How to Build Confidence

Confidence is simply the belief in one’s ability to succeed at any given task at hand. It is a positive feeling that assures you that you can do things well while choosing the correct course of action.

Self-confidence is also having trust in yourself and a feeling of having control over your life. Confidence usually comes when you are comfortable in your skin and accept yourself the way you are. If you are low on this positive feeling, it cannot be built overnight. It requires effortless focus and time in re-inventing yourself through various techniques.

Do you often wonder how to build self-confidence? One of the best ways to do that is through confidence-boosting meditation. There are several techniques of this meditation that help you look inwards and renew the interconnection with yourself, reawakening the faith in yourself and your abilities.

This meditation is aimed at making your mind still and focusing it on your abilities to approach tasks and situations with positivity and self-belief.

There are several reasons for low self-confidence in some people. These include:

Growing up with extremely critical family members and teachers. Going through a lot of humiliation and bullying in childhood. Experiencing traumatic life events such as getting fired from a job, getting divorced, etc. Being at the receiving end of discrimination due to one’s gender, race, or sexual orientation. Being put down often in a relationship. Suffering from chronic pains, disability, or illnesses. Experiencing constant stress, anxiety, panic, or depression. Naturally being prone to negative thinking.

There are some pretty obvious signs of low confidence in a person. These include:

Being overly critical of oneself. Considering ourselves to be inferior to others. Using negative words to explain ourselves or our abilities Always internalizing our faults. Blaming oneself for things that are out of our control. Feeling embarrassed or showing disbelief when a person compliments us. Leaving everything to luck and not giving credit to one’s abilities. Not attempting newer things and opportunities.

Meditation to boost confidence can be done by anyone who:

Constantly harbors negative feelings about oneself. These may include depression, guilt, anger, guilt, or shame. Feels incapable of being loved. Cannot forge new friendships or relationships. Bullies or feels angry with other people. Avoids trying out new things due to the fear of failure. Worry too much about people judging them. Is unable to cope up with life changes and challenges. Has self-harming behavior such as dependence on alcohol, drugs, smoking, etc., and other risky behaviors. Doesn’t care about how he/she looks.

Meditation to build and improve self-confidence must be avoided in instances when:

You are feeling overtly negative or are stressed, depressed, or anxious. Someone is suffering from fever, flu, or cold. You are rushing between commitments and cannot devote quality time to the practice. Someone is experiencing heart palpitations, dizziness, gastrointestinal problems, headaches, etc. When you are feeling very emotional and the smallest thing is affecting you. You are feeling tired or fatigued.

We often wonder about how to build confidence. Here are some of the best meditation techniques that you can use to inculcate self-confidence:

Mindfulness meditation Focus meditation Loving-Kindness meditation Visualization meditation Gratitude meditation Self-care meditation

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to improve self-confidence through various techniques of meditation:

Mindfulness meditation: One of the best techniques for building self-confidence, mindfulness meditation trains our mind to stay in the present rather than dwelling on the things in the past and future that are beyond our control. This helps in Letting go of stress and clears our minds to understand our capabilities, self-worth, and inherent goodness.

Sit in a comfortable position and start by taking a few deep breaths. Start focusing on each breath taken in and out. Slowly start emptying your mind of all thoughts and keep it focused on your breaths. If your mind starts to stray, gently bring it to your meditative state without being overtly harsh with yourself.

Focus meditation: This meditation aims to help you create and improve your focus. This focus plays a major role in concentrating on things that are important for you and approaching them with positivity, in turn building your confidence in the long run.

Sit comfortably and in an upright position. Relax your body and mind completely. Choose an object to focus your attention on. Now focus all your senses of sight, sound, hearing, and smell on that object. Calm your mind and avoid letting it wander. Feel your mind open up and focus on the possibilities that lie before you.

Loving-Kindness meditation: This meditation aims to build confidence and create a feeling of self-love and respect for one’s capabilities. It helps in freeing yourself of any bindings and limitations and lets you appreciate yourself and find joy and happiness in things around you, eventually instilling self-esteem and confidence in yourself. It also builds your emotional strength and helps in balancing and managing your response to stressful triggers.

Relax your mind and body and sit in a comfortable position. Focus on yourself and bring all the love and care in your heart towards yourself. You can use affirmations and praises for yourself and bless yourself. Prevent distractions and avoid letting your mind wander. Even if it does, guide it back gently. Now direct the same love and appreciation towards the people around you.

Visualization meditation: One of the best ways to build confidence is to imagine that you already have it. This technique trains you to use the mechanics of seeing things how they would be before they occur. This meditation style uses visual imagery where you imagine achieving things that you strive for and has a tremendous impact on your confidence and positivity. It is especially useful for dancers, public speakers, or sportspeople.

Sit in a comfortable space and relax your mind and body. Feel stillness around you and slowly empty your mind of all the thoughts and chatter. Create a strong visual in your mind. It could be a place where you are the happiest, you achieving a difficult feat, or even a picture, chant, or a name. Now focus on your breath and maintain its pace to a soothing rhythm. Keep visualizing with each breath.

Gratitude meditation: Inculcating gratitude is the best way to build confidence. Gratitude promotes a positive frame of mind especially about our capabilities, builds our faith, and makes us resilient to stressful situations and life changes.

Find a quiet place that’s free of distractions. Sit upright but in a relaxed position. You can close your eyes or focus on an object of your choice. Take slow, deep, and purposeful breaths and bring your mind to the present. Guide it gently to stop harboring thoughts about the past or the future. Scan your body for any tension, tightness, or rigidity. If you notice your mind going to negative feelings of anger, fear, hatred, jealously, or judgment-, visualize as if you are breathing them out of your system. Now that your mind is clearer, start the process of gratitude. Thank yourself for the life that you have, your friends & family, your job, and the comforts in life.

Self-care meditation: Given the chaotic times that we live in, it’s easy to feel that you can’t cope with everything. This feeling ultimately leads to poor self-confidence. This meditation helps you feel calmer and rejuvenated.

Sit in a relaxed position. Start noticing and focusing on your breath. Slowly, allow yourself to think of the things that scare or worry you, without being judgemental. Reaffirm the thought that whatever be the situation, you can always find a way out. Now think of the positive things around you and express your gratitude.

Confidence meditation has some amazing benefits for your mind and body. Some of the most important ones include: Building confidence through meditation leads to an enhanced feeling of self-worth and belief in yourself as a well-rounded person. Having confidence motivates you to not only achieve your immediate goals but also to think beyond your horizons and achieve bigger and better things for yourself. It helps in accepting life challenges and transitions with confidence without getting affected too much by them. The confidence boost from meditation frees you from debilitating negative thoughts and emotions about the things and people around you. It helps you become less critical of yourself. This in turn improves self-esteem and your faith in yourself and makes that next promotion or finishing a difficult project easy. When you feel confident in yourself, you are liberated from the thoughts of how others perceive you. It makes you mentally freer and lets you concentrate on things that are of importance in your life. Building confidence through meditation prevents stress, anxiety, and panic. This, in the long run, sharpens your cognitive functioning. Reduced stress also works wonders for your cardiovascular health and overall wellbeing. Being confident about your abilities lets you widen your horizons and helps in leading a fuller life.

Here are some things that you miss out on when you don’t practice meditation to boost confidence: You never get to know your true worth and keep riding your life surrounded by and justifying mediocre things. You feel constant stress and anxiety in the absence of regular confidence-boosting meditation practice. Whether it’s work or studies, you don’t perform at your full potential missing out on a world of opportunities. In the absence of meditation to increase confidence, you are embroiled in what others think of you instead of knowing your self-worth. Not building confidence through meditation makes you lead a life of question marks and fear. You don’t enjoy life for what it is and instead, always worry about the things that you can’t do. Low confidence rubs on your relationships with your friends, family, and colleagues. Your relationships are imbalanced and often stressed. Harboring thoughts of not being capable enough may push you towards dependence on smoking, alcohol, and other risky behavior. Not getting a confidence boost and self-esteem due to lack of meditative practice may lead to neglecting yourself. You tend to overlook your looks, sleep, fitness, and diet. Not doing confidence meditation leads to a feeling of hopelessness and avoidance. You stop expecting anything from life and stop enjoying anything.

Here are some things to keep in mind before doing confidence-boosting meditation: Dos: Learn meditation from an experienced trainer to get to know the exact technique and achieve your objectives. Alternatively, you can learn it from meditation apps or join a class. Practice meditation preferably in the early morning hours. This is when you aren’t busy and can concentrate on your practice. Decrease distractions such as your mobile phone and TV to avoid interruptions in your thought process and focus. Experiment with different styles of mediation to keep your interest alive. Meditate in a space that’s well-ventilated, clean, and airy. This will help you feel positive vibes and encourage you to stick to your practice.

Don’ts: Never get into a meditation practice head-on. Start slow and build up the practice for desired results. Don’t give yourself unrealistic goals and be too harsh on yourself. Give yourself time to react to your meditative practice and be patient with yourself. Don’t take frequent breaks between your practice. Consistency is the key to inculcating self-confidence.

Here are some things that will make your confidence-boosting meditation session more effective: A yoga mat Comfortable and breathable clothing Soothing music and chants Water bottle