Feeling a little blah today and want a quick way for a lil’ confidence boost? This yoga for confidence sequence and poses will help you feel like your strongest most confident self in less than 30-minutes.
It’s important to remember that confidence can differ from day to day, there’s never any shame in needing a bit of support on and off the mat and this sequence can help you build your strength and confidence up again on the mat!
How does yoga increase confidence?
Not just yoga, but movement in general (even if it’s as simple as walking) is a great confidence boost. While it’s widely known that movement releases endorphins, one of the happy hormones, it’s the continued practice of yoga that can greatly assist in your self-confidence.
By continuing to show up to the mat, whether it be daily, weekly, or anything in between, proves to yourself that you’re committed. That in itself is great for confidence because you begin to trust yourself.
Yoga itself strengthens your body just as much as your mind, and together through practice and repetition, you become more comfortable with your body as it moves and your mind as you learn to sit with yourself and your thoughts, thus allowing yourself once again to trust yourself even more. And where there is trust, there is confidence.
Yoga for Self-Confidence Flow
Join me in a self-confidence yoga practice that’s filled with strong poses to help you feel your most secure, grounded, and confident self.
Recommended Yoga Props & Gear
- Yoga mat (my personal fav and what I use)
- Yoga blocks
- Yoga bra by Gentrue
- Yoga pants by Gentrue
Top Yoga Poses for Self-Confidence
Low Lunge
Just because your knee is on the ground in this yoga pose does not mean it’s not “tough” enough to be a pose for confidence. Low lunge is ideal for grounding and allows you to grow tall and strong before adding on to your yoga practice.
Starting from downward dog, step your right foot forward between your hands. Allow your left knee to meet the mat, option to keep your toes tucked or to untuck them. Inhale, sweep your arms forward and up with your fingers spread wide for engagement as they reach towards the sky.
Allow your hips to gently sink towards the mat while keeping them square by pulling your right hip back and your left forward. Grow tall by reaching the crown of your head towards the sky and allowing your shoulders to move away from your ears. Engage your core by knitting your rib cage closer together.
Hold for 3-5 breaths and then repeat on the other side. Note that the option to have your hands on your hips is always welcome for days where your arms aren’t feeling particularly strong!
Warrior I
Of course the warrior poses make it to this list as they are strong yoga poses that are very stabilizing, yet challenging, ideal for building self-confidence.
Begin in tadasana, mountain pose, with your feet hip-width distance apart. Step your left foot back and place your foot at a 45-degree angle, with your feet on separate tracks, meaning your left foot isn’t directly behind your right. Your right foot continues to point forwards.
Square your hips by guiding your left hip forward and your right back. If this feels inaccessible, shorten your stance by moving your left foot forward.
Inhale, reach your arms high to the sky, fingers spread wide and your shoulders relaxed away from your ears. Pull your rib cage together to support your spine and grow taller. Hold for 3-5 breaths and repeat on the other side.
For a fun, confidence-boosting variation, bring your hands behind your bum and interlace your fingers. Inhale to grow tall, exhale, guide your hands towards the mat and you open your chest to come into a mini backbend, looking upwards if that feels good for your neck.
Warrior II
Warrior II is the go-to pose for confidence and it’s easy to understand why when you feel powerful AF in this pose.
From tadasana, mountain pose, step your left foot far back so that it’s parallel with the back edge of your mat and your right knee bends generously. Your whole upper body will come to face the left-hand side of your mat.
Reach your arms out in opposite directions, towards the front and back of your mat. Grow tall as your reach the crown of your head towards the sky and gaze over your right fingertips. Your hips should be even, paying attention that your right hip is in line with your left and not lifted up.
Ground through the outer edge of your left foot, stack your right knee over your right foot and hold strong by feeling your inner thighs pull up for stability. Hold for 3-5 breaths and then repeat on the other side.
Side Plank
Side plank is a sure way to feel fired up and strong and it a great overall pose for gaining strength.
Begin in a traditional blank, with your hips creating a long line from your heels to your head. Spread your fingers wide and push into the mat, feeling the space between your shoulder blades push up so that your upper back rounds.
Allow your heels to rock towards the right and meet the mat. Option to stack your left foot on top of your right or keep it in front of your right for added stability. As you move your heels, bring your weight into your right hand and stack your right shoulder over your right wrist, coming into side plank on the right.
Reach your left hand, fingers spread wide, to the sky with the option for your gaze to follow or keep your hand on your hip. Inhale, pull your left hip up, and feel your strength. Hold for 3-5 breaths and repeat on the opposite side.
For a variation of plank pose, place your right knee on the ground and kickstand your right foot back out behind you. Allow your left leg to stay long, the sole of your left foot on the ground, or flex your foot and lift your left leg up, in line with your body.
Boat
A pose many love to avoid but is wonderful for confidence as it fires up your core and solar plexus chakra (the chakra associated with confidence), boat pose is a must-do for core strength!
Sit on your sit bones with your feet planted on the mat in front of you. Lean back slightly with a straight spine and extend your arms straight out in front of you, palms facing each other or the sky.
Bring your heels off of the ground and hold yourself here for variation one. Option to bring your toes off of the mat with your knees still bent so that your calves are parallel to the mat. This is option two. For option three, extend your legs so that your body forms a ‘V’ shape. Hold any variation for 3-5 breaths.