We all know that when we are anxious we close up our bodies, fold our arms, cross our legs and try to be small. We know those who are not anxious are bold powerful and dominate the room. But do we know what holding our bodies in these positions does to our brains?
Amy Cuddy’s research has shown that the position you hold your body in physical changes the hormone levels in the brain.
In only 2 minutes holding your body in:
A ‘high power’ pose causes a 20% increase in testosterone (power hormone) and a 25% decrease in cortisol (stress, anxiety hormone).
A ‘low power’ pose causes 10% decrease in testosterone and a 15% increase in cortisol.
By encouraging anxious children and adults to change their body shape can make a physical change to their brains in two minutes. Neural pathway are formed or grown based on what is most often used. By encouraging these open postures frequently, the changes in the brain can become more long term or fixed.
Amy Cuddy’s “Your body language may shape who you are” video link