This Study Shocked Me

Today’s Oracle

My software angels choose this oracle quote for you today:

374) The way cannot be taught in detail, but it can be grasped intuitively. - Miyamoto Mushashi

You can use my Potent Quotes Oracle page whenever you need help.  Hold a question in your heart, and see what quote comes up for you when you scroll down.  It will be a response to your question.  Play with it.

Get the Wizard's Handbook on Oracle Creation and have fun with oracles. 

Can Standing Like Wonder Woman Trigger Your Power Hormones?

Here’s the question: Can your posture encourage the release of your good hormones?  Can it magnify the stress hormone and make you less optimistic?

Can you change your posture and become more confident, optimistic and at the same time become calmer, less stressed?

Yes.  But that ain’t all.  More in a bit…

First, this isn’t new.  Over 100 years ago, William James said this:

If you want a quality, act as if you already had it.

In more modern parlance we say, “Fake it till you make it.”

Here’s another one:

It’s easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than to think your way into a new way of acting. —Millard Fuller, Founder of Habitat for Humanity

Cue Wonder Woman

As the quotes above indicate, the tail can wag the dog.

Just stand as Wonder Woman or Superman and good things happen for you.  You’ve seen the stance: feet apart, fists on hips, elbows out, chin up, smile.  Rocky demonstrates another power pose as he dances at the top of the step in the classic film Rocky – arms up over his head, fists clenched, chin up, triumphant smile.

You become more confident, optimistic and at the same time become calmer, less stressed.  Open poses produce this result.  Closed postures produce the opposite.

Watch the video below to see more images. Or go to Google to see heaps.

I learned about posture and emotional states years ago in various trainings, and I reveal how you can use smiling eyes as a way to instantly become happier, in my book Simply Serene: How to Calm Down, Reduce Stress, Deal with Stress, and Be Instantly Alert and at Peace.

Heads Up: Take advantage of my Simply Serene giveaway starting February 15^th 2014 and lasting for five days.

Enter Science

Even forcing a smile makes you happier.  Years ago, researchers found that if you bit a pencil held crosswise in your mouth, thus forcing a smile, you would become happier.

Recently, Harvard Business School  professor Amy Cuddy performed some lovely research on posture and hormones.

Powerful people are more assertive, more confident, more optimistic, think abstractly and take more risks.  First, they wanted to know what hormones they might use as a marker for this state. 

High power people have high testosterone and low cortisol.  Low cortisol means you are less apt to react stressfully to a situation.  Obviously, when you relax, you make fewer mistakes.  Remember: Both genders need testosterone.

For the study, they tested the saliva of the subjects first to find their levels of testosterone and cortisol.  Then they asked some to stand in high power poses you see above and others to assume the low power poses for just two minutes.  Then they retested.

What they found shocked me.

In the high power poses, the open ones, testosterone went up.  OK.  Cool.  But what shocked me was that they also enjoyed a 25% drop in cortisol.  Way less stress.

In the low power poses, remember those are the closed postures, the subjects endured a 10% decrease in testosterone. And the lower power pose amplified peoples’ cortisol (stress hormone) 15%.  Like you need more stress hormones…

Remember this is in TWO MINUTES.  Holy poop Batman.  TWO MINUTES.

If you can find me a better deal, let me know.

Watch Amy Cuddy’s TED talk see more examples and hear more of the story.  Amy reveals her own story in the last minutes.  She becomes vulnerable and moves the whole audience including me.

So What?  How Can You Use This?

Stand like superman or wonder woman for two minutes every day.  You can do deep breathing and you can combine this with the phenomenally powerful owl eyes and owl ears at the same time, as I do.  (Simply Serene shows you how.)

I recommend using this technique anytime you go into a scary situation.  Usually, when you are going to be in a situation where people will evaluate or judge you qualifies.

You can benefit by using it before

• ·         taking tests
• ·         job interviews
• ·         first visit with a new client
• ·         a trip to the doctor
• ·         a first date.

Or you can use it anytime you want to feel more presence.

See what the video says about the job interview study they did.  Wow.

You can find Amy Cuddy’s original research here.

May you be strong, powerful, optimistic, and at ease,

William

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