Our happiness and emotional stability are dependent on our ability to love ourselves. This self-love is called self-esteem. Self-esteem works on us in subtle ways, dictating our choices, shaping our worldview. It lies at the heart of many of our problems in life, but because we may not be fully aware of our implicit self-evaluations, we may not realize that the root cause of a problem is how we feel about ourselves at the deepest level.

Unfortunately, self-esteem is often presented as some nebulous, magical quality that some people simply have and others don’t, or as a quality that we can improve by losing weight or buying a new wardrobe. But self-esteem is more complicated than that.

The more interesting and relevant fact is that meditation can help improve Self-esteem.

Self-esteem is not the same as self-confidence.

Self-esteem is often conflated with self-confidence, but the two concepts are actually quite different. Self-esteem is measured by how much we like ourselves and the degree to which we feel worthy of receiving all the good that life has to offer. In contrast, confidence is our belief in our abilities or effectiveness within a particular realm of expertise or in a particular situation.

High self-esteem is beneficial when we are secure about who we are, both consciously and subconsciously. Low self-esteem and fragile high self-esteem, on the other hand, drive emotional instability and are often associated with mental health problems such as depression, anxiety or eating disorders. At the very least, fragile, unhealthy self-esteem prevents us from living the fulfilled, self-realized life we were meant to live.

How meditation helps develop healthy self-esteem.

Meditation offers a practical, systematic method for developing healthy self-esteem. In Sahaja meditation, the state of thoughtless awareness can automatically facilitate several key emotional processes that help configure our self-esteem:

  • ego monitoring and regulation
  • emotional regulation and emotional maturity
  • increased self-awareness
  • increased self-confidence
  • self-image improvement
  • mood improvement
  • positive inner dialogue: negative self-talk and faulty thought patterns are diminished
  • rejuvenated energy, increased motivation
  • integration of conscious (explicit) and subconscious (implicit) self-evaluations

In allowing us to discover the inner Kundalini energy within us, Sahaja meditation ultimately allows us to discover our inner selves. This spiritual energy, which inherently represents the power of love and compassion, naturally endows us with self-confidence, love and positive feelings for ourselves and others. These positive feelings help form the foundation of healthy self-esteem.

One key benefit of meditation, and specifically Sahaja meditation, is an enhanced ability to focus on the present, instead of ruminating about the past or worrying about the future. Thus, the practice of Sahaja meditation automatically reduces feelings of regret about past negative events, near-misses, or failures that can fuel unhealthy self-esteem.

Meditation can help us gradually, truly let go of the past and rise above a low self-esteem set-point that may have been anchored in childhood.

The experience of Sahaja’s thoughtless awareness may allow implicit, intuitively represented self-appraisals to become incorporated into our conscious experience of ourselves (i.e., our explicit self-esteem) without judgment, which ultimately promotes secure high self-esteem.

How to use Sahaja Meditation to improve Self-Esteem

Focus on the Heart chakra

Sahaja meditation improves self-esteem by awakening the inner Kundalini energy and nourishing certain energy centers. Specifically, nourishment of the heart energy center (Anahata) directly increases self-esteem by strengthening our sense of security about ourselves. And the energy center at the center of the forehead (Agnya) plays a big role in monitoring and regulating the ego.

The regular practice of spiritual meditation can improve character and personality traits over time, ultimately producing the highest levels of self-respect. When we can maintain high levels of self-respect, we develop a deep reservoir of secure self-esteem.

Experience of the divine power elevates self-confidence.

Faith in the divine turns into reality through your meditation experience in Sahaja. This gives you tremendous confidence and in yourself. Knowing and understanding your problems is a huge benefit in having the confidence that you are on the path to improvement and changing your life.

Develop the absolute moral compass

Your Mooladhara chakra can give you an absolute sense of right and wrong and this helps you determine your own value as seen by yourself clearly rather than measuring yourself with respect to world views or popular conceptions and opinions. You will begin to emanate positivity and confidence with a strong self-esteem and artificial standards set by others or the world will cease to matter.