Power Poses

This audio track provides a guided power posing exercise modeled around information from a popular TED Talk by Amy Cuddy. The session focuses on how intentionally shifting your body language and physiology can positively influence your internal confidence and mood. Listeners will be led through a warm-up physical shake-out followed by four distinct power positions: a muscle-baring pose, a superhero pose, a fist-clenching winner's pose, and the classic Wonder Woman pose. The practice wraps up by inviting you to hold these spaces for a few minutes to trigger a natural boost in confidence before a challenging event, like an upcoming interview.

Transcript

This is a power poses practice. So it's based on information from a TED Talk by a woman called Amy Cuddy, Which is C-U-D-D-Y. And I'd really recommend watching it because there's so much interesting information in there that can really help understand the basis of this. It's really about how our physiology can affect our mood. So, We know that our mood can affect our physiology, But we can do it the other way around as well. So, It's about going into a series of poses and feeling strong. So, In the animal kingdom, A lot of the animals, They really open up to show their power. If you think of a peacock and gorilla the lion, You know, There's that real kind of opening up. So, This is what we're going to do today. We're going to do four different poses, And so just getting yourself in a standing position, With your feet hip-width apart. And just taking in a few conscious breaths. Just noticing the air coming in and out. Take a few bigger breaths into your tummy. Okay, We're just going to start by having a little shake, So just shaking your fingers, Your hands, Your arms, Your body. You can't do this wrong, So just move around just to shake up your physiology a little bit. Okay, And now I want you to put yourself in a position where you're showing your muscles. So like a Mr. Muscles or a Ms. Muscles kind of pose. And really, When you bring your arms down, Really kind of pull them as if you're really sort of tensing those muscles. And you can bring some fun to it as well, You know, Because these are meant to be fun poses as well. And just feel that sense of strength, That tensing in your arms and how that affects the rest of your body. Okay, And then just letting that go. And now we're going to do a superhero pose. So, Whatever that means to you. It could be one arm straight up in the air and one behind you. Flying through the sky, Or whatever other superhero pose appeals to you right now. Feel that strength. That sense of leaning and striving. Reaching Again, Noticing how that affects your body. And then letting go of that. And then we're going to do the winner's pose. So, Putting your hands up in the air as if you've won a race, Like really go for it. Almost as if you're performing to an arena of people after having won a race. Might be your fists are clenched and going towards the ceiling. Moving those fists as well. So, This is the winner's pose, And what scientists have found out is that people who were born blind actually do this when they win a race as well. So, It's not something that we've learned, It's something within our nature. Okay. And now the final one is the Wonder Woman pose. So, Putting your hands on your hips and really opening your shoulders, And maybe having a serious but fun expression, And just really feeling that strength in your body, Your straight spine. So, If you listen to the Amy Cuddy TED Talk, You'll see how these experiments have shown that if you put your body in this position for more than two minutes, Then you start to get that release of testosterone, Which makes you feel more confident and capable. So, If you have something like a job interview or another thing that might make you feel a bit nervous, Go into the bathroom and do this for two minutes just to create that sense of confidence and ease. Okay! Now, Just letting that go now. And just tuning in to your body, You might want to close your eyes, Just feeling how that feels inside your body right now. And maybe having a smile. And then letting go and going about your day. Thank you.