The Secret to Radiating Beauty from Within

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The secret to Radiating Beauty from Within–How do some people look beautiful, sans makeup and in their workout clothes? It is a very simple tip, and you have it too.

Have you ever looked at someone who is not physically attractive, yet you still think: ‘Wow, she is so beautiful!’ What is this beauty, charm, and magnetism that makes this person attractive? Psychologist and life coach Beata Justkowiak gets the opinion and insights of mindfulness expert Pierre Gagnon on how true beauty is more than just physical attractiveness.

Beata: What does it mean by ‘beauty that radiates from within’?

Pierre: Humans are feeling creatures. A feeling is like a song playing in us—it is something that we all know and learn to recognize but if we’re not mindful, it can pass under the radar.

Feelings are at the source of what we think, say and do. We normally feel before we think. So we overestimate what happens at the surface—words, thoughts, actions—and underestimate what happens deep inside us—the song or the feeling that is constantly played. This is probably what we really mean by within.

The Secret to Radiating Beauty from Within

We all experience it—sometimes we see someone and there is something wrong, and we can tell that person is not at ease in life.

We are naturally attracted to people who reflect wellness, a certain sensation that these people are at ease within themselves. For me, that is what beauty within is all about.

 The secret to Radiating Beauty from Within–How do we become more aware of feelings?

Feelings are at the core of the contemplation practice. In a certain way, the breath itself is a feeling. The breath can convey a pleasant, unpleasant or neutral feeling.

We react to feelings instead of simply acknowledging their nature—they constantly change. Observing feelings is a little bit like experiencing a shower—it is like experiencing millions of small drops of water running on the body.

Just the awareness of feelings is a pleasant experience—it brings us right in the moment. We become more aware of feelings simply by listening to what is happening in the body, instead of living in a world of thoughts and perceptions.

The secret to Radiating Beauty from Within–What happens when we react to feelings?

When we react to feelings, we reject the biological reality we are living. We could say that the mind has two problems: it wants pleasant feelings to last forever, and it wants unpleasant feelings to stop right now.

The mind asks for something biologically impossible. When the mind stops doing that, we develop a sense of contentment that is inner beauty. It doesn’t mean we have no ambition anymore or decide to do nothing, but simply that we know that we are more than what we do, have or think—we are inner beauty.

Beata spoke with Pierre Gagnon, a repentant economist who now teaches mindfulness meditation at Thanyapura. Pierre gets his rush from boot camps and tennis enjoys smiling at people and loves seeing people’s lives transformed by mindfulness practice.