Years ago I remember laughing my ass off at this Chris Rock bit:

That part near the end was pure brilliance. It’s so true. Think of the average woman’s routine and it’s full of it: hair colour, contacts, skin creams, makeup, dental work (that whitening toothpaste counts), jewellery, Spanx, pushup/underwire/gel-filled bras, self-tans, waxing, high heels - and that’s just the nonsurgical stuff. You name it, women are probably doing it. So what does this have to do with bramacharya? I propose it has everything to do with it, because it has everything to do with our carnal versus divine lives.

I’m not about to tell you that I think doing things to enhance attractiveness is wrong. I support anyone who wants to change something about themselves to feel better if it does no harm. But I do propose we get a lot more honest. I have for the most part learned to reduce the chatter of the critical voices in my head. I’ve surrounded myself with people who love me for me. I’ve trained my mind to divert attention from that self-criticism to my breath and other important things like achievement and friendship. But I have desires of how I’d like to be in the world and I can love myself but also prefer being a redhead.

These days I’ve decided to waste less time doing battle with these desires. I’m interested in being supportive instead. There are more important things we can do with our lives than fret about vanity. Make changes that make you happy and move on. Cut it, enhance it, contour it, colour it and then get over it and get on with things that really make you amazing in the world. Bramacharya means focusing on the divinity within. Absolutely. Redirect your attention and energy to that. Life is messy, folks. Let’s just support each other more and fret less about things that don’t matter.