The Mirror Meditation is a shockingly helpful and powerful technique. It will greatly improve and enhance your self-esteem and sense of inner peace. It is simple and easy -– and as such is one of the exercises that your mind will fight hardest to prevent you from doing.
Stand in front of a mirror and look into it. As you do so, imagine that the person you are looking at is filled with all the positive and dynamic qualities that you wish for in yourself. Concentrate on this impression for a moment, and then when you are strongly aware of the good qualities of the face in the mirror, realise that the image in the mirror is nothing more than a reflection of you yourself. So far, easy. The hard part comes next.
Still looking at yourself in the mirror tell yourself, out loud, “You are a wonderful, fun, sexy person, and I love you.”
B&W Me... in the Mirror by Magdzia S.
We are conditioned strongly in our society that it is not acceptable to feel self-worth. We are taught to place worth in objects and people that advertisers want us to desire, and that we ourselves are worthless without them. The consumer society demands this viewpoint. It’s pathological, however. If you cannot love yourself, then no-one can love you.
Your mind will try to stop you doing this exercise. Ignore any anger, resentment or guilt you may have towards yourself for past issues –- those things are excuses. Ignore any perversion or foolishness you may feel; that is merely your subconscious trying to stop you. Look yourself in the eyes and tell yourself, out loud, “I love you.” If you are compelled to audibly or mentally add a sarcastic comment or put-down afterwards, do it again. And, if necessary, again and again and again until you can make that simple statement without any negative feeling.
Aim to do this three or four times a day. It can be horrendously hard to actually manage the first few times, but it is truly worth it. Once you can manage it, try to perceive what you are saying as your reflection talking to you, rather than you talking to your reflection -– it will help boost the good effects.
Accept no excuses from yourself in performing this exercise!
I’d be interested to know how you get on — the first time I did this, it took me ten minutes to actually force myself to stand in front of the mirror and just say “I love you”, and the same again to manage it without some immediate mental self-put-down.
Note: You can of course add/change the “wonderful, fun, sexy” bit to address any particular self-esteem issues you may have. But don’t tamper with “I love you”! It’s the most powerful statement there is.
“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”
Henry David Thoreau