Whole Beauty: Meditation & Mindfulness

Ritual

Beautifying ourselves holistically is an integral part of self-care, health, and healing. In our modern, fast-paced era, women are stressed and under more pressure than ever before, and as a result have lost the essence of being sensual in many ways. Sensuality is about having a connection to yourself—your soul—indulging in all the things that make you feel alive and beautiful. Approaching beauty with reverence and ritual can help awaken your feminine fire and stoke the flames of vibrancy and passion. When we treat our body, our vessel, with intention, we are honoring not just ourselves but the essence of femininity that has coursed through us since the beginning of time.

Ritual is at the heart of every aspect of this book, and it is the simplest and biggest way you can honor yourself and enhance your well-being. It is the difference between rushing through a shower or bath and consciously connecting with your body; between hastily splashing on body oil and taking the time to indulge your senses and anoint yourself; between speeding through your bedtime routine and savoring it with gratitude. Mindfulness and intention are the only requirements for turning a routine into a ritual. They will transform self-care from a chore into an act of love. Creating rituals to acknowledge and induce pleasure is a form of religion, a way to care as much for the soul as for the skin. Beauty that does not penetrate beyond the first, physical layer will fade, but beauty that comes from being nourished and balanced spiritually, emotionally, and physically radiates from the eyes, hair, and every pore. Ritual helps us to create a beautiful face and a beautiful life.

Creating a Sacred Space

The temples on either side of the forehead are reminders that we can create temples (sacred places) wherever we go just by closing our eyes and imagining them—no money or design experience needed.

However, I do think that actually creating a sacred space in your home can make you feel closer to the rituals and awaken your desire to do more. Your sacred space can be a whole room or a tiny altar on a table, but it will become the place where you apply your beauty masks, meditate, do yoga, read cards, write in your journal, or set intentions for the new moon.

An altar is the place where you'll go to connect to the source of all being and hone your intuition. As women, we're inclined to create atmosphere, we're inclined to create beauty around us, we're inclined toward being sensitive to our environment, and altars are a beautiful way to honor these inclinations.

Altars represent your life. When you clean the altar, you can imagine you're cleaning your life. When you offer flowers or fruit or incense, you're offering those to your life. Anything you do for the altar is also a meditation and intention for your life.

I have a few different altars. One is a nature altar, which is where I keep my crystals and things from the natural world. My children and I will add flowers in the springtime, seashells in the summer, fallen leaves in autumn, and pinecones in the winter. I have an altar to my womb, which is just a very simple space on the floor with a candle, a big rose quartz, and a beautiful piece of silk fabric. I'll light incense there, and this is where I'll sit to do my yoni egg exercises (see here). I have an altar for mother energy and the sacred feminine, and an altar where I practice Nichiren Buddhism. Altars should embody the idea of creating a sacred space that's just for you. An altar alters you. Virginia Woolf said that every woman needs a room of her own. I think we can adapt that sentiment and say that every woman needs an altar of her own.

Making Your Own Altar

Your altar can be as malleable and ever-changing as you are. You are not always in the same mood, dealing with the same difficulties, or pursuing the same goals, so you can adapt your altar to reflect whatever you need to honor or bring into your life at that specific point in time. There is no right or wrong way to build an altar, and the best way to do it is to let your intention guide you.

You may include any or all of the following on your altar.

• Crystals

• Flowers

• Pictures of loved ones

• Images of goddesses

• Family mementos (like a beloved relative's jewelry, or something made by your children)

• Things found in nature (rocks, feathers, shells, sticks)

• A bowl of coins (symbolizing abundance)

• Incense

• Essential oils

• A mirror (helpful for doing beauty rituals in front of the altar)

• Candles (choose the color depending on what emotion you want to bring in, a practice adopted from Wiccan literature; see opposite)