What is Beautiful Through Your Eyes? ~ Dyamond Robinson-Patlyek

This week on the blog I am hosting beauty week. What is beautiful through your eyes?

I want us to talk about beauty, to feel beauty, to be inspired by beauty. Beauty is something that we enjoy with all of our senses. With our hearts. I’ll be asking you to join the conversation over on FB and Twitter. I want to know what is beautiful through your eyes. Each day there will be a giveaway, simply leave a comment to enter to win.

I am surrounded by beautiful women, some who know their beauty, others just discovering it. My community is rich and layered.

On days when I feel blah, less than, all I need to do is look out to my community, the one that exists with the women who live around me and to my virtual community.

I need to get dressed, out of pajamas and into clothes that make my body feel beautiful. I've been known to wear yoga pants with an outrageously beautiful necklace and a face painted softly with organic make-up.

I need to move, to flow inside of yoga and then sit in the stillness of meditation, my Mala in hand.

The beauty of community is that we are never alone, even when we are by ourselves.

We are supported and held.

Dyamond makes Malas and jewelry for rebellious yogis and spiritual rockstars and they are beauty. She is beauty. Honest, real, vulnerable and strong. Dyamond is part of the loving online community that I am a part of.  I am grateful for her presence.

I was on Dyamond's FB page the other day and she had posted this, just one of the reasons being part of a beautiful community who lifts you up is vital.

A Hugging Meditation Practice
by Thich Nhat Hanh

When we hug, our hearts connect and we know that we are not separate beings. Hugging with mindfulness and concentration can bring reconciliation, healing, understanding, and much happiness.

You can practice hugging meditation with a friend, a child, your parents, or even a tree. To practice, first bow to each other and recognize each other's presence. Then, enjoy three deep, conscious breaths to bring yourself fully into the present moment. Next, open your arms and begin hugging, holding each other for three in-and-out-breaths.

With the first breath, become aware that you are present in this very moment and feel happy. With the second breath, become aware that the other person is present in this moment and feel happy as well. With the third breath, become aware that you are here together, right now on this Earth. We can feel deep gratitude and happiness for our togetherness. Finally, release the other person and bow to each other to show your thanks.

What is beautiful through your eyes?

Slender hairy legs and curvy thighs.

Beautiful sunrises and cloudy thundery nights.

The wail of a confused child and joyfully contagious laughter.
 
The smell of fresh oolong leaves, and week old leftovers. 
 
Heartache and newfound love. 
 
The ebb and flow of the universe.
 
The roller coaster of life. 
 
Beauty, is beauty, just because it exists as part of the whole. 
 
I try to see things as part of the natural rhythms of our source. 
 
And when I view the world through this lens, all things are beautiful because there is-
 
Synchronicity.
 
Unity.
 
Oneness.
 
And endless wave of love and emotion. 
 
Those qualities are in all things, we just have to stop looking so hard.
 
Dyamond is giving away a gorgeous Mala to one beautiful person. Oh yes, you will feel so loved in this. To enter to win, simply leave a comment below with an answer to this question:
 
What is beautiful about you?
(Winners from the week will be announced on Monday 5-21-2012!)