Every once in a while a song will inspire me. There are certain songs that do it every time I hear them and others that just strike me in a particular way on a particular day.

The song that inspired me most recently is Cat Steven’s “Don’t Be Shy.” I’ve heard it thousands of times before. I even own the album, but it struck me more poignantly this time. It opens with these words:

Don’t be shy just let your feelings roll on by
Don’t wear fear or nobody will know you’re there
Just lift your head, and let your feelings out instead

It was not only inspiring as a confidence booster, which I think is important, but the “just lift your head” line hit me. I thought of Pilates. I’m not kidding. I don’t make this stuff up. I actually think of Pilates this often.

I thought lifting your head and lengthening through the body which not only makes us feel more confident, but makes us look more confident. I thought about how when exercises get challenging we all have a tendency to drop our chin–all our muscles trying to pitch in and help–but if we can keep our chin lifted in the long run we will train our muscles to be stronger and better equipped.

So today, think about keeping your head held high. No matter what you are doing. Even if you aren’t feeling your most confident, try to convince yourself by picking your head up, and try not to let fear or the body’s tendencies overtake you.