As a meditation teacher, many of my students ask me how meditation can build self-esteem and remove hurdles like feelings of inadequacy. Definitely, meditation can help with these things.
For starters, meditation moves us outside of our judgmental mind, out of that part of ourselves that compares us to others and obliterates our self esteem. With meditation we just sit quietly and observe from a place of non-judgement. And we can also use meditation to improve self image ans to start thinking positively about ourselves.
With my meditation script for confidence, below, you will learn to cultivate self-belief and self-trust. You will overcome negative beliefs about yourself. And you will discover your true value. Plus, you will find it helps with motivation.
Also, read my guide to overcoming negative thoughts.
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Guided Meditation for Confidence
[Script]
1: Sit or stand with confident body language. Place your feet shoulder-width apart. Lift your chin slightly. Straighten your back but keep your spine relaxed.
For our confidence meditation script, we must sit with good posture. Why? Because posture helps to improve both our meditation practice and our confidence.
Positive body language has a direct impact on our state of mind accoeding to research in the European Journal of Social Psychology. When we stand or sit with good posture, we feel more confident. [1] Therefore, make sure you have good posture before continuing.
2: [optional] Place your hands in Ahamkara Mudra, the best mudra for confidence
To start to feel confident, we want to use mudras, which are hand gestures used in yoga.
The best mudra for confidence is Ahamkara Mudra, which activates the solar plexus chakra (Manipura).
Manipura is the source of self-esteem, confidence, and personal empowerment. Therefore, opening this chakra naturally builds confidence.
To perform this mudra, lightly place your thumb so it overlaps the index finger at the knuckle. Stretch out the remaining fingers. Do this on both hands.
3: Close your eyes and breathe mindfully. Use “Square Breathing”.
Sitting comfortably, close your eyes. Focus your mind on your breath moving between the space just beneath your nostrils. Breathe in for a count of four. Hold for four. Breathe out for four. Hold for four. Repeat. Continue for five minutes.
This exercise stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system.
We want to stimulate our parasympathetic nervous system right at the start of our self-esteem meditation script, so we relax and focus. Plus, research shows that heightened activity of the parasympathetic nervous system increases self-esteem [2].
4: Remove your current thoughts about yourself by practising self-enquiry
We want to change the way we feel about ourselves. We want to undo any negative beliefs or negative thoughts that we have about ourselves. To that end, we will do a version of Self Enquiry meditation.
Continue to breathe with your eyes closed. Now focus your mind inwardly on any empty part of yourself. In other words, focus on nothingness.
Now I want you to ask yourself a question. The question is this: “How do I know I exist?”
When you ask yourself this question, your mind will look for answers. Essentially, your mind will look for evidence in the moment that proves your existence.
For instance, you might feel the sensations in your body. When this happens, label what you are observing. For instance, if you feel sensations in your body, say to yourself, “This is just a sensation”. If you experience thoughts say, “This is just a thought.” And so on. Continue for five to ten minutes.
While you do this, you take your mind away from your habitual thoughts and feelings. You move your mind to a point of nothingness. You start to see the divine point of creativity that is your core.
5: Visualize yourself doing something positive and feeling confident about it.
Now that we have dealt with our negative thoughts, we are going to rebuild our self-image. We are going to see ourselves as confident people. And to do this, we’ll do a visualization.
Pick one awesome thing that you could only do if you were feeling highly confident. For instance, if you’re single, imagine approaching someone you’re really attracted to and confidently asking them out.
While you do this visualization, imagine a feeling of confidence. Feel that confident energy. Now observe this self-image. How would you be standing? How would you be acting? What would you be saying? And so on.
Essentially, visualise what you’re doing vividly. Make the picture come to life in your mind.
6: Label your thoughts and feelings to help overcome them.
Naturally, while you’re doing the visualization from step 5 your mind will produce some negative thoughts. Actually, this isn’t a bad thing. Basically, your mind is showing you obstacles in your way to confidence. We now want to remove those obstacles.
All you need to do is label your thoughts and feelings.
For instance, if you think, “I can’t feel confident asking someone out because I’m not good-looking enough”, step aside from the thought. Mindfully observe the thought. Now label it, saying to yourself, “This is just a thought”. Do this with all negative thoughts and feelings.
This is a modified version of Vipassana, a traditional Buddhist meditation. Research shows that Vipassana reduces the effect that negative thoughts have on us [3]. This means that while you are visualizing your confident self, you are also reducing the effects of negative thoughts and feelings.
Continue for ten minutes.
Final Thoughts
Everyone wants to be confident. Sadly, many of us aren’t.
Too many people suffer from low-self esteem and low confidence. Why? Because of negative thoughts.
We can overcome negative thoughts by using meditation for self-confidence.
The trick is to visualize confidence while reducing the effect of negative thoughts and feelings. This is precisely what we have done in our confidence meditation script.
Now, why not try one of my other guided meditation scripts.
More Meditations
Below, I have shared my favourite meditation for confidence with its script. However, you might also like to try the following methods.
Vipassana:
Buddhist method in which we focus on the breath and then label thoughts and feelings. This helps to reduce the effects of negative thoughts. We can then replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts. Studies show that Vipassana reduces anxiety and stress and helps with emotional control.
Anapanasati:
Buddhist method in which we meditate on the breath and then focus on the feeling of relaxation. This is excellent for stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system to produce feelings of wellbeing.
Loving Kindness / Metta:
Buddhist method in which we focus on giving and receiving feelings of love and kindness. This is excellent for being confident in social situations. Research by Parthasarathy S. and Selvakumar K. at Alagappa University reveals significant benefits of loving-kindness meditation for confidence and self-esteem.
Mantras:
Use positive mantras like “I am happy and accepting of myself today.” Research by Christopher N. Cascio at the University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg shows that reciting affirmations exercises the striatum and prefrontal cortex. These are parts of the brain involved with confidence.
Osho Nataraj:
Dance method in which we let our bodies dance freely and madly. Excellent for producing positive feelings like confidence.
Emptiness:
Completely empty your mind and focus on the sense of emptiness. One of the best meditations for confidence and self-esteem. Why? Because it releases your mind from painful thoughts and feelings. One way to do this is with self-enquiry, which is the style of meditation advocated by Eckhart Tolle in The Power of Now.
Running while meditating:
Challenging when you are feeling truly low. However, science shows that the combination of running (which releases endorphins) and meditation (which boosts serotonin levels) can have a significant impact on mood.
Basic mindfulness:
Very easy method in which we simply focus on whatever we are doing. Good for getting out of your head and reconnecting with the present-moment. Research suggests that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, in particular, improves self-worth [1]
Science
There is a direct link between meditation and confidence.
Confidence means being clear-headed and feeling positive about your goals or intentions. The word itself comes from the Latin word fidere, meaning “To trust”. Hence, being self-confident is about trusting yourself.
Brain imaging studies show that positive thinking and confidence activate the “Value Areas” of the brain. For instance, the prefrontal cortex and striatum. Confidence also stimulates the pleasure and reward parts of the brain (mesolimbic dopamine pathway).
Meditation and confidence have similar effects on the brain.
Meditation is the practice of focusing the mind on the present moment. It is found in Hinduism, Buddhism, and yoga. And it has become popular of late with apps like Calm, Headspace, and Synctuition.
There are different forms of meditation, including deep breathing, mantras, mudras, guided meditation for confidence, and movement meditations like tai chi and qigong. And you might have heard of some of the famous meditation teachers like Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chodron, and Sharon Salzberg.
Now here is the important link between meditation and confidence. Remember how confidence involves certain parts of the brain? Meditation strengthens the same parts of the brain.
Meditation activates and thickens the prefrontal cortex, striatum, and the mesolimbic dopamine system, according to Harvard neuroscientist Dr Sara Lazar. Hence the link between meditation and confidence. [source]
Paul Harrison BSc is a qualified meditation teacher who believes in genuine, authentic meditation. He has more than 15 years experience in teaching meditation and mindfulness both to individuals and to corporations and is the author of four books on meditation. He has been featured in Psychology Today, Breathe Magazine, Healthline, Psych Central and Lion’s Roar.
Paul studied meditation in beautiful Oxford, UK, and Hamilton Ontario Canada, and earned his degree at Staffordshire University.
Paul’s biggest inspirations include Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat Zinn, and Jack Kornfield.
“My goal is to provide the most authentic meditation sessions so you can harness the power of your own mind for personal transformation” – Paul Harrison