Much is written about the search for outer beauty. My life is about exulting the virtues of dressing well, living well and taking care of our skin and bodies. But what about inner beauty? Can you truly be beautiful outside if you are ugly within? And what constitutes inner beauty? Is it our personalities/mental outlook or is it our health/physical well-being? Well with TV shows like True Beauty and even America’s Next Top Model as well as innumerable others seeking to define just that question, I am tossing my proverbial hat in the ring.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is one of the worlds most famous idioms. It’s most often attributed to William Shakespeare but actually dates back to the 3rd Century. Justice Potter Stewart once tried to explain pornography, or what is obscene this way; “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced.. but I know it when I see it…” Beauty is much like this. And trying to define inner beauty? Well you’d have to define what inner beauty means to you.
Here are 5 things you can do to find beauty, enlightenment or maybe just drop a few pounds quickly because I believe when you do good or feel good, you look good too.
Literally beautiful on the inside:
If you aren’t healthy on the inside you can not be healthy out. As we know what we eat directly contributes to our physical and mental state. If you don’t feel good you can’t look good. When I’m feeling sluggish and blah nothing makes me feel better than the C-word. Go to a holistic spa and have a colonic. I suggest We Care Spa or Two Bunch Palms in Desert Springs, Ca. Try the Crystal Sonic Treatment at Two Bunch. If it’s good enough for Gisele Bundchen and Leonardo DiCaprio, two of the world’s most beautiful people, it’s good enough for us, right?
Now colonics are not for the faint of heart. (And shouldn’t be entered into lightly.) A colonic is the infusion of water into the rectum by a colon therapist to cleanse and flush out the colon. Did you know you could have as much as 20 lbs of fecal matter in your colon? Did you know that a system that works eliminates itself 3, sometimes 4 times a day? If you aren’t regular it could lead to sickness and disease. Before embarking on this journey I suggest you do some research. http://altmedicine.about.com is a great resource for info on colonics.
If you can’t afford a few days away at a fancy spa or a colonic, I suggest doing the Master Cleanse. The Master Cleanse, also called the Lemonade Diet, was created by alternative medicine guru Stanley Burroughs in 1941. Now we all know Beyonce did it to get thin for Dreamgirls and both Ashton and Demi are famous fans. It’s a liquid diet made of spring water, fresh lemons, grade B maple syrup and cayenne pepper, as well as a laxative tea. No solid food is eaten during the cleanse.
I’ve done the Master Cleanse several times. It works. It’s a quick fix and if you go back to eating the way you did before starting the Master Cleanse, as with any diet, the weight is going to come back. It’s hard. It’s a mental challenge. The diet really makes you examine the way you see food and your relationship to it. We humans eat for a lot of reasons and most often not because we are hungry. It’s not pleasant but I’ve lost 2 to 4 pounds in a day on the Master Cleanse and you want to do it for 7 to 10 days. It’s really about cleansing the colon. You eliminate a lot of waste and lose a lot of weight. You feel lighter and cleaner in ways you can’t imagine.
Find enlightenment:
Sometimes inner beauty is about seeking enlightenment or searching to better yourself. I keep 2 books near me at all times that help to keep me grounded when life gets to be too much.
The Little Prince was written in the 40’s by French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It’s one of the most popular books of all time, having been translated from French into 180 languages. It’s been adapted into movies, for the stage and even an opera. My mother read me The Little Prince as a child and it represents both home & bravery for me. The Little Prince was very brave. He left home and on the journey learned about himself and discovered the true meaning of love as well as how to give it and receive it.
The Little Prince is filled with some of the most gorgeous quotes ever written about life, love and the search for happiness:
“Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.”
“True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.”
And my favorite; “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler was published in 1998. Mr. Cutler is a psychiatrist who asked the Dalai Lama questions and recorded the answers. The Art of Happiness is about how one’s outlook can change how we perceive things. It combines “2500 years of Buddhist wisdom, combined with modern science & a healthy dose of common sense.” When you read it, you really feel like what your mama told you as child was true, “chose to be happy.” Or as Iyanla Vanzant, author of another of my favorite inspirational books, In The Meantime, says “re-language it.” Look for the good in a bad situation and do the work to be better “Your willingness to look at your darkness is what empowers you to change.”
And the biggest thing we can do to be beautiful on the inside:
Giving of ourselves is what makes humans, human. In a success driven world it’s very easy to be me, me, me. But what about others? And no, giving time and help to family & friends though wonderful, isn’t enough. What about helping those you don’t know? We are all part of the same World, the same life. If one person suffers, don’t we all? Think of life as energy. If we put out positive energy and help those around us be better and change their energy doesn’t that come back to us?
Project Angel Food is a Los Angeles based charity that provides hot nutritious meals for people suffering from life-threatening diseases. Since 1989, Project Angel Food has prepared and delivered more than 5.7 million meals. For the past four years I have been part of The Angel Mafia. No, we don’t go around whacking people. The Angel Mafia is comprised of actors, singers, writers & reality stars. In 4 years The Angel Mafia has raised almost $80,000 for Project Angel Food. I’ve not just participated in their annual Bowling For Angels event, or shopped at the Divine Design event, I’ve also worked in the kitchen helping to prepare meals. It’s an important charity and it makes me feel good to be a part of it.