You see the way we think affects how we use our body. Think about if you are scared or intimidated in a situation you will tend to shrink in stature...minimising the amount of your body that is exposed. By shrinking your body it can then affect the way you think sometimes even worsening the fear - this creates a loop or cycle between the two. We can use this connection to our advantage however!
For a moment think about someone that you know who is sad...how do they look? How do they stand? When most of you do this you will come up with an image of someone who has a frown on their face, who is hunched over, their breath will be shallow and they may look somewhat weak. Compare this to someone who is happy and confident - what do you think of then? It’s likely someone who is standing tall, taking up space, has a spring in their step and a smile on there face - the list could go on but you get the idea.
So how do we use this?
You need to become aware of your own state...what you do with your body when are you happy and what you do when are you sad - how do you as an individual reflect these different states or emotions? I would encourage you to take a few moments to make a list - if you can’t think of experiences when you were happy or sad just use someone from a movie or the friend that you were just thinking about.
The next time you find yourself slipping into sadness or some other undesired state - simply break it. Jump up and down, move around, make silly noises - while this may sound strange it is interfering with the loop that was occurring between your mind and your body and will confuse and cut the connection between the cybernetic loop.
You can then implement some of the things that you just wrote down. So stand up tall, walk proud and put a smile on your face...whatever it was on your list. Just try it - try being sad when you have a massive cheesy grin on your face - it cant be done.
Now you can take this even further. You can use it to become the person that you want to be. Is there someone who you look up to and have always wanted to be? Or maybe you just know how you want to be and the type of characteristic you would like to have - do you know how that will look? Is there a character in a movie that embodies this? All you have to do then is adopt their stances, move in the same way - use your body the way that they do. Do they breath deeply and calmly because they are confident? If so act it out. The results that you can achieve from making a few minor changes to the way you use your body are amazing.
Now this does take practice. Remember it is very likely that you have unconsciously trained your body over the years how to act - forming patterns. This can’t be rectified with just one performance - it requires time and practice BUT its worth it. Don’t be mad at yourself if you slip up - after all your mind is a creature of habit and its just doing what it has always done so be kind to it. Just be conscious throughout the day of what you are doing - occasionally check in and see how you feel and what your body language is reflecting.
It may feel a little strange at first and some of you may think it is faking it or say that it will never work...like I said in the first blog - just try it on for a while - if it doesn’t work what have you lost? You can always go back to using your body the way that you have in the past. If it does work...think forward into the future...imagine benefits and the differences that it could make...
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Until we meet again.
Dan
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