Making Your Mirror Your Friend
Today you begin to practice basic mirror work exercises, learning to look closely at yourself and beyond your old beliefs.
It is only the second day of mirror work, and you are just beginning to learn to love and adore yourself. Hang in there. Each day that you practice this new way of thinking about yourself and about life will help erase the old, negative messages you have been carrying for so long. Soon you will be smiling more and finding it easier to look in the mirror. Soon the affirmations will start to feel true.
Now I would like you to take out a pocket mirror or go to your bathroom mirror. Just relax and breathe. Look at yourself in the mirror. Then, using your name, say, [Name], I love you. I really, really love you.
Let’s say it again, two more times: I love you. I really, really love you. I LOVE you. I really, really LOVE YOU.
How does that feel? You can be honest and say that it feels strange or stupid. Because it does feel strange and stupid at first. Or maybe you find it hard to do. It’s okay to feel this way. Loving yourself unconditionally is something you haven’t done before. Let yourself feel these feelings. Whatever you’re feeling, it’s a beginning, a very good place to start.
I know that telling yourself I love you is difficult for many of you. I also know that you can do it, and I’m very proud of you for hanging in. Mirror work will get easier, I promise.
Still, if you find it too hard to say I love you, you can start with something a little easier. Maybe try: I am willing to learn to like you. I am learning to love you.
When you look in your mirror, I’d like you to imagine that you are talking to a child in kindergarten. Picture yourself as that young kindergartner. Now, using your name, tell this inner child, [Name], I love you. I really, really love you.
The more you practice your mirror work, the easier it will get. But remember that it is going to take time. That’s why I’d like you to get into the habit of doing your mirror work frequently. Do it when you first get up in the morning. Carry a pocket mirror wherever you go, so you can take it out often and say a loving affirmation to yourself.
Let’s affirm: I am beautiful. I am amazing. I am easy to love.
Your Day 2 Mirror Work Exercise
When you find it difficult to tell yourself I love you, it is most likely because you are judging yourself, repeating those old, negative messages. Don’t add to your discomfort by judging yourself for making judgments. Just relax and commit to saying the affirmation. Remember: you are committing to an affirmation that’s true. The truth is, we do love ourselves, when we are not judging ourselves.
It’s a good idea to have a tissue at hand when you are doing mirror work, because this work can be very evocative. Often it brings up emotions from the deep. The fact is, we may have been very unkind to ourselves. So when we start to love ourselves again, we become aware of the unloving attitudes we’ve been carrying for a long time, and that causes a certain amount of grief. But the grief is being released. So let yourself feel what you feel and accept those feelings. Don’t judge them. Mirror work is all about self-love and self-acceptance.
I’ve encouraged you to practice your mirror work first thing in the morning. Sometimes that’s the hardest time of day to do it because we feel that we don’t look our best in the morning. But that is just a judgment, and what we are doing in mirror work is looking into the mirror without judgment so we can see who we really are.
The Power Is Within You: Your Day 2 Journaling Exercise
Life is very simple. What we give out, we get back. In your journal, write down your responses to the following questions:
As you answer these questions, notice the emotions you are feeling. Write them down in your journal.
Your Heart Thought for Day 2: I Am Deserving
Sometimes we refuse to put any effort into creating a good life for ourselves because we believe that we don’t deserve it. The belief that we don’t deserve it may come from our early-childhood experiences. We might be buying into someone else’s concept or opinion that has nothing to do with our own reality.
Deserving has nothing to do with being good. It is our unwillingness to receive the good in life that gets in the way. Allow yourself to accept the good, whether you think you deserve it or not.
Your Day 2 Meditation: A Circle of Love
(Day 2 of the audio download)
See yourself standing in a very safe space. Release your burdens and pain and fear. Release old, negative patterns and addictions. See them falling away from you. Then see yourself standing in your safe place with your arms wide open, saying, I am open and receptive—willing to declare for yourself what you want, not what you don’t want. See yourself whole and healthy and at peace. See yourself filled with love.
And in this space, feel your connection with other people in the world. Let the love in you go from heart to heart. And as your love goes out, know that it comes back to you multiplied. Send comforting thoughts to everyone and know that these comforting thoughts are returning to you.
On this planet, we can be in a circle of hate, or we can be in a circle of love and healing. I choose to be in a circle of love. I realize that we all want the same things: to be peaceful and safe, and to express ourselves creatively in ways that are fulfilling.
See the world becoming an incredible circle of love. And so it is.