Wellbeing

How to encourage your children to love the way they look

I caught my little girl posing in a full-length mirror the other day. It was so cute to see her chatting to herself and commenting on her hair and clothes.

I caught my little girl posing in a full-length mirror the other day. It was so cute to see her chatting to herself and commenting on her hair and clothes.

We’d recently been to visit a friend with a baby who had been enjoying hours of fun in the mirror. He is at that lovely age where babies think there’s another person in the mirror rather than recognising their own reflection.

You may be thinking I should be worried about my daughter’s vanity but actually the opposite is true. I don’t share the opinion that the current craze of ‘mirror-fasting’, (where you attempt to avoid mirrors for days in fear of becoming obsessed with your appearance) is good for you. Indeed I think we should be encouraging our children to have healthy self esteem and literally love the way they look.

Don’t confuse that with applying make-up and spray tans as per the recent furore with the American-style beauty pageants that are hitting the UK. I’m simply talking about encouraging children to embrace themselves just as they are.

From an early age children start saying ‘I’m fat and ugly’. Or, they have negative thoughts like, ‘I’m not good at sports, maths, painting or dancing’. This is really detrimental and there is scientific proof that our thoughts can become a physical reality. I had the pleasure of meeting Louise Hay, the author of You Can Heal Your Life, (£9.99, Hay House). She is an incredible woman, a truly life-loving, active 87-year-old who has started to take piano lessons!

She practises something called ‘mirror work’ – she has a beautiful mirror on her work desk so that she can tell herself she is wonderful before every phone call she makes. I’m going to try the same with my family and might line up the kids so we can do it together.

I’ll prepare myself for the jokes and teasing from the older boys about my reflection making the mirror crack!

Article by

Janey Lee Grace

is a holistic lifestyle expert. She is the author of Look Great Naturally – Without Ditching the Lipstick (£8.99, Hay House)

Discover more

Article by

Janey Lee Grace

is a holistic lifestyle expert. She is the author of Look Great Naturally – Without Ditching the Lipstick (£8.99, Hay House)

Discover more