Everyone wants to feel beautiful. A golden rule we don’t often realize is that when you keep your body, mind and soul healthy, you achieve greater beauty – and it’s the real deal because it comes from within and never goes out of style. Follow these beauty commandments from Authentic Beauty guest columnist Cassie Brewer to achieve timeless beauty.
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1. I Will Celebrate My Body
Are you punishing your body without even realizing it? This could take various forms, such as smoking packs of cigarettes daily, drinking lots of alcohol or taking drugs, eating fatty or junk foods, or even allowing negative self-criticism towards your body to bloom. Perhaps you feel you’re not good, smart, pretty enough and so you put yourself down. All these activities take their toll on you and become a vicious cycle. If you don’t value yourself in your thoughts, your actions will follow. Take pride in who you are and how your body is a temple that helps you live your best life. Make the choice to nurture instead of destroy your body. Follow a healthy lifestyle by looking at everything you put in your body as being something that either nurtures or destroys: fruit, that’s packed with antioxidants, will nurture, for instance; cigarette smoke that is filled with carcinogens, on the other hand, will destroy.
2. I Will See the Miracles Inside Me
We take so much for granted, not just about the world but ourselves. And yet, being able to see, breathe, smell, laugh and have thoughts are all miracles! Start viewing your body as performing miracles every day and this will change your perspective. You will have so much more grace, appreciation, and self-worth which will make you happier and attract those qualities into your life. If you see your body as a miraculous entity, this will also make you respect it more, which will have positive consequences for your outward appearance. You will start to see the beauty that is on the outside. You will see your assets, instead of what you don’t like, and accentuate these with skincare and beauty tips – rather than trying to change or ignore the beauty you’ve been given.
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3. I Will Let My Light Shine on the Outside
As the expression goes: sometimes you’ve got to fake it ’til you make it. If you’re not feeling positive or confident, this can be reflected in your image. For instance, you might not do much with your hair or perhaps dress in dark, baggy clothing that pulls you out of the spotlight. You don’t have to be a prisoner of your emotions, though. In the same way that how we feel can affect how we look, how we look can have an effect – either positive or negative – on our inner world. Have you ever worn an item of clothing that you didn’t particularly feel comfortable in? Chances are you felt terrible all day when around people. If you’re feeling bad to begin with and you put on clothes or your favorite diamond ring that always boosts your confidence, you can shift those feelings and make way for some inner light to shine, which has the bonus of highlighting your external beauty.
4. I Will Be My Own Kind of Beautiful
Societal rules for beauty are inconsistent and often make us attempt to achieve unattainable ideals. However, even if we do manage to fulfill these expectations in the eyes of others, it will leave us unsatisfied because outer beauty on its own is not enough to make us feel good about ourselves. If it were, then no beautiful celebrities would suffer from depression and self-esteem issues. Being proud of your unique beauty is about taking care of yourself so that you can be the best you can be. Exercise if you want to lose a few pounds, but do it for you -not to look like a photoshopped image in a magazine. Brighten up your skin if you battle with an uneven skin tone so that you can glow. Wear makeup to express yourself, not because you feel you have to. The goal is to flaunt your highest potential, without thinking that you have to reach a standard of beauty that doesn’t even exist.
Love your body and spirit and allow them to work in sync so that you can feel your best. When you align your inner and outer worlds, you will be effortlessly beautiful.
Guest Column by Cassie Brewer (A makeup artist and freelance writer living in sunny Southern California.) She writes about diet and wellness in order to help others not only be beautiful on the outside, but radiant on the inside. You can follow her on Twitter here.
