When I work with clients over a period of time for healing and to develop their own awareness and psychic abilities, I will invariably ask them to do this exercise from my book “The Essence of Self-Healing: How to Bring Health and Happiness into Your Life” which involves looking at themselves in a mirror… It is an exercise that I highly recommend for anyone who is using self-healing. Simply put, we need to be able to look at ourselves. What better way to do that than a mirror?
Taking a good look at yourself in a mirror will achieve at least two objectives: First, you will look at your reflection shining back at you from the mirror. We do not often take enough time to do just that. Second, depending on your mood and how you feel about yourself, you will notice aspects of yourself that you had not noticed before. Some people will notice first the positives: “I have a cute nose, nice eyes; I like my hair…” Some will notice what they see as negatives: “my eyes are too small; my nose is not straight; my skin looks blotchy”. Others will observe the reflection of themselves and make more general or sweeping assessments: “I look tired; I look old; I look happy; I look great.”
Before starting this exercise, get comfortable. Sitting is preferable. Have a mirror in front of you, and decide on the distance that the mirror should be from your face. First, look at your face in the mirror, allowing yourself to make observations. Then move on to looking at your face without making judgments. For example, if you judge your nose as too large or your smile as crooked, tell yourself now: “Enough!” Continue to look at your face and features and have the thought in your mind: “I love myself completely without condition”. Say this clearly and firmly in your mind three or four times. At this point, you may feel that your chest, or heart center opens and you may experience warmth in this area. Enjoy the moment.
Take a break now for a couple of minutes and allow your face to relax by opening your eyes wide twice. Open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue. Rub your forehead and the area just underneath your eyes, gently touching, massaging and loosening the skin and facial features.
When you are ready, go ahead and look at your face again in the mirror. This time, look straight into your eyes. Try to remain looking into both eyes rather than selecting just one. Do not look for anything in particular, but just keep looking… If you feel strongly that you have to close your eyes, just close them and notice any interesting colors or pictures in your mind.
Some of the possibilities that you may see or experience as you are looking into your own eyes might include: your face disappearing for moments; your features fading and only an outline of your face and head being reflected back to you; you may notice a face looking back at you that looks familiar to you but that is not you as you see yourself everyday; you might see yourself as being very old or a lot younger than you are presently.. Another possibility is, if you are a man, you might see a woman looking back at you, and vice versa. This can be both surprising and exhilarating the first time it happens. Just stay calm and deal with any fearful feelings you might have. The person staring back at you is not a stranger, a ghost or alien entity. The person staring back at you as you gaze into the mirror is you! It is a part of you. It can be someone you have already been, or someone for you to become. You may see it as a part of you that you are being at the same time as the “you” that you are being now and that you know so well… It is important to be open to the acceptance of seeing and realizing of those other parts of yourself that you may see while looking at yourself… Remember, you are in control, and you will not see any part of you that you cannot handle.
Looking at yourself can indeed be very useful and beneficial. This experience can be classified under the headings of “letting go”, “illumination”, “realization” or “expansion of awareness”. When you are using this exercise, it is important to remember not to expect to see anything of a specific nature, but rather to just look and relax. Do not push to make things happen, as this can block your experience. The letting go that occurs during this exercise is of the most positive and healing in nature… Enjoy some deep breathing with this exercise. When you feel that you are finished looking, close your eyes for a few minutes; let your body and mind relax. Surround yourself with yellow, blue, pink, purple, green, orange or white light if you feel the need.
Initially, I would recommend ten to fifteen minute sessions with this exercise. As you use it more often, you can easily find yourself sitting for thirty to forty minutes as it becomes both fascinating and very relaxing.
