Mentally fatigued? Nervous about an impending meeting or presentation? Just feeling a bit out of sorts? You can re-boot yourself by doing this for a couple minutes (understandable if you want to do it in private)…
This is not a joke. Not even hyperbole. It’s science – about as sciency as it gets. And it’s a powerful natural ADD remedy of sorts. Fact is, research shows that at least two things happen physiologically when this pose is struck and held for two minutes: stress goes down (cortisol reduction) and confidence and clarity go up (testosterone bump – yes, even for the ladies…in a good way).
Fire Up Your Brain in Two Minutes with Power Poses
Featured in a fascinating TED Talk, Dr. Amy Cuddy’s research on body language shows how we can change our own body chemistry — and even other people’s perceptions of us — just by changing our body position.
Posture not only can alter our emotions, it can affect how confidently we approach situations and solve problems, which in turn affects how powerful we appear to others.
In other words, power poses like the one above (a few others have been identified) not only result in greater self-confidence, they increase the confidence others have in us.
And here’s a kicker: We positively influence our own mood and the perception of others when we’re happy and smiley. Even when we force a smile (like, by holding a pen in our teeth). So you might say that, to feel happy or powerful, you can “fake it ‘til you make it” with power poses…and power smiles.
“Poses are powerful,” said Cuddy, a social psychologist at Harvard. And her studies build on earlier research showing that “expansive” poses (as opposed to low-power poses, e.g., slouching, or “closed” stances) can…
- Help recovering alcoholics from relapsing.
- Help subjects take the initiative and take risks.
- Even increase pain tolerance.
But back to firing up the ADHD brain:
Bottom line, expansive poses can re-set your weary mind, improve mental performance and positively affect how you’re perceived. And the physiological change lasts for 15 to 20 minutes – or longer.
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.”
“It’s about becoming so comfortable and feeling you have so much control over how you present yourself that you become more your authentic self,” says Dr. Cuddy. “It’s about quieting all those voices that say ‘I don’t belong.’ ”
Hmmmm. Sound like something that might help an ADDer? I do it all the time. And it @#$@&! works.
So give it a go and crush it, you Wonder Woman/Superman/King of Siam!
-Alan
PS — Anything you’d like me to write about? Any particularly stubborn challenges vexing you? Leave a note below and chances are I’ll help you crush it. Seriously. -apb
