Your body language shapes who you are. The way you walk, sit, and stand has a direct relation on how you feel about yourself.
Social scientist call this your nonverbal behavior which is some sort of communication and interaction you have with others and yourself. Nonverbal behavior heavily influence your thoughts, emotions, and your physiology.
Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist and bestselling author, shares her thoughts on the typical nonverbal behavior of power and dominance:
So in the animal kingdom, they are about expanding. So you make yourself big, you stretch out, you take up space, you’re basically opening up. It’s about opening up. And this is true across the animal kingdom. It’s not just limited to primates. And humans do the same thing.
In Hawaii, when we speak of Mana we talk about how Mana is energy that exudes from us and all things. The more Mana we have, the more energy we exude which expands beyond us.
Think of moments when people have the feeling of power, dominance, and fully of energy.
Here’s an example:
We know this feeling. Social Scientist call this the pride pose. A study was done by Jessica Tracy where she found that people with sight and who are congenitally blind do this pride pose when they win at a competition. It doesn’t matter if they could see or not. After going through the finish line, they raise their hands up into a V and slightly lift the chin.
What’s the opposite of this? The exact opposite. We fold ourselves in. We collapse our bodies, head down, and our shoulders slouched forward.
So what sort of strategies can be done to improve your mana, confidence, lower your stress and anxiety levels, and make you feel like KŪ?
These strategies can be used immediately and whenever you need a power boost. Let’s look at our bodies first…
Read this: Strengthen your Rhomboids to Improve Your Posture and Confidence
YOUR HORMONES DICTATE HOW YOU FEEL
The main hormones to look at are testosterone and cortisol. Studies done on powerful leaders found that they share more than their attitudes and vision on success, but they also have similar hormone profile of higher levels of testosterone and lower levels of cortisol.
It is known that higher levels of testosterone, even in women, improve your sense of power and confidence. Cortisol, also known as the stress hormone, has the opposite effects that causes you to feel powerless and increases your ability of holding onto bodyfat. Remember, cortisol is not always bad, but too much cortisol can be.
The interplay of these two hormones can be influenced by your surroundings. How you exercise, eat, drink, socialize, and even think can cause changes amongst your testosterone and cortisol levels.
This is why your body language is essential. Your body language shows how you feel. Remember that saying, “Fake it ’til you make it”? Such is true for your body language. For instance, when you smile it’s hard to feel sad. When you raise your arms up in a V, it is hard to feel unconfident. The body is the mind and spirit. They are one.
THE POWER POSE: 2 MINUTE RESEARCH
A research done at Harvard University and Columbia University studied the impact of high and low power poses of 42 students.
Here’s how they conducted the study: (the full study)
- posed the participants into high and low power poses
- participants held two poses for 1 minute each
- feelings of power were measure through personal reports
- saliva samples were take 17 minutes before and after the power-poses
The most interesting findings during this research were from the results of the saliva samples. They found that high power poses actually increased testosterone levels by 20% and decreased cortisol by 25%. That’s huge!
2 MINUTES TO HIGH POWER PERFORMANCE
Amy Cuddy, who was also part of the team who led the above research, said in her TedTalk:
Tiny tweaks can lead to big changes. So this is two minutes. Two minutes, two minutes, two minutes. Before you go into the next stressful evaluative situation, for two minutes, try doing this, in the elevator, in a bathroom stall, at your desk behind closed doors. That’s what you want to do. Configure your brain to cope the best in that situation. Get your testosterone up. Get your cortisol down. Don’t leave that situation feeling like, oh, I didn’t show them who I am. Leave that situation feeling like, oh, I really feel like I got to say who I am and show who I am.
Sometimes we come to a point where we want to create a positive change in our life or in our day but think we have to do something super drastic in order to create a change. Change is a daunting task and making big changes can create even more stress and anxiety.
Instead, find the “tiny tweaks” that can lead to impactful changes in your life. The best thing to do is become more aware of your nonverbal behavior. If you catch yourself slumping down into a low power pose, acknowledge it and change it.
KEEP IT SIMPLE. KEEP IT KŪ.
This simple tool and lifehack and instantly help you become stronger. But with everything you do, it’s about attitude and believing that it will. The science and personal experience shows how useful and life changing on every level this tool can be.
If you are feeling extra open to trying new things, give Elliot Hulse’s best natural preworkout a sample:
Now that’s changing your body language!
Anyways, give these small body language tweaks a try and let me know how they made your feel.
