Recently, I took a workshop on Ayurveda and Beauty….an interesting subject exploring the age old question on what makes someone beautiful? The desire to be beautiful is deeply ingrained in the human psyche. Many women think beauty will make them happy, but the reverse is true, without happiness beauty is an unobtainable goal. I like the saying “there is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness.”

If you want lasting beauty we as women must create a whole and happy inner life so every cell in our bodies joins in. This creates vitality, vibrancy and grace, poise and confidence. Beauty does not need to be associated with age, or our rather debauched images of beauty in the magazines, but with joie de vivre or our vital life force. This inner vibrancy or what Ayurveda knows as Ojas (the end product of healthy development of body tissues) is the body’s natural immunity. These Ojas are present naturally when we are young and diminish with age, however can be replenished.

How can we increase our Ojas? We can do this through oil massage, meditation, herbal tonics, ghee, improving our digestion and elimination. Maintaining this equilibrium through healthy eating habits, our breathe, our thoughts and even our purpose, all increases our vital life force.

So let us all shine, with our own uniqueness, as we are all beautiful in our own way.

“For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. The beauty of a woman with passing years only grows”….not sure who saying this is but I like it!