A Remedy for Appearance Obsessions

Shifting your focus with mirror meditation

Welcome to Gaze! This blog shows you how to use a mirror for self-discovery and personal transformation based on Tara Well’s mirror meditation, called a “revelation” in the New York Times. In Tara’s work with hundreds for mirror meditation students, it’s been fascinating to discover how just a simple mirror can be a catalyst for so many different kinds of realizations for people. Read the amazing stories of what happens when people are brave enough to come face-to-face with themselves in the mirror.

When people find out I teach mirror meditation, they often say, “I hate to look at myself in the mirror!” Followed by The Trifecta of Self-Cruelty: “I’m too fat, I’m too old, I’m too ugly.” This Trifecta, as I’ve come to call it, has infinite combinations and variations on the three themes, but they all have one thing in common: They’re terribly unkind ways to regard oneself. Research finds that when asked 80% or more of people say they are not content with their appearance.

For some, criticizing their appearance becomes almost an obsession. And the mirror usually plays a prominent role in triggering that obsession. For instance, Clare was habitually transfixed by the mirror, noticing all her flaws and imperfections. She spent a fortune on all the latest cosmetics and…