Mirror Mirror On The Wall, Who is The Fairest Of All?

You are the fairest one, of course. ;)

Mirror work is something that I first heard about from the wonderful teacher, Louise Hay, author and founder of Hay House Publishing. The purpose of mirror work is to learn to love yourself more. You may ask, "Why is this important?" Or "Isn’t it selfish?" No way. You need some healthy self-love. Loving yourself actually helps you to see the world as a safe and loving place. And the more you feel it, the more the world around you reflects that attitude back to you.

What is mirror work?

It’s basically standing in front of a mirror and saying affirmations to yourself out loud. What makes it so powerful is that you look into your own eyes as you say the affirmations. This may sound simple and all kinds of strange, but what it does is it brings up your stuff. You’ll be able to tell just how much you actually love yourself when you do this for the first time. It can also reveal areas that you need to work on other than self love--just by changing the affirmation you say and seeing how you instinctively react to it.

The word, affirmations, is really just a fancy way to describe self-talk. Self-talk is the narrator in your head. We all have it. What you tell yourself everyday is so important that its worth a deeper conversation in a later blog post.

How to do it

Morning is a good time, but you can do this anytime in the day. Go to a spot in your home wherever you have a mirror, generally the bathroom. You only need two minutes. Look into the mirror. Look yourself in the eyes. Do this for one minute. Set the timer on your phone if you want. Don’t look away during this minute and just see what comes up for you. Do you feel uncomfortable? Do you feel vulnerable? Resentful? Any other judgment popping up about yourself? That’s okay.

For the second minute turn whatever you are feeling into a positive affirmation. Here's a few examples to get you started:

General uncomfortableness - I am enough

Not liking the person in the mirror - I am learning to love you

Feeling inadequate - I am exactly where I need to be right now

Feeling ugly, fat, etc - I have a beautiful soul and that shines through me

Not knowing what to do - I am open and receptive to guidance from my inner being

Build up to five minutes in the mirror and try for everyday.

You can use these sample positive affirmations or any that you come up with that fit what you are feeling. The key is to pivot any negative emotions into a positive statement. But it's important that it's one you will believe. If you have trouble believing what you are saying, it sets up resistance in you and is counter to what you want to achieve. So when you're starting out, if you are feeling any dislike for the person in the mirror, I don't recommend saying, I love you, not right away. Try something like the, I am learning to love you (example from above). Much easier to start with and allows you to ease into loving yourself for real.

Adjust your affirmations as you get the hang of it. You may come to look forward to your mirror work; you will be able to literally see your progress in front of you everyday.

Even if your reaction to yourself in the beginning is not positive, stick with it. You will reach a place where you see something positive about yourself as soon as you see yourself in the mirror.

Have a bright day!

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Have any questions about mirror work or affirmations?

Message me.