Take a moment to reflect on the most beautiful women you have
ever known! We are not talking about the artificial celebrities that we admire from afar. Think of someone who you have
always thought of as beautiful and gracious. What qualities do they possess. Analyze their looks in your
mind. Are their features all that perfect? Is their figure what we would all aspire to? Perhaps; perhaps not.
Often, their beauty, though undeniable and readily recognized is not what fashion magazines celebrate. Real beauty radiates
from within. It comes from an inner peace and reflects a genuine joy for being alive. Often these people possess
the ability to bring the best out in other people. Do you feel better just being in the presence of this person? Do
they make you feel more beautiful when you are near them? Just what is it that makes them different? How can you be
more like them? You can, you know.
Let's
examine some of the deeper qualities that reflect beauty. Notice the photo of the swan at the top of this section.
Why do we think swans are so beautiful? Do words like graceful and serene come to mind? These are qualities every lady
can develop. Certainly it will come more easily to some than others, but everyone has the capacity.
It has been shown repeatedly that music can soothe and create a tranquil environment.
This does not apply to all music. Some styles do the reverse. Some are actually composed to stimulate passionate
physical reactions. So, if you are going to try this experiment, you will have to select something this is calming.
Vast varieties of music are readily and cheaply available on the Internet and the convenient players make it possible to listen
to high quality recordings at any time and place. Try it and see. Do you find yourself relaxing and feeling more
serene?
Try to avoid actions
which in themselves suggest agitation. Don't drum your fingers or tap your foot impatiently. Try to sit quietly
and concentrate on relaxing. Think into the muscles. Start with your toes and gradually work your way to your
ankles, then calves, then knees and so on until you get to the top of your head. If you detect a muscle starting to
tense return to it in your mind and cause it to relax. Now, think how calm and serene you are. Chances are you will
even look different....even beautiful. The trick, of course, is to be able to be like this all the time. It will
take practice and reinforcement.
Next,
you will learn to project this serenity to others. When you can do this, they will see the beautiful you. Yes,
it takes work and you will slip from time to time as the external forces that stimulate chaos are very powerful. They can
be overcome.
Along with serene
we mentioned graceful to describe the swan. The surest way to develop physical grace is to study Ballet. Understandably,
this may not be a practical solution for you. You may find, though, that as you practice the exercise above, you become
more graceful physically. Try slowing your movements down a bit. Students of Ballet are instructed to "think into
the muscle". Just as you did with learning to relax, think into each muscle. In this case, however, you will
be moving the muscles. Try to make your movements more fluid and they will probably be more graceful at the same time.
We trust that by now, you are quite beautiful as a result of your exercises. However, this would be quite shallow indeed
if you did not now use this beauty to enhance the lives of others. Note that everything we have done in this article
so far has concentrated on the internal you which is now being successfully radiated externally. You are now ready to
reach out to others. We speak more about that in the October outreach tips, but it is appropriate here to follow through
with what we have begun. You must take an active interest in others without being intrusive. Put simply, notice
those around you. What seems important to them? Identify it and pick up on it. Here is an example. The cashier
ringing up your groceries is wearing a Denver teeshirt. There is now something you can say. "Oh, are you
from Denver? I have always wanted to go there." Notice the other person is not required to enter into a conversation
from this statement. It would be perfectly appropriate and polite to respond with a simple yes or no. You smile,
take you change and go on. BUT, there has been some personal contact. Painless but genuine. Perhaps the
most effective message is to smile. Practice smiling. Find a comfortable expression that you can put on your face
all the time. Not a big grin, just a simple smile. It will make you more approachable.......beautiful....and is
guaranteed to make you feel better. Once you have this expression comfortably mastered, apply it to your face regularly...even
when you are alone. You deserve to be beautiful even when no one else is around to see it.
