My latest tip helps you to feel calmer and more confident – in only 2 minutes!
What are the “Brilliant, Realistic & Practical Stress Busting Tips”?
I work with lots of people who feel stressed out and overwhelmed and I help my clients to find ways to reduce stress, make changes and start feeling a whole lot happier.
There are lots of great stress busting tips around, but for many of my clients life can seem so busy and overwhelming that many stress busting activities seem impossible to fit into an already hectic day and end up becoming yet another item on their crazy “to do” list.
So, I thought I would share a few of my tips which are designed to be realistic, practical and very easy to incorporate into an already busy life.
You’ll find each of my tips on my website’s blog (www.lumierecoaching.co.uk) and shared on my Facebook page. My suggestion is that if you are busy, overwhelmed and stressed then just pick one or two of my tips and try them out this week so you can start making life better.
So, here’s my latest tip….
The Power Pose!
Do you get a bit nervous about meetings, interviews, presentations or social situations?
Would you like to feel calmer and more confident – and improve your performance and potential outcomes?
Then the Power Pose is a great tool for you – it is scientifically proven, takes just two minutes of your time – and it’s fun too!
Spending just two minutes doing a high power pose is scientifically proven to reduce your stress hormones and increase your dominance hormones, making you feel calmer, more powerful and more in control.
Research has shown that you’ll notice the effects – and other people do too (in studies it was found that people who power posed before an interview were judged to have more presence and be more captivating, confident, authentic and enthusiastic).
How to Power Pose
To do a high power pose you need to physically take up space. Think about how Wonder Woman or Superman stand – hands on hips, feet shoulder width apart, chin up.
You can also power pose whilst sitting down. Think about how Leonardo DiCaprio sat at his desk in The Wolf of Wall Street – perhaps with hands behind his head or across the arms of the chair, shoulders back and chest wide, feet up on the desk or planted squarely on the floor – taking up space and being powerful and in control.
Next time you are due to go to a meeting or do a presentation spend just two minutes power posing. You could do this at your desk, or pop to the loo and do a Wonder Woman or Superman pose in the cubicle (it may sound a bit silly, but it is seriously effective!).
What to Avoid Doing
Taking up a low power pose gives you the opposite effect – your stress hormones increase, your dominance hormones decrease, you feel less calm, less confident and less in control.
A low power pose is one where you scrunch up and make yourself smaller. Think about how people look when they are nervous or embarrassed – head down, arms and legs crossed, taking up as little space as possible.
This is frequently the pose we take up before meetings or interviews, because it is the pose we use when we sit in the reception area looking at our mobile phones or flicking through a magazine. So, find a reason to stand up instead, look at the pictures on the waiting area wall, talk with the receptionist, stand and look out of the window or, if you need to sit down, sit in a powerful position instead of hunched over.
For More Information
If you want to find out more about the research behind Power Poses, including more details on the poses you could try using, then why not watch the brilliant Ted Talk by researcher, Amy Cuddy. You can find it via our resources page – just click here.
Lumiere Coaching is run by Nikki Watters, a qualified and experienced life coach, counsellor, mindfulness trainer and NLP practitioner. Nikki helps busy people to reduce stress, make changes, work better and feel a whole lot happier!
Contact Nikki at nikki@lumierecoaching.co.uk to find out more.