
Revealing Truth About The Image In The Mirror
Feeling at odds with the image in the mirror? Listen in as Michaela unveils the truth about what you’re really seeing from a Three Principles perspective to help cultivate mind, body, and self-understanding.
Transcript
Hey there and welcome.
This is Makala coming to you with little discussion and exploration about the image in the mirror and what you're really experiencing when you look in the mirror.
I did a live talk about this today and I felt that this information would be really helpful to many more people.
So I'm making it into a track.
So I'll go over some of what we covered today.
So what you'll learn about is that you are not the image in the mirror.
You will come to know what it is that you're you're really seeing and have,
You know,
Some idea of ways of moving towards having a more peaceful relationship with your body.
And you know what?
There's another thing.
There's like what I see as a missing piece that can affect change in the physical body that in many areas of our life,
Actually,
When you add this little piece in that makes so much sense,
Yet can feel so elusive at times.
And I'll get to that a little bit later.
First,
It's important to kind of understand the mind and how it works,
Who you are,
What your experience is,
Like where is it,
Where it's coming from,
And also a differentiation between the personal mind and the universal mind.
So first of all,
The three principles of divine mind,
Divine consciousness and divine thought are behind this whole understanding.
And it's really how life works for everyone.
There are no exceptions.
It is the sort of great equalizer because we all are lived and breathed and animated and expressed through by this universal intelligence,
This infinite intelligence that has infinite potential and possibility made available to us.
And every moment of every day,
It's guiding us 24 seven.
So I'd like to,
I'm going to invite you to imagine this.
There's a,
It's going to look like a bullseye,
But the bullseye,
The middle of it is going to be a heart.
So that heart is you.
That is what,
Who you really are,
What you really are.
It is the core of you.
That is a representation of the infinite energy and potential of you.
Now the ring around it represents everything that really you still can't see it's still in a formless state.
And that is your psychology.
You know,
What your,
Your thoughts,
The feelings that rise up with the thoughts,
Your beliefs,
Your habits,
All those kinds of things.
And FYI,
Beliefs and habits,
That's just thought too.
Those are just thoughts that you've grabbed onto and you you're holding onto like,
And you call it a belief.
And you know,
A habit is just a series of thoughts or a thought that you've just become conditioned to.
It's all just thought.
So it doesn't take 21 days,
30 days,
60,
70,
90 days to break a habit.
I don't believe that.
I've seen it.
It can happen in the speed of thought,
Basically,
Which is faster than light.
You have the heart in the middle.
That is you.
You have the next ring out.
And that is your thinking,
Your psychology,
Your feelings,
Your beliefs,
Your habits,
That kind of stuff,
Everything going on in your mind.
And then there's a further ring out.
And that is the circumstances of your life.
That is your,
Your,
Your,
Your family,
Your friends,
Your work,
Your,
Your home environment,
You know,
The city you live in,
Government,
The grocery store.
And the body,
Your body,
Your body.
So I want you to see here that who you really are.
When you look in the mirror,
You see a body.
And I'm going to invite you to look beyond the body.
For me,
What I do is I look into my eyes.
Because when I look into my eyes,
I know there's something,
There's something there.
I feel,
I can't see.
But when I allow myself to really get present,
I can get lost in it.
Have you ever,
Have you ever experienced that?
Where,
And you may have even said it,
I got lost in her eyes or his eyes.
Yeah,
It's that.
There's something more.
That is who you really are.
That.
Now,
How this looks is that,
And this is how we've really been conditioned to see life.
You know,
Through society and family and peers in the media,
We look to those things outside of us.
And we might compare,
We might see how we measure up.
And we've heard that,
You know,
A,
B and C is great.
D and E,
Not so good.
F,
G,
H,
Eh,
Good luck in life if you don't have that.
And all of that is just not true.
It has nothing to do,
Your experience of life has nothing to do with anything that is outside of you.
With anything in those outer circles or that outer circle.
It does have everything to do with what you're thinking.
Because what you're thinking about is,
That's where the feeling comes from.
So it looks like you're seeing those things outside of you.
And you're having a thought.
And many times you're not even aware of the thought.
You don't even,
It happens so quickly,
You're not even aware that a thought was thunk.
Yet a feeling arises in your body.
And because your attention is on something outside of you,
And let's use the body in the mirror,
The image in the mirror.
You're looking at that and you're feeling something in your body.
And you're attributing the shape or the,
You know,
Whatever it is you're believing about the body,
You're thinking about.
That is what,
It's the thinking that is causing the feeling.
That is what you are experiencing.
You are not experiencing your body at all.
Ever.
Except for when you're using your physical sensations,
Like touch,
You know,
Smell,
Hearing,
Unless you're using that.
Then you're experiencing your body.
But even that,
You feel it,
You have the sensation,
And you have a thought about it.
You touch something rough,
It's like,
Yeah,
I don't like rough.
And it feels like,
Ooh,
In your body,
Or like nail board scratching,
Or you pet a soft animal that you are not allergic to.
And it feels good.
So if you're not experiencing that,
What is it?
What you are experiencing is thoughts of the past,
Maybe past experiences,
Things that you've learned that,
You know,
It's good to be young.
Oh,
And you don't want to get old.
Or,
You know,
Size,
Extra,
Extra small is,
You know,
The place to be.
And medium,
Large,
Extra large is not okay.
That's what we've gotten.
That's what we've been sort of conditioned to believe.
So if we don't fit into the parameters of what we've seen,
And what we've taken on and believed,
It creates a stress in our body when we look at our image in the mirror and think that it doesn't measure up.
So we can experience our past experiences,
And we can also experience our future.
Now,
We're not actually experiencing those,
We're experiencing the thought of them in the moment.
So we're experiencing thoughts in the moment of the past events,
Or past comparisons,
Preferences.
And we're looking to the future,
And sort of often catastrophizing that.
If I don't get this body into shape,
No one's going to love me.
Or I'll never fit in,
Or I'll never be accepted,
Or I'll never get that job,
Or I'll never be able to run that marathon,
Or whatever it is that we're kind of thinking that we might like to do.
So we can get into this place of projecting into the future,
And that is not serving as well.
It's not true.
There's no truth to it.
It's all made up.
There's nothing in the past or the future that is true right now,
Right here in this moment.
And even then,
If it's,
You know,
What you're thinking is always subjective.
So unless you're looking at something in a factual way,
You will be swayed by your thinking.
I had an experience,
You know,
Growing up very young,
And,
You know,
Hanging around the kitchen table as a young girl,
And all the ladies,
You know,
The aunts and,
Actually,
Aunts and uncles,
And grams,
And moms and dads.
Often there was conversation about diet,
And being fit,
And losing weight,
And,
You know,
All of that.
And it became obvious to me that,
Ooh,
It is good to be slim.
It's good to not have any kind of weight that someone would consider over.
It's never really clear who,
Like,
Who decided,
But the magazines told me something.
They told me something.
The TV told me something.
And my peers,
At times,
Told me something that had me,
You know,
Getting an idea of what's acceptable and what's not.
When you're using your past experiences or projecting into the future,
You innocently start looking for things.
You look for things.
So when you look in the mirror,
You don't just see this body that you might see,
Ooh,
I need to clean that off my face,
Or it's time to brush my teeth,
Or my hair is messy,
I gotta.
.
.
You see it in a way of whatever it is that you're looking for.
So if you're looking to see,
Well,
Let's see how out of shape I am today.
Let's see what that bulge is like.
Let's have a look at those wrinkles.
How many more gray hair?
And all of those things are actually fine.
There's nothing wrong with them,
Except for the meaning that we give it.
So there's a feeling that comes with it.
There's a tension that rises in the body.
So that is an indicator to you to know that you're not being true to you.
You're not following the guidance of how to experience yourself that the universal intelligence is intending to have expressed through you.
So the problem with this is,
Because you're always gonna find what you're looking for,
But that thinking,
That judging,
It informs your day.
It affects your relationships.
You know,
You think that your body dictates what's possible for you,
And it can have you hide away.
It can have you look for things to soothe yourself.
Things that will never satisfy,
Like food.
The thing is,
It may look like those things are making you feel better,
But in fact,
The feeling better doesn't come in the consumption.
The feeling better comes because you've turned your attention away from the thoughts that you were thinking in the moments that you were feeling stress and strain and discomfort.
And as you turn them towards something that is not necessarily helpful for you,
It just takes your mind off.
So it's a temporary coping mechanism,
Really.
It's a temporary solution.
So you keep doing it,
And you keep doing it.
What you don't really need will never satisfy you.
There's no satisfaction in something that you're not really wanting or needing.
So when we are looking for,
When we're seeing the things that we're looking for,
It's like that's all we're getting,
And it becomes a barrier in your life.
And so,
It's a barrier.
It's all we're getting,
And it becomes a barrier in your life.
So here's,
This is the really good news.
When you test this out in your life,
Because it's the only way,
The only way to really have a shift in how you see this,
Is if you test it out for yourself in your life.
To,
First of all,
Remember who you are.
That heart in the middle,
That representation of infinite intelligence.
That is who you are.
That is what you are.
Your body is the vehicle through which that intelligence wants to express through.
Uniquely,
The only way it can through your body.
So remember that your body is a vehicle for your own self-expression.
And then you get to experience your own self-expression through your body,
Through the senses of the body.
You get to feel it.
And when you are following wisdom,
When you are following the nudges from within,
You will have a satisfying experience of your life,
No matter where you are,
What you're doing.
This is something that I find helpful when I get caught up in my thinking,
I find it helpful to look at the facts.
Because when I look at the facts of my body or whatever situation is at hand,
That I'm getting caught up in my thinking about and feeling a little off-center over.
When I look at the facts of the circumstance,
The thing outside of me,
What the situation is about,
There's like,
I've never had a time when the facts outweighed the thoughts.
There's very few facts.
Here's an example of looking at the facts when you look at your body in the mirror.
So I can stand in front of the mirror and I can look at my shoulders and notice,
Oh,
There's one shoulder that's lower than the other.
And I can look further down and see that I have a bulge over my pants.
Those are facts.
Those are things that anyone looking at them could see,
These things.
They're neutral.
There's no emotion there.
It's just fact.
Anything beyond that,
Oh my gosh,
What's going on?
Is my hip out?
Like,
Why is my shoulder all crooked?
Or,
Oh my goodness,
I'm gonna need to,
I don't know,
Go for a run or I better get on the treadmill or something to take care of that bulge over my pants or whatever.
And then,
So with the fact,
Looking at that,
It was neutral.
When you get into the other,
Which is thought,
It's not neutral anymore.
Now there's a feeling rising up in the body.
Oh,
I'm a little worried.
Am I,
Oh gosh,
I gotta make an appointment with the chiropractor or whatever I might think I need to do in order to fix whatever the reason is that my shoulders are crooked.
Looking at the bulge,
There's emotion that comes up because it feels tense,
Stressful.
Why?
Because whatever feeling is coming up is not of a true nature guidance.
It's not coming from infinite intelligence.
It's coming from the personal mind as opposed to the universal mind,
Which is neutral and always has your best interest at heart and will guide you in the easiest and when you follow the guidance of your true nature,
It is more easeful.
It flows more easy and there's not all of that stress and tension and restriction and aversion.
Yeah.
So that is one way that I get a calmer mind about my body when I get offside.
Because here's the thing,
FYI,
I've been in the understanding of the three principles for about three years and about two years ago,
I was being coached and it was around body and I had just a huge insight around how I was not my body.
And for the past two years,
I've been looking in this direction to see all that I can see to unravel it because I've had many years of body image struggles.
Many years of,
You know,
Eating disorders and substance abuse and a lot was revolved around my body.
So much,
So much was wrapped up in there.
I'm human.
You are human.
So you can absolutely have a different relationship,
A more peaceful and satisfying relationship with your body.
And at times you will forget.
You'll forget everything that you've seen that was fresh and new and had you feeling good in your body.
And then you'll remember again.
Really,
The only thing that we're doing here is reminding.
I'm reminding you of who you are.
And you will forget just like I forget.
As long as you're human,
You will forget at times.
And you can remember again.
You will remember again.
It just happens.
Once you've seen something new and fresh,
You can't unsee it and it'll shift your perspective on things.
Okay,
So I hope that was clear.
Here's the missing piece.
The piece that I see that is so often just even not recognized as important,
Really important.
And that's knowing what you want.
And not just knowing what you want.
It's like,
What do you want to feel in relation to your body?
Within your body,
To your body,
What is it that you want to feel?
Why do you want to feel that?
What if you feel that,
Then what?
How's your life going to change?
What are you looking to experience?
I'm asking that because often we will look,
We might,
We will look to something that we think we want.
Like,
Oh yeah,
I want to start running so I can lose weight.
Like,
No,
You don't.
You just want to have something different in your body.
Why?
I don't know.
That's the question to ask.
Why do you want that?
What is it that you're really looking to experience?
What is that?
Go deeper.
What relationship do you want to have within and to your body?
Last summer,
I did this experiment for myself in like,
What do I want?
What do I want this experience to be within my body?
How do I want to be with my body?
And I wanted to,
And it was,
For me,
It showed up in two different ways.
Within my body and to my body.
It may not for you.
Just go with what feels good for you.
But for me,
It was just like,
I want to honour it.
So it was like a relationship to it.
And then it was like,
What about like inside?
You know,
What do I want to,
What's my experience that I'm looking for inside?
And it was like,
I want to feel agile.
I wanted to feel flexible.
I wanted to,
Actually,
Flexible was not the word.
It was agile.
And I wanted to be contained.
Now,
The contained was more like,
Like not kind of all over.
And I wanted freedom.
I wanted freedom in it because I used to do yoga and things.
And I found that I couldn't get into as deep into some of the positions as I used to because I have some excess.
So I couldn't bend over as fully.
I couldn't fold as fully as I used to.
In this containment,
There was also a level of freedom,
Freedom of movement.
So these were some of the things that I had sort of identified as the feelings.
And I felt into it.
The feeling is key.
You got to feel into it.
What is it?
And identify it.
And you may not come up with a word.
I had a client who came up with an exclamation mark.
The exclamation mark,
Like resonated with her as a,
What do you call it?
Like an icon to represent the feeling that she was looking to feel.
Cool,
Right?
So it doesn't have to be in words.
But when you are having your attention put on that,
On the feeling of what you want,
You will be drawn to,
If there's something to do,
You will be drawn to do something different.
And it will happen without effort,
Without thinking about it.
It'll just all of a sudden,
You'll find yourself doing something different.
Here's what happened to me.
Talking about this agile.
All of a sudden,
Really it felt like an all of a sudden.
I was like,
Hey,
I'm doing yoga.
And I found someone online and I started doing yoga every,
Almost several times a week,
Not every day,
But several times a week.
I was just doing it.
I wasn't pushing myself to do it.
And I've done yoga on and off throughout the years.
I love yoga.
But I wasn't in a place where I was just doing it at home on my own.
Like I was,
But there was something inside of me that was just drawing me towards this.
And there you go.
All of a sudden,
I was getting more flexible.
My body was changing.
There was things that were happening without me doing things that I didn't want to do that were leading me to a body that I was enjoying.
And that was more satisfying to me.
Yeah.
So look for what you want to see that brings you the feeling you want to feel.
And you'll begin to see it everywhere.
Really?
Yeah.
When your attention is on the feeling that you want,
Wisdom will absolutely,
It's going to guide you.
It's going to guide you.
You can trust that.
I hope this was helpful in some way.
If it was,
You know,
Please,
I would love to,
You know,
Hear a comment or a review.
Was it,
Is there something more that you would enjoy learning about?
Do you want to see something from a different perspective or like a different angle?
I'm here to serve and would be happy to help.
I'm happy to create something that would be most helpful for you.
So please like and,
Or rate and share this if it feels good to do so.
That would be appreciated.
And I hope to see you and be in community with you again soon.
Thanks.
Bye.
4.8 (65)
Recent Reviews
Meg
February 19, 2026
Really helpful to think about how I'd like to feel in the body rather than chasing a goal such as "getting faster" in running!
Patty
December 28, 2025
There are oodles of Insight in this talk, mainly I'm inspired to retrain my thoughts, getting better understanding how my perspectives and beliefs are guided by my thoughts and I have the power to change my thoughts in a heartbeat. I am 69 years old; I wish I had heard this talk as a young person, repeated through the stages of my life. Thank you for sharing! ♥
Stacey
December 26, 2025
I really enjoy these kinds of talks. You brought in a lot of introspective and gentle reminders that I found very helpful. I loved the idea of discovering why it is. I’m drawn to do something in regards to body image. It’s a great question one that I will definitely ponder and ask myself. Thanks so much. 💕💕
Julie
July 19, 2025
Thanks for your talk, I agree that lots of disatisfaction around ourselves come from outside conditioning especially in a western society that promotes youth, vitality and striving. We all age and eventually our bodies will change, self acceptance at every stage in life seems to be the key 🗝️💕
Jodi
April 14, 2025
I really enjoyed that. It was very thought provoking. I always think about a picture of me on the phone and very happy at my goal weight. And now I’m thinking more deeply as to what I felt and why. I felt freedom. Everything fit me, I can move around better. I really have to give that more thought. I think what you’re saying is do things that create those feelings and your body will follow?
Catherine
March 23, 2025
Thank you, Michaela for bringing this topic to the table for discussion. I appreciate this🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻Ah, our bodies, the great vehicle of our earth experience…Without our bodies, we would not be able to have any experiences on this planet. So yes, looking in the mirror, and loving what I see, that was not a given. I have been lucky to look myself in the eye, and really see, to look my beloved in the eye, to look my mother in the eye, to look friends in the eye, until there’s nothing to be seen but pure love, pure magic. It took me several decades to really develop a love relationship with my body. So much to be grateful for🙏🏻🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🙏🏻
Darcey
March 27, 2024
Loved. Connected with it so much. For myself, I call it mirror therapy. It’s a beautiful process that has helped me to learn hiw to truly love myself. 😍 thank you for sharing.
Tatyana
August 29, 2023
I love your teaching about the body being a vehicle for infinite creative intelligence . Thank you for your detailed explanation !❤️🙏
Lorrie
July 26, 2023
Very interesting Michaela - I'll have to listen to it a few times to fully grasp the concept.
