The Power Pose of Dopamine and Movements for Brain Health
A Natural Brain Health and Healing Essay.
“Don’t fake it till you make it. Fake it till you become it,” says Amy Cuddy, Harvard Business School professor. In a TED Talk she notes brain and body chemistry changes in two minutes of taking a power pose-think of the way Wonder Woman or Superman would stand, feet apart hands on your hips.
Our bodies change our minds and our minds can change our behavior. Our behavior can change our outcomes and even our physiology, according to Cuddy, who has shown that standing or sitting for two minutes in an open posture can significantly increases testosterone, which is the assertiveness and dominance hormone. This open posture also decreases cortisol, which means you are less stressed.
It is easy. You need your body and two minutes to significantly change your life for the better.
“Body language shapes who you are but what is surprising, when it comes to power, is that the body also shapes the mind.” Dana Carney (UC-Berkeley) and Amy Cuddy, both experimental social psychologists, have conducted research showing that adopting these postures-”power posing”-actually causes people to become more powerful. “After sitting or standing, alone in a room, in a high-power pose for just two minutes, participants in our experiments resembled powerful people-emotionally, cognitively, behaviorally, and even physiologically.”
“In other words-two minutes of preparatory power posing optimizes the brain to function well in high-stakes challenges.”
And really what aspect of your life is not a high stake challenge? Where in your life could you benefit from more power, greater confidence, and better performance?
Exercises: Power Posing for Balancing Dopamine
Do any or all of these exercises on a daily basis for two minutes at a time.
1. Stand for two minutes in the Wonder Woman or Superman power pose: Feet apart (wider than your shoulders) with your hands on your hips, head up and chest out slightly. While Amy Cuddy didn’t note changes in dopamine, she did find an increase in risk-taking behavior, which is associated with dopamine. I believe the research indicates this exercise can help balance dopamine levels. Lowering your cortisol levels, means you are less stressed. Less stress and a more powerful feeling often mean your tremors and symptoms are lessened.
2. Stand for two minutes in the Wonder Woman or Superman power pose: Feet apart (wider than your shoulders) with your hands on your hips, head up and chest out slightly. Do this for two minutes before meals as you think about what you are going to be eating. What is the color, texture, taste and smell of the food you are about to eat? Where did it come from? Who grew or produced it? Who prepared it for you? What is your favorite part of the meal? This kind of mindfulness combined with a more powerful feeling and less stress improves digestion, improves your absorption of the iron, protein and fats you need to produce Dopamine and heal your brain.
I had a nutrition teacher at Sutherland-Chan Massage School in Toronto Canada, who said, “You can get more nutrition from a hot dog with friends than an organic gourmet meal with people you hate.” Your level of stress and level of consciousness as you eat combines to significantly influence your digestion and absorption of needed nutrients.
3. Consciously walk with long strides. Consciously increase the distance between your feet as you walk for two minutes. This can be outside on a sunny winter’s day; inside the familiarity of your home; in a quite soothing library; or the hustle and bustle of a shopping mall.
In Parkinson’s disease, a loss of dopamine producing cells in the mid brain (substantia nigra) leads to a shuffling gait or short steps. Integrative Manual Therapy and acupuncture or acupressure have both been shown to improve stride length and there is lots of research to show the benefits of walking for people with Parkinson’s disease.
What if walking like you have strong dopamine producing cells actually increased their ability to produce dopamine? I don’t know the answer to that question, yet, but what I know is that consciously increasing your stride length results in improved walking and balance for some people.
4. Dopamine is associated with Traditional Chinese Medicine’s Gallbladder Meridian. A stretch for the gallbladder meridian is to sit on the floor. Stretch your legs out straight to the side as wide apart as possible, creating a V shape with your hips at the narrow end and each foot at the wide end.
Note: Stretching should always be pain-free. Do not stretch through the pain. Stretch to a comfortable range and then imagine yourself stretching to the end range. Little by little you may find yourself stretching comfortably farther and farther.
Fold your fingers together so your palms are facing away from your chest as you breathe. Fingers together, palms facing away, stretch your arms over your head. Then bend to the side and try to touch your toes with the palms of your hands. As you breathe deeply in and out, notice any changing sensation in your legs. The liver meridian runs along the inner legs while and gallbladder meridian runs along the outer side of the legs.
Combining this exercise with medical research on Motor Imagery (read more about it in the research and references section), what if you just started by imagining yourself in this position, visualizing yourself stretching in this way. Imagine how your shoulders and hips would feel. What signals would be sent from your arms and legs to your brain? How would the position change the feel of your clothing on your skin? Which muscles would be most stretched? How would the increased flexibility influence your walking as you leave the house in the morning?
Imagine what can change and how rewarding just imagining yourself doing this stretch would be. Imagine the benefits until you can do the stretch fully with your physical body. In other words, “Fake it, till you become it,” and see changes immediately.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com on May 17, 2014.
