The Benefits of Mirror work + Shadow work
Mirror work and Shadow work at first and real talk throughout can be uncomfortable and undeniably uncomfortable and may feel a little embarrassing… but it is also profoundly healing.
Of all the spiritual methods of embodiment and healing work available to us, mirror work and shadow work are the simplest and most powerful. Mostly because they are done consciously through us and by us.
Unlike the many pathways available to us during this time of conscious evolution they don’t require us to go out and splurge large amounts of money and time away from your daily life and routine. I have found it to be deeply meaningful and empowering.
Just like other mindfulness practices mirror work is a practice that is available to anyone and can be done in the flow of your life. All that is required is an open mind, a decent amount of presence and of course a mirror!
What is Mirror Work
Mirror Work is a relatively simple practice to learn and is deeply transformative in the process of healing and integration of all of our parts. This practice like any other daily habit of self-love, look no further than your bathroom mirror.
It’s a method that was developed by Louise Hay to learn to love yourself and shift your perspective about the world. The primary purpose of mirror work is to use affirmations to shift your self talk and learn to develop self-care, self-love, and a more meaningful relationship with others.
By simply looking into the mirror for a certain amount of time each day and gently talking to yourself, you can foster a more compassionate and forgiving connection with yourself. An affirmation is whatever we say or think that reveal the feelings you have about yourself likely in your psyche or subconscious. It allows you to become more aware and conscious of blindspots or areas where you are resisting and wish to be in flowing more. It clearly shows you what thoughts and patterns you may want to work with for healing and transformation. All of your self-talk, the dialogue in your head, is a stream of thoughts. We can learn to consciously choose what we wish to participate with and affirm.
Affirmations are messages to your subconscious that establish habitual ways of thinking and behaving. Positive affirmations connect us to healing thoughts and ideas that support developing self-confidence and and self-esteem that allow us to shift our perspective and states of being.
It is important to note that different types of mirror work exist some are more word and thought based and others are more physical and movement based. They all address this work we are doing and ways we are healing and transforming. I find often inner child work and balancing the masculine and feminine require me to be closer to the mirror or sit on the floor and I move energy and channel movements further away through movement. Some times I don’t look in the mirror but go inward to move through emotions or energy.
What is your Shadow
Our Shadow are different aspects of ourselves that may have been repressed or hidden parts of ourselves to avoid having to confront painful or darker sides of ourselves or experiences.
Repressing shadow content can have painful consequences and manifest as our triggers — emotional reactions that we haven’t fully dealt with, but come to the surface under the right/wrong or good/bad circumstances. It takes presence, self-awareness, guidance, and courage face our shadow self in a healthy way whether witnessing our thoughts and actions mindfully or doing mirror work and movement along with the process of witnessing.
Shadow work was designed to help you integrate and accept every single part of yourself so that you can live and thrive with more clarity and authenticity through full integration of ourselves.
The psychologist Carl Jung defined the shadow archetypes as dark and emotional sides of your personality or psyche. These parts of us are not always inferior or rejected aspects. For example, as a child if you were reprimanded or teased for being talkative as a child or being too much emotionally. Believing that you “talk too much or were too much,” you may start retreating within or repressing your emotions, weighing moments or conversations monitor your behavior.” If someone made a simple comment about your being able to read or you received a bad grade on a paper, you might develop a triggered response and not understand why you get upset when writing papers in school or you maybe later in life weigh every word or stifle your expression.
Why? It was the part of you that was invested emotionally invested in not being enough and even too much. Anything that threatens the way you are seen or experienced in the world. That is, it brings your shadow self into the light and your ego when you feel threatened which ultimately leads to a familiar feeling of rejection or feeling unsafe.
How your Shadow Impacts you + your Life
Your shadow aspects can have a negative impact on you when you ignore or reject it. This part of yourself craves to be understood and explored. This is because it was ignored and possibly shamed throughout your life. Even if it was less dramatic, we don’t feel mentally and emotionally at our best when our shadow is not integrated into our self, which is to say — when the shadow and self are far apart.
When you ignore it, your shadow will find ways to make you aware that it exists. This can lead to issues like:
Self-loathing poor self esteem
Inauthenticity or deceiving others
Anxiety or depression
Offensive behavior toward others
Struggling to have healthy relationships
Self-sabotage, imposter syndrome
Self-absorption
As you learn to do mirror and shadow work, you will likely become more aware of the words you say, the things you do, and the inner narrative or story that is running undercover in the psyche. You will discover how to take care of yourself on a deeper level than ever before. This is what will shift the suppression and expression of negative enrgy that causes negative states of being.
When something amazing happens you will look forward to getting in that mirror and say words of gratitude like, “Thank you for showing up and doing such amazing things” and sharing with all aspects of yourself. If something challenging happens you may say words of encouragement like “It’s okay, I love you. This moment that happened is temporary and will pass. I love you, and that’s not going to change.”
For most of us, sitting in front of a mirror and facing ourselves is difficult at first, so we call this process mirror work. But as you continue, you become less self-critical, and the work will turn into curiosity and play.
You may also gain more confidence and self-esteem, improve your creativity, Build better relationships with others, practice self-acceptance, discover your hidden talents, improve your overall wellness, increase your compassion toward others, and having more clarity.
Mirroring All You Are
The more you use your mirror for complimenting yourself, approving of yourself, and supporting yourself during difficult times, the deeper and more enjoyable your relationship with yourself will become.
You get to decide what aspects you bring forward with you and integrate. Think of the mirror as the portal to your desires and future self. As you commune with yourself in the present you take steps to the life you truly wish to create.
