Catch the words.
The Situation
You react before you notice what you are really telling yourself.
The drop in the mirror is not silent. There are words underneath it, even if they move too fast to register. 'Disgusting.' 'Of course.' 'Why bother.' 'No one will want to look at me.' We rarely say them out loud, because they would shock us if we did. We just feel them and call it a feeling.
This step asks something small and uncomfortable: write them down. Not to argue with them yet. Just to see them on paper, in your own handwriting, outside your head. Most women are surprised by how cruel the inner voice is once it is written. It is almost always saying things they would never say to another person.
The Solution
Catch the exact words you say to yourself, and write them down where you can see them.
Keep a small notebook or a notes app. For one week, every time the mirror-drop happens, write the exact sentence. Do not soften it. Do not edit it. The point is to see what you have been telling yourself, in the words you actually use. Seeing them is most of the work.
