Sit Up and Take Notice: Bad Posture Is Bad for Our ADHD Brains!
I’ve talked a lot about the brain-body connection as it relates to productivity, and recent research highlights the effects poor posture can have on the body, such as back and neck pain, muscle fatigue, and arthritic joints.
And slouching — which so many of us do when staring at a phone or computer screen — compresses the abdominal organs, reducing peristaltic action, which is key to normal digestion and bowel function.
But it’s not just the physical toll…
Poor Posture Kills Our Productivity!
Forward head posture, or FHP, is among the most common forms of destructive posture. It’s characterized by the forward displacement of the head over the chest, causing the shoulders to round forward. Think about walking, head down, phone in hand. Get the picture? (If not, check out this picture!)
Your head is 10-12lbs. But its effective weight increases 10lbs for every inch it hangs forward: 6″ = 60lbs of neck/back stress!
Slumping even affects our moods, which in turn affect our productivity.
FHP can reduce lung capacity, which reduces the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain and other organs. Less oxygen to the brain, less brain function, less PRODUCTIVITY.
So what can we do?
Social psychologist Amy Cuddy’s research on body language shows how we can change our own body chemistry — and even people’s perceptions of us — just by changing our body position.
So…Mentally fatigued? Nervous? Stressed?
Take a Super-Stance
Yup. Simply by standing like Wonder Woman (or Superman) — feet apart, hands on hips, chest out — for two minutes, we can reboot ourselves. This is neither joke nor hyperbole. It’s science. Research shows that when this pose is held for two minutes, cortisol, a stress hormone, is reduced by up to 25 percent, and confidence and clarity go up, because testosterone gets bumped up 20 percent (even for women).
Posture can also alter our emotions and affect how confidently we approach situations and solve problems, which affects how powerful we appear to others.
The Reflexive V, or Pride Pose, is one of several power poses Cuddy refers to.
It’s what a golfer instinctively does after sinking the winning putt; a runner does when she breaks the finish-line tape; an account executive does after landing a new client; and what a couch potato does when his team wins the Stanley Cup: arms wide, chin up, chest out … victory!
Posing like Wonder Woman or assuming a Reflexive V not only can result in greater self-confidence and increase the confidence others have in us, but such expansive poses, in which chest and arms are open rather than closed, can help prevent recovering alcoholics from relapsing; help people take initiative and risks; and even increase pain tolerance.
So, when feeling fatigued or stressed or before heading into a stressful situation, strike a two-minute power pose.
And always avoid slouching or otherwise “folding into yourself” or “making yourself smaller.”
Walk tall, my friends!
Bless,
APB
Alan P. Brown is an internationally recognized ADHD/Productivity Coach, TEDx Speaker, #1 Best Selling Author, and creator of the award-winning ADD Crusher™ “virtual coach” video program for ADHD teens and adults.
