Singing to Boost Self-Esteem

Singing is a powerful way to boost your self-esteem. It doesn’t matter how good or talented you are, the process of singing has a range of benefits. As well as helping to boost self-esteem, singing has many benefits to other areas of your life. As someone who experienced low self-esteem for a long time, singing has, personally, made a huge difference to my life. The benefits are enormous and you, too, can use singing to boost your self-esteem.

Just about anyone can sing, all you need is a voice. If you can talk, you can sing, regardless of how well you do it. Most children sing, therefore the physical capability is there. Children don’t worry about how they sound, they just enjoy it. By the time we become adults, many of us are conditioned to be overly critical, and even ashamed of our voices. Many people even fear singing. Why can't adults be more like children?

How Singing Boosts Self-Esteem

Singing has a range of physical and mental health benefits. Singing is great for your self-esteem because:

• It helps to release your inhibitions and it gives you the freedom to be yourself.
• It's very personal and a way of nurturing yourself as a person.
• It lifts your mood and it's fun.
• It distracts your mind from negative thoughts.
• It helps with breathing, relaxation and slowing your heart rate.
• It helps to relieve stress and muscle tension.
• It helps with focus and concentration.
• It helps with mindfulness and being in the present moment.
• It can be meditative.
• It’s challenging and rewarding.
• It gives you meaning and purpose.
• It takes you out of your comfort zone and it’s empowering.
• It gives you a sense of achievement.
• It’s a way of expressing yourself and your emotions.
• It's a way of meeting new people, especially when you join a group.

If you’ve never sung in your life, or if you’re afraid of sounding bad, you’re not alone. A lot of people are afraid of singing and it takes courage to give it a go. I used to be terrified of singing and facing those fears has been empowering for me. I encourage you to fight those fears and do it anyway.

Getting Started with Singing to Boost Self-Esteem

When you have low self-esteem, you will probably be overly critical of yourself and your voice. Perhaps you were criticised by others in the past. You may believe you can’t sing, shouldn't sing unless you're good or you don’t deserve to sing. Perhaps you feel ashamed of your own voice, you’re afraid of judgement or you just fear singing.

To get started with singing, you will need to face your fear and self-doubt and step outside of your comfort zone.

• Take action regardless of your negative thoughts and feelings.
• Be prepared to sound bad. We all have to start from somewhere and so what if you sound bad?
• Focus on the process and enjoy the moment.
• Know that you don’t have to be a great singer to enjoy or benefit from singing.
• Breathe, relax and have fun with it. Be prepared to laugh at yourself.
• Start alone if you want. Nobody has to hear you.
• Sing along with music and turn it up so you can’t hear your own voice (this is particularly effective if you’re worried about how you sound). Release your inhibitions.
• Stop comparing yourself to others.
• Stop worrying about what others will think or say.
• Get a teacher.
• Join a singing group (if you do, I recommend finding one that's focused on fun and isn't too serious).
• Sing songs that you enjoy. Enjoyment is crucial.

The most important thing is to let go of the idea of having to sound good. Think about birds, which all have their own unique song. Even crows and chickens sing and they don’t care about the sound. Even if you’re not very good at singing, it doesn’t matter at all. In fact, it’s an even better reason to do it, particularly for self-esteem reasons. Remember that self-esteem is regardless of your talents or abilities.

Happiness in life is about doing things you enjoy, even those things you’re not so good at. If you enjoy singing, do it because you enjoy the experience. Sing because it’s good for you. Sing because it helps you to relax and focus your mind. Sing because it boosts your self-esteem.

You can find Fay Agathangelou on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest and her website.