How your body language influences you - Influencing through body language

Body language is our potential and dominates our communication. When we talk about body language dominance in this context, we refer to the nonverbal expressions of power and submission. When we are excited or feel proud, we stretch our arms over our head in a V-shape and lift our chin. When we feel powerful, we expand and make ourselves big. When we feel powerless, we do the opposite: we fold ourselves up. When we combine body language of high power and low power, we tend to complement the nonverbal actions of the other person. So, we do not mirror the behavior, but we do the opposite. Therefore, we make ourselves smaller when encountering someone with a lot of power - and conversely, it is easier for us to make ourselves big when facing someone with less power. This behavior can be particularly well observed in the classroom at schools or universities. There are quite a few students who express the entire spectrum of power actions. Some are prime examples of alpha types; they want to take up space and even showcase themselves before the start of class. When they take their seat, they stretch out, some even raise their arms up. Others, in their presence, figuratively collapse. You can see it as soon as they enter the room. You can see it in their faces, their facial expressions and gestures, as well as in their posture. When they sit down, they not only make themselves small in their gestures. And one aspect at this point is not surprising: it seems to be gender-dependent, because women much more often act with small gestures than men, which leads to the interpretation that women show and probably feel less powerful than men. Can one pretend to be powerful through body language? And if so, is it also possible to learn or imitate this physical expressiveness for one's own benefit, quasi for "power gain," thus for persuasive power? It is certainly worth a try, because we know that learning through imitation is intended by nature for us and is only open to very few living beings! With the conscious use of imitation, we have the opportunity to learn throughout our lives. Imitation is not only for children and monkeys. Imitation is constantly happening: what we surround ourselves with, we imitate. So, once we have brought our "making ourselves small" body language behaviors to our consciousness, we can replace them by imitating expressive body language behaviors. There are numerous studies that demonstrate that our nonverbal actions influence how other people think about us. But there is also evidence that our nonverbal actions can also express how we think about ourselves. We laugh when we are happy or use our self-adaptors to calm ourselves. But all this also works the other way around: if we are encouraged to smile, we immediately feel better or happier. Or even the simple trick with a pen between the teeth quickly shows us how we can animate ourselves to be happy. So, it goes in both directions. And also with regard to power, it works vice versa. If you feel powerful, you do something powerful. Our consciousness influences our body, and we can also argue that our body changes our consciousness. In this context, it has been shown that our hormones also adapt to the power scenes of body language. Amy Cuddy explained that depending on the feeling of physical power, testosterone levels rise and the stress hormone cortisol decreases. And with this realization, this study then further showed the connection that these hormone levels can also be generated through power gestures. So, higher testosterone levels and lower cortisol levels through a consciously controlled small intervention, a tiny manipulation through a two-minute nonverbal imitation, that is, a role change in favor of the alpha. It is not only other people who influence our behavior in this way. It is also us, we can change our consciousness with our body. How could this intervention look like in practice? Small modifications can lead to great changes. So, the next time you face a challenge, boost your testosterone levels and lower your cortisol levels! How? Even if you may feel strange, don't like to showcase yourself, or find it unfamiliar to take on powerful poses, still: pretend powerful poses, imitate powerful poses for two minutes. In the elevator, in the restroom, or in a closed office, take the time more often and ideally plan two-minute power poses regularly. You will see: this has a lasting powerful effect! With all good wishes and successful body language, Yours Sabrina Olsson For more information on influencing through body language, please visit: http://www.deutsches-rednerlexikon.de/redner/sabrina-olsson.html Additional articles on the topic: http://www.matschnig.com/medien-presse/glossar-koerpersprache/ https://www.seminarmarkt.de/showdoc.php?documentID=28344