Mirror fasting: turning away from your reflection

Mirror fasting has become the latest trend among women who’re obsessed with their looks.

Every day we’re bombarded with the media’s perception of perfection and beauty. Socially, we’ve become conditioned to seeing our flaws instead of embracing our individuality, which is what ultimately makes us beautiful.

The idea behind “mirror fasting” is to refrain from glancing at yourself in mirrors, store windows, cellphone or computer screens, or anything else that reflects your appearance. Many women have joined the trend for as long as a year in order to stop obsessing over their looks.

According to the article Women Turn Their Backs on Mirrors to Ease Constant Pressure of Having to Look Good, on www.dailymail.co.uk, the “mirror fasting” concept arose in the USA and has become quite popular among American women, including New York beauty writer Autumn Whitefield Madrano (36). “I was surprised at how quickly I stopped worrying about how I looked – and if I wasn’t thinking about it, I assumed no-one else was either, which is true,” she says.

However, Cape Town-based psychologist Daphne Cooper believes the trend is simply another form of image obsession. “Refusing to look at one’s appearance is in no way dealing with one’s body image. It’s actually a form of self denial. The only way we’re going to defeat this idea of poor body image is by expanding our definitions of beauty.”

Cooper says there’s a direct relationship between body image and confidence. “The way we see ourselves directly affects whether we have a low or high self-esteem.”

Here are five ways to improve body image from www.lifescript.com:
• Write an “I like myself because…” list.
• Admire successful people, not slender ones.
• Undo negative self-talk.
• Learn to love exercise.
• Pamper yourself.