A few books and thinkers in particular have inspired the Slow Beauty® thesis. In A Different Voice by Carol Gilligan, Women Who Run with the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, and Partnership Society by Riane Eisler. Together, their ideas and the ideas of others, inspire us to prioritize our well-being, develop a strong identity and sense of self, find (or rediscover) and use our voice (inner and outer) from a position of strength, connect with and comfortably express our instinctual, wild-natured essence, and stand in partnership with others in the world for meaningful and purposeful connection. Slow Beauty® remains consistently and thoughtfully in open and inclusive dialogue about feminism and femininity.

“There is a deep beauty within each person. Modern culture is obsessed with cosmetic perfection. Beauty is standardized; it has become another product for sale. In its real sense, beauty is the illumination of the soul.” -John O’Donohue, Anam Cara

Beauty is inherently spiritual, although that certainly isn’t what is being reflected in the imagery of beauty being sold to us. The beauty we see in our culture today has undertones (not to mention overtones) of pornography, violence, sexism, and misogyny. People have been railing against how women are being portrayed in the media for years - yet, still, not much has changed. In fact, according to Jean Kilbourne, gender expert for women’s rights who has been at the forefront of this dialogue for over forty years, nothing has changed. In fact, she has said that it has actually gotten worse.

How do we evolve and deepen our understanding of beauty so that it is authentically and optimistically expressed? How do we move from a mindset of competition, commoditization, sexualization, and surveillance to sensualization, robust self-esteem, expressions and exchanges of love, joy and health?

“After modernism and postmodernism comes sustanism.” -Michel Schwarz and Joost Elfers Sustanism is the new modernism.

Why is this idea of our own inner pace a cornerstone of the Slow Beauty® philosophy and so important to self-care?

Healthy is beautiful. If we are going to be aspirational, healthiest is our ultimate goal. But getting to that healthiest, most beautiful version of ourself doesn’t happen overnight. We start by aiming for healthy and build on that, with patience and presence we are on this path, in process.

Slow Beauty® is a way of reframing our ideas and ideals about beauty and expanding our definition of beauty to include health and well-being, and the acknowledgment and actualization of our inner life. It is about innovating our approach to beauty in such a way that we leave behind the concept of beauty as we have known and experienced it. It is about abandoning altogether our ideas that have us chasing perfectionism and fighting the aging process and replacing them with ideas that are more supportive and sustainable, and compassionate to our self, others and nature.

“Everything teems with richness, everything aspires to ascend, and be purified. Everything sings, celebrates, serves, develops, evolves, uplifts, aspires to be arranged in oneness.” - Abraham Isaac Kook

Let’s think about the diversity of our emotional relationship with the world. There are both intellectual and emotional ways to relate to the world, but we are so judgmental about the range of emotions we are allowed to express. There are the “good” emotions we are allowed and even pushed to reveal, like enthusiasm, happiness, gratitude. And the others, well, those are relegated to some distant, dusty corner deep within and buried under layers of other unacceptable emotions, where they wait, festering, and may explode at any moment because we have no forum through which to process them.

This aspect of Slow Beauty® explores the beautiful concepts of Internal Family Systems and Polyvagal Theory to help those who have experienced trauma heal and recover to live fully with purpose and meaning.

Change is inevitable, important, and necessary for continual growth to occur. Phases are temporal and temporary and this mindset positions us to have a more fluid response to life’s ups and downs.

Slow Beauty® helps you tap into your own internal rhythms, and these may or may not correspond with the time of year the calendar shows us. These internal seasons will relate to the qualities of the external seasons to which we are accustomed. We have our unique cycles, and phases of life. Sometimes, we are in an aspect of the winter season related to melancholy; other times, we are in a season of extreme expressiveness, like spring. To honor ourself, it is important that we identify the season we are in and work with it for a generative outcome.

Imagine yourself a dancer, fluid and graceful, as you make, taste, feel, move, and touch your way through the seasons according to your personal natural rhythm, designing your inner life, and your personal standard of beauty.

Slow Beauty® is a movement for those of us who are interested in setting boundaries for the 24/7 lifestyle, a life that has us racing against time. This movement is a reminder with some guidance to help you slow down every once in a while and breathe. In this fast-moving, hyperconnected world, more sustainable ways of living have never been more important in every facet of life. Without it, we are flirting with burnout as we have never seen it before.

If we are what we eat and what we think, we are even more so how we breathe. Breath in and out deeply. Connect with life.

Comparti, latin “to suffer with” is the root of Compassion and is at the heart of Slow Beauty®. Why? Because we experience the joys of life and also the sufferings. If we don’t accept the suffering, we will impede our ability to feel the joys to the fullest. It is also important to keep in mind the suffering of others, and to move through the world in kindness and accompaniment. Lending an ear and comfort when appropriate. Beyond our human capacity to connect deeply with one another, we hold nature and all of her creatures compassionately, and look to ways to help and heal our ailing planet.

Slow Beauty® encourages you to create your own definition of beauty. Nature isn’t trendy and neither is our nature, or our natural expressions of beauty.