Now, my mum used to always be telling me to 'Stand Up Straight' but it seems that she might have unknowingly been preparing me for a life of success and fulfillment. Not only can your physical bearing influence your personal development, there's a wealth of scientific research to back up the claims.
Take a look at the points below and start using your posture to turbo-charge your achievements.
10 Simple Postures That Boost Performance
Psychological
research suggests simple actions can project power, persuade others,
increase empathy, boost cognitive performance and more...
We tend to think of body language as something that expresses our
internal states to the outside world. But it also works the other way
around: the position of our body also influences our mind.
As the following psychological research shows, how we move can drive both thoughts and feelings and this can boost performance.
1. Pose for power
If you want to feel more powerful then adopt a powerful posture. Carney et al. (2010)
found that when people stood or sat in powerful poses for one
minute—those involving open limbs and expansive gestures—they not only
felt more powerful but had increased levels of testosterone flooding
their systems. Powerful poses take up more space, so spread your body
and open up the arms or legs. When you dominate the space, your mind
gets the message.
2. Tense up for willpower
Tensing up your muscles can help increase your willpower. In a series of 5 studies Hung and Labroo (2011)
found that when people firmed up their muscles they were better able to
withstand pain, resist tempting food, take an unpleasant medicine and
pay attention to disturbing information. So, if you need to increase
your willpower, tense your muscles. It should help.
3. Cross arms for persistence
If you're stuck on a problem which needs persistence then try crossing your arms. Friedman and Elliot (2008)
had participants do just that and found they worked longer at a set of
difficult anagrams. In fact about twice as long. Their persistence led
to more correct solutions.
4. Lie down for insight
If crossing your arms doesn't work then try lying down. When Lipnicki and Byrne (2005)
had anagram solvers lying down, they solved them faster. Since anagrams
are a type of insight problem, lying down may help you reach creative
solutions.
5. Nap for performance
While you're lying down, why not have a nap? Napping is an art-form
though. Nap too long and you'll suffer from sleep inertia: the feeling
of being drowsy for an extended period. Nap too little and there's no
point. Where's the sweet spot?
Brooks & Lack (2005)
compared 5, 10, 20 and 30 minute naps to find the best length. For
increased cognitive performance, vigour and wakefulness, the best naps
were 10 minutes long. Benefits were seen immediately after 10 minute
naps but after longer naps it took longer to wake up. Five minute naps
only provided half the benefit, but were better than nothing.
6. Gesture for persuasion
The way people's hands cut through the air while they talk is
fascinating. But it's more than just a by-product of communication. Maricchiolo et al. (2008)
found that hand-gestures help increase the power of a persuasive
message when compared to no use of gesture. Most effective are gestures
which make what you are saying more understandable. For example, when
referring to the past, point behind you.
7. And gesture for understanding
Gestures aren't only helpful for persuading others, they also help us think. In a study of children, Cook et al. (2007)
found that children who were encouraged to gesture while learning,
retained more of what they learnt. Moving our hands may help us learn;
more generally we actually seem to think with our hands.
8. Smile for happiness
The very act of smiling can make you feel happy, whether it's
justified or not. Strack et al. (1988) had participants holding pens in
their mouths either so that it activated the muscles responsible for
smiling, or not. Those whose smiling muscles were activated rated
cartoons as funnier than others whose smiling muscles weren't activated
by the pen in their mouth. So, forcing a smile really does make us see
the world in a better light.
9. Mimic to empathise
If you want to get inside someone's head, you can try copying their
behaviour. Those who are good at empathising do it automatically:
copying accent, posture, expressions and so on. If you can copy it, you
will feel it yourself and then you'll get a hint of what others are
feeling. It's what actors have known for years: mimicry is a great way
of simulating others' emotional states.
10. Imitate to comprehend
The idea that copying helps us understand others works for thought as well as emotion. In an experiment by Adank (2010),
participants found it easier to decipher an unfamiliar accent if they
tried to imitate it themselves. Some psychologists go further, claiming
that imitating others helps us predict what they are going to do (e.g. Pickering & Garrod, 2007).
Embodied cognition
Many of these studies support a theory about human life (and indeed
all life) called 'embodied cognition'. The idea is that we don't just
think with our minds, we also think with our bodies. Our mind isn't a
brain in a jar, it is connected to a body which moves around in an
environment.
As life becomes increasingly virtual, played out on screens of
varying sizes, we need reminding that the connection between mind and
body is two-way. Human intelligence is more than abstract processing
power; it's about the interaction between mind, body and the world
around us.
Article courtesy of www.spring.org.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment