For those of you who read my previous blog post “The 3 secrets to keeping your happiness”, you would’ve read the first secret to taking your “bliss bubble” where ever you go: “The power of the state of change”. Let’s get into the second secret I promised you…
I was an avid gymnast growing up and the one thing that so many people commented on was my posture. I always sat straight up whether I was on a chair, on the floor cross-legged or even sitting with my legs straight out in front of me.
I was the happiest child, all the way into my 20’s. I woke up each morning to the birds chirping outside with the biggest smile on my face. I would even skip around, yes you heard me, skip to school and hockey practice with my dear friend, Danielle. Nothing could get me down. I had no understanding of stress or sadness. If someone was rude or nasty to me (which happened a lot as I was blessed with red hair, not great when there is an international day dedicated to kicking me!) I wouldn’t even allow it to enter my space. I would take the comment with love, smile back and knew in my soul that the comment was not about me, thinking that child or person was probably going through something I could not comprehend. Nothing affected my bliss bubble!
Now it seems like so many things do. Just an email can send me into a whirlwind of anxiety that robs me of sleep. Every nasty comment or angry driver hurt me so deeply, resulting in my bliss bubble being completely obliterated.
I saw this happening to so many of my colleagues, patients, and friends. I got to a point where I refused to believe that our bliss bubble walls were just getting crushed by the world. I thought to myself, there must be a way for us to rejuvenate them and see everything with love again. I dove into the research…
I would like you to freeze right now, as you are, don’t move a muscle! Now, look at how you are sitting. Did you know that your posture actually affects your neurochemistry? If you’re sitting up straight with your shoulders back, you’re doing well at protecting your bliss bubble, if you’re not, then you’re not doing it any good!
I have another exercise to do with you. I want you to think of something really sad. A moment in your life when time stood still and your outlook on life, people, partners, wealth or success changed forever.
Do you have it?
Now sink deeply into that moment. Really feel it.
Were you sitting or standing?
How did your body feel?
What emotions were you experiencing?
Sink deeper still, really feel it.
Now notice your posture. Shoulders hunched over with the weight of the memory, elbows close to the body, head hanging. You probably feel so small.
What else does that position remind you of?
If this posture is a result of feeling depressed, anxious, and hopeless and you are sitting like this for 5 – 12 hours a day at work, just imagine what this is doing to your emotional health! You will only become more depressed, less confident, held back in your career and less likely to be able to make good decisions.
Here is the amazing news:
Science shows that changing your posture can actually alter your neurochemistry in only 90 seconds. Now, this is not great when we are sitting at our desks in a sad, hopeless position, but it’s fantastic news if we know which postures can make us happy, more confident and more positive.
There is one posture that has been shown to have the most positive impact on your mind, the power pose!
The power pose is different for everyone, take a moment to find yours. Stand up, ground your feet, engage your legs, lift through your torso, focus your gaze straight, and say to yourself “you’ve got this!” Here’s an example:
Hold it for 90 seconds. Holding your power pose has been shown to increase testosterone (the hormone associated with confidence) and decrease cortisol levels (the stress hormone). This results in a reduced feeling of powerlessness and imposter syndrome – this was really interesting to me because this is something many of us struggle with. Imposter syndrome is the feeling that you do not deserve to be where you are and that you’re inadequate or a failure.
The power pose gives you the ability to improve your mood and enhance positive memories and thoughts.
The truth is, you are powerful, you got here on your merit and you deserve success!
So, your mission for today, should you choose to accept it, is get up and strike your power pose. If you are proud of it, as you should be, share it on social media and tag us #LornaJanesSA so we can see it.
I’ll be sharing the final secret to keeping your happiness soon, stay tuned…
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