Meditation is an amazing tool to help you through hard times, especially through times of low confidence and self-esteem. We’re not saying it’s the answer to every hardship and we’re not saying it will magically fix everything. But what we are saying is that it’s a very accessible method to slow down the thoughts and help you navigate through whatever it is you’re going through.
In our experience, when we’ve felt a deep lack of confidence, self-criticising thoughts are on overdrive.
Negative thoughts are normal, they are part of being a human. When using meditation for self-esteem and confidence building, the goal isn’t to replace negative thoughts and negative emotions with positive ones. It’s more about raising your awareness to these thoughts and identifying what is true and what is not.
When negative thoughts are on overdrive
Thinking is exactly what our minds are meant to do, sometimes thoughts can sound a little like this:
I will never get that promotion, I don’t know why I even bother applying.
I look so disgusting, why would anyone want to date me?
I will never find anyone else, what’s wrong with me, why did they break up with me?
It’s too late for me, everyone else is already succeeding and here I am, living this life.
I’ve failed, I know it. I didn’t study enough. I didn’t listen enough. I am a terrible student.
Do any of these thoughts sound familiar? Or do you have a similar thought that seems to pop up regularly?
There are many different studies on thoughts and human brains, some say we have over 6000 different thoughts a day, some say 70000!
Other studies say about 70% are usually negative thoughts, 30% positive or neutral. Other studies say that about 80-90% of today’s thoughts are EXACTLY the same as yesterday’s thoughts.
So this is the moment where you stop and have a little think about your thoughts (haha yes, you read that right).
What thoughts do you have on repeat?
What thoughts are true, what are not?
What thoughts arise from your past and future anxieties?
What thoughts lead to even more feelings of low confidence and low self esteem?
Remember awareness is key, spend a little time to reflect. Perhaps you can journal the above questions.
We want to stop for a moment and add a disclaimer here. The human mind is a complex, beautiful thing. Sometimes we all need extra help. Remember, seeking help from whatever medical professional who aligns with you is a courageous act. It is never a weakness to admit you need help. It is one of the bravest things you can do.
How to Use Meditation to Build Self-Esteem and Confidence
Regular meditation practice will help you to slow down your thoughts. It will help you observe your thoughts. By doing this you’ll find deciphering true and untrue thoughts easier.
Meditation really is designed to help you work through your thoughts and get to the truth of what is.
Rather than allowing the narrative and judgements of the mind to take over, instead, you can choose to just see the thought for what it is: a thought.
As you bring awareness to the thoughts, you can then decide to let the thought float away just as it floated in.
There are many ways that meditation can help you feel confident within. It might be a daily guided self-esteem meditation. An extensive meditation course. Yoga and meditation. Or maybe it’s a personal development course with meditation intertwined.
My thoughts won’t slow down!
If you’re struggling with meditation and it feels impossible to slow down your thoughts, another method is to ask yourself if the thought is true. We first heard of this very simple method from Byron Katie.
For example, if you thought: I’m not good enough, I’ll never get that promotion!
You then follow up with this simple question: is that true?
This simple action creates space in your thoughts and your answer could be something like: well, no I don’t really know. I haven’t even gone for the promotion yet!
Or maybe: It’s not true yet. I should at least try!
Often, our self-criticising thoughts are broad statements that might not be factual. This simple question allows you to see things more clearly.
What is Low Self-Esteem?
In the world of psychology, self-esteem is your overall subjective sense of personal worth. It’s how you see yourself. It can be defined by many things like your confidence, feelings of security, identity, a sense of belonging and acceptance and a general feeling of competence.
Low self-esteem is a feeling of low self-worth, feeling insecure and low self-confidence. It can affect decision-making, impact relationships and can create a lack of motivation.
There are many reasons and ways to work on your confidence. Meditation is just one method to do so! Of all the different types of meditation you could choose from, we recommend you start with a guided meditation and the best part we have one for you to try right now!
This particular guided meditation from the MerryBody Yoga and Pilates App is designed to help you go inwards and remember just how strong you are. It will help you feel a deeper sense of self-worth, acceptance and confidence.
Find a comfortable seat, take some deep breaths and hit play on our I Am Strong Meditation.
Once you’ve done the meditation let us know, we’d love to hear from you!
Always merrymaking,
Emma + Carla