What is Mirror Meditation?

For most of us, and with rare exception, we live in a state of disconnect from our True Nature. We may have intellectual understanding of it or even experiences of union, long or short, of being the Self. But by and large, as soon as life demands an interaction or action (or reaction) of us, we simply forget. Even if we are well-anchored in our Divinity, that nature is pure potential and an ever-expanding mystery to our human side. In other words, for the little self, there is always more to discover or experience. Mirror Meditation is a form of meditation that makes it easier to learn to distinguish the facets of our life-experience as both human and Divine. It is a sacred tool for divine communion.

While mirrors have been influential symbols throughout time, they are also powerful doorways that can help us move beyond habitual perception and the amalgam of beliefs, fears, and judgments that form our limited and mistaken sense of self. When we meditate with the mirror and step beyond the surface and through this doorway, we both meet knowable self and face the Unknown of ourselves, beyond the identity to which we have clung for safety, moving out of mental and emotional stagnation into a world of possibility.

Where Does It Come From?

Mirror meditation has existed in numerous forms in numerous traditions for a very long time. It is nothing new or unique to any one group, religion, or people. Most importantly, it is neither witchcraft, nor new age (e.g.: scrying), nor anything of which to be frightened as so much popular culture would have us believe (e.g.: Oculus). It is quite simply a way of working with the reflection of light. Though often treated as mere entertainment, mirror meditation is actually a powerful gateway in which one’s own reflection becomes not a means of deluding one’s self with a surface image (as in Narcissus), but as a means of knowing the true self beyond the image (the I AM).

I was first introduced to mirror meditation in my Toltec shamanism work over a period of years. Gazing both with the mirror and into the eyes of others, was a powerful practice on the path towards my own healing. The basic mirror meditation techniques I share I learned and then further developed as a result of practicing with the mirror myself and in working with clients. Over the years, the mirror has proven itself time and again as a powerful ally to those brave enough to engage with it. It helps us gain insight about ourselves and to embrace the deepest truths we carry within, helping us to cultivate a healthy self-respect, inner strength, and, ultimately, an abiding self-love. The mirror never lies.

Who Is It For?

  • Those seeking answers to big and seemingly unanswerable questions
  • Anyone grappling with difficult choices, big decisions, and life confusions
  • Those who feel stuck in habit, addiction, or circumstance
  • Those in a “dark night of the soul”
  • Anyone experiencing soul loss or disconnect
  • Anyone with a deep inner longing for self-acceptance and self-love who is ready to embrace change
  • Those whose work on earth is to anchor the Light (lightworkers, starseeds, wayshowers, etc)

Who Is Not Suited?

  • Anyone who fears the mirror or who is not prepared to face aspects of the shadow self
  • Those who prefer to place their power outside themselves
  • Anyone who has difficulty embracing the unknown or suspending disbelief
  • Those who believe loving and accepting themselves completely is wrong or selfish
  • People who are not ready to embrace their Light and the revelation of their own beauty

Quoting Osho, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Dynamics of Meditation, Bombay, India, 1972, page 273

Want to Learn More? 

If you’re not sure yet if Mirror Meditation is for you, you can learn more instantly here or if you want to try it, sign up for my free Beginner’s Mirror Meditation course. 

Ready to Give it a Go? Book Now! 

Osho on Mirror Meditation

Spiritual teacher Osho taught a technique for mirror meditation in Dynamics of Meditation. I share it here to give you a better understanding of what it can be. His method encouraged a private practice in a darkened room, a candle by the side of the mirror by which one sat. He suggested a 45 minute session in which the practitioner simply stared into his or her own eyes trying not to blink:

Even if tears come,
let them come but persist in not blinking.
And go on staring constantly into your eyes.
Do not change the stare.

Indeed it is very common that the practitioner will feel the arising of emotions during the practice. And over time, one comes to recognize that one’s own eyes change as well.

Osho went on to talk about the common phenomenon that occurs with this practice…that of transfiguration…in which the face in the mirror begins to change and reveal the many faces of ourselves. It can be disconcerting at first, because these essences that appear are very real and often quite unfamiliar, from other places, worlds and times. But they are merely aspects of the self:

These masks are yours!
Sometimes even a face
that belongs to your past life may come in.

He goes on to discuss yet another phenomenon that occurs…when one’s own reflection disappears altogether:

Suddenly there is no face in the mirror.
The mirror is vacant.
You are staring into emptiness.
There is no face at all.

One might also have the experience of not being able to distinguish which is real…the reflection in the mirror or the physical self staring into it. These are the kinds of experiences one has when doing mirror meditation, but they are not the point. The point is, of course, to move beyond all phenomena…to let the emotions, faces, and even the emptiness go. As Osho said:

This is the moment!
Close your eyes,
and encounter the unknown.