MSS: 017 Pick yourself up by changing posture

MSS #017: Understanding how mind and body influence each other.

Read time: 3.1 minutes.

In a hurry? Cut straight to the 2 tools read from heading Two poses suggested by Amy Cuddy – reduced read time 2 minutes

This week we cover how we can change how we feel, simply by changing how we hold our bodies.

Having the awareness, knowledge and ability to change our mood and outlook on life, with simple changes to how we hold our bodies, is extremely powerful and so easy to do.

Most people would never realise what an impact they are having on their own mood and outlook and how easy it is to change.

Let me share this easy to implement learning.

Why our posture matters

Amy Cuddy is an American social psychologist and has done some amazing work studying how your physiology affects the way you feel. By creating specific poses, you can reduce your stress levels and feel more positive.

She has conducted a series of studies showing that certain poses we adopt unconsciously, when we feel powerful, affect the chemical balance in our bodies.

Amy found the opposite is also true, by adopting specific poses, we can change how we feel with associated chemical balance changes.

It has also been shown that this affect is noticeable by others, sometime after you have struck up a power pose.

If you are entering a stressful situation such as an interview, by using power poses before the interview you behave and come across more confidently.

Amy Cuddy’s studies show these poses increase your levels of testosterone and decrease the levels of cortisol, associated with being in a stressful state.

This is a subject you can find out more about. For instance, if you look down towards your feet when you walk, it affects you negatively. It increases tension and generally negatively impacts on your well-being.

If instead you look straight ahead or slightly sky ward, it cheers you up and reduces stress.

If you think about this it makes sense, it is sort of intuitive.

Two poses suggested by Amy Cuddy

Below are two poses Amy suggests.

Hold each pose for about two minutes to get the benefit. You can easily do these in a quiet place or perhaps pop into a toilet cubicle before a meeting or making a phone call, that you might want to boost your positivity for.

Wonder women pose (Amy’s name for the pose, not mine!) - standing up, legs slightly apart and firmly planted, arms on hips, feeling really in control. Really stretch your arms and legs, keep your head level or slightly looking up.

If you have mobility issues or are in a wheel chair, I am sure you can modify this to suit your circumstances.

Star shaped winner - standing up, head up triumphantly, arms out straight above your head reaching for the sky, legs apart and firmly planted.

Much like the pose you see from an Olympic athlete crossing the winning line having just won and setting a new world record time.

By spending 2 minutes with a Wonder women and Star shaped winner pose, you can change the chemistry in your body and how you feel and perform.

In an experiment Amy Cuddy ran, she found people that held a power pose for just 2 minutes experienced,

• a 20% increase in Testosterone and

• a 25% decrease in Cortisol.

Those that used a low power pose, looking down at the floor, hunched over, holding their arms in tight to their body saw,

• a 10% decrease in Testosterone and

• a 15% increase in Cortisol.

Your posture effects your body chemistry and your body chemistry affects your body posture. If you choose to influence your body posture, you have more control over yourself than you might think.

Cortisol is often referred to as your stress hormone which increases when your fight and flight mechanism is triggered, making several changes to your body to get you ready for fight and flight.

Cortisol increases your blood sugars to give you more energy and the ability to clot blood quicker, it diverts blood away from the digestive system to use in your muscles, which can make you feel a bit nauseous.

It also reduces your immune system. Your thinking power reduces as blood is diverted in your brain to key fight and flight mechanisms.

Sustained releases of Cortisol are not a good idea, so reducing your Cortisol levels effectively reduces your stress level.

So what?

Consider situations you might want to change your pose and create habits to embed these changes.

• Before a meeting – try adopting the power pose for a few minutes, if you are worried about others seeing you, do this in a cubicle of a toilet.

• Keep your head up – just be more aware how often you walk around looking down. Simply changing this to looking up makes a big difference to your body chemistry.

• Sit up straight -if you are sat down, think about straightening your back and sitting up, when thinking look up to the ceiling a bit.

Your physiology impacts your body chemistry, mood and motivation.

Another aspect of physiology to consider is when you walk somewhere, be aware of yours or other people’s posture.

If someone is feeling down or worried about something, you will often see them looking down as they walk.

More purposeful and motivated people look horizontally when walking.

When you look down you also hunch your shoulders, which creates tension.

As we know what we do physically is reciprocated in our mental approach and vice versa, just be more aware when you are looking down to raise your gaze to the horizon, it will change how you feel.

References

Amy Cuddy (1^st October 2012), Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are, Ted Talk. Online. Available https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are/transcript?language=en

Summary

Quick recap.

• Our physiology and mental states are intertwined.

• Be aware of how you hold yourself and how it affects how you feel.

• Try out Amy’s two power poses “Wonder Women” or “Star shaped winner”.

• Look straight ahead or slightly up to feel better.

Want more? When you're ready, 3 ways I can help you:

1. Digital course - If you want to build amazing self-confidence, I'd recommend starting with an affordable course:

→ Nuclear Powered Resilience: will teach you a single golden habit, to give you an incredible inner strength and self-confidence,

2. Work with me 121 - I can coach you to

- implement any of the techniques I share or

- support you implementing any of training courses or

- be your business and mind coach helping you better manage those distracting thoughts that often get in our way.

3. Workshops and Speaking - I run workshops and speak. Book me if you choose, to help your team increase their productivity.

Nuclear Powered Resilience – learn one golden habit that gives incredible inner strength, comfort and support, that keeps growing by instilling Unconditional Love in your mind.

7 guiding principles to better thinking – what trips up our thinking and how to create different habitual responses.

What they should have taught you at school – awareness of how we think and how to get better results.

Vitamin C for the mind – how to feel and have more control in life, with simple techniques built into a habit.

Happy habits – simple habits to make you feel happier every day.

Send your enquiry to [email protected].

That's it for this week.

Thanks for reading, really hope this helped.

Contact me if you think I can help you further at,

[email protected]

See you next week. If you haven't already, follow me on LinkedIn and hit the bell for daily posts on tips, insights and techniques.

Happy thinking.

6 May, 2023