How often do you look in the mirror? Do you gaze bleary eyed during your morning tooth brushing routine and then give yourself another quick once over before heading out the door or are you spending far more time staring in the mirror than you would be comfortable admitting in public? Do you see every mirror as a chance to critique yourself once again? Is every shiny surface a potential mirror to you? If this sounds like you, it might be time to consider a mirror fast.

The experts are divided on this topic. Some think it is a perfectly acceptable and wonderful idea, one that bears some further investigation. Those experts think that a mirror free period is exactly what is needed to reset the mind set and to eliminate hateful, critical self talk from your vocabulary. To accomplish the fast, it has to be a total abstaining from mirrors and reflective surfaces for a week in some cases to a month or longer in others. Psychologists who are for the fast say that it eliminates a lot of the negativity surrounding body or physical appearance image so that more positive attitudes can be cultivated.

Other experts disagree with this tactic saying that it is only a band-aid approach and does nothing to confront the deeper, underlying issues that sparked the fast in the first place. If you are consistently saying " I am ugly" or hating certain things you see in the mirror simply not looking in the mirror is not going to change your opinion or your behavior. Kristin Neff, an associate professor of human development at the University of Texas reminds fasters of another potential problem. What will happen once the fast is over and they are back to looking in the mirror? Will you have cured yourself of the mean things you say to yourself and the harsh way you judge your own reflection or will you quickly fall back into that same old routine once you are looking in the mirror?

Instead of going on a full mirror fast, Neff suggests that you reframe criticism as soon as you notice it. If you say that you "hate" something about your face or body ask if you would say this same thing to a dear friend and more importantly, would you allow someone to say this kind of thing to you? If the answer is no, then re-word what you are trying to say in a more positive and forgiving way.