Today we welcome Tara Well, who is an associate professor of psychology at Barnard College of Columbia University where she has taught Personality Psychology, Health Psychology, and Psychology of Leadership for over 20 years. Her research on motivation, perception, and cognition has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). She outlines the research and benefits of her meditation program in her latest book Mirror Meditation.

In this episode, I talk to Tara Well about mirror meditation. What is the first thing you think of when you look in the mirror? For a lot of us, our initial instinct is to nitpick at our flaws. Using mirror meditation, Tara teaches people how to use one’s reflection to promote self-acceptance and inner knowing. The mirror can help us become kinder not just to ourselves, but to the people around us as well. We also touch on the topics of narcissism, compassion, and attachment. 

Website: mirrormeditation.com

Twitter: @tarawell88

Topics

01:36 Tara’s expertise in psychology 

05:33 Mirror Meditation 

12:22 Reflecting on identities

14:39 Sit with yourself

18:59 Unfreeze yourself

21:28 Neuroscience of narcissists 

26:08 Compassion for narcissists

32:42 Anxious and avoidant self-attachment

36:31 Be there for yourself

39:20 Look at others in the eyes of love

42:07 Reclaiming your projections

43:28 How to see the best in others

45:45 Self-talk in third person

46:51 Meditation practice