image: how to be attractive

                          


The First Secret of being attractive

A little while ago, I read an article about attractiveness, and the main quality that has been found to make us more attractive. It may come as a surprise, but it had nothing to do with being beautiful.

It was about being groomed.

What does The Secret mean?

Meaning: 

• hair is clean
• nails tidy (my very weak point, I must confess)
• clothes clean and mended, ironed if necessary
• shoes clean
• teeth cleaned
• body clean
• body groomed: eg shaving your legs and underarms
• complexion looked after
• eyebrows tidy
• and it does seem that if we wear a little bit of make-up, that too makes us more attractive. Not a lot of make-up, just a bit.

Nothing that is rocket science.

The attractive habit carries over in our life

And I have noticed that people who are well-groomed, meaning they are clean, tidy and "scrubbed up well", have other really useful traits: they are clean and tidy in their home, their workplace, their car. I'm not talking about people who are obsessive about their looks, no, no, it's people, who, as a matter of course, methodically do all the wee bits and pieces that make us be well-groomed, and therefore, attractive.

One of the most ageless women whom I have ever known, always looked very casual. But, never, ever, scruffy. And she was always getting up and down doing wee things to tidy her home. (ps that's also a great way to keep our metabolism up, all that movement)

How can we do it?

So, what are the little habits that we can do to be well-groomed?  Lets start going upwards from the feet:

feet: as a yoga teacher, I am always looking at people's feet! When I'm teaching, I need to be able to see if they are limping in any way, also how strong and supple their ankles are. Our ankles need to be strong, because this helps us balance. Physical balance is a key area that needs to be maintained as we move through life, especially as we get older.

Some simple foot exercises


                            


Strength and tone:  A very easy way to keep ankles strong, is to raise up onto your toes, then back down. You can hold it, do it several times, whatever. You can even hold onto a bench to do it if you don't have good balance. Try to do this a few times a week. You can also do this on the edge of a step, toes and balls of the feet on the step, heels are not on the step, so that when you go down, the backs of the calves get stretched. Do it with toes straight ahead, toes turned in, toes turned out (like a plie). Do 10 each, a few times a week. And put your hand on a wall, or a railing, for balance, whilst you are doing them. These three moves will strengthen the whole ankle & foot. And give nicely shaped calves.

Flexible ankles: I had a damaged foot for seven years. I couldn't wear nice shoes, couldn't walk very far, had bad balance, and it hurt a lot. After quite a few full-on sessions, a healer got my foot working again. Now I can wear shoes instead of jandals (flip flops). I even wear heels on occasion. I can walk!!! Without pain. During those years I could not move my ankle very much. 

Now I do ankle rotations, often. I do think that the foot damage could have been much worse if I had not been doing ankle rotations for many years. Lift up one foot, rotate the foot around the ankle, three times one way, three times the other. You can even do it seated.

If you are up to it, you can even shake each foot a few times.

Pampering helps too

le foot scrub: How to look after your feet on the outside: a piece of pumice is amazing for getting the rough edges of your feet smooth. You can do it in the shower, or before your shower. Do it often, it only takes a few seconds. If you have a mitt for scrubbing yourself in the shower, remember to give your feet  quick rub too. Also if you body brush or use exfoliating scrubs. And after your shower or bath, rub your body lotion into your feet too.

le soft foot: A great way to have soft feet, is to wear some old socks to bed, with some body lotion, oil, & vaseline, all massaged into your feet first. When you wake up, oh, my! soft feet! Those calloused bits will thank you. Some people just use vaseline or similar, & kawakawa balm is great too.

other stuff: Trim your toe nails after your shower, when they are a bit softer. Usually just a clipper is fine. If you do the quick scrubbing, especially on the awful bits around your heels, use lotion and trim  the nails, that quite likely is enough, especially if you don't wear nail polish. A bit of regular upkeep means that you won't feel as though you need to spend time or money having a pedicure, and if you do use nail polish, t will be easy and quick.

I am not going to write how to put on nail polish etc! Because I don't do it myself. And (I'm guilty of this, too), chipped or growing out nail polish, is not attractive.

practical advice:

Another tip for feet, is to change your shoes, or take them off, throughout the day. Give your feet a break. For example, encourage people to take their shoes off at the door. Going barefoot gives your toes room to move. And put your feet up now and then to give a bit of r & r (rest and restore) to your feet.