Quick Answer: Feel good in yourself, so you can feel good in your photos.
Do you ever avoid having your photo taken or when in front of the camera feel awkward? This could be linked to your self-confidence and the way you feel about yourself. This blog post will aim to share 5 self-care ideas to reduce anxiety and boost confidence so you can not only feel good in front of the camera and get all the photos you need for your business but you can feel good about yourself in everyday life.
I am Alison Ralph, owner of The Little Daisy Self-Care Company and counsellor and hypnotherapist. I work with people who are struggling with anxiety, stress and overwhelm as well as many other issues. When it comes down to it, we often discover that these people are not practising self-care or giving themselves any attention at all but this only tells the brain that we are not worthy which in turn, has a negative impact on self-confidence. Self-care is important to looking after ourselves and our minds.
I can hear you saying that you don’t have the time and money to take yourself off to the spa or on a week long retreat. The good news is,self-care doesn’t have to be these things. It is in fact the small habits in our day to day lives that you do just for you that have the best impact. Self-care can help you lessen anxiety and boost confidence because it is a way of giving your brain a well deserved break from the treadmill of life and it shows you that you are worthy and important!
In the therapy room we often see a link between confidence and anxiety. When a person comes to me for help with anxiety I always ask them to explore their self-confidence, self-worth and ideas about themselves.
If we lack confidence, it causes us to question ourselves, ask the what ifs in different scenarios and our body can then resort to the fight or flight within us. This fight or flight within us creates feelings of anxiety and if we have experienced these in a situation once, our body is likely to put us into fight or flight the next time or even when we think about doing that same thing again.
So what can you do to help this to ensure that you don’t get those same feelings next time?
1. Progressive Muscle Relaxation – you may have heard of this before and you may have unknowingly practised it already. It gives you time out for yourself and relaxes and calms the body.
To complete a progressive muscle relaxation see the image below.
2. Create a ‘yay’ list – this is one of my favourites. At the end of each day create a list of the things that made you say ‘yay’! Completing this list can help to appreciate your day, it releases the feel good hormones to take over the stress hormones and helps you to feel good about yourself.
3. Deep Belly breathing – I think everyone should know about this and I spend time teaching it to all my clients. Deep belly breathing activates the relaxation part of the nervous system so you can feel calmer and take over any stress hormones in the body.
Take a look at the image below for instructions.
4. Positive Self-Praise – During your day, notice when you do something good or use your strengths and praise yourself for this, no matter how small that thing feels. Our brain loves to be praised and when it is it helps to boost confidence.
5. Aim to be good enough instead of perfect – I often find in the therapy room that people are aiming for something unrealistic and this causes them to beat themselves up. Make smaller, achievable expectations and when you have achieved them, notice how good you feel about yourself.
Once you have found your favourite ways to practise self-care from the top ideas above, start to weave them into your daily routine. You may find one that you can do once you are in bed at night, you may be able to find a time during the day for another. Nobody can tell you how many of these you should do, find what works for you and stick to that. You will soon notice the difference it makes to the way you feel about yourself.
If you are feeling anxious and you recognise a link to self-confidence, give your self-care an overhaul remembering that it can make a difference to the way your body feels and to the way that your mind thinks, especially when feeding you information about yourself.
You will find that you are more confident and this can help you in daily life and when you are in front of the camera!
I hope that you like the ideas that I have shared and that you can start to put them into your daily routine.
Alison x
If you would like more ideas for self-care, take a look at our self-care ideas jar at The Little Daisy Self Care Company.
