The Power of Posture!

Posture is important and can have marked effects on the hormones that our body produces.

Researchers at Columbia and Harvard¹ found that people who adopted ‘power postures’ produced higher levels of testosterone and decreased levels of cortisol (the stress hormone, which can cause health problems long term). Power postures include putting your feet up on your desk, hands behind head with fingers interlaced and elbows out.

Conversely, sitting slumped in your chair led to a drop in testosterone levels.

When we’re stressed, we tend to adopt ‘low power’ postures. These postures can create stress and tension in our bodies. When stressed, one client would sit in a hunched position, with her head to one side. She was experiencing headaches and muscle pain, which disappeared when she learnt a set of techniques designed to break patterns of stress.

So think about your posture, and if it’s a low power posture, change it!

¹ Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance

Dana R. Carney², Amy J.C. Cuddy³, and Andy J. Yap²

²Columbia University and ³Harvard University

Simon Pimenta