Our posture profoundly affects how we feel.
For example, Standing up straight makes you feel more confident & powerful. Slouching makes you feel unimportant and sad. Wide power pose makes you have positive thoughts and feeling of being more powerful.
Why? There are scientific reasons for this.
Good posture brings more oxygen to our bodies. It also decreases our level of cortisol, a stress hormone, increasing our levels of testosterone, making us feel more confident.
Dr. Erik Peper, a professor of health education at San Francisco State University published research supporting that our posture affects our feelings. “ We tend to think the brain and body relationship goes one way. In fact, the passages go both ways," Peper said. "When you choose to put your body in a different mode, it's harder to drop into depression." ( Peper, Biofeedback Association for Applied Psychophysiology & Biofeedback Volume 40, Issue 3, pp. 125–130 www.aapb.org DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-40.3.01)
Peper states that research has proven that movement and exercise open up biological pathways that increase happiness and energy. These happy feelings can be experienced consciously when we have upright posture.
“What we're saying is that if you start integrating more body movements into your daily life, your energy level stays higher and your quality of life is better," he said. "It's very similar to the principle of 'fake it till you make it' -- you can convince your body to have more energy." ( Peper, Biofeedback Association for Applied Psychophysiology & Biofeedback Volume 40, Issue 3, pp. 125–130 www.aapb.org DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-40.3.01)
How did Dr. Peper study this?
Peper surveyed 110 students in his classes who were instructed to walk down the hallway in a slouched position and then skip down the hallway. A few minutes later, the students were asked to rate their subjective energy levels. For the whole group, slouched walking decreased energy levels while skipping increased energy.
The students also took questionnaires to rate their general depression levels. Students who were generally more depressed reported far lower energy levels after slouched walking than those who were generally not depressed.
“ I felt depressed when I looked down walking slowly. I realized that I walk like that all the time. I really need to change my walking pattern. When doing opposite arm and leg skipping, I had more energy. Right away I felt happy and free. I automatically smiled” Student in Peper’s study.
Peper also studied a connection between the posture many children, teenagers and adults have when looking at screens of phones and electronics. Most of these postures are slouched. He found a correlation between this slouched position and an increase in symptoms of depression. “ Many people, without self-awareness or recognition, walk in a slouching pattern, sit for hours collapsed in front of a computer or TV, and collapse forward while texting or working on smart phones. These are all ‘‘culturally conditioned’’ positions that may evoke negative hopeless memories and reduce subjective energy if the person has a history of depression. “ Peper,
This research shows that how you hold yourself truly does affect how you feel. The saying “ fake it until you make it” seems true here. If you hold yourself in positive, upright posture, as if you believe in yourself and are confident, you will begin to actually feel this way. It’s at least worth trying, isn’t it? Next time you are feeling down, or having negative thoughts, notice your posture, sit up tall, walk like you are feeling happy, and who knows, maybe you will feel happy. Put a little skip in your step.
Natalie Teeters, psychotherapist True Life Counseling