Feel confident and powerful in just two minutes

How to feel confident

In her 2012 TED talk Amy Cuddy shared research that found the way we hold our body affects how we feel.  She found that just by adopting so called “Power Postures” for two minutes, the subject would exhibit a significant change in hormone levels.  Power Postures involve sitting or standing using the body in an expansive way – arms outstretched or on the hips, with a wide stance.  Wonder Woman’s classic pose is a perfect example of a Power Posture.

Wonder Woman's Power PoseTwo key hormones were measured in this research: Testosterone – the dominance hormone; and Cortisol – the stress hormone.  After two minutes of Power Postures, it was found that testosterone levels increased by 20% and cortisol levels reduced by 25%.  Conversely, when subjects adopted low-power poses for two minutes – hunching over, shrinking down and crossing arms, legs or ankles – their testosterone levels reduced by 10% and cortisol levels increased by 15%.

In my consultations with clients we take this mind body connection even further to create specific physical gestures that allow the body to gain access to states of power and confidence for particular situations such as public speaking, job interviews and important meetings.  Can you imagine how great it would feel to know that you could instantly access the confidence with which you hit a tennis ball in your leisure time when you need it for a crucial meeting at work?

Using Power Postures is a first and easy step towards taking charge of your physiology and biochemistry and making them work for you.  This is a technique that you can use today to improve your feelings of confidence and power.  Before your next meeting or in the lead up to a presentation I encourage you to use this – although you may want to strike that Wonder Woman pose in the privacy of the bathroom rather than the boardroom!

___________________________________________

Image Credits:
Header : Llima Orosa via Flickr
Wonder Woman : Amazon Archives

 

One thought on “Feel confident and powerful in just two minutes

Comments are closed.