At 70, Carol is one of my inspirations! I have been practicing Ashtanga Yoga for some time now. If you know anything about Ashtanga Yoga you know that it is one of the most physically intense practices of Yoga in the whole Universe and you MUST be dedicated to your practice. That is to say, you must practice at least 4 times a week and stay consistent to really feel it.

I am an Ashtanga lover but a complete slaker. My beloved teacher Lisa Schrempp is so kind with my inability to commit myself entirely. She loves me anyway.

Carole, however, is ALWAYS at practice. This over 70 year old gorgeous women is always practicing over the last 5 years that I have been flirting with my commitment. Rain or shine, Carole is ALWAYS there. She has to drive over an hour everyday to get to the studio and class starts at 6am.

In Ashtanga Yoga you are suppose to keep your focus on your practice, your eyes to yourself. But as a photographer and someone addicted to seeing beauty, I cannot help myself but look around at all of the ridiculous loveliness surrounding me! From teens to people in their 70ies and beyond, this Yoga sure does make for a photographers paradise!

What I do love about my practice though is that I never compare my poses to other people's yoga poses. If someone is in some outrageous pose and I in a forward fold with my knees bent as if I just started practicing only yesterday instead of 5 years ago, I cry tears of disbelief that such beauty is occurring in my presence...

We must end comparing ourselves in all matters, and especially something as sacred as Yoga. May we be inspired and moved by other's beauty while cherishing our own preciousness.

Here are some gorgeous images that Carole graciously posed for me missing something very common in all types of photography: Photoshop. As if the textures of our precious skin need to be erased and replaced with re-constructed pixels because we have been trained to see an 'enhanced' version of our original, irreplaceable and beautiful self. I have news for the world who profits by selling me and us procedures to eliminate our laugh lines: I no longer believe that I need to be 'enhanced' with your product. I am not my 'better beautiful' with your nips and tucks and botox and lotion-potions. I am my better beautiful with love in my heart and self-esteem in my veins and compassion for my sisters in my soul. Sure I love to wear mascara on my eyes and rub my body with luscious scented oils, but not to be 'my better beautiful.' I was always beautiful and better, no matter my purchase. The truth is, one can only truly become more beautiful as they fill up with love more and more with each day. And love, as they say, doesn't cost a thing.

-Jade Beall is founder of A Beautiful Body Project. To see more of her work, visit: www.JadeBeall.com