The importance of a healthy level of self-esteem cannot be underestimated: it determines our worth, value and right to have our legitimate needs met. It is the ability to set boundaries, attract and maintain healthy relationships, and recognise that we will not abandon ourselves simply for the sake of belonging. It is a sense of being rooted in ourselves, and recognising intuitively when someone, or something, is not in our best interests coupled with the ability to act on this gnosis and withdraw if necessary.
Self-esteem becomes our guidance system, our inner compass, to navigate our way through life as well. We cannot control what happens to us in life but with good self esteem we can learn to sail in high seas.
What impacts our self esteem?
When our self-esteem has been negatively impacted by a relationship, a traumatic event(s) or a challenging childhood, it can leave us feeling bereft, especially if our self-esteem was eroded over a prolonged period of time. If a close relationship: parent, partner or friend, has been particularly difficult, fraught with put-downs, gaslighting and criticism, gradually, without even realising it, we can spiral down into emotional despair. We lose our spark for life, and may credit this to other factors, not realising that being constantly undermined can have devastating effects on our mental health.
Unfortunately, these experiences can then lead to shame, hurt, sadness and humiliation. We feel unseen, and unworthy. It starts to paint a very bleak picture and before we know it, we are having to live with some unpleasant emotions, that are opposites to self-love and self-appreciation.
What is high self esteem?
High self-esteem is what we ultimately want for ourselves, this brings with it a host of positive and self-affirming emotions, like joy, clarity, excitement, positive expectation and an overall sense of peace with a deep knowing of our value and worth in the world. This in turn leads to attracting joyful experiences, fulfilling relationships, and it just seems that life tends to flow in a more satisfying way, we remain grounded and steady. Of course, there are challenges along the way, but due to a high level of self-esteem, we handle them responsibly and do not lose our optimistic and / or grounded perspective.
What is low self-esteem?
Conversely, a state of low self-esteem can have far reaching effects, emotionally and physically. As a way of coping, we can adopt a state of denial, a defence mechanism our subconscious creates in an attempt to keep us safe, particularly if our past emotional trauma was particularly devastating. This defence mechanism is entirely natural and serves a very powerful initial purpose: emotional protection. But as with all powerful defences it can eventually create hindrances to our peace and happiness, because we stay stuck in the past as our energy remains with the people, perpetrators, and experiences that caused our initial suffering. We may feel anger, resentment, bitterness, hurt, betrayal, abandonment, emotions that need to be acknowledged and processed in a safe and non-traumatisng way. Hypnotherapy for self-esteem, can address and release the underlying causes, using the power of our subconscious mind to make permanent change as well as aiding the necessary process of building our self-esteem, with positive ego-reinforcement and anchoring new self-affirming states of confidence, strength, worthiness, and competency.
Low Self-Esteem and our Physical Health
With the gradual erosion of our self-esteem, together with the challenging emotions, we might find that our physical health starts to suffer too. With a constant stream of negative emotions, and mindset, our body starts to respond accordingly, because our subconscious doesn’t know the difference between reality and perceived reality, it is an obedient servant and will absorb our current reality and mindset. We can start to repeat patterns, and stories in our head that will justify our feelings of unworthiness, sadness and anger.
Hypnotherapy for self-esteem can reprogramme our subconscious mind, releasing the negative mindset, which in turn supports a healthier physical body, positive emotions, and ultimately high self-esteem.
Our self-esteem is fundamentally important and sets the foundations for a joyful and abundant life. If we make high self-esteem a priority, life will then reflect that back to us, allowing more joyful experiences, meaningful and deeper connections with people and overall well-being.
