The human body is an indicator of what’s going on inside the brain. Seeing things like nervous twitches or facial expressions are great ways to get some indication as to what’s going on within the brain. You can see stress, discomfort, concern, worry, or even when someone feels unsafe by the way they act. What if we could reverse that? Does the way we act impact the way we feel? How can we use that knowledge to influence our lives?

Things we do can greatly influence the way our mind works.

Over the past few years, there has been a lot of research showing how our physical actions affects our mind. For example, we know that giving or receiving a hug elicits a feeling of safety, comfort, and trust by releasing oxytocin. So let’s take that train of thought further. Here are 7 different ways to bend your brain to your will.

1) There is Real Power of Posture

We can have an entire write up about Power Postures, and there has been a ton of research on them over the last couple years. It’s pretty well known that sitting up straight and standing tall make you feel more powerful and confident. From time to time though, you may not want to sit straight up or stand tall. Depending on the demeaner of the other person in the conversation, you might even come accross as cocky. What most people don’t know is that taking a power pose before you are in a conversation still has the benefits during the conversation.

2) Physical Approach Increases Power

Think of the most powerful person that you work with. Whether it’s your boss, President of a company or a CEO, chances are they tend to approach a situation physically and early. In other words, if they want to talk to you, they come to talk to you and probably stand fairly close to you too. The physical approach gives you the feeling of being in control. Like the postures, you can still get this feeling from imagining yourself in those situations. Simply picture yourself approaching the person you thought of earlier and you’ll feel your power rise.

3) Tighten Your Posture to Decrease Appetite

When looking at people who are concerned about their body image, a 2013 study found that those sitting in a wide and spread out position tend to eat more than those sitting with a tight small posture. The study was able to determine that even changing your position during a meal changes your eating habits. In other words, if you want to feel more full and eat less, sit in a more constrained position. Interestingly enough, those not concerned with their body image tended to eat less when they sat in a more wide position.

4) Increase Physical Contact for Safety and Trust

When we physically embrace someone, we release oxytocin in our brain making us feel safe and comfortable. This also helps to build trust. Oxytocin is also released during a soft caress. So, giving someone some words of encouragement along with a quick pat on the shoulder to help brighten their day has a cyclical effect. The contact and kind words not only make them feel better by raising their oxytocin levels, but it has the same affect on you.

5) Stretch Out to Increase Pain Tolerance

Pain tolerance is something that is drastically different between people. How many times do you and your friends disagree on whether something is spicy or not? Pain tolerance is highly subjective. For that reason, you can manipulate the amount of pain you feel. If you stretch out and take a power pose, you feel more powerful and in control of the situation. In turn, you feel less pain.

6) Better Decisions Come from a Calm Place

This shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Generally speaking, people in stressful situations don’t make the best decisions. It’s important to know when you are getting worked up and to know your physical signs of stress. The standard power pose of stretched out hands and a raised head can be reversed to help calm someone down. Taking a posture of lower power, like crossing your arms or leaning forward onto the table, can calm you down and allow you to get a better whole picture.

7) Creativity is Sparked from Being Baffled

One thing that I struggle with is creativity. I’m just not a creative person. I work with some great designers, programmers, and marketing people who do have that creative spark. The one thing that I do have though is a quick mind hack. A 2011 study took participants who had smiled while thinking about a sad memory or frowned while thinking of a happy memory put them in a state of confusion. In addition, participants would listen to sad music while smiling and vice versa. Those who had experienced the confusion of mental and physical mismatch were found to be more creative and more open to atypical ideas.

Hopefully you have found some ways to impact your day to day by reading through this article. Remember that just as your mental state can influence your physical performance, your physical performance can influence your mental state.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

– Tim

Photo: Mystery People; Moyan Brenn