Research Review

Can two minutes in a power pose change what someone thinks about you?  Can two minutes change what your own body thinks about itself?  According to the research provided by Amy Cuddy, a Social Psychologist and professor at Harvard Business School, you bet!
“Our bodies change our minds, and our minds can change our behavior, and our behavior can change our outcomes,” said Cuddy in the June, 2012 TED Talk in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Her research shows that the body’s nervous system response to a “power pose” of just two minutes results in a substantial increase in testosterone and an equally impressive decrease in cortisol.  One example of a power pose is to think of Wonder Woman standing tall with her hands on her hips. Think expanding and opening up in space.  Another powerful pose would be someone who though sitting down, is taking up two chairs at the movies, with arms and legs outstretched.  The opposite of power posing is to make a powerless pose, to collapse on oneself, making oneself tiny.  Powerless posing is what many people tend to do all day long when hunched over a computer and other types of poor posture posing.
High power posing for just two minutes resulted in a 20% increase in testosterone and low power posing resulting in a 10% decrease.  Cortisol had a 25% decrease after two minutes of the power pose, and the low power posers had about a 15% increase in cortisol.
What’s the big deal?  Well, cortisol, for example is a stress hormone that puts you in a fight or flight state, decreases your brain function, and that when high is associated with diabetes and weight gain.
Dr. Bob Cummins, Bellevue chiropractor at Cummins Chiropractic and Wellness, shares about the importance of posture and correct body positioning frequently because our nervous systems are directly influenced by our structure.  Think of your spine as a water hose going from your brain out to water your body.  With good posture, your body can grow and do what it was designed to do.  If your posture is unbalanced or “kinked” like a hose in any way, your body doesn’t get the full flow of communication from the nervous system.  A kinked hose doesn’t spurt water from the hose as well as a non-kinked hose.
Chiropractic is focused on optimizing the function of your nervous system.  That’s right, optimize that hose and optimize your body’s regulation of hormones, not to mention all the other functions your nervous system is in control of.
To watch the 19 minute presentation in full, check it out here and you’ll learn about her fascinating work on “power posing” yourself and see how your body position influences others and even influences your own brain.
Amy Cuddy: Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are  TED TALK: Amy Cuddy, June 2012, Edinburgh Scotland
“Don’t fake it till you make it. Fake it till you BECOME it.” – Amy Cuddy