Does feeling self-conscious mean you resist doing something that you know will do you good?

Feeling self-conscious can be about your mood or how you feel about your body, it might be about how you feel IN your body if you are working with an injury or feeling less mobile in your body. Feeling self-conscious can be about many things and it’s the mix of thoughts in your mind and feelings in your body that makes you want to avoid doing something new.

Self-confidence is an emotion that influences you on all levels because your emotions are a bridge between what you think in your head and how you physically feel in your body. It’s no wonder then that confidence is so interwoven with your wellbeing. Confidence isn’t skin-deep, it’s soul-deep and cultivating more of it is a practice of self-love.

Let me tell you a story… About 5 years ago I started practising mindfulness, in a small way every day because I needed something to focus my mind on and help cultivate more positive thoughts. My internal chatter had become pretty challenging and it was hard to silence the negative self-talk especially at night, I was unhappy but didn’t think I had any justification for feeling the way I did.

Back in September, I was running a yoga and mindfulness event at a primary school. During each 30-minute workshop, I introduced the idea of wellbeing to 200 children aged between 4-11 years old. We talked about our emotions and how we feel, we discovered the power of affirmations and of our own magical breath.This is one of my most treasured memories, one I’ll never forget. The story of the little boy and his really big worry.