As you earn the badge of maturity, many things are sacrificed along the way. Innocence, idealism, physical and mental agility, dewiness and skin elasticity – these are just some of the collaterals of age.
These losses manifest themselves in your appearance. Your eyes no longer shine with the hope of a bright future. Your responsibilities and frustrations stoop your shoulders, a heavy burden to carry. Your heartaches and disappointments shroud your aura, lending an inexplicable dullness to your hair and skin.
Your years on the planet will do that, right? It’s just part of aging.
Then how come you see people your age, or even older, positively glowing with youthful joy and vivacity?
True Beauty
There is a saying that beauty is only skin deep. Although the real aim of the adage is to not put too much importance on physical appearance, it’s still misleading and inaccurate. Beauty might have an outward reflection, but it definitely stems from deeper sources, and it’s not something that age or other incidentals can cause to fade away.
Now, the other saying about beauty being in the eye of the beholder may have more merit, but then again, it’s also open to dispute. You may have personal preferences as to the features that attract you, but as you get older, you get better at discerning a beautiful character and learn to appreciate it more.
You’ll find that a genuinely beautiful person on the inside attracts everybody. And that inner beauty shines from within, hence the glow.
Achieving the Glow
To be truly beautiful, you need to instill harmony in the different aspects of your person – the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. According to the sages, the most beautiful people are those who live passionately, love wholeheartedly, speak sincerely, and commit to who they are confidently.
In working toward the glow, you obviously need to start with the unseen. How do you make your mind and spirit beautiful?
1. Declutter your life.
Are you carrying around a lot of junk? Nothing extinguishes your inner light quite like emotional baggage. Forgive the past and let go of the people who bring you grief.
2. Expose yourself to good things.
Whatever you perceive becomes a part of you. You can’t unsee or unhear things you’ve been exposed to, so take care to surround yourself with beauty and shun negativity. You’ll be more inclined to develop your creativity and be yourself a source of beauty and inspiration.
3. Unplug and immerse yourself in nature.
It’s hard to tune inward and be truly conscious when you’re always feeding yourself digital chatter and losing yourself in an artificial world. Being in nature is just being. It’s a wonderful way to nourish the soul.
4. Be thankful and bless others.
As much as you love being blessed, you must remember to acknowledge the blessing and do what you can to share the blessing with others.
5. Practice mindfulness and consciously choose joy.
Meditate daily to condition yourself to react positively no matter the situation. Train your mind to not be overwhelmed by the strains of modern living.
By breathing deeply and concentrating, you release endorphins, the happy hormones, making a joyful mindset easier.
Reinforcing the Inner Glow
Having worked on the core, you can now start moving outwards. There are natural, free, and wholesome practices that allow your inner glow to emanate more brightly.
For clear skin glowing with good health, make sure you do the following.
1. Follow a healthy diet.
Make a habit of eating whole foods that are nutrient-dense but easy to digest. Stay away from heavy foods like fast food filled with chemicals and artificial additives. This will leave you feeling dull and sluggish. With fresh and healthy food, you will feel light and energized.
Remember that you are what you eat, so don’t consume junk food.
2. Get good quality sleep.
If you want to get your beauty sleep, then it has to be:
- At the proper hour – The liver works its repair magic from the hours of 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., so it’s best that you’re already in deep sleep around this time.
- Long enough – You need a certain number of hours of sleep (seven to eight for adults) to be sufficiently restored.
- In total darkness – Melatonin is the darkness hormone that signals to the body that it’s time to rest. Light messes with your melatonin production and your body’s internal sleep clock.
3. Hydrate with water.
Water plays a big role in many of your bodily functions, one of which is waste elimination. Regular flushing out of toxins from the body helps improve complexion. The presence of toxins in your body is made evident on your skin, so to look healthy, you have to be healthy.
You can tell that you’re well hydrated when your pee is light colored and clear. If it appears dark and cloudy, then you need to drink more water and make more frequent trips to the bathroom.
4. Cleanse your system regularly.
Living on this planet, exposure to unwholesome substances can’t be helped. You may consume processed foods from time to time, undergo stressful situations, use chemical-laden beauty products, et cetera. Before you reach overload, make sure you detox.
There are different ways to go about this. You could fast, do a liquid cleanse, or follow an equivalent temporary diet. The point is to clean your body of harmful agents.
5. Have a fitness habit.
This is another important process of waste elimination. You can flush out those toxins through your sweat. Beside detoxification, exercise also gets your blood flowing and your heart pumping. It’s an essential component of a healthy living lifestyle.
There’s a saying that horses sweat, gentlemen perspire, and ladies glow. No matter the terminology, sweating does help you achieve glowing skin.
The Bottom Line
Young or old, regardless of the features you were born with, you are made more appealing by that special glow that comes from a healthy body, a positive mindset, and a beautiful spirit.
