Power Poses
Like most people I am interested in body language. Like most people I noticed awkward social interactions in day to day life. Until recently I considered that body language is about
- what you are communicating others
- what they are communicating to you
I always viewed body language as a tool people use to help them understand how other people think & feel. What I never considered is the impact my body language had on me. The influence my body language hand on my thoughts, feelings and physiology.
We all have situations in our life when we would like to feel more optimistic and confident basically more powerful. Social science has show that powerful leaders have low levels of cortisol (i.e. low levels of the stress hormone) and high levels of testosterone (i.e. high levels of the dominance hormone). So what if we could use our body language to make ourselves feel more powerful in challenging situations, it turns out we can by adopting the wonder woman pose.
By adopting the Wonder Woman pose for 2 minutes, social scientists have proven that it will increase your confidence, assertiveness and help you feel more comfortable in a situation. This is due to the impact holding this “high power” pose for two minutes has on your body, its reduces your cortisol levels and increases your testosterone levels. Meaning you are less reactive to stressful situations.
So can you apply this in real life. Last weekend I was on my sports massage course and each weekend we have a written test we need to pass. For some reason I had misunderstood what the test was on and forgot to review the whole subject. I discovered this about 30 minutes before the test. So I was in a highly stressful situation. So I decided to give this power pose a try and did it during the next 30 minutes while revising. The science says 2 minutes but I felt I needed all the help I could get. It turns out that I passed. While this isn’t irrevocable proof, I would recommend people try it.
As Amy Cuddy says “our body’s change our minds, our minds change our behavior and our behavior changes our outcomes.” For a more detailed understanding of power poses, the science behind them, watch Amy Cuddy’s Your body language shapes who you are.
Related Posts
Heel Pain Part 1 – Plantar Fasciitis
Recently a client asked me "is having heel pain first thing in the morning, just one of those things you have to put up with as you get older"?. What are the causes of Heel Pain? There are two major causes of heel pain, firstly a grumbling Achilles Tendon and secondly Plantar Fasciitis. This week I am going to focus on Plantar Fasciitis. Plantar Fasciitis is inflammation of the Plantar Fascia or the strong band of tissue on the sole of your foot that stretches from your heel to your toes that supports the arch of your foot and acts as a shock absorber when you walk. The usual site of the pain with Plantar Fasciitis is on the sole of the foot, see diagram below.
How can I tell if my heel pain is Plantar Fasciitis?
Plantar Fasciitis is characterised by the gradual onset of soreness and aching under the heel at its mid-point, which spreads forward along the inner side of the arch of the foot. The ache or pain is often for the first few steps when you get out of bed every morning or after sitting at your desk for a long period of time.
What causes Plantar Fasciitis
- Sedentary Lifestyles
- Being overweight
- Wearing shoes with too little arch support or cushioning
- Vigorous take off's, landings are fast turns during weight bearing sports.
- Wearing high heels too much.
- Excessive foot eversion (your weight is too much on the outside of your foot).
- Stand about 40 cm away from a wall and put both hands on the wall at shoulder height, feet slightly apart, with one foot in front of the other. Bend your front knee but keep your back knee straight and lean in towards the wall to stretch. You should feel your calf muscle tighten. Keep this position for several seconds, then relax. Do this about 10 times then switch to the other leg. Now repeat the same exercise for both legs but this time, bring your back foot forward slightly so that your back knee is also slightly bent. Lean against the wall as before, keep the position, relax and then repeat 10 times before switching to the other leg. Repeat this routine twice a day.
- Stand on the bottom step of some stairs with your legs slightly apart and with your heels just off the end of the step. Hold the stair rails for support. Lower your heels, keeping your knees straight. Again you should feel the stretch in your calves. Keep the position for 20-60 seconds, then relax. Repeat six times. Try to do this exercise twice a day.
- Sit on the floor with your legs out in front of you. Loop a towel around the ball of one of your feet. With your knee straight, pull your toes towards your nose. Hold the position for 30 seconds and repeat three times. Repeat the same exercise for the other foot. Try to do this once a day.
- Sit on a chair with your knees bent at right angles and your feet and heels flat on the floor. Lift your foot upwards, keeping your heel on the floor. Hold the position for a few seconds and then relax. Repeat about 10 times. Try to do this exercise five to six times a day.
- For this exercise you need an object such as a rolling pin or a drinks can. Whilst sitting in a chair, put the object under the arch of your foot. Roll the arch of your foot over the object in different directions. Perform this exercise for a few minutes for each foot at least twice a day. This exercise is best done without shoes on.
Does nature restore you? – Part 2
In my previous post, I shared the evidence of how nature can restore you. I appreciate that not everyone in London lives within easy access to a green space, and it turns out that it may not be necessary to visit the green space just look at a green space. This first occurred to me a few weeks ago, when I was in Manchester. In the hotel reception they had screens playing a short video clip of a roaring log fire. A roaring log fire just happens to be another of those things that I find both calms me, reduces my stress levels and restores me. What I noticed is that I had a positive response to the video clip, even though it was just a film of a log fire rather than an actual log fire. So this made me think, would just looking at a picture of nature on your PC have the same positive impact as going out in nature. Li & Sullivan in a randomised controlled experiment demonstrated that views to green landscapes promote attention restoration and help individuals to recover from stress. In another study, researches in China, have discovered that viewing nature based scenes were restorative and those with more openness but no people were more lived to reduce stress. So maybe you could just look at a picture instead. So for those of you where its not practical to spend 5 minutes in nature per day, why not look at a picture of a green landscape (without people) on your mobile phone or tablet or pc, and see if it boosts your attention levels and restores you. References D Li and W C Sullivan, Impact of views to school landscapes on recovery from stress and mental fatigue. Landscape and Urban Planning, vol 148, 2016, pp 149 - 158.
Wang et al Stress recovery and restorative effects of viewing different urban park scenes in Shanghai, China. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 2016, 15, pp 112- 122Self help to prevent a stiff neck
Previously I shared my produced for how to treat a stiff neck. In this blog post I want to share my tips for on prevention of stiff necks for those that are prone to them. Firstly, make sure you practice proper posture regardless of what you’re doing, such as positioning computer monitor at eye level and moving your neck frequently when driving to ensure your muscles remain nimble. Secondly, if you notice your neck muscles start to tight as you do core exercises then place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth to assit your neck muscles to relax. Produces for Stiff Neck Prevention
1. Roll your shoulders backwards and down 10 times. 2. Squeeze your shoulder blades together 10 times. 3. Place your hands at the back of your head and push into them, then hold for 30 seconds. 4. Tilt your head shoulder to shoulder 10 times on each side.
