Your body language doesn't just give others clues to your emotions, when done properly, it can help boost your energy and performance.
Body language is a mysterious thing. Because we only have so much conscious control over our body language, it can be an indication of how we are feeling and what our opinions about certain topics are. In fact, many job seekers find that by carefully monitoring their body language during an interview, they can build rapport faster and get a leg up on the competition.
Not only can your body language help you make a better impression during an interview, it can even change your emotions. In fact, certain types of movements can actually give you a performance boost.
Don't believe me? Well, you can test the theory out for yourself. The next time you are meditating or just sitting quietly with yourself, pay close attention to what your body does when you think about a happy thing, and then see what it does when you think of something upsetting. Depending on how your body expresses emotion, you will probably feel your jaw tightening and your may salivate just a little, or your throat may go dry. These reactions are your body's way of expressing the emotions they are experiencing.
With a little bit of practice, you can harness your body's emotional expressions through your movements and actually improve the way you feel and increase your productivity. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Power boost – If you want to feel more powerful, then spend a minute in a powerful pose. Whether you decide to sit or stand, the main idea is to hold a pose that includes open limbs and very large gestures. When you do this, your body increases your levels of testosterone, which causes you to feel more powerful.
- Increase your willpower – I often struggle with my own willpower to resist the temptation of mid-afternoon sugary snacks. Some days are easier than others, but I have come to accept that when it comes to strength of will, I am a wimp. However, if you want to strengthen your willpower and determination, tense up your muscles, especially the upper body. Your body already knows that it is better to tense up before any impact or direct assault. This is why before people deliver bad or shocking information, they say “Brace yourself”. It actually really does help.
- Be more persistent – If you think about it, it makes perfect sense that in order to increase your persistence, you should cross your arms in front of your chest. Some studies have even reported that crossing your arms can help you work twice as long on a challenging task than you would have ordinarily.
- Assistance finding creative solutions – If you are trying to problem solve and need to increase your insight, try laying down. I am not sure why or how it works, but it really does. When you are faced with a really tough decision, it isn't uncommon for people to advise you to “sleep on it”. Although the extra sleep won't do much to help, just the process of laying down and thinking about the problem will help you find a creative solution to it.
- All around performance enhancer – This one is definitely an advance technique to increase your stamina, performance and energy. A simple nap is all you need to get this boost. Just be careful, if you nap for too long, you will be tired and a grumpy when you have to wake up, but if you take too short of a nap, it won't really have much benefit. The ideal nap for maximum boost is anywhere between 10-30 minutes.
- Be more persuasive – Using hand gestures can make you more persuasive and make it easier for the listener to follow along and buy in to what you are saying.
- Learn faster – If you gesture while you are learning or studying, you will have a better chance at understanding the material and actually retaining the information. This is partly because when you gesture, you are incorporating tactile memory to help you.
- Become happier – This one is super easy. The best way to maximize your happiness level is to smile. Do it in the mirror at yourself and smile at everyone and everything. Just be careful not to overdo it and have people think that you are a lunatic.
- Build trust and empathy – The best way to increase your like-ability is to copy the body language of the person you are talking to. When you mimic every expression, each nuance and their posture, they will get the impression that you are very much like them. The other boost is that when you copy their body's movements, your body will try to copy the same emotions the person was experiencing. This will give you some clues to what they are feeling.
We often think of our bodies, our minds and our emotions as completely separate entities that all work independent of each other. We don't just think inside of our heads, in fact we think with our whole bodies. Our brain gathers information from all sources in order to determine the best reaction. Even though it happens in a split second, without actually having to think about it, it still happens.
The next time you need a power up, try one of these body language boosts.
Have you tried using your body language to control your mood or enhance your performance? How did it work for you? Let me know in the comments.
By: Melissa Kennedy
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