Who doesn’t want to become more graceful? In many ways, grace is the picture of virtue. It encompasses not only the spiritual characteristics of kindness, tolerance, and integrity, but is also physically apparent in one’s body language and composure. Common symbols of grace embody supple elegance, enduring beauty, and quiet strength.
Symbolic grace
Physical grace is represented by the elegant swan, who’s beauty is unmatched among birds. Their graceful movement is emulated in classical dance, and they are linked with love in various cultural mythologies. White swans, especially, symbolize the exquisite purity of God’s love.
In the botanical realm, bamboo is seen as the perfect blend of integrity and flexibility. It represents harmony between man and nature and a balance of yin and yang. To bend with the storm and bounce back effortlessly is an important characteristic of physical grace.
Another Asian plant — the lotus — exemplifies spiritual grace. This lovely flower is widely recognized as a symbol of purity and it is also associated with divine grace. The Buddha is often portrayed sitting on a lotus flower.
Spiritual grace can also be depicted with pearls. Their soft luminescence suggests serenity and purity, the spherical shape — harmony, and the gemstone-quality hardness — endurance. They are linked with divinity in both Greek and Chinese mythology.
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In Christianity, the rainbow is a symbol of God’s grace. According to the account of Noah and the great flood, the rainbow signifies God’s promise to never again bring such a destructive flood that destroys mankind and all living creatures.
Living gracefully
A graceful person is naturally compelling, and we often wish we could be more like them. Good news — we all have elements of grace within, which we can bring out and cultivate through careful attention and self discipline. A day in the life of someone who embraces grace might look something like this:
- Rising early for some quiet time to reflect on the Creator’s gifts
- Partaking in some discipline of exercise or meditation
- Mindfully consuming a light and nutritious meal
- Facing the day’s challenges with cheerful composure
- Treating others with kindness and respect
- Sharing a meal with friends or family, while focusing on their interests
- Summoning gratitude for the day’s events — both agreeable and disagreeable
To become more graceful, we need to understand each aspect of this multifaceted concept.
Saving grace
Divine grace is understood as the Creator’s loving favor for his creation. Unconditional and unmerited, it would be impossible to earn such powerful and perfect love; but we can honor it by striving to exhibit grace ourselves.
1. Forgiving kindness
Imperfect as we are, the Creator is willing, in his grace, to forgive our sins. Remembering that will help us extend this favor to others, and forgive liberally. Most offenses are unintentional, after all; but even when they aren’t, resentment does more harm to the person who carries it than anyone else.
A graceful heart has compassion for all beings. Can you be equally kind to those you find annoying as those you find admirable? Dealing with difficult people gracefully often requires us to set aside our self interest in favor of harmony.
One of the greatest acts of kindness is truly listening. Practice active listening by focusing on understanding the content while picking up underlying feelings expressed in the way the message is conveyed. Responding appropriately will show empathy, and grace, for the speaker.
2. Gratitude
It’s easy to be grateful for the good things in life, but can you broaden your scope of gratitude to include life’s tribulations? The concept of karma is often considered the hand of retribution, but we can also take it to be a helping hand, offering us exactly what we need on our path of enlightenment.
Learn to treasure hardships as opportunities to grow and improve, and you will develop great resilience and composure — key elements of spiritual grace.
3. Forbearance
Khanti is a Sanskrit word meaning “the peaceful coexistence with the unpleasant.” It is also described as “the supreme incinerator of defilement.” Any spiritual path will call for gradual tempering through repeated trials. When problems come up, consider the impermanence of everything in this world, and you will develop the ability to face these trials with graceful forbearance.
Physical grace
Physical grace exudes from one’s appearance, demeanor and movement, and it can also be cultivated. It begins with body awareness and culminates with composure in all situations. To appear naturally graceful, you need to be at ease in your body and in harmony with your environment.
In this hectic world, it’s easy to become stressed and distracted, but sometimes it is necessary to take a step back and observe.
4. Body awareness
Becoming more aware of how you move through space is a valuable tool that can be honed in many ways. Physical activities like dance classes, playing sports and qigong exerises are all accessible options for improving your dynamics with the world around you.
Each of these requires good posture, something that can be practiced in almost any situation. Standing (or sitting) tall improves how you look and feel, and is the foundation for graceful movement. In fact, anything that promotes physical well-being — such as stretching, being active, and a balanced diet — will contribute to your physical grace.
At the same time, paying attention to your grooming and attire has a big impact on how you are perceived. Present yourself as clean, tidy, and modest to show respect for yourself and your company.
5. Confidence
Confidence is the firm belief that you can rely on someone or something — in other words — faith. Faith is dependent on patience; and patience is dependent on faith, for that matter. They are reciprocal. If you trust in the Creator’s divine plan, you will naturally have the patience to let it unfold.
Most things require a process, and rushing rarely improves the outcome; but everyone benefits when we exercise patience and learn to appreciate each step of the way. Engaging in mindfulness and daily meditation can foster a careful, unhurried disposition that others can readily perceive as graceful confidence.
6. Composure
Why do we so often act on our emotions, only to regret it afterwards? While we can’t escape emotions, we don’t have to be controlled by them. Give yourself time to reflect and apply emotional regulation before reacting. This involves being fully aware of the emotion, taking steps to calm down, assessing the situation from different angles, and offering yourself a more reasonable response than your initial inclination.
Accept things for what they are and free yourself from anger, fear and jealousy — emotions that inhibit your grace from shining through.
It is a rocky road, for sure; and you will undoubtedly stumble and make mistakes. This is all part of the process, but practicing forgiving kindness on yourself is an excellent foundation for becoming more graceful.
