Be Empowered
Would you feel happier if you felt more empowered? Do you want to feel more empowered? Do you want other people to see you as empowered? Right now, stand up, plant your feet firmly and hold your hands over your head in a Y, stay like this for two minutes. This is a power pose.
According to Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist from Harvard, if you assume a power pose or position, you will portray a more confident, empowered self, even after you have stopped the particular pose. The power pose will decrease your cortisol (the stress hormone) and cause you to be more successful in job interviews and, by extrapolation, other encounters. Check out her TED talk about Body Language.
The idea that your body language communicates something about yourself is not particularly new. What I love about Cuddy's work is that you can pre-load on a power pose by doing it before being in a situation where you want to both feel and be perceived as empowered. While she does not want you to make yourself small or diminished when you are with others, she also doesn't believe you need to portray power poses in front of others. Instead, by having already done the power pose, you can walk into a situation feeling confident and therefore portray your best, most genuine self. Offering warmth and compassion without reducing your presence can be an incredibly strong and powerful message.
Try it! See how you feel after a couple of minutes in a power pose. Do people react to you differently? Do you feel more successful? Does it help you to be your own best self? Email me or leave a comment on my Facebook page. Let me know what happened for you!
Would you feel happier if you felt more empowered? Do you want to feel more empowered? Do you want other people to see you as empowered? Right now, stand up, plant your feet firmly and hold your hands over your head in a Y, stay like this for two minutes. This is a power pose.
According to Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist from Harvard, if you assume a power pose or position, you will portray a more confident, empowered self, even after you have stopped the particular pose. The power pose will decrease your cortisol (the stress hormone) and cause you to be more successful in job interviews and, by extrapolation, other encounters. Check out her TED talk about Body Language.
The idea that your body language communicates something about yourself is not particularly new. What I love about Cuddy's work is that you can pre-load on a power pose by doing it before being in a situation where you want to both feel and be perceived as empowered. While she does not want you to make yourself small or diminished when you are with others, she also doesn't believe you need to portray power poses in front of others. Instead, by having already done the power pose, you can walk into a situation feeling confident and therefore portray your best, most genuine self. Offering warmth and compassion without reducing your presence can be an incredibly strong and powerful message.
Try it! See how you feel after a couple of minutes in a power pose. Do people react to you differently? Do you feel more successful? Does it help you to be your own best self? Email me or leave a comment on my Facebook page. Let me know what happened for you!