Disclaimer - If you are seriously feeling suicidal or mentally illness, please see a therapist or a physician. I am not a medical professional and can’t provide anything that would substitute for medical advice.
This is the very basic first step for people struggling with low self-esteem and has no idea what to do. This article is for you.
What Does Meditation Have to Do with Self-Esteem?
Low self-esteem is a mindset. It is a deeply ingrained belief that you have that is changing the way you treat yourself because you listened to it so much.
Whenever you make a mistake, you curse yourself under your breathe.
You are regurgitating what the voice inside your head is telling you.
That voice is the closest thing to you, you listen to it you believe what it says even though you don’t want to. You can’t escape it or avoid it, because it’s partially you.
So what do you do?
Meditate
Meditation is you literally sitting in silence and focusing on your breath for a period of time.
When you meditate, people look at this and say why are you wasting your time sitting around and doing nothing? Aren’t you wasting your life? Shouldn’t you be doing something to improve yourself?
Actually, that is EXACTLY what we are trying to not do.
While the voice inside you is constantly criticizing your every move and making you feel like crap every step of the way, it is also trying to motivate you to do something. It is trying to drive you to “improve” through fear of punishment.
Meditation is doing the opposite.
The message meditation is saying is “I am going to do nothing, and I’ll be just fine.” When you practice meditation, it breaks the pace of the voice inside, because it can’t motivate you. By doing nothing, you are also silently telling yourself that you are ok just as you are right now.
You don’t have to do anything to change. In a way, we are using the outside practice to reform your inner thoughts. When people think that meditation is not doing anything at all, they are pretty much right, but meditation is far from useless. Especially people struggling with anxiety, this helps reset the pace of the person to slow down that inner need to keep moving.
Meditation is simple, free, and effective, you have nothing to lose.
First Step - How To Do It
1) Find a place without distraction.
Distractions are literally everywhere. It's hard to find a quiet place calm your mind down. You can use your car (of course, when you're not driving it.), bedroom, backyard, etc. Pick a time that you won't be interrupted. Don't place an obligation during your meditation like cooking or waiting for a phone call.
2) Sit down.
The key here is to fit a comfortable position. Not one where it's sooo comfortable that you fall asleep, but one that isn't awkward or painful. Just sit cross-legged and relax.
3) Set a timer
A timer is very useful. You just have to set it and then focus on breathing. I recommend starting with 5 minutes.
4) Close your eyes
This is to further help you remain focused on meditation. Sometimes, I use earplugs to cut out the noises.
5) Focus on your breathe until the timer goes off.
If you are just starting out, it is honestly very hard to sit still. You might want to open your eyes every 5 seconds and the time feels like an eternity. Focus on breathing and all the sensations of the breath. When you are truly focused on the breath, you won't be thinking about anything else.
6) Practice daily, weekly, monthly
The effects are long-term. Your mind didn't change in one day. This will take time to build a habit for you to accept yourself.
What If I Am Bad At Meditation?
Well, you can’t be bad at it, because there is no standard. No one gets an A+ for any meditation. This you creating a habit of doing nothing. acceptance of the current self. Forgive your when you wander off then just come right back. Remember the healthier you are emotionally, the better you can support the people around you.
Let me know how the meditations went. =D
- Augustus
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