There is a big difference between ordinary confidence and genuine confidence but did you know that it’s possible to gain confidence through meditation. It is one of meditation’s vast benefits.
But what is a meditation on confidence exactly and how does it affect our self-esteem or self-worth?
Ordinary confidence vs Genuine confidence
Ordinary confidence is based on some kind of reference point or relationship – i.e external circumstances. Often when we feel confident it is because we are comparing our abilities against those of someone else, or it might have to do with something external that we are relating to.
But genuine confidence has very little to do with comparison or relationship. It is based on an unconditional experience of your goodness and sense of self-worth, regardless of external circumstances.
How does society influence our confidence?
Unfortunately, in today’s society, maintaining a strong sense of self-worth is increasingly challenging. People often feel they need to prove themselves, but can never do so correctly.
Consequently, people suffer from insecurity and lack confidence in everything they do. They feel inadequate in every sphere of life. They fear that they can never really measure up to other people.
All kinds of images and reference points belonging to the outside world are used .to reinforce the inferiority complex that we all have to some degree.
Marketing presents us with the image of an attractive air-brushed woman or a man with six-pack muscles, and somehow we wind up comparing ourselves to those people, which inevitably makes us feel worse. The make-pretend world lets us know that we’re not good enough it erodes our self-image and suggests unrealistic solutions for building it back up.
Our appearance does not simply represent how physically attractive or unattractive we are—it also means deeper held feelings such as being embarrassed or ashamed about who we are. This can manifest itself when we feel less confident in ourselves as people, for example when we encounter difficulties at work, in relationships, or during social situations. The embarrassment might remind us of how we are perceived and rejected by others, which can then reinforce feelings of inadequacy.
Our habitual response to any kind of negative experience is to re-play it over and over again in our minds. We’re always trying to find ways to feel better about ourselves so naturally, we never stop thinking about what could go wrong. It makes us feel trapped, it makes us feel awful and inadequate but…
Our ticket out of the cycle of dependency is a daily routine of meditation and more specifically practicing a variety of different types of meditation or mindfulness practices.
The answer to building our confidence
The answer is simple: Meditation helps.
Finding mindfulness moments on a daily basis helps.
You sit simply and observe your breath. Your breath is already part of life. By focusing on your breath, without judgment, you abdicate any sense of comparison. There is no comparison, no competition. You sit. You learn to simply just be. In the here and now – what matters is this present moment and only this.
Meditation or mindfulness meditation teaches us to focus instead on what we already are and what we already know rather than what we ‘should’ be. We then stop the loop of negative thoughts and emotions and tap into our self-confidence and well-being.
Meditation teaches us to connect with a sense of our true worth, our intrinsic values. When we view things honestly, we may come to realize we don’t deserve the treatment we’ve received from others. Then we can let go of our fear and resentment and start living with greater confidence and equanimity.
It involves connecting with a sense of our real value, our inherent value. That’s where genuine self-confidence comes from. But we can’t just make it happen by wishing it to be so. Even if we’re able to see things clearly and recognize the patterns, our habits are too deeply entrenched.
Along with this, we practice deep compassion and kindness towards self which eradicates the shame, judgment, or preconceived negative notions we have of ourselves. This is the starting point of building up our self-esteem and self-confidence.
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Meditation on confidence – How meditation helps our self-esteem
Meditation helps for self-esteem by helping you find peace within yourself during stressful times and helping you become aware of any negative feelings that may be present in your life. Meditation has also been proven to reduce stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline.
When practicing meditation, every kind of thought appears. Perhaps it is that moment of embarrassment that you replay over and over again. Perhaps it is a sense of injustice in being unfairly criticized. Perhaps it is a fleeting moment of victory. As you continue your practice, return to the basic sense of being no matter what it is.
By doing so we practice letting go of these thoughts that are holding us back and attacking our self-worth. We move away from the past and instead of beating ourselves up about these ‘failures’, we learn to accept them to move through and forward.
Meditation is about becoming aware and present at the moment. When we’re mindful, we’re able to understand our emotions and respond appropriately. We learn how to be present and deal with difficult situations when we practice mindfulness. The benefits of meditation include increased focus, improved memory and concentration, decreased anxiety, and reduced depression. If you’re looking to boost your confidence, consider practicing some guided meditation.
Boosting natural confidence – the impact of self-esteem mindfulness meditation
Think of your mind as a blank sky. Thoughts, feelings, and experiences can all appear there. When the mind is free of negativity, it is clear, bright, and happy. However, when we are overwhelmed by negative thoughts, the mind becomes cloudy, dark, and even stormy. Our minds get so clouded that they lose confidence and feel unworthy. As we identify with this negativity, our confidence and feeling of self-worth diminish.
Meditation helps us become aware of the underlying sense of calmness and confidence within our minds. We realize that while our minds may appear chaotic, they are serene. There is always an awareness of a vast ocean of calmness beneath the surface. Through meditation, we learn how to access this place of calmness. We come to discover that we can achieve peace regardless of external circumstances.
Meditation helps you see your true nature. There is a space inside yourself that is vast and clear. The blue sky as mentioned before. This is the source of your inner peace. When you meditate, you realize that you never had a problem, to begin with. You just need to focus your attention on your true nature, which is already perfect.
That’s why meditation can be so effective at improving self-esteem. Even when clouds become very thick, we know that there’s still a clear sky on the other side. It helps us connect with our calm, confident selves.
Here’s how it works: Imagine being in a room full of people talking at once. You are there alone, so you start thinking about your life. You think about your problems and how they make you unhappy. You tell yourself these things over and over again until you believe them as truth. But since you are alone in this room, you don’t know any better, so you continue to say these things out loud and to yourself, too.
So each time you do this, you reinforce your belief system. This is called identification. You identify with your thoughts. You get lost in them. We are often aware of our thoughts, yet we believe they are true and real. So we identify with our thoughts (and use them to reinforce an old storyline) instead of letting them go.
Thoughts control your actions, moods, reactions, responses, and feelings. That’s why most people live lives that aren’t fulfilling. They’re always living in fear, anger, or sadness.
Meditation enables us to see thoughts for what they are – mere thoughts. Thoughts do not create reality; they merely reflect it. By letting thoughts pass without identification, we realize the mind’s innate nature, which is calm, confident, and ever-present.
Meditation helps us break out of this pattern to see thoughts for what they are: temporary mental phenomena. We can experience our innate nature, which is quiet, confident, and ever-present.
Try this mini – meditation:
First, find a comfortable position and take a couple of deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Gently close your eyes, feeling the weight of your body press down.
Allow your focus to move above your head, and imagine a steady stream of warm sunlight flowing down into your body and washing away any tension.
Visualize the sunlight traveling all the way down to your toes, bringing with it a sense of ease and space. Feel it fill the body, dissolving any discomfort or tension.
Now, imagine that warm stream of sunlight slowly traveling up your legs toward your waist, and into the upper half of your body. Feel it gradually move up through the chest, spreading around the shoulders and back, and flowing down your arms and into your hands and fingers.
Any last areas of tension are softening as it moves up through your throat, neck, and head into your face until it reaches the very top of your head. Sit in the feeling of warmth, calm, and comfort. Allow that feeling to remain.
Now, let go of the image. In your own time, gently open your eyes. Try to recognize the quality of your mind at that moment, and make an intention to carry that awareness into the rest of your day.
A practice such as this focuses on developing a new perspective on negative mental chatter by practicing a less-judgmental inner life, by creating some space in your mind to observe negative and self-critical thinking.
The idea is not to replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
Rather, it’s about seeing through the nature of thought altogether.
It doesn’t matter what thoughts arise in the mind, we know that within ourselves is a place of clarity and quiet confidence that’s not affected by the internal or external world. These meditations train us to find that place, not only during practice but also in everyday life.
Meditation is also becoming more and more accessible with the rise in popularity of meditation programs or through companies such as Insight Timer, a meditation app. This has a huge positive impact on our mental health as a society in general.
In short, meditation teaches you how to be present in the here and now and live each moment fully.
It gives you the ability to notice when you’re getting caught up in negative emotions like anxiety or fear and to step back from them instead of being swept along by them.
You learn to let go of the past and not worry about the future, because there’s no point in worrying about something if you don’t have control over it. You learn to accept yourself just as you are and release any judgments or comparisons so that you can live your best and most confident self!
