemicals to course throughout our bodies. Endorphine's are our bodies natural anti-depressants, they are stimulated by movement and positive emotions, they pick you up and lighten up your mood as you get your inner engines burning. Activating endorphins through physical movement and/or positive emotions and thoughts, can shift your burden of depression in no time at all.

The amazing thing about the Beauty Walk as a means of fighting off depression is this; not only are you releasing the feel good chemicals in your body, you are also infusing your Self with the beauty and magnificence of life around you.

The Beauty Walk

The Beauty Walk is exactly what you imagine it to be, it is walking and moving and breathing in the bounty of life that surrounds you. Becoming one with it all. For the truth of every human being and every particle on this planet is that we are all made of the same rich radiant substance of the Universe. All that is of beauty outside of you is also within you. You can never be separate from your own source of beauty.

With depression we tend to sink into ourselves, shutting off the light within us, and shutting out the light of the world around us. We feel disconnected and dis-engaged. Taking yourself on a beauty walk is a way to reconnect to the abundance of life and re-engage in the world. Just noticing the rustling of the leaves in the tree and thinking of how wonderful that sound is, as if the tree is speaking to you, or watching a bird fly over head, with strength and speed as it soars in the sky, that bird is alive and moving with purpose, take that energy inside of yourself, as if you are drinking up the experience and make it your own. Like the bird, you can move with strength and purpose. The beautiful blue of the sky, the light of the moon, the vibrant colors of flowers, these are all part of nature's profound beauty and perfection of life, just as you are, just as every human being is. Take in the profound beauty of nature and equate yourself to it, mingle with it, become it and allow it to become you too. This beauty is on the inside.

One of the greatest discoveries of my life, and possibly the greatest thing I do for my self, my body, mind and spirit is to take my 'Beauty Walks'. The Native American Indian's have an expression that I have loved since the day I first discovered it, I saw it on a bumper sticker once and I have been looking for that bumper sticker ever since. It said "Walk in Beauty". How wonderful is that?

I have been a walker for many years, it is my favorite form of exercise, it is the way I meditate and formulate my creative endeavors. It is the way I de-stress and release the garbage that rummages through my mind. Walking is a great way to ground yourself and circulate energy. It is rhythmic and it is the easiest most natural form of exercise. I have a background in natural health and healing, I have studied and practiced the healing arts of color, sound, touch, aromatherapy, nutrition and energy therapies for years. I understand that a healthy mind, body and spirit lead to a greater sense of joy, well-being and peace throughout our lives and I use the tools of these various healing modalities to infuse my own life as well as those of my clients. I have also known that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", an expression we all learn as children. To see beauty is to be beauty, this is something we have all heard but how often do we remember it?

I don't know when it happened exactly, it was a gradual process but at some point, I realized I was combining all these components together and turned my daily walks into what I call 'Beauty Walks'. I am proud to say it; I actually tell people I am going on my Beauty Walk, as hokey as it may sound, because I know it is an inspired action. I have shared this inspired action with many girls, women and men hoping to inspire them too, offering them a tool to feel more health and wholeness in their daily lives. I share it because I am inspired every time I take my beauty walk and the key element to the whole process is infusing my self with beauty, it is a totally sensual experience. I will add that I believe I am becoming more and more beautiful as a woman and a person inside and out because of these walks.

In my own experience of the Beauty Walk, I will admit that the first ten minutes or so are about decompressing. All the stuff of the day swirls through my head, my issues and disappointments, tasks I need to finish, things I am uncomfortable about etc. All of it surfaces until I get into the rhythm and start noticing what is around me.

When you physically take your Beauty Walk, I invite you to notice the beauty, even in a city, within all things around you wherever you may be. Notice architecture, colors of homes and buildings, see if you can find the beauty in a person walking by you. Open yourself to being a mirror of beauty and be the beauty that you see. You can use this to inspire your own form of exercise or use it as a meditation to ground, center and beautify yourself at anytime.

What is Taught in Beauty Schools?

The question as to just what, exactly, is taught in beauty school is quite a commonly asked one. The typical questioner will tend to be someone like a father, or an uncle, who is told by his daughter (or niece) that - after carefully weighing her options - she has decided that she will be going to a beauty school! Now the man understands what is taught in, say, a business school. He also understands what is taught in a medical school. What is taught in dentistry or a law schools are also things he can imagine. But beauty school? What is taught in beauty school? What is a beauty-school, in the first place?

Now in order to bring ourselves to a point where we can appreciate what is taught in a beauty school, it would be a good idea to appreciate the fact that beauty is an art, and a fine art at that. To the casual observer, the various things that are done in the pursuit of beauty seem to be very simple things: hair plaiting (or other hair treatment), nail painting, facial treatment, manicure, pedicure...these seem to be very simple things. But to the person involved in them, there is simply no telling the difficulty that is in involved in them. True, they may not be physically taxing things, but it is the finesse with which they have to be handled, and the rather delicate nature of the people on whom they are done, which makes them difficult. Such understanding gives us a vantage point from where we can get to appreciate what is taught in beauty schools.

One of the most fundamental things that are taught in beauty-schools is simply the appreciation of beauty. At this stage, the students are not even being told how to make their clients beautiful, but simply how to appreciate beauty. Unless you can appreciate beauty, there is no way you can give it to someone else.

Another fundamental thing that students in beauty-schools learn is how to make them beauty - having gained an appreciation of the beauty concept. People won't trust you with the task of making them beautiful when you happen to be quite a mess yourself. A beautician has to be beautiful in one or another, and the more it can be clear that her beauty is as a result of deliberate effort, the more confident would her clients be in entrusting her with their looks.

Yet another set of things that students in beauty-schools will learn are the various procedures through which beauty can be 'artificially created' or enhanced. We are talking about the whole range of technical skills here: from facial treatment skills, to hair treatment and styling skills, and onto procedures such as manicures and pedicures...which are the specific things that the beautician's clients will be looking for, in terms of services.

Refined people skills, sales and marketing as well as the fundamentals of psychology would be other things that students in beauty schools will be taught. The latter would be useful when you take into consideration the fact that most of the clients who seek a beauticians services not only want to be beautified, but also reassured about their beauty and general worth as human beings.

Natural Beauty Products and Beauty Enhancement

Beauty can defined in a variety of ways; to some it simply means the state of being pleasant to the eyes while to others it is something that brings a feeling of sweetness to the heart. To others still, it could be a sound or touch that soothes the soul however; true beauty in the actual sense encompasses all these and even more, for instance a person can be pleasant in appearance but in speech and action the reverse may be the case surely that person can not be truly described as beautiful, let us say you were asked by the police to describe a thug who just mugged you at gunpoint certainly beautiful will not come up in your description of the thug regardless of how good looking he appears to be.

Now we know what beauty truly is the next step is to establish how we get it or where it comes from. The simple truth is everything was created beautiful, beauty is within us, and it is all around us as nature has bestowed us with so much of it. As a matter of fact our very nature as human beings is beautiful and for some beauty is displayed effortlessly while others need to do a bit to let it show. That not withstanding, everything, everyone is inherently beautiful. Take a piece of diamond for instance until it is cut and polished it could just as well be a piece of rock. Gold and silver have to be refined to bring out their true beauty, it is in us all to be beautiful but to attain true, total and all-encompassing beauty there must be some form of enhancement. This reminds me of the story of Cinderella and her ugly stepsisters. The stepsisters had the best of external adornment but they refused to enhance it with that which come from within hence they were described as ugly, Cinderella on the other hand had beauty within her which made it easy for the fairy godmother to turn her into a real gem. So if we are all inherently beautiful, why then do we need to enhance it? The simple truth is that, it adds value to our being and when this value is added people tend to appreciate us more, people want to love us more and I do not know of any person in this life who does not want to be loved and appreciated. Many manufacturer, advertisers and marketers understand this concept that is why the manufacturer wants to produce the best quality of a product and advertisers and marketers ensure it is well packaged and displayed to the public. How then can we enhance our inherent beauty and attain that true, total and all encompassing beauty?

1. The first key is in our attitudes, we must recognise we are inherently beautiful and let that be reflected in our attitude to life, to people around us, to the world we live in and everything in it. No one could pick up a certain piece of rock and if he does not recognise that if cut and polished that rock is a gem he may just toss it into a pond. In the same vein if we do not realise this beauty is in us there is a tendency that our attitude to life and various issues will be wrong consequently we devalue ourselves in our relationships, work places and all other endeavours. To be truly beautiful we must have the right attitudes, think positively and most importantly recognise the beauty that is in us.

2. The next is a healthy life style, to be truly beautiful we need to live a healthy lifestyle; it is pointless to have a pleasant appearance while we are killing ourselves with our lifestyle. The food we eat, the amount of rest, recreation, exercising and how we socialise are all important factors here. Our lifestyles may be such that we are to busy or we find it too difficult to balance out all these factors, for instance in the case of a balanced diet, we sometimes find this difficult to achieve not because we can not afford it, but because the time and knowledge required to put it together is not there especially in the modern world we live in where there is an abundance of junk food. This can however be remedied with the use of nutritional supplements. One must however, endeavour to maintain a healthy lifestyle and the keyword here is moderation.

3. Finally we look at external adornment, this relates to the clothes, perfumes, cosmetics and accessories we wear to enhance our beauty. In this case there is no one perfect solution, what suits you may not suit me what is important is to be comfortable with what you wear. Avoid coming across as being over dressed or painted up like a doll; make sure whatever you wear adds to your self esteem.

Beauty can be viewed in different ways but in essence to be described as truly beautiful entails a combination of different aspects of beauty. We are all inherently beautiful, but we need to enhance this raw beauty so that we add value to our being. This makes us better appreciated and love. Beauty enhancement can be achieved by recognising our inherent beauty and allow this to reflect in our attitudes; living a healthy lifestyle and with the use of appropriate clothing and accessories. I have heard people say beauty is relative, what is beautiful to one person may not be so to another, this may be correct for physical appearances but with regards to beauty, true beauty I totally disagree. True beauty is absolute it is either you have it or not and it is achieved by enhancing ones inherent beauty.