Tara Well || Mirror Meditation

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 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.