How our bodies shape our minds

“When we think of nonverbals, we think of how we judge others. … We tend to forget, though, the other audience that's influenced by our nonverbals: ourselves.”

~Amy Cuddy, Harvard Business School

This was a new idea for me recently: Maybe it's not just that our state of mind can influence our bodies... maybe this is a two way street.  It's interesting to consider that we might also be taking cues from our physical body.  It reinforces my perception that we have an internal relationship with ourselves that is very much like relationships we have with other people, only we fail to recognize it because we can never remove ourselves from it.  It FEELS like it's us talking to ourselves, but really, it's what we've learned talking to us.  It's what other people have told us, synthesized into a single voice in our heads.  Anyway... it seems it's appropriate to add our very own body as another "voice" in this relationship.  

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I'm also going to admit that I've started standing in power poses in the morning.  So far, I haven't been caught by my husband or my children, so they have no idea that I've been re-patterning my brain.  They, maybe haven't noticed anything at all.  But I sure have.  My ability to continually deal with situations as they come up unexpectedly, the routine interruptions of trying to work at home over the summer, and to find ways to be productive (historically I've battled old family dynamics of being unproductive)... it's all been so different the last few days since I saw this TED talk!  

I can't remember which of my incredibly awesome friends or colleagues posted this on Facebook, but I do have much gratitude for the things they post.  This practice of standing powerfully is quickly becoming part of a 5-minute morning ritual where I stand tall, feel the power within (meaning that I summon words like capable, confident, strong, resilient...).  I breathe deeply, receiving that sense of my essential self, and I release what no longer serves me.  I give myself some appreciation for things that I know that I do well.  And in less than five minutes I feel supercharged, positive, energetic, and totally ready to do what needs to be done for the day!

I'm still playing with my "daily" rituals (because I've admitted before that it's a challenge for me, right?).  I'm actually taking an e-course about it.  I'll share more about that as I work it out.

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Click here to go to Amy Cuddy's TED talk about body language and it's influence on our perception of ourselves.