Beauty In The Eye Of The Beholder.

Welcome dear hearts,

I saw an interesting and relevant post by my friend and yoga teacher Selena Garefino talking about aesthetic repression, which I wanted to explore a bit more. James Hillman an American psychologist who wrote The Souls Code, amongst other book argues that we need the anima mundi, the soul of the world, we need that profound sense of beauty, to bring us back into intimate relationship with the world. We spend so much of our time in a sensory shutdown because we expend a lot of energy trying to repress the overload of city living, fast food, dangerous traffic, sirens blaring, doom scrolling, bad news, jarring noises and general discordance.

I am also reading a book about Somatic Yoga and how it heals. ‘Healing with Somatic Yoga’ by Brett Larkin. These two strands of aesthetic awareness and taking a pause to feel embodied, weave together quite nicely.

So, what is ‘Aesthetic repression’; Aesthetic is from the Greek Aisthesis meaning ‘sensory perception’ or ‘breathing in’ and Aesthetic repression, James Hillman, defines as the numbing of our sensory awareness with a forced detachment from the beauty of the world. He believed it to be a soul sickness caused by ignoring the sensory quality of life, leading to a loveless, disenchanted existence.

The sense of reverence at a beautiful sunset, a forest floor covered in bluebells, the smile from a friend or lover, a stunning piece of architecture, hearing the morning bird call, the smell of a new baby, the first sip of that longed for coffee, the warmth of a hug. Beauty astounds the heart when we are in a sense of awe.

Brett Larkin suggests in taking a pause from the screen and emails and take a look around the room you are sitting in and find something really beautiful to look at, a photo, a pretty texture on the cushion, a sparkle of sunlight in a raindrop, maybe it’s out of the window, a bird flying high. Study it for a few minutes, taking it all in, let it soothe you, let it nourish you. Receive its beauty, take a breath in and with hands on your heart, say ‘I see you.’

Beauty is available to us anywhere, even if we do live a fast paced, dynamic, chaotic life. That trip to the supermarket, with the long to-do list, give yourself a moment, a breath and let your eyes rest on something; the beautifully stacked red peppers, or the neatly positioned, colour coded Pukka teabags. There is something beautiful everywhere when you choose to look.

Until next time,

Blessings,

Stephanie