113 – Beauty influencers

So much is written about beauty. Kingdoms have been lost and gained. The price for perfection is exorbitant and sometimes devastating. This morning reading the newspaper, all I could read was about body shaming, how to look more radiant, what to eat and what to buy to look more attractive.

Where does the beauty come from

What draws us to people? What attracts us to them and why do we want to be with them. Our skin is the largest organ in our body and comments about our skin make many of us hurt, insecure or enraged. The whitening and tanning creams are applied at any cost. Why do we succumb to this subliminal brainwashing? What if we performed our asanas daily with the right attitude? Not seeking perfection, but breathing deeply, balancing our prana and chanting a mantra. Result we feel good about ourselves and our system is also toned up.

Next step we practice pranayama. Respiration is the only bodily function we can control, and that is why we can benefit ourselves. Take breath awareness, count your breath, and visualize the prana in your breath, when you are inhaling, and visualize the carbon dioxide being expelled, when you are exhaling. You are concentrating on the counting (counting backwards from 11, 27 or 54), making no errors because if you become distracted, you have to start again. Your breath is performing its normal functions without any commands as you are aware of your breath, you are concentrating on it by counting and you are visualizing the prana in your breath. You are not engaged with your thoughts and therefore you are restoring harmony to your system.

We are our own persons

It is our thoughts which are the influencers and they play havoc with us. We get affected by their impact on us. It is an ongoing process. The practice of asanas and pranayamas helps us to build our self-worth, unconsciously. When we see ourselves in the mirror, we see an individual in tune with her/himself. We are not sad or distressed. We are our own persons. What is happening is that our diligence devoted to the practice makes us comfortable and we exude confidence.

Swamiji said that sadhana created a new persona for us. And our true self emerged. We stride and are fearless. Also, the practice makes us aware of how to lead a healthy life style. Nobody is stipulating that we do this or that, we do it on our own volition. Check it out. Do not fall for the views of the influencers. Remember that you are what your thoughts make you. Shed the thoughts and be free.

Aim Hrim Klim

 

Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

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