Let’s talk about power poses!

In 2010 American social psychologists Dana Carney, Amy Cuddy and Andy Yapp published a research study which concluded that to replicate certain high-status shapes can ‘produce power’.

Meet the ‘power pose’!

Photo: James Duncan Davidson. Amy Cuddy demonstrates a classic power pose.

How to do it? Your power pose can range from a yogic sun salutation (both arms and hands open wide and outstretched upwards) to ‘Superman’-style fists raised in ‘flight’, to a ‘hands on hips, legs apart’ Wonder Woman vibe. Or, like in the picture here of Amy Cuddy, try a classic power pose that is used by humans and chimps alike, spreading your arms wide.

Power posing has been said to increase or enhance levels of testosterone and happy hormones such as serotonin. Although this hasn’t been definitively scientifically proven, what *is* true it that ‘felt power’ is real.

Give it a try by choosing and holding a power pose for two minutes before an interaction that would typically give you a degree of anxiety. Opening up one’s body in an intentional way may reduce stress and can create a feeling of wellbeing. How did you feel in comparison?