What characterises inner beauty?

"It's the inner beauty that counts. Who hasn't heard this sentence while doubting their looks? We talk a lot about inner beauty without really knowing what it is, as if it were elusive. What characterises inner beauty? How does it benefit us and others? How can we take care of it?

What is inner beauty?

There is no precise definition of inner beauty because it encompasses so many things. We all have a part of inner beauty in each of us because we are born with it. Inner beauty is the image that we have of ourselves and that we reflect to others. It is not the image we project through our physical appearance alone, but the image we project through our inner self. These are all the qualities that make us good to ourselves and to others:

Listening ;
Empathy;
Generosity;
Understanding ;
Trust in oneself and in others;
Solidarity;
Love of self and love for others;
Kindness.

Inner beauty encompasses so many important aspects of feeling good about oneself and others that it is difficult to live without it. This is why it is often said that physical beauty is not everything. The rest comes from inner beauty.

How to take care of your inner beauty?

To take care of your inner beauty, it is necessary to go and meet yourself and your inner self. If we want others to find us beautiful inside and out, we must first of all love ourselves. Self-confidence is the essential element that gives us access to our inner beauty. The problem is that not all of us have access to it because of a number of factors that can undermine our confidence and self-esteem. People with low self-esteem and lack of confidence develop defence mechanisms that are incompatible with inner beauty. The child is not basically vicious. Unfortunately, education and certain painful life events can rob us of this capacity to love ourselves and others. So how can we rediscover this inner beauty? By going to meet ourselves. This is not a simple process for everyone because no one taught us how to do it. In fact, from a very young age, we are taught to go towards others but never to go towards ourselves. How can we do this? "To take care of our inner beauty requires a psycho-corporal work which aims at making us aware of our capacities and all our facets in order to regain our self-confidence.

Taking care of yourself

The more you take care of yourself, the better you feel and the more you are able to take care of others and thus share your inner beauty. In concrete terms, this means listening to our physical and mental needs: eating well to feel better in our body, resting when we are tired, taking it easy when we feel stressed, doing sport to release tension, going to the hairdresser when we want a change, redoing our wardrobe when we are tired of our clothes, etc. Finding balance means listening to everything that can relax a person's body and mind, and which, by cause and effect, will help maintain or develop their beauty.

By regaining your self-confidence

The anchoring exercise. This consists of concentrating on a pleasant situation each time negative thoughts pollute your mind and make you doubt. To identify this pleasant moment, sit down in a quiet place and close your eyes. Concentrate on your breathing and recall a positive memory from your life. Relive it in your mind with all the details that make it up. This will make you feel good and valued. Then, whenever your confidence is challenged in the future, you will think of that positive memory. It will be your resource as an anchor to silence those sentences that have paralysed your actions.

By responding to your emotions

To repress your emotions is not to accept who you really are. Putting them at a distance only maintains an unhappiness, a real enemy of inner beauty. We think we are protecting ourselves by avoiding feeling or expressing, but in reality we are hurting ourselves. Stop running away from your emotions. When anger, stress or sadness overwhelm you, welcome them! Our minds and bodies make us feel them for a reason: to help us move forward. For example, when you are angry, settle down with abdominal breathing. Go to meet that anger to find out what it wants you to say. Anger arises when a need has not been expressed,. Identifying that need and doing everything you can to meet it will relieve that anger.
If you make a habit of doing this introspective exercise every time you are in a difficult situation, you will be better able to manage your negative emotions and, above all, to get rid of them so as not to pollute your inner beauty.

The more you feel in tune with yourself, the more receptive others will be to your inner beauty.