Do you ever wonder...?

Do you ever wonder how beautiful people would be if you could see their thoughts and judgments in their mind? Would this change your definition of beautiful? How do you define beautiful? What if everyone wore their inner ‘beauty’ on the outside? What would that look like?

I was sitting at dinner and all of these thoughts and questions came running through my head. I’ve come to realize how tainted people’s views of beautiful are these days. Does that designer bag really make that person beautiful? Do their size 0 jeans make them beautiful? How about that tan? Or is it their thoughts, how they treat people, and how they make people feel that makes them beautiful? Are they inspiring you and others around you (and no… not for fitspo, I mean seriously providing inspiration for your goals and dreams)? What about motivating you to be a better person? I just think of all the things I truly admire about the people closest to me, and I realized that none of them are based on their external attributes. Sure, they are all beautiful from the outside no doubt, but the reasons I truly surround myself with them and gravitate towards them are all but related to their external ‘beauty.’ They are compassionate, loving, loyal, kind, altruistic, and much more.

How is it that beauty has taken on a certain definition in today’s world? Is it the media spend? Is it societal constructs? I don’t know the answer here, but my mind is intrigued at how concepts and ideas around beauty have been formed.

Nevertheless, I am a firm believer that I can always improve myself. I love self-help books, meditation, women’s talks, yoga…you name it. But a lot of these areas where I think I can improve myself are mostly internal. It’s the dialogue inside my mind. How am I talking to myself in my head? How am I talking and thinking about others? How are my thoughts shaping the energy I am radiating around me? Am I bringing light, joy and positivity to those around me? Am I inspiring people, or am I merely existing? Am I judging or am I being open minded? I feel like with all of this I am running against society in a sense. Even though all the things I just mentioned are valued in today’s world, they don’t seem to outweigh the weight we’ve been placing on external beauty. Maybe this is just my own perception and I am totally open to discussing this to hear other POV because I am genuinely curious.

I feel like as a society, we need to focus less on outer beauty (since that seems to be 99% of the focus these days), and add more weight back towards inner beauty. What is a person bringing to the table besides their looks? How would this person look if their outer beauty was truly a reflection of their inner thoughts? Would this person still be beautiful?

Let me know your thoughts :)

Meditation

The Start of Something New

I needed a life kick start a few weeks back and since I really admire Tim Ferriss, I decided to listen to his podcast ‘5 Morning Rituals That Help Me Win The Day’ on my way to work.  One of Tim’s morning rituals is meditation; something I have always considered trying but never really had time for. I was always too busy or wanted to sleep in an extra ten minutes. I honestly think I came up with every excuse in the book. Lately, I realized my life has become increasingly busy and I haven’t had any time to decompress, clear my head, or be mindful to the world around me. This was a clear sign to me I needed to try something to bring back my sense of clarity and calmness, and meditation seemed like a great remedy. 

Ten Minutes LAter

Ten minutes. 600 seconds. That’s .00694 of your day to dedicate to mediating. It’s really not that much time when you put it in to perspective, but it’s this little amount of time that can make a big difference throughout your day and your life. There are many different meditation practices, but as a beginner I decided to start with the free Headspace app (crazy that we use technology as a means for meditation right? Seems counter intuitive but it works!) I was skeptical at first, but remained open-minded to the process of meditating. I had no clue how to meditate, but thankfully, the Headspace app sessions are guided and walk you through breathing and how to be mindful of your thoughts, feelings and surroundings. Before you know it the ten minutes are up and you have a revived sense of self and your surroundings to conquer the day.

Benefits

Many people may laugh or scoff at the idea of meditating, but let me assure you that there are several benefits that come with meditation. Meditating lowers blood pressure, improves your immune system, decreases insomnia, allows for mental clarity, increases your serotonin levels, and much more. “With meditation, the physiology undergoes a change and every cell in the body is filled with more prana (energy). This results in joy, peace, enthusiasm as the level of prana in the body increases.” I guess it’s no surprise that some of the world’s most successful and influential people meditate, including Oprah Winfrey, Katy Perry, Marc Benioff, Arianna Huffington and more.

If you don’t have enough vacation time or money to escape from the hustle and bustle of life or are just simply feeling overwhelmed, download the Headspace app and allow yourself to refocus and recharge through meditation. If you don’t like it, you can always delete the app, but chances are this might just change your daily outlook on life and become a part of your daily routine.