Confidence

On Saturday I ran a yoga workshop, boldly named 'Claiming Confidence'. Some insights from pondering the subject are below.

Something I was made very aware of is confidence comes and goes....maybe it is an illusive idea that we can actually claim confidence as a permanent state! But we can choose how we respond at times of wavering confidence levels and learn tools for self-connection which allows us to access our inner authority when we're feeling wobbly. More musings below...

• The foundation of Authentic Confidence is having trust in who we are.
• 'Who we are' resides within ourselves and that's where we access it. We are not taught this at school! In fact the opposite - we're taught all the answers, all the power resides outside ourselves - with a higher authority. We are our highest authority!
• Low Confidence comes from low self-worth/self-doubt/self-belief.
• We fluctuate from confidence to self-doubt as our mood fluctuates from day to day or hour-to hour. This can be linked to our body's inner cycles, eg hormonal, and also the outer cycles, such as time of year, moon phase etc. Awareness of these cycles is useful to help us understand how we are feeling.
  
• We can react to lack of confidence either by shrinking back from life or by feeling the fear and doing it anyway. Which are you?
• If we don't take a risk and 'have a go', then we won't grow and we can't live our dreams.
• Confidence doesn't have to be big and brash - it can equally be quiet, steady and fly low to the ground.
• Fear of failure is a major barrier to us taking action towards our desires/goals. To combat this idea of failure, we can try to see everything we do as 'an experiment'. In experiments, there is no fixation on the outcome - it is unknown and what happens happens. There is no failure in an experiment.
• Perfectionism cripples our ability to take action. We need to let it go!! Waiting for conditions to be perfect before taking action may take forever!
• Seeking approval/validation from an external source doesn't help at all. Our education system/culture has taught us to rely on others to tell us we're good at what we do, rather than listening to our inner knowing - the highest authority.
• Thinking we're not good enough really doesn't help either! You are unique, there is no other soul like you. You carry your own unique vibrations/gifts. You are nature. Nature cannot be flawed therefore neither can you. Or me!
• Being kind and compassionate towards ourselves is the most powerful tool. Take it with you everywhere!
• Authentic Confidence comes from being you.

Self-Connection Exercise

This helps you to connect with kindness to your inner knowing. Sit or lie comfortably. Place one hand on your chest and one on your lower belly. You can let your head bow slightly towards your heart if it feels nice. Feel the contact of your hands on your body and their rising and falling with your breath as you inhale and exhale. Allow your attention to be drawn with in. Continue for 3-5 mins or as long as you like.

If you have any more insights to add, please write them in the comments below! Loved exploring this vast topic and thanks to all who came on the workshop and explored it with me!

Connection to self is central to my own yoga practice. Get in touch or see my classes/events if you want to explore more.