Mirror Work: 21 Days to Heal Your Life by Louise L. Hay

Mirror Work: 21 Days to Heal Your Life Reviews

• 
  Leo Robertson

  I watched Anomalisa again a few evenings ago, because Juan was still at work and I didn’t want to subject him to it :D I picked up new insights from a rewatch, as Kaufman generally intends, but I found this surprising because I’d watched it the first time so damn closely because I wanted to absorb all his cleverness the first time round. (The Japanese doll sings with Lisa’s voice at the end! What does that mean? Happiness is a foreign language to Michael? He wants what she has but has no hope of deciphering the language of her life? Probably it means nothing haha.) What was interesting was that the background characters seemed just as guilty of living in their own little stories as the protagonist. A taxi driver beeps angrily at another driver and swears at him, assuming malicious intent without enough information to do so. He tells Michael not to “knock” Cincinnati without Michael having said anything negative. When Michael asks about a toy store, to get something for his son (whose only apparent interest in his father is as toy provider), the taxi driver assumes he’s looking for sex toys. To the taxi driver, Michael’s just a blend of passengers, and he interacts with him as such, providing bland and safe recommendations of what to do in the city, which is thriving with people but only appears to have a zoo and chilli to offer, a place filled with life, but you could do it in a day.
  
  When Michael comments that his bed is big, simply because he doesn’t know what to say about it at all, his wife assumes it’s a slight, that he’s irritated by not having enough space in bed with her. Everyone’s touchy in that same way they are in Curb Your Enthusiasm, but it’s not so funny this time. Later, though, Michael says to Lisa, ‘You’re extraordinary,’ without knowing why he thinks this, though it seems that it’s because he’s unfairly nominated her as the solution to all of his problems—which no one is.
  
  On this “not enough information” point, Michael first invites an ex-girlfriend to the bar and tries to invite her to his room. He later goes back to the same bar with Lisa and her friend. He and the waitress have the earlier context of the ex-girlfriend, but Lisa and her friend don’t, and are excited that he’s spending this evening with them and them alone, at which point people in the same room are decidedly living different narratives.
  
  Had I watched this film alone at twenty-five, I would’ve thought, ‘Finally, someone spoke the truth, and what a shame that it’s so horrifying. Michael is everyone’s inevitable fate.’ See, I wasn’t doing as much thinking for myself as I thought I was at that age. This time, I thought, ‘I feel like Michael sometimes, other times like Lisa. They both have their reasons for responding to life in the way that they do. I feel bad for Michael that he can’t enjoy life more.’
  
  Really, Michael and Lisa represent two ways to think about your life: accept who you are and rejoice in the new, or expect to understand and control everything and set yourself up for constant disappointment. One has dashed expectations, the other has none. What to say about that? I don’t know.
  
  What is the truth of life is that since there’s too much information in any given day, most of which we don’t have access to, we compartmentalise, become the characters in our own narrative. I think there’s something about this in The Denial of Death, but I’d probably understand that one on a re-read! The voices in our head tell us whether we’re failing, succeeding, what other people want from us, what they want for themselves, what they need, what they’re trying to do.
  
  What I might conclude from the above information is that people should assume people think about them less than they’ve estimated. I do think this. As DFW said, “You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.” Even last year I was scared about what people might say about me when I wasn’t in the room, which is how my manager defines “reputation.” But I challenged it, started asking people what they thought of my work performance, for example, and realised that they weren’t thinking about it as much as I was—but of course they weren’t! For one thing, if something is working properly, it gets taken for granted very quickly.
  
  So really, we are all living our own delusions. It’s unavoidable. It has to be done because we have a thirst for understanding the world around us, but too much curiosity in any one direction would divert our interests away from where it’s otherwise needed. So we compartmentalise. Arguments with close friends, for example, can operate with very few words because of all the assumed knowledge, all the “exformation.” “Remember Paris?” for example, could mean anything, depending on who’s saying it. We make a lot of assumptions each day but rarely step back and reflect upon the fact that we never know everything about any situation, or any person, including ourselves. It’s all just a narrative.
  
  So Louise Hay (I was getting there) says, ‘You can control the narrative. You can choose to think positively or negatively about any situation that you’re in in life, at all. But, if you think positively about it, the situation improves of its own accord.’ I think this is true, and I find it hard not to be resentful about it. If you smile more, people will like you more: well what the fuck is wrong with them? Why are they so bad at handling unpleasantness? It’s hard not to look at the world as a bunch of dumb people clamouring to get stuff they don’t deserve. Isn’t it mostly that? I don’t know. They say people aren’t against you, they’re for themselves. I say, true, but doesn’t mean you can’t get mad at them for that. But I think I could retrain myself to see the world in a different light, celebrate those around me more and invite more people worth celebrating.
  
  So there are stories in our heads, and they are never the whole story, but we have a tendency to enhance the bad in them and discount the good (because, it worked, so there’s nothing to analyse?) Louise Hay has found a way to redirect the narrative to one that is more positive, which is more conducive to fixing all the things we were worried about when we were worried anyway!
  
  I also seem to have paired positive thinking with setting oneself up for failure. You know, how it’s common to say, ‘Don’t say “Nothing bad can happen now!”’ Somehow we feel like it’s in poor taste to hope for something better. Or that if we’re doing work, it has to feel like work to be of any value. My dad proclaimed that 2017 was going to be the happiest year ever. Well, some of his friends didn’t like that, oh no: wasn’t 2017, they said, projected to be one of the worst years ever? Jesus, well how do you measure that? If you measure it by CO2 in the atmosphere, sure, it’s the worst year of the billions that have ever been or whatever. If you measure it in terms of chance of getting polio? It’s pretty damn great, no?
  
  Camus explains the crime of happiness nicely in this video:
  
  http://www.openculture.com/2017/03/al...
  
  “Saying someone can't be sad because someone else may have it worse is like saying someone can't be happy because someone else may have it better.” When does it end?
  Today! With the practices outlined in this book, you will take the time to reflect upon just how much of your life is working, and invite more of what you want, what really matters, into your life.
  
  Louise Hay is exactly the kind of person I would’ve been cynical about in the past. But she’s like 90 years old now, gave this away to subscribers of her newsletter for free, and all of her practices highlight the fact that you have all the answers already inside of you and she’s helping you to find them. All that tells me she does this only because she really believes in it and wants to help, and when I last looked into it, the benefits of her practices were akin to cognitive behavioural therapy—so there is a tested logic behind them.
  
  And I tell you what, if ever I’m feeling low, I think, well, there are exercises I could do to feel better about today, and I’m simply not doing them. Even knowing there’s a way to improve my mood and I’m not doing it is enough to improve my mood, because it suggests I’m not as unhappy with how I feel as I thought I was.
  
  So I don’t really know what you have to lose!
• 
  Iona Stewart

  This book is designed to help us love ourselves, perhaps the most important/basic thing we need to learn.
  
  Mirror work is looking into your eyes in a mirror and repeating affirmations.
  
  The programme lasts 21 days. Louise says you may not be able to transform your life in just three weeks but you can plant the seeds.
  
  There is a guided meditation for each of the 21 days and we can download these from Louise’s website.
  
  For each day Louise gives us a mirror work exercise, a journalling exercise and a heart thought in addition to the short audio meditation.
  
  On Day 2, for example, we look in the mirror and say to ourselves; (Name), I love you, I really, really love you”. And again two more times.
  
  Mirror work should be practised first thing in the morning and whenever we pass a mirror or see our reflection in a window. (We don’t need to shout our affirmations out loud, particularly when there are others nearby!) At first, it may be difficult and seem strange or silly, but it will get easier.
  
  Unfortunately, already from Day 2 we are asked to repeat our affirmations at least 100 times a day. (I never managed that.)
  
  We can practise positive self-talk during our mirror work, making only positive statements about ourselves and repeating only positive affirmations.
  
  During this series of exercises, we learn to let go of our past, build our self-esteem, release our inner critic, love our inner child, love our body, heal our pain, feel good, release our anger, overcome our fear, start our day with love, forgive ourselves and those who have hurt us, heal our relationships, live stress free, receive our prosperity, live our attitude of gratitude, teach mirror work to children, and love yourself now. You get the idea.
  
  Louise has devoted her life to love and loving herself/teaching us to love ourselves. She has lived to a ripe old age and I recently saw on the net that she had found a new love in her life now at the age of about 90.
  
  This wonderful, inspiring book is filled with positive, loving affirmations. I have to give it five stars. However, I didn’t find it easy to devote my time to this work and can only give myself two stars. This is my fault, not Louise’s.
  
  Though I haven’t transformed my life with this book because my application to the work has been under par, I feel I have made a start.
  
  Here are a few examples of the affirmations given to us by Louise:
  
  “I am surrounded by love. All is well.
  There is no problem so big or so small that it cannot be solved with love.
  I forgive myself for not being perfect. I am living the very best way I know how.
  It is now safe for me to release all of my childhood traumas and move into love.
  I love you. I really, really love you (addressed to oneself).
  I love and approve of myself.
  I love being me.
  Life supports me in every possible way.”
  
  Louise concludes the book with 12 ways you can love yourself now – and always.
  
  1) Stop all criticism.
  2) Forgive yourself.
  3) Don’t scare yourself.
  4) Be gentle and kind and patient.
  5) Be kind to your mind.
  6) Praise yourself.
  7) Support yourself.
  8) Be loving to your negatives.
  9) Take care of your body.
  10) Have fun!
  11) Love yourself – do it now.
  12) Do your mirror work.
• 
  Narelle Clauscen

  So good that I will read it again and again and again. Simple, effective processes that you can apply daily to claim your worth and become one with yourself. Never again a need to look outside for what has always been available within. This book teaches you how to become your own best friend and provide for yourself everything you have been seeking outside of yourself. Louise is a shining example... bless her soul xx
• 
  Mi Camino Blanco

  Este libro recoge un entrenamiento o terapia personal para realizar en 21 días. Me da que llevarlo a rajatabla es bastante complicado, yo ni lo he intentado. Pero me quedo con la esencia, bonita y eficaz: frente al espejo te dices lo mucho que te quieres.
  
  ¿Qué mejor ejercicio para la autoestima y el autoconocimiento?
  
  
  
  https://www.micaminoblaco.blogspot.co...
  
  
• 
  Lea Luminarias

  I love how this book is designed. I can feel Louise Hay's love for humankind through the genuine messages written in this book. I can feel this book wasn't written only for the sake of money, but it was written for the sake of love and passion. After reading this, she's now one of my favorites in the world of personal development. This book may not be the answer for everything, but it's close to that as she said "My wish for you is to always remember that there is one thing that heals every problem, and that is to love yourself."
  
  After reading this book and doing the mirror work, I recommend you make your own affirmations that work for you. I've learned more facts about affirmations here:
  https://www.healthline.com/health/men...
  
  Louise Hay's mirror work is a reminder that you can only truly love someone, people you care about, your career, and everything on the outside when you truly love from within first. And to do that, you need to know "how" to love yourself (at the end of the book, there are lists of ideas and ways you can love yourself).
  
  This book may not be the "change" I'm looking for, but it's the start engine of that change.
• 
  Kiki van Dongen

  Helend. Mooi. Simpel. Waardevol. 🌱🤍
• 
  Miranda Kate

  I'd heard a lot about Louise Hay before I started this book; she is very prominent in the Personal Development and Self-Help arena, although as the founder/owner of Hay House Publishing which she started when she was 60 years old, she has a lot to teach. And I was keen to learn.
  
  
  When I first began this book I thought I was going over things I had already learnt and knew, but as I got further in there were some new areas that were very revealing to me and helped me push forward and build more inner self worth. I found this book really helped me build a foundation within myself to work from, and feel more secure within myself.
  
  
  People that are not familiar with self-help or personal development books might find the wording a little bit 'flowery' or 'esoterical' in its nature, maybe even convoluted, but it contain well thought out lessons and exercises which I found powerful and worth my time.
  
  
  If you struggle with self-love, being nice to yourself or accepting yourself, Louise Hay's method is very straight forward and easy to follow.
• 
  Bee

  A very inspiring book with an interesting approach to developing more self-love. I have been working with positive affirmations for a long time and trying Louise Hays Mirror work certainly adds momentum to their positive effects. However, I have a natural distrust to any system or healing path that claims it solves everything. That is the reason why I gave the book only three stars. The exercises in it are an excellent way to explore yourself and your attitudes towards yourself. Insofar it is a great tool to find more self-esteem and self-love. It is easy to understand and to follow and anybody who is interested in "New Thought" theories will love this book. Definitely, worth reading.
• 
  Yan Ward

  This book has made a huge impact in the way i live my life. It has transformed my lifestyle completely by altering the way i speak to myself. Some of the tasks outlined in this book is quiet time consuming and you really need to devote your time and effort into completing the activities if you want it to make an impact. The most important relationship is the one you have with yourself, and is something that doesn't happen overnight- but rather a work in progress. Thank you Louise Hay for helping me better myself and for teaching me how to love myself everyday and improving the relationship i have with myself.
• 
  Julia Simões

  I liked Louise Hay’s “You Can Heal Your Life”, however, “Mirror Work” is repetitive, shallow and lacks spirituality that should be addressed in a self-help book. Additionally, I found the writing more obnoxious this time around.
  
  If you are looking for a self-help book to help you find /change yourself, I would recommed “You Can Heal Your Life” by the same author. Same content with much more depth.
• 
  Amanda

  So I read this book, without actually doing the actual mirror or writing exercises yet, but it did get me thinking about all of the ways we store emotions from the past, and how they can turn into bad habits or ways of thinking that are not in tour best interest. The first 7 days seemed a bit dry, which I suppose is necessary for people new to self-love practices, but it did get much better after that.
  
  I intend on doing the exercises and seeing how it goes.
• 
  KELLY CRAIG

  I love Louise Hay. I owe a lot of my growth to her teachings and Mirror Work is near and dear to my heart for healing and overcoming my insecurities and fears. If you are looking to break free from the fear that is holding you back or you have self-esteem issues this book will definitely help you to move forward with more confidence.
• 
  Moonlight

  احببت ان هناك علاقة تربطني كل يوم بالكتاب وكأنه صديق اقابله كل يوم عبر المرآة لأتعرف عليه، بمجرد ان اقتربت من النهايه شعرت بحزن ولكن بآخر صفحة تذكرت بأنني لن ارحل عن نفسي وان هذا الطريق كان البداية فقط من اجل التعرف على روحي الحقيقية وتعلم محبتها وتعلم كيف تحب وتغفر وتسامح لنفسها وان تتذكر دائما بانها تستحق كل الخير في الحياة
• 
  Suzanne

  I read this book in 2017. And again in 2020.
  
  Every morning when I woke up, I read one chapter throughout 21 days.
  I start my day better and it improved my life with the affirmations and meditation Louse created for each day.
  
  Very simple and easy to read.
  Excellent for beginnings who want to work one themselves.
  
  I keep this one on my bookshelf for sure.
• 
  Hannah

  If you want to re-train your brain to make your internal dialogue more supportive and positive, this is the book for you! I found it incredibly helpful. Out of all Louise's books, in my opinion this is her best. One of the best books out there if you struggle with self-criticism and/or self-hatred.
• 
  Elizabeth Drake

  I didn’t find it revolutionary - although the concept of mirror work certainly is - the actual practices and affirmations didn’t do it for me the way other things I’ve done before have. If this was my first encounter with the inner work and inner child than it would have been huge.
• 
  Luka

  Loved it! If you aren't already in love with yourself, by the end of this book, you definetly will be!
• 
  Fadwa

  جميل جدا، وملهم، ومؤثر. يشمل تقريبا معظم المواضيع الأساسية التي نحتاج أن نتعامل معها. لكن كخطوة مبدأية لتغيير حياتك فهو يستحق الاقتناء والتطبيق 💕
• 
  Gissu

  ​#Review
  
  "O'sish va o'zgarishlar - bu juda zo'r hissiyot. Hatto buning uchun qalbingizdagi og'riqli nuqtalarga teginsa ham."
  
  "21 kun ichida baxtli bo'ling" 150 bet
  Luiza Xey
  
  O'z hayotiga o'zgarish olib kirishni istaganlar uchun tavsiya asar :)
  
  Asar @zukkokitobxon dan sovg'aga keldi. Pochtadan olishimiz bilan yo'l-yo'lakay mutolaa qilishni boshladik.
  Asar "O'zini -o'zi sevishning to'liq kursi " hisoblanadi.
  Asar muallifi Luiza Xey dunyoga mashhur yozuvchi, o'qituvchi metafizik, lektor .U asarlari orqali insonlarga motivatsiya , baxt va quvonch ulashadi.
  Asar 21 ta bobga bo'lingan.Har bir bob bir kun uchun mo'ljallangan.
  21kun ichida ko'zgu mashqlari orqali inson quyidagilarni uddalay oladi:
  *O'z shaxsiy tizimiga amin bo'lish, ijodiy imkoniyatlarini kashf qilish, o'z hayotini yangidan boshlash, o'ziga baho berishni qobiliyatini egallash, muhabbat va rahm -shavqatni rivojlantirish , qo'rquv va g'azab hissidan forig' bo'lish, o'z hayajonidan osonlikcha qutilish va kek saqlamasdan doimo olg'a intilish.
  Kitob insonlarga ruhiy tushkunlikdan chiqib o'z hayotini o'zgartishga va o'zini sevishga yordam beradi. Aynan kitobning birinchi bobi ham "o'zingizni seving" deb nomlangan. Inson o'zini sevsa va hurmat qilsa boshqalar ham shu insonni sevib hurmat qiladi.Sizga nisbatan insonlarning qarashlari , fikrlari va muomalasi tubdan o'zgaradi.
  Muallif aytganidek:"Sevgi bu juda qudratli davolovchi kuchdir. Bu sevgini siz dunyo bo'ylab chiqarishingiz va fikran uchratgan odamlaringiz bilan bo'lishishingiz mumkin.
  O'zingizni seving.Bir -biringizni seving. Olamni , zaminni seving , bilingki hammamiz bir butunmiz. Aslida ham shunday."
  Bu albatta BAXT!
  Men loyiqman. Ushbu bob orqali inson o'ziga baho berishni o'rganadi.Inson o'ziga men shunday baxtga loyiqman, ya'niki sevishga, orzularimga erishishga va doimo baxtni his qilishga loyiqman deb takror -takror ta'kidlashi kerak.
  Ya'na bir e'tiborimizni tortgan boblardan biri bu 8-kun "Ichingizdagi bolakayni sevish"!
  Har birimiz qachonlardir mitti bolakay bo'lganmiz. Hozir qanday yoshdaligimizni ahamiyati yo'q muhimi har birimizni ichimizda muhabbatga va tan olishga muhtoj bolakay bor. Qo'lingizga yoshlikdagi rasmingizni olingda u bilan dildan suhbat quring. Hamma-hammasini u bilan bo'lishing. Yengil tortasiz. Ko'proq mittivoylar bilan o'ynang, suhbatlashing yoshingizni ahamiyati yo'q chunki qachonlardir siz ham mitti bolakay bo'lgansiz.Ular bilan o'ynasangiz baxtni his qilasiz.
  Hayot -o'tmishda , hozir va kelajakda o'zini sevish uchun cheksiz imkoniyatdir.
  Albatta o'qib ko'ring!
  
  @booklovercouple
• 
  Anne

  First read on my Kindle. This is one of the books that I would love a physical copy of because it’ll be something I can reference to in different seasons of my life.
  
  Took notes for the first round, so that I could spend time doing the activities and journal prompts in the future. I have been into journaling lately, so I appreciate the prompts the book provides to help me focus on a certain area in my life that I need to dig deeper into.
  
  Highly recommend this to everyone. Everyone has something to work on no matter where they are in life. It’s a good starting point for people (like me) who are starting on their self-work journey. I think it’s also just as great if you’ve been doing the work for quite sometime since things and perspectives change as you go through life. It would also be interesting to see the improvements as time goes on by reading old journal prompts.
  
  The book is simple and easy to read. This is more of an engaging and pocketbook version of “You Can Heal Your Life” (the very first book I read from Louise Hay and also highly recommended).
• 
  Ann Venkat

  Beautiful affirmations to calm the mind.
  
  Love the guided meditations at the end of each chapter, almost like the ones on my Insight timer phone app. With all the frustrations of the pandemic and lockdown, this book was perfect to help me indulge in self care, without requiring too much time or effort!
  For those who don't believe in law of attraction, think of the mirror work affirmations as substitutes for the mantras provided in transcendental meditation.
  It would be great if there were templates available to complete the journing activities, and some of the content gets repetitive.
  On the whole, an excellent book but only if you truly choose to work on it!
• 
  Benay

  Louise L. Hay’ın 21 Günde Güç İçinizde kitabını 21 gün boyunca okudum ve etkisini gördüm diyemeyeceğim ama altını çizip kendime hatırlattığım güzel cümleler kaldı kitaptan geriye.
  Kendinizi sevmekle başlıyor her şey. Siz kendinizi sevince yaşadığınız dünyada da sevilecek şeyler buluyorsunuz. Oluşturduğunuz enerji sizle iletişime geçen herkese dokunuyor.
  21 gün mucizesini başka edinim hedeflerim için deneyeceğim. Kitabı gün gün okumamamın sebebi, 21 gün rutininin kazanımlarına inanmamam değil. Kendimle konuşmakta iyiyimdir, dolayısıyla bu kitabın satır aralarını cımbızlamakla yetindim.