I was working with a group of women several weeks ago and I ask the question, what do you see when you look in the mirror; specifically, what do you see when you look deep into your eyes? Most of the comments I got were, I have not done that or I like to look in the mirror but I don’t because I’m so fat. Overall, most of the comments revealed that people were hesitant to take time to look in the mirror for various reasons.
So I ask these questions to you: Have you ever taken a good look in the mirror, seeing your soul from your eyes? Do you like what you see or represent? Are you comfortable in your own skin? Can you take a good look in the mirror and feel adoration and love for yourself? Essentially, can you see the love that you possess within your spirit and how it showers downs and projects its image into the world?
Let’s do a mirror exercise!
Today, I want you to take a good look at yourself (focusing on your eyes). Relax, take several deep breaths, with a blank mind and see what thoughts come to you? Do this for about 5 minutes. After you complete this process, write down the most prevalent thoughts or perceptions that came to your mind such as beauty, happiness, ease, anger, feeling stuck, betrayal and so on. Were you aware of these thoughts? Is this reflective of the image you portray to others? Are the perceptions or thoughts that you have about yourself self-defeating?
Take some time to reflect on why you feel this way and what can be done to alleviate or remove the thoughts that may be debilitating or unhealthy. First, think about why you have this or these perceptions and the origin of your thoughts. Is it that you feel unworthy or unlovable? After you have determined the origin of your thoughts, identify ways to remove these thoughts from your consciousness.
There are many ways you can do this. I will just focus on affirmations, journaling and getting in tune to your inner child.
Affirmations. Every word you say or sing is an affirmation. Practice saying positive affirmations (with intentions) that can help you clear away specific thoughts or beliefs that may be unhealthy. For example, you can say (repeatedly, while looking in the mirror), I choose peace. You can also think of and see yourself only in peaceful environments and situations.
Journaling. Write down all of your feelings about a specific situation or event. You can write a letter to someone about a past situation. After you have finished writing the letter, you can see yourself letting go of the situation and you can burn or shred the letter.
Communicating to inner child. Think about specific time frames within your life when you may have had a traumatic experience. For example, in middle school, kids at school may have teased you because of the way you looked; they may have said hurtful things to you. Now as an adult, you may think of yourself as unattractive because you developed a belief of not being good enough. Send loving energies and thoughts to yourself as a child; let the child in you know that all is well. Comfort yourself until you see that pain dissipate from your inner child.
An exercise of just looking in the mirror and seeing what thoughts come to your mind is energetically healing because it identifies how you see yourself. Determine how you can alleviate these things to clearly be able to look at yourself and experience love. Make sure you look deep into your eyes and relax; find out what your eyes have to say to you. Every living soul has a beautiful spirit; it’s about how connected you are to this source that translates and transmutes our experiences of well being.
Take care.
Dr. Jessica is a Professional Development Coach. She earned her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology, with a focus in Industrial Organizational Psychology, from the University of Tennessee in 1999. She has more than 15 years of experience in people and performance improvement and has worked nationally and internationally with clients from industries including government, non-profit, private, education, utilities, and financial.