Make Beauty Not War
In yoga philosophy there are guidelines for living a beautiful, spiritual life called the yamas and niyamas. The first yama is ahimsa, which refers to non-violence. Ahimsa encourages the spiritual seeker to be non-violent in thought, word and deed – with one another as well as with oneself. One of the benefits of a yoga and/or mediation practice is that a person can become more mindful of their inner dialogue. Observing how you talk to yourself from a non-judgmental stance, you will begin to notice the quality of this self-talk and whether or not you are following the principle of ahimsa through non-violent thought.
9 of Swords Thoth Tarot Deck
Negative, violent self-talk is one of the most pervasive tapes in the mind of someone who is disconnected from their beauty. These thoughts can take the form of bad body thoughts or shame, inadequacy and worthlessness. This type of internal dialogue creates a war zone in our soul. In the tarot deck, the 9 of Swords represents this concept as self-cruelty. The image on this card from the Thoth deck depicts nine swords with blood dripping off them. The message of the card is that our self-judging and self-critical mind actively wounds our spirit through thought. Angeles Arrien says, “The spirit weeps in the background, wondering why you are being so hard on yourself.”
Self-compassion is beauty and is the antidote to negative self-talk, paired with questioning the underlying beliefs about oneself that are at the root of this negative self-talk. Compassion can be defined as the desire to alleviate the suffering of others – so self-compassion is the desire to alleviate our own suffering. Our suffering cannot be healed by self-judgment, which perpetuates shame and suffering, but rather self-understanding, inner empathy and love.
The benefit of freeing oneself from inner violence is not only to develop a more kind and loving relationship with oneself, but also to free your energy to make a positive impact in the world. Ask yourself, “What would I be doing with my energy if I weren’t so focused on bad body thoughts, shame, inadequacy or worthlessness?” Free your energy and passion to make a difference in this world – to make beauty.
Make Beauty, Not War is a Reclaiming Beauty call to make peace with yourself in order to gain access to your unique gifts, talents and passions to make a positive impact in the world.
Women have a unique set of skills to impact the world in a positive way. The world is longing for our powerful expression of compassion, nurturing, intuition, sensitivity… It is my belief that these qualities of the archetypal feminine principle can heal the maladies of our global society. I recommend reading the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by journalists Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. This book is intense, challenging and inspiring – exploring the oppression of women and girls worldwide and ways women have led the movement in taking action and making change. This book is a wake-up call for us all that what our world needs more than ever is women, freed from the self-judgment that paralyzes us, to feel empowered to take a stand and make a change.
Here are some further resources I recommend for exploring the ideas behind the Reclaiming Beauty call to Make Beauty Not War:
Inner Empathy: Opening to the Heart of Self-Compassion
Self-Compassion: A Healthier Way of Relating to Yourself
The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion
If you feel inspired, please share your experiences with cultivating self-compassion, or the beauty you are making in the world with the Reclaiming Beauty community by emailing Heidi at heidi@reclaimingbeauty.com
Follow the Make Beauty Not War and Self-Compassion Beauty Marks to share in the experiences of the Circle of Women.
Below are two Goddesses from Doreen Virtue’s Goddess Guidance Oracle Cards to inspire Self-Compassion.
