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Have you ever avoided looking in a mirror? Or worse, have you ever looked into a mirror with contempt or disgust? So many times, as women, we avoid mirrors because we don't like what we see for one reason or another. However, avoiding mirrors might actually be a huge mistake. You might be missing out on a major opportunity for self-love and self-care (not to mention self-healing and personal development).
Now, before you think I’m completely off my rocker, hear me out. LOL
I’d like to introduce you to my good friend, Mirror Work. If you’ve never done mirror work, I definitely recommend you give it a shot. There are many ways to practice mirror work, but here is one that I would suggest for anyone just starting out.
Here’s what you’ll need:
A mirror
A pen and paper
A picture of yourself (maybe one taken when you were a child or it can be a more recent one that you really love).
I recommend that you practice mirror work when you will have time to be uninterrupted. Remember, this is an act of self-love and self-care so you may have some mental hurdles to overcome if you aren’t used to being very nice to yourself with your self-talk. That is completely normal so no worries! Just keep trying and keep practicing. Before you know it, you might just adore the time you get to spend with yourself in the mirror.
Follow These Simple Steps
Close your eyes, put your hand on your heart and take a few deep breaths to ground and center yourself.
Once you feel centered and peaceful, take a look at the picture of yourself and think “I love you just the way you are.” Repeat this thought (or say it aloud, if you prefer) for 1-2 minutes while still taking several slow, gentle breaths.
Then think of some compliments people have given you that really meant something to you or compliments that you wish people would give you. This should be a list of things you really want to hear about yourself. It can be about your looks, character, abilities, work ethic, talents, relationships, or anything else that you want to be true of yourself. Write these desired compliments down on your piece of paper.
Look at yourself in the mirror for 2 minutes with a soft gaze. Just observe yourself without judgment, if you can.
Make notes of the thoughts that came to your mind. This is often where our inner critic is fully on display and we need to have an awareness of our inner critic thoughts. We can easily pretend those thoughts aren’t there if we don’t bring awareness to them, but in writing them down, you force yourself to look at the way you talk about yourself. You may find that you think or say things about yourself that you would never say about a friend or loved one. Write them down. If you have lost the peaceful feeling, take a few deep breaths to re-center and proceed to the next step.
Now, look at yourself and say, “I deeply and completely love and accept myself” three times. Then look at yourself with kindness and tell yourself one of the compliments on your list.
Continue saying all the compliments on your list while looking at yourself in the mirror and alternate between telling yourself one of the compliments and then saying “I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”
When you have finished your list, high five yourself in the mirror and encourage yourself for the hard work you have just done by saying something like, “You go girl! You rock! Congratulations! Atta girl!” or whatever feels encouraging.
If you need to, you can end with a few more deep breaths.
If you have lost the peaceful feeling, take a few deep breaths and try again.
"What you are doing for yourself with mirror work is showing yourself love and kindness that you may not have experienced from others in this lifetime and you are correcting false beliefs that you may have adopted from other people." - Christy Edwards
What You Can Expect
Now, I’m not going to lie to you. When you first begin doing mirror work, it can feel really awkward, but you might be surprised at how quickly you can adjust to doing this type of work. You may have strong emotions that come up, either when you are speaking kindly to yourself or when you are noticing the words of your inner critic. That is ok and completely natural.
If you feel drawn to it, this is where I would recommend ending your session with journaling about your experience and letting your thoughts, feelings and emotions flow freely onto the paper. Sometimes these emotions rise to the surface because they are ready to be released and transformed. If you feel that is the case, schedule your Emotion Code session with me and I will find and release the emotions that need to be released from your energy and subconscious mind so that you can release what no longer serves you.
"This has the power to begin a tremendous process of self-healing and self-validation that can not be compared to any compliment you’ll ever receive from someone else." - Christy Edwards
Why Bother Doing Mirror Work?
What you are doing for yourself with mirror work is showing yourself love and kindness that you may not have experienced from others in this lifetime and you are correcting false beliefs that you may have adopted from other people. You are speaking positively to and about yourself and empowering yourself to flip those negative thoughts on their head so that you can replace them with positive thoughts of your choosing.
When you practice mirror work regularly, you will develop the skill of keeping your inner critic in check and infusing your body, mind, and soul with intentional love, care and positive energy. This has the power to begin a tremendous process of self-healing and self-validation that can not be compared to any compliment you’ll ever receive from someone else.
This is where self-love goes beyond relaxing bubble baths and delicious lattes. It goes straight to your heart and mind with a healing infusion of love and light. This is where you become your own hero. As always, you are worth it.
Tell Me About It
Have you tried other methods of mirror work? If you have (or if you decide to try this method), I’d love to hear about your experience and how it went for you. Head on over to my Instagram DMs or Facebook and let me know all about it. I would LOVE to cheer you on!
Ready to Release Your Trapped Emotions?
Christy Edwards is an Intuitive Life Coach and a Certified Emotion Code Practitioner. She is a wife, mom and snuggle buddy to her goofy pup, Royal. As a self-proclaimed "Sparkle Specialist," she loves inspiring other women to bravely tackle their mindset, self-sabotage and inner obstacles so they can unleash their sparkle and magic into this world that desperately needs it.
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