Mirrors are one of the incredible tools that can evoke strong feelings among us. It can bring out the beautiful as well as the darkest emotions hidden inside our true soul. Recently, scientists have found that Face-to-Face contact is necessary to develop the social and emotional traits of a person, and Mirror Gazing has proved to be an effective method for that development.
What is Mirror Gazing?
Mirror Gazing is a type of Meditation that helps one to overcome one’s self-criticism, bring out their inner selves and cultivate compassion, self-love, and kindness. By looking at one’s reflection in the mirror, one can perceive and recognize their selves through one facial expression.
How is Mirror Gazing Different from the other forms of Meditation?
Some conventional forms of meditation involve gazing on a fixed point, known as a “Drishti”. If you are a visual person, you may find that focusing on a tranquil point makes it much easier to stay conscious than keeping your eyes closed. In this type of meditation, you are considered to be your focal point, and it is complex than a spot on the wall.
Gazing your reflection can induce emotions and memories more voluntarily than fixed point gazing meditation. Your mind may glide but it always gets back to you in the mirror. Through mirror meditation, you will come to comprehend that there is no escape from yourself.
If you do the mirror meditation frequently, you will confront yourself —your feelings, emotions, hopes, and uncertainties – gazing at yourself experience these emotions can be extremely transformative. You can see your elation and anguish and it evokes self-compassion.
Importance of Mirror Grazing
The curiosity and power of mirror meditation are because our culture is so starved for attention that goes beyond the surface level. Take the rise of selfies and other egotistic behavior, for illustration. “The common reason for that is because people are not being seen realistically by each other, and mirror meditation contradicts that. It allows you to look intensely. And when you can give that attention to yourself, you’re able to offer kindness and compassion to others.”
From an experimental study, it was found that Those who practiced mirror meditation for 10 minutes a day reported a significant decrease in stress, anxiety, and depression accompanied by an increase in self-concern. Women in the study started to focus more on how they were feeling and less on their physical appearance. In turn, this leads to self-dependence and a better bond with themselves.
Mirror Gazing can also be a tool to control your emotions, which we often conceal or disregard in our daily lives. While doing mirror meditation, you’re more conscious of your emotions and take responsibility for your emotions. You go into situations more aware of how you’re feeling, If you ignore when you’re angry or afraid and move forward with those negative emotions, they can leak out in ways that create problems for you and the people around you.
So the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed with emotions or if you need a mental break, head to the restroom, look at the mirror and just take a couple of minutes to self-reflect. You might surely be surprised at what you see.
How to do Mirror Gazing?
Before starting the meditation make sure you have a mirror that is fixed to some support or a standing mirror. Because a small, holding mirror can tend to be distracting after a while.
So, the points to keep in mind while doing Mirror Meditation are,
- Choose a quiet place and sit.
- Adjust the Mirror in such a way that you can make proper eye-contact.
- Set a timer. It’s however better to start with a short time than as your concentration skill increases, increase the time accordingly.
- Relax your body and breathe slowly at regular intervals.
- Find out the tension spots in your body and visualize those spots dissolving slowly as you breathe.
- Keep your eyes wide open, and pay attention to the rhythm of your breath.
- By looking at your flaws, if any dislikes arise feel them slowly disappearing with your breaths.
- Whatever negative emotions flood into your mind, let it pass.
- Just hold your gaze consistently, and let your mind wander.
Conclusion
I strongly believe that there is a lot of tools we can use to change the world, similarly, one of the efficient tool we can use to change our perspective is the MIRROR.
It can make us understand who we are, and what do we deserve. It makes us understand that we are worth living and we worth self-love and self-care. It makes us understand that other’s judgment doesn’t define who we truly are.
In a wicked world out there, we have to be there for ourselves, And for understanding that, mirror meditation is the best source to utilize. Just take a moment in your day-to-day busy schedule to look into the mirror with direct eye contact with yourself and say some affirmations that can boost your energy twice, calm you and evoke your self-compassion.
FAQs
Ques. What happens when you gaze at the mirror?
Ans. When you look at yourself in the mirror for a long time, you begin to feel strange distortions in your face and start hallucinating. However, when that becomes a meditation, you begin to bring out your self-compassion.
Ques. Are soul gazing and Mirror Gazing similar?
Ans. No, soul gazing is different from Mirror Gazing. Mirror Gazing is when you look into yourself in a Mirror whereas soul gazing is when you stare into your partner’s eye for few minutes of unbroken silence.
Ques. Is mirror-gazing an effective form of meditation?
Ans. Yes, it might seem weird at the beginning but in the long run, it might serve an essential purpose.
To know more about mirror-gazing and for more queries, kindly mention it in the comment section below.