What if I told you there was only one thing you really needed to advance your yoga practice? Would you believe me? I hope, because this isn't one of those "lose 50 pounds in 1 week by eating this one food" kinda deals. I believe in this one thing 100% and know it's the key. The key to unlocking the magic of your practice. Without this one thing, there really is no way you ever will further, deepen, or advance your practice anyway. You need it and you need to live it right this moment. So what is this one very special important thing?
Confidence.
That's right. An intangible trait that you must have to advance your practice. It is so essential to almost everything in life, but very important to your yoga practice as well. I might dare say it's the most important thing. More important than the postures, breath, knowledge, peace. Confidence is the one element that will bring beauty, love, fearlessness, improvement, and courage to the practice. I know it has been the most important element for me and I live it everyday, to practice it on and off the mat.
We all have some degree of confidence. If you didn't than you wouldn't have even started your yoga practice and would still be sitting there only dreaming of a flow on the mat. It takes confidence to want to see what your beautiful human body can do and what lies within the depths of your mind. The inner fibers and filaments of the muscles, the deep intimate thoughts that you don't even know you have. Those will all be discovered and explored with your confidence.
When you fully live your confidence and accept that you have every right to live it, that's when your practice will advance. I've always had confidence in my yoga practice. I feel it would be silly not to trust myself and be brave. The incredible things the body can do when you believe in yourself. I think you should have confidence in the fact that your own body knows how to move, feel, flow, and try. It will go to the limits it knows it can go.
When you step on the mat, have confidence that you will be able to let go of any fears, reservations, or insecurities you may have. So what if someone's watching, so what if someone's not? If you lack this element, confidence, you will not be able to trust and believe in yourself. You will feel inadequate and simply continue living in mediocrity.
How do you manifest confidence? This goes for when you're on or off your mat. The same "rules" apply.
First, you need to stop not believing in yourself. Give yourself some credit. I bet you've done some pretty amazing things, so why not believe you can do more, like advance your yoga practice and go for that inversion you have been wanting to try?
Which brings us to the second point. Stop living in fear. You will never grow or live in confidence if you fear the worse and never even try. Really, what is the worse? That you'll fall and break your neck? Like I said before, your body is an incredible thing and you'll catch yourself. You need to breakup with fear and being scared. You need to try, thus you will grow, and you will see that you deserve to manifest your confidence. Because you can.
Third, you need to stop hating. Hating yourself, hating others, hating your situation. If you hate, then you're not going to have confidence in anyone or anything. How can you deepen and advance your practice if you're filled with hate and loathing? You need to love. Love your practice, yourself, and those that are there to help you along the way. You deserve to love and not be filled with hate. Hate will only hold you back.
Fourth, you need to want it, you need to have passion in the things you do. If you really could care less about your yoga practice or digging deep, then why would you need confidence in the first place? If you don't care, then your body won't care and it won't allow you to go any further. It's a dead-end, no confidence needed.
Lastly, you need to feel. That may sound weird, but it's what you need to do in order to completely manifest your confidence. You need to feel the beautiful incredible body that houses your completely incredible complex mind and soul. When you allow yourself to go this deep and feel, then you'll find confidence from just doing that. Feeling your body as you flow through your practice and finding the path that will allow you to go deeper; Creating a practice that is fully an expression of you and your fullest potential. Nothing can stop you then. You've found your confidence.
I'll leave you with this. The only thing you need to advance your yoga practice (and your life) is confidence. You need to manifest it through your connection with yourself, with your head held high, chin up, and the courage to try. Confidence in knowing that you can do it, live it, feel it. You can go all the way and achieve what you want, as much as you want, if you fully live your confidence. On and off the mat.
So tell me:
+ Have you found confidence?
+ How do you manifest confidence on and off the mat?
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Sherry
This is such a great post! Confidence is key to just about everything we do. Thanks for linking up to Funtastic Friday. Hope to see you again this week.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
It is!
Ashley Egan
Thanks for linking up to Awesome Life Friday!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
🙂
kimmythevegan
Great post, Rebecca! Although I'm not a yogi, I feel like this applies to everything and for me, specifically my fitness. I had confidence and lost it along the way and am realising I need to get it back!
Thanks for the tips =)
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Everyone needs confidence to be their true best self! XOXO
All that's Jas
I don't know much about yoga, but confidence is an essential element in everything you do. Thanks for linking up at Thursday Favorite Things. XO
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
It is! We need to cultivate it everywhere!
Amanda
This is such a great post! Confidence is something I talk about regularly when I'm teaching, but I often find it's something I forget in my own practice. This is definitely one of those things that can be difficult to learn, but easy to talk about. When we learn to let go of our ego we also learn that as long as we are present our skill "level" doesn't matter very much. Thank you for such a wonderful post.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Very true! We need to be confident in our own bodies and practices. We need to fulling embrace what our potential is on the mat!
Bethany
This was such an inspiring post! Thank you!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thank you for reading it!
Kristy @ Southern In Law
Amen to this! I never found yoga fulfilling until I had confidence in myself. Due to my arm disability, I spent the beginning of my yoga life doubting myself - and thus, all of my yoga classes were spent feeling self conscious and anxious. Once I trusted myself and found my confidence, everything changed!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Ah, beautiful! It is such a wonderful thing when we learn to trust and be confidence in our own unique practice!
Kristen
Ahhh but confidence is so hard! Haha. I really do need to do this more in yoga. It so hard when you're a newbie!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
You need to work on your confidence just like you work on your practice! They go together and strengthen each other, but are always a work in progress! NEVER give-up! XOXO
Patty @ Reach Your Peak
Great post and something that can relate to most all sports alongside with yoga! I do want to better my practice and be able to do a handstand, though I know one thing holding me back is fear...so clearly need to work on that confidence thing! 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
The lessons we learn in fitness translate to life so well. And it will only come with confidence! Believe in yourself!
Farrah
So very true! I loved this post, and definitely agree with you that confidence helps with all aspects of life. Believing in yourself and staying positive makes such a huge difference!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
It does! It can be hard at times, but it makes life 100x better!
Ashley @ A Lady Goes West
Oh Rebecca! So powerful and positive. I love this message. Thank you! I'm working on my yoga practice once a week, and I feel like yoga makes me more confident, just as I try to be more confident in yoga. Happy Tuesday!! Namaste! 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Nothing bad can ever come out of starting a practice! Thank you so much Ashley! XOXOXOXO
Emily @SinfulNutrition
This is definitely something I need to work on being a yoga newbie. Thanks for sharing your confidence! 😉
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Working on it is all we can do! But we can always manifest it!
Heather @ The Nerdy Fox
First, your shoulder muscles are impressive! Second, I miss yoga so much. I haven't been able to get back into it since I moved. I haven't found an instructor around here and it's hard to make the time to do it at home. What a great post, thank you for sharing. It's made me want to get back into yoga!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
If you truly want it, you can and will make time for it!
Michele @ paleorunningmomma
It's funny because I've always felt confident in my physical abilities for the most part, or at least I've found it easier to find that confidence in movement. But, I've had a tough time translating that to other areas of my life. When I was younger I had "false" confidence because self doubt just hurt too much. I still struggle with self doubt although with age and experiences, the confidence has started to spread. It certainly does help us truly progress in many ways.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Yes, me too! I've always had confidence in my abilities relating to what my body could do. It is extending that through ALL aspects of your life though that really is true peace.
genevieve @ gratitude & greens
I loved reading this post! Confidence is so important! I like to think I'm pretty confident, but like everyone else, there are moments when I question my credibility or ability to do something. During these moments, I just take a moment to think about all the things I know I am capable of achieving, and remind myself that I can accomplish anything I want without fear! Self-love and confidence is an ongoing process, I don't think there is ever a point where you can just stop- otherwise it's easy to forget! Happy Tuesday lovely 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Yes! That is so perfectly said and exactly how I feel! Confidence opens so many doors and allows us to do so many things! XOXO
Linda @ Veganosity
So very true! Like you said, this is applicable in all areas of life.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Yes! That's what I wanted everyone to get from it!
Yaitza
great post my lil yoga star! You are so knowledgeable, I am working on my flexibility and balance so this helps a ton... thanks for sharing ;o)
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Be confident and you can do anything! XOXO
Joanna
I love this! I have been practicing for about four years now, and am finally starting to gain my confidence when it comes to trusting myself with the advances poses. Such a great post:)
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
You should totally have the confidence now to try it all and go deep! It's amazing how far we come in our practices from when we started!
Tori
Love this! Even though I've only tried a very small amount of yoga in my life (would love to try more sometime), I still think that all of this can be applied to life. You are so right about letting go of the fear and hate that we all seem to hold in so much.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Lol, that's why the post is titled (and your life) 😛
Natalie @ Feasting on Fruit
Great post! I am reminded of this every single time I kick up into a handstand. If I don't have confidence, my legs aren't going to make it up there. And (almost) everytime I kick too far and nearly topple over backwards I do catch myself just like you said. Another important thing to remember is just because you fall, it doesn't mean you fail! Take that confidence 😀
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
As long as you are doing your absolute best, there is no failing and your confidence will show!
Beth @ Running with the Sunrise
Love it! On the mat, I find confidence by letting go of my ego and listening to my body. I'm confident it will tell me exactly how far I should go that day if I listen closely. Fantastic post!!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Right on! That is exactly it!
Lisa
Thank you for sharing this! I've tried to do yoga in the past, but failed. And I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that I wasn't really confident in what I was doing. I'd love to take yoga up again, but this time believe in myself more.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Everyone has the ability to find their yoga!
Jessica @ kiwiyogirunner
This is so true!! I used to not try poses thinking it would be too hard- now I alwyas try and often am pleasantly surprised that my body is actually ok to do it! I manifest confidence by reminding myself that if I'm doing my best, then that is perfect and wherever I am in that pose or that situation is where I'm supposed to be 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
I can remember back to the first year of my yoga practice and being nervous to try poses (not strong enough yet), but I kept at it, and now I just love seeing how much I have grown all on my own! That gives me confidence too!
Emily @My Healthyish Life
I agree that having confidence has advanced my yoga practice. Not being afraid of falling and trusting that I can do "hard" things as helped me attempt and nail poses I didn't think possible.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Just this morning I was working on a chin/chest stand type pose and I totally just went for it, falling and all, but I keep trying and getting better!
jess meddows
Beautiful post, Rebecca (and no, I would never expect a listicle 1 million ways to lose 50 pounds type post from you! hehehe). I feel like I have confidence when I have a regular yoga practice. Feeling yourself progress, feeling yourself enjoy your yoga, and feeling yourself relax after yoga gives me the confidence to keep doing it, and to keep feeling that way after class. I can't agree more with this post 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thank you 🙂
It's all about owning it. Every minute of it!
Mikayla
I totally agree! With confidence, you go so much further. This was a great post to read before my morning yoga routine!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Woohoo! Now get on the mat and MANIFEST your confidence! XOXO