Leslie Kenton New Joy of Beauty

Real beauty is nothing less than the full expression of the individual nature of a woman in how she looks, moves, acts and communicates with the outside world. Now fully revised and updated, it includes the latest research on nutrition, exercise, stress control and self-image with down-to-earth advice on everything from aromatherapy to cellulite and up-to-date information about the latest and best skin and hair products. You will even find leading-edge information on medical techniques for de-aging. This remains every woman's bible to health and beauty.

From the back cover THE NEW JOY OF BEAUTY by LESLIE KENTON

The New Joy of Beauty is Leslie Kenton's personal recipe for looking good and feeling great.

Real beauty, Leslie says, is nothing less than the full expression of the individual nature of a woman in how she looks, moves, acts and communicates with the outside world. The New Joy of Beauty includes the latest research on nutrition, exercise, stress control and self-image with down-to-earth advice on everything from aromatherapy to cellulite and the latest and best skin and hair products.

Extract THE NEW JOY OF BEAUTY by LESLIE KENTON

Each woman is in reality two women. The first, the outer woman, is a collection of physical characteristics, habits of speech and movement, and ways of thinking and of expressing herself. This outer part is the result of past experience, conditioning, and values - either your own or, more often, those given you by your family, educational background, and society, plus a great many preconceived ideas you have about who you are and what you can and can't do. The outer woman can come in many different forms. She may be conventionally attractive, plain, sexy, dynamic, withdrawn, aggressive, apparently assured, or terribly uncertain about herself.

For each outer woman there is also an inner counterpart, an individual Self that is utterly unique. A stable center of strength and growth, this inner Self sees the world in her own way, has her own needs, desires, and her own brand of creativity, and is a law unto herself. The Self holds the power to create, change, build, and nurture. The outer woman is the vehicle for what the Self creates.

When her Self is allowed free expression, a woman can be truly beautiful without the need for artificiality or imitation, concealment, or excessive adornment. Her body will be strong and well, her skin clear and healthy, and her movements, speech, and actions will radiate a kind of vitality that is unmistakably charismatic, because it is real - an outward expression of who she truly is.

Often, though, the inner and the outer woman have diverged so that there is conflict. The inner truth of a woman can be particularly clear and direct while her outer expression is a mass of confusion in how she dresses, speaks, acts, and looks. Usually this is because she is stifled by ideas of how she is supposed to be, think, act, dress, and look. Where there is no free channel for expression of the inner Self, there is much disharmony. Eventually both her health and beauty will suffer. Perhaps even more important, she will probably feel she lacks identity - has no firm idea of who she is or what she wants.

The first dimension of beauty, the Self, is the most fundamental of all. It is all about discovering who you are and helping to bring the inner Self and the outer together so that she way you look and speak, move, and act is authentic, not something imitated or artificially imposed.

Discovering the power of the Self and expressing it involves transformation. This process can be tremendously exiting. Sometimes it can also be very hard, for it means peeling away the superfluous mechanical facades we all collect - the ways of appearing and acting that have little to do with who we really are but that have come to seem safe and secure. But this process can be thrilling, too, and growth itself can be beautiful - you needn't look for a specific end result to justify it. In short, being truly beautiful is being authentic. It is all about becoming who you really are.

So don't be tempted to skip over this section in haste to get on to the "real stuff' of exercises and diet. In truth, this is the most important section of all when it comes to fulfilling your beauty potential, and it is from this section that the whole of the rest of the book stems. Bear with me, if you will: ask yourself the questions it poses and see what answers they bring. When you have finished the book and absorbed all its specific information, you will be glad you have.

To be beautiful, you must be who you are. For who you are is far more interesting, vital, and attractive than anything or anyone you might pretend to be. This is a fact that, sadly, is often forgotten. For we live in a world which teaches us; however unwittingly, that whatever we are is not as good as what we should, could, or might be. It also tells us that we need someone or something else outside ourselves to give our lives meaning.

The media are full of programs, articles, advertisements, and imperatives that urge you to "be a better lover," "wear this fashion," "build a better kitchen," or that purport to tell you how to look more sexy, be more assertive, make your life work, and so forth.

It is all an amazing game which works very well. It keeps selling dresses, books, and automobiles because it keeps people wanting. The only problem is that in the process it also creates an enormous amount of misery and dissatisfaction as women continue to look outside themselves for yardsticks to measure themselves by. This is because, no matter how well it works, the "want-need-get" game obscures one really important truth: that what you need to be complete, beautiful, healthy, happy, and fulfilled is not "out there," "one day," or "if I only had ...," it is already here - inside you - right now. It does not need to be bought, sought, seduced, or copied. It simply needs to be discovered within you and then lived. That is where an awareness of the Self - the particular individual you are physically, mentally, and emotionally - comes in.