Redefining Beauty

What do you think of when you hear the word beauty? Is it something you tune into everyday? Is it just something frivolous? Is it maybe an ideal that you feel you'll never reach? Is it something purely external? Truth is - beauty has no beginning, and beauty has no end. And it's everywhere always - all it takes is a shift in perception to see.If you call to mind the delicate light of the sun setting over the ocean - you see how it plays within the transparent waters - creating that breathtaking iridescence. That can't happen if the water becomes a solid color like a rock - it's shimmering radiance comes from it's vulnerable transparency. Just like the oceans, there is a transparency within you; it emerges when the walls of protection we build come down. And when that raw, vulnerable transparency is unveiled, the shimmering light of inspiration dances across your entire being. You swim in the iridescent waters of your own beauty - and of the beauty of the world around you.The beauty of who you truly are is an intangible essence that comes from within. Just like the subtle play of the setting sun across the waters of the ocean - the subtle play of your essence with your inspiration, confidence, courage, desires, and dreams plays across the canvas of your being.Below you will find a beautiful list of resources to support you in peeling back those walls shielding you to true beauty, so that you can live in the continual glow of the truest beauty of who you are.

Journal Prompt -

What does it look like for me to take my internal beauty and express it outwardly?

Book We Love -

Barbara Barry's Around Beauty is my all time favorite book.Her perspective on beauty is that it is her muse. Her inspiration. The axis around which her whole life spins. A favorite quote from Barbara herself below:"The awareness of everyday beauty - seeing the extraordinary in what I once thought ordinary - has transformed my life. When I live with beauty, when I see it and actually stop to take it in, I am changed for the better; somehow beauty softens me. Just as true is the opposite: Too long removed from beauty, I suffer. It's not simply what fuels my life; it's what fills my life, making it rich in ways that surprise me all the time, wherever I am."To grab a copy of this stunning book - click here.

Video We Love -

If beauty starts from within, what happens when what you feel that what is within is impossible to match the outside expression? You get the joy and the opportunity to be a co-creator.This beautiful TEDTalk from transgender model Geena Rocero is a beautiful example of what it means to allow beauty to begin from within.

Thing We Love -

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Photo via Affirmats[/caption]One of the best ways we know how to take down those walls and connect to beauty every day is yoga and meditation. Time spent cleansing the mind. Time spent opening up the heart. Time spent loving and embracing every last part of the vastness that you are!And it's almost impossible to make that time any better than it is on its own, but Affirmmats has done it with their affirmation stamped, eco friendly yoga mats!They have several pre-formatted ones, and also the option to create your own.Click here to learn more & grab your own!

Animal Totem -

The dragonfly spends its days inhabiting two world - the water and the air. We, too, spend our days inhabiting two worlds - our minds and our Earth.Dragonflies remind us that, at its core, our mind is light - meaning we are light - and that we can reflect that light in powerful ways if we choose to do so. Reflect it in ways that lead to healing, to compassion, to forgiveness, and to possibility.Dragonflies will always remind us that only with spiritual and emotional maturity can true beauty be brought forth - it is not about instant fixes on the outside, but a slow uncovering on the inside.Their mantra: let there be light. Allow your inner light to illuminate the whole world - and know, this is the essence of true beauty.

Chakra -

The second chakra is the center of creative life force. Tapping into the second chakra allows one to feel deeply into that space of please, joy and reverence for the cultivation of that inner beauty.For, ultimately, as Barbara Barry reminds us, beauty is a muse. It is meant to inspire us into our hearts to find the next addition to our collective creation.To stimulate the second chakra energy this month - slow down. Let even the most mundane things like brushing your teeth, paying your bills, getting gas, whatever it may be, become an opportunity to tap into joy, to tap into beauty, to tap into that deep sense of satisfaction that comes with presence.

Crystal We Love -

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Photo via Mojan.com[/caption]Angel Aura Quartz holds the energy of joy, optimism, and beauty.As we've been talking about, beauty comes from within - and this stone holds that space for us to take that pause to go within and tap back into the magic that is all around us!I mean, just look at it, it's stunning! This month, grab a few Angel Aura Quartz stones and set them in the spaces you have the hardest time staying connected to that deep sense of inner beauty - your bathroom, your closet, maybe your office desk - and see what happens!Cheers to your month of redefining what beauty means and looks like to you!Blue skies,Josh