Mornings are often difficult. You’re tired, your groggy, and you simply need some time to get back into the awakened world. Not everyone can be a natural morning person, but mornings are simply something that all of us have to endure. If we can make them better, why wouldn’t we try? Harvard psychologist and author of the book Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges, explains that the best thing we can do for ourselves is stretch. Before we even fling our legs out from under the covers, we need to stretch as much as we can.
The theory is called power posing, which is practiced by making your body as large as possible. By stretching out as much as you can, you create confident motions that influence the part of the brain that’s associated with self-confidence and self-esteem.
Simply stated, when practice confident movements, you become a more confident person. This will help your mornings immensely.
Cuddy believes that our posture has the power to influence our thoughts and emotions, so much so that our entire lives can either be positive or negative. She even believes that standing like Wonder Woman, a direct quote, can build confidence in a person’s way of thinking. It is true that behavior follows emotion, but the opposite can be equally true.
“It’s obviously bi-directional, but the people who wake up like are super happy, like annoyingly happy,” she explains. “And what are nonverbal expressions of power and dominance? Well, this what they are. So in the animal kingdom, they are about expanding. So you make yourself big, you stretch out, you take up space, you’re basically opening up.”
When you sleep and wake up curled in a ball, you’re essentially doing the opposite.
“If you sleep in a fetal ball, we have some preliminary evidence that people who wake up like that wake up much more stressed out,” she went on to discuss.
She believes that approximately 40 percent of people sleep cured up in the fetal position, which could be contributing to a lack of self-confidence throughout their day.
Think about how important our movements are in other aspects of our lives. Body language is more than significant when it comes to everyday communication, and it’s even been found that someone who speaks while using their hands has a higher capacity for intelligence. Body language also allows you a greater insight into a person’s emotions, even when they aren’t saying anything at all.
Let your body spread out, stretch out, and open up. You’ll give your self-confidence a boost, and you’ll make your mornings much more bearable.
source and courtesy: dailyvibes.org