For most people, meditation is a simple way to get connected spiritually, manage stress and create a more peaceful way of living. But there are also other benefits that come along with a daily meditation practice, one of which is stronger self-confidence.
There are many ways that meditation can help strengthen your confidence, but probably the most important is the way it connects you with a deeper part of yourself. Most of us are used to connecting with our thoughts more than anything else and it's easy to forget that there is more to us than that.
Regular meditation helps you transcend your thoughts and connect to your true inner essence, whether you want to call it your spirit, your soul, your higher self, or even divinity. The more you connect with this inner core, the more you tend to live your life from a calmer, deeper perspective.
As a result, you are less likely to engage in negative self-talk or be overly critical of yourself. You live each moment with the awareness that you are valuable because of who you are, rather than anything you do. Before you know it, your confidence grows and you find yourself feeling more courageous, willing to take bigger risks and overcome perceived failure. Your very sense of self is no longer tied up in a false perception of who you think you are, but the very core of your being.
Though much of this process happens automatically through regular meditation, there are also a few things you can do if you want to help it along:
Build yourself up with positive self-talk.
Before, during or after your meditation sessions, spend a few minutes speaking positively to and about yourself. It's best to say things that you won't have trouble believing because your subconscious mind is more likely to accept them.
Try statements like these:
"I am proud of my past accomplishments. I am capable of becoming great at anything I choose to do. I believe in myself and my capabilities. I give myself permission to be confident and successful. I thrive on challenges. I am unstoppable. I have faith in my dreams."
Envision empowerment.
Visualization is a perfect complement to meditation and can dramatically improve your results. Spend a few minutes a day imagining yourself feeling completely strong and confident in whatever you do. What would it feel like to be super strong and purposeful every day? Generate some mental pictures of yourself doing just that, and allow yourself to feel that way. The more you imagine yourself feeling and acting confidently, the easier you'll find it to do in your day to day experiences.
Redefine failure.
One common cause of low self-confidence is pervasive memories of past failures. However, the problem lies not in the failed attempts themselves, but what you concluded from them. You convinced yourself that failure was the end, that you would never be successful � but does that have to be true? What if you began to see "failure" as an opportunity to try again?
Use your meditation sessions to affirm and visualize that you can be successful regardless of how many times you've failed in the past. Imagine yourself encouraging others by sharing stories of your past failures � and eventual success! Imagine yourself saying to them, "Do you know how many times I failed before I succeeded? If I can do it, so can you!" If you change your perception of failure into something more positive and empowering, your confidence will skyrocket. You'll find yourself eager to try again and again until you succeed.
