Strike a power pose 

You may remember Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk about Power Posing in 2012. It was remarkable to learn that simply holding a power pose, such as the superman or wonder woman pose, could increase feeling of power and even impact hormones.

Much of Cuddy’s work is in relation to power dynamics and therefore has significant implications for resilience.

Specifically, Cuddy demonstrated through her research that people who held a power pose for 2 minutes experience about a 20-percent increase in testosterone, and those who held a low-power pose experience about a 10-percent decrease. In terms of cortisol, high-power people experience about a 25-percent decrease, and the low-power people experience about a 15-percent increase.

The high power posers were also deemed to be more confident and assertive by external judges.

Two minutes lead to these hormonal changes that configure your brain to be either assertive, confident and comfortable, or really stress-reactive, and feeling shut down.

Cuddy’s findings were challenged by other researchers however I am pleased to report it is back!! Cuddy can legitimately claim that power posing is science. Cuddy’s new academic paper published in 2018 in Psychological Science offers ample evidence (over 55 studies) that adopting an expansive posture makes people feel more powerful.

We could all do a with a dose of extra power in a time when we feel somewhat powerless over everything that’s happening in the world.

Embrace your inner superhero and give it a go.