Lower Your Stress with the Shape of Your Body
Quick tip coming your way!
Raise your hand if you have felt stressed in the last few days? (Not just me??) Of course, stress is a part of life. But in our rapidly changing world and with increasing demands for attention, we hear more and more how this constant state of "fight, flight, or freeze" is detrimental to our mental and physical health. So let's combat that!
It's probably no surprise to hear that our minds influence our bodies. But the tip today to remember is that our bodies change our minds.
Amy Cuddy's Ted Talk, Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are has been viewed over 56 million times (possibly the 2nd most viewed in all of Ted Talks).
She shares about the influence of hormones - particularly testosterone and cortisol - and the varying levels they show up in our physiology depending on the way we position our bodies.
1) Testosterone is known as the dominance hormone
2) Cortisol is known as the stress hormone
When we think about powerful and effective leaders we describe them as assertive, confident, and optimistic, with the abilities to think more abstractly and take more risks. These people have high testosterone and low cortisol levels.
So how do you boost your testosterone and lower your cortisol to be the best leader you can be? It's pretty simple actually - it only takes two minutes to change your physiology!
Just two minutes of holding a pose that is expansive and powerful can lead to these hormonal changes.
The shape of your body is literally configuring your brain to be assertive, comfortable, and confident.
She has several ideas in the talk to try out, but think of Wonder Woman.
Choose any posture that pulls your shoulders back, expands your chest, and raises your chin.
This isn't about how you look in front of other people (though of course you can be mindful of that too) this is before you enter a situation. It's about how to prepare your body and support your brain to cope it's best in that situation. (Get your testosterone high and your cortisol low!)
>> So before you jump on that zoom call with your team announcing next steps
>> Or before you walk into that chaotic living room with children asking a million questions
>> Or before you sit down to write those tough emails to clients...
Support your mind with the shape of you body.
It's not silly.
It's science.
It works.
If you don't believe it can, "fake it until you become it." - Amy Cuddy
We know that non-verbals have a big impact on what people think of us. But these power poses are not about how others think and feel about us, it's about how we think about ourselves.
As Amy says:
Our bodies change our minds..
Our minds change our behavior..
And our behavior changes our outcomes.
What cascade of positive outcomes could come from these tiny two minute tweaks that embolden you show up your best?
So simple, so powerful.
I highly recommend you to take the 20 mins to watch her talk (link on the photo above). If you're as intrigued as I was, you will also really appreciate her book, Presence. Enjoy!
