Yoga for a confident you

Confidence is trusting in your decisions, believing in your abilities and accepting your limitations. It’s self love, it's energising, it’s motivating. But, it’s often absent - especially in a world that’s ruled by social media, articles and blogs telling us how to live, what to eat, what to think and high powered jobs that come with equally high expectations. 

Many people suffer from low self confidence. Even if they don’t outwardly show it, it can be bubbling away underneath the surface. Beautiful Yoga can help to boost those confidence levels back up again. Even just the act of going to a class can lift self esteem - it sends such a positive message to our hearts and minds showing that we care about ourselves. 

Plus, as we start to build our physical strength and work into more challenging poses we begin to feel stronger on the inside, and as balancing poses and inversions become easier the more we practice, we start to realise that we're capable of changing and growing. 

Here are a few poses and techniques that can help build self confidence both on and off the mat. 

Warrior II:
Any of the warrior poses can help to create inner strength, but Warrior II is a good place to start. It’s accessible for most people and even though it’s relatively uncomplicated it can still generate feelings of strength, steadiness and confidence. 

Tip: Approach this pose from a place of strength and channel those warrior qualities. Press your feet into the earth with intent and purpose, and you’ll feel that flow up through your whole body.

Chair pose:
This isn't always the most comfortable pose, it can feel a little awkward at first, but once you find that sweet spot you'll notice the release and feelings of confidence grow. It's a strong pose to hold so both physical and emotional strength is needed which in turn can increase confidence off of the mat. 

Tip: Keep smiling and and breathing (even when you want to cry!) through the pose and you'll come out the other side feeling great about yourself! 

Tree pose:
Balancing poses are great for confidence - they require so much focus and in turn help to quieten that monkey mind meaning you'll stop worrying about the decision you made or that work conversation you need to have today, and instead focus on the here and now. Plus, combining balance with core and leg strength is a recipe for amazingness.

Tip: Keep your mind focussed by fixing your gaze on a focal point or drishti, this will help you to feel more balanced and powerful in the pose. 

Beyond asana:
There are SO many techniques to help give your confidence a little spark that you could adopt off of the mat, or during your yoga practice that aren’t asana or pose based. Try taking some deep belly breaths, extending your inhale and exhale to 4 counts each and repeat a mantra to yourself. A good mantra could be 'I am strong' or 'I am enough'. You could even use this same mantra as an intention that you set at the start of each yoga class.