Self growth; transform your life with mirror work

Whether or not we compare ourselves to others, or refer to ourselves as less than what we are, self-dialogue is critical. The story we tell ourselves can greatly affect our realities in ways we might never think. After reflecting on my habits one day, I decided to begin a personal quest, one where I would challenge myself to commit to acts self-love. The vehicle in which I chose to tackle this journey was “mirror work”.

1. WHAT IS MIRROR WORK

2. FIND A MIRROR

3. START CONVERSING

4. MANAGING SELF-TALK

5. MY EXPERIENCE

6. STORY TIME

7. FINAL THOUGHTS

Photo by Daria Sannikova

What is mirror work?

Mirror work is a technique used to help improve the relationship with the self by healing oneself and releasing blockages, mental and emotional. It utilizes the the practice of daily affirmations to reprogram the subconscious mind, and combines them with a mirror to increase its effectiveness.

A mirror allows us to face ourselves. There is nowhere to run. You must dare to commit yourself fully to all aspects of yourself. This includes your shadows.

Louise Hay, author of Mirror Work believes that by doing mirror work one is communicating with the inner child. She states that when practicing mirror work one must look into their own eyes reflected in the mirror and speak affirmative words, addressing oneself.

Photo by Dids

I believe that what we see and encounter in our lives is often a reflection of the soul. Heal the soul and come to love it, and you shall come to love your life.

Find a mirror

I work with my small, circular mirror when saying affirmations. However, an mirror will do, from a bathroom mirror to the small portable mirror kept in your bag! Instead of fearing mirrors, decide today to make it your new friend.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

Start conversing

Begin speaking positively to your reflection. Envisioning my inner child in my mind’s eye, I think about all of the things I want to tell her, all of the things she deserved to hear at that age: You are wonderful. You are intelligent. You are beautiful. And above all else, I love you.

Although it is perfectly valid to do so, I personally don’t use pre-written affirmations. It is, however, essential to use positive, loving language to the best of your ability. If you are able to, tell yourself, I love you. I say it as much as possible. It’s a great filler sentence for when you run out of ideas.

I chose to do this exercise before bed, for I believe this best helps to imprint these messages into my subconscious mind. In addition, I say at least one affirmation any time I pass by a mirror and remember.

Managing your self-talk

We need to constantly be aware of our self-dialogue, whether you continue mirror work or not. Often I would pass by a mirror, only to stop and make a snarky comment about how ugly I am. Why would I do this? Perhaps for laughs, or to seem more relatable? Perhaps it was a weak cry for validation from whoever had been in the room.

Consequently, I continuously manifested circumstances that compelled me to face my limiting believes towards my outwards appearance. And then what would I do in response? Make another snarky remark about myself, of course! Now I am far more aware of my habits and developed new ones that positive re-enforce my self-esteem.

My experience

I remember first discovering mirror work years back at the start of my new age journey, but this technique only became more prevalent in my life relatively recently. During a YouTube marathon of manifestation videos, I came across one video, How I Manifested Money With Mirror Work by the user My World of Metaphysics. After watching this video that I casually began speaking to myself in the mirror daily.

I love you. Everyone loves you. You deserve every good thing that’s coming to you. Good things happen to you everyday. You are so pretty. You are beautiful.

Not long after, I began seeing changes in my life.

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Storytime

After casually practicing mirror work, I soon felt drawn to take steps towards updating my appearance. At the time my motivation had been minimalism! I had decided to tidy up my bedroom and noticed all the make-up that I had brought with me to Europe was just sitting around. So it was either use it or lose it!

Playing around with my unused eye shadows and drying eyeliner, I had discovered the fun in getting ready before going out and had tried out various looks. When I looked in the mirror I continued my affirmations, You are beautiful. You are so pretty, and started believing it. I felt more confident with myself, with and without makeup.

One evening I had gone out to a large meetup with some friends. I had just left a conversation when a woman, whom I had recalled seeing earlier in the evening, approached me. Excusing herself, she confessed that she just had to tell me how I was the most beautiful girl she had ever seen.

At that moment her intentions and her sincerity were irrelevant to me; out the window, they went! Right there I wanted to cry. I was so incredibly happy despite my shock.

I thanked her and we chatted for a bit. She seemed cool and down to Earth. When I look back on the event, it was as if the young woman had been me on the other side of the mirror.

What I had practiced in front of the mirror, the words I had told myself, You are so beautiful. I love you, had been manifested that evening!

Photo by Min An

Final thoughts

Mirror work is a powerful technique that can aid your shadow work and help you heal emotionally. I had taken a break from this practice, but have chosen to reincorporate it in my life to produce more positive manifestations.

As more manifestations come along, and I am sure they will, I hope to share those experiences with you. I am not always perfect with implementing new habits, but I like to think always try my best.

I do recommend checking out Louise Hay’s book Mirror Work: 21 Days to Heal Your Life. In her book she covers day by day affirmations, exercises, and meditations to help you on a 21 day healing journey through mirror work.

In the meantime, what did you think about my thoughts and my experiences? Did I pique your interest for more research on this topic? Are you willing to give mirror work a try?

Featured Image by Photo by Lukáš Dlutko

References