Practices to Boost Confidence
Insecurity is a weird beast. It's an offshoot of fear and a lack of confidence. As I've transitioned into building my own business, there's plenty of room for self doubt. Days don't always go as planned. Projects that seem like a sure thing can fall through. Threads of that unpleasant emotion appear no matter what you do.
There's something underneath insecurity that we're meant to find, but we have to push through it. There's no good way to flip the switch and magically exude boundless confidence. However, there are some things we can when we feel insecure.
Meditate on changes
Negative self-talk gets you nowhere. Positive thinking will get you halfway down the road, so let's start there. Meditation can clear the cobwebs and calm the monkey mind, but if emptying your mind completely isn't working, trying this simple strategy.
Sit comfortably, in whatever position makes sense for you. Sit tall, with your spine lengthened and the crown of your head reaching upward. Allow your gaze to soften or perhaps close the eyes. Ask yourself these questions:
What would your life be like if you let go of your insecurity?
How do you want to change?
What would it feel like?
How would it look?
Take up space
A purely physical method for increasing confidence is to take up as much space as you can. (Hint: it's more than you think you deserve.) There's a science to all this.
When we stand in confidence, our testosterone increases (associated with confidence) and our cortisol decreases (associated with stress). The opposite happens with our hormones when we get really small and take a closed body posture. In her TED talk, Amy Cuddy discusses how just two minutes a day in a power pose can have immediate positive effects on your ability to handle stressful situations confidently.
Practice this Confidence-boosting sequence
The same thing happens in yoga. As yogis, we have a base of self-care practices to fall back upon when insecurity takes hold. We can meditate to calm the mind and practice asana (yoga poses) when the body can't help but move. We can sit and breathe. These are safe places to be. There's always work to be done when we turn inward.
My favorite confidence-boosting poses are when I'm standing strong and tall. Here's a simple standing sequence:
Tadasana (mountain pose)
High crescent lunge (with a slight backbend)
Trikonasana (triangle pose)
Virabhadrasana II (warrior 2 pose)
High crescent lunge
Vrksasana (tree pose)
The moral of the story is to do something that feels good and boosts confidence. There's no silver bullet. I'm convinced it doesn't exist for any of life's problems.
