Your Body Language Influences Your Mind

The human body is the best picture of the human soul

As I began my career in finance, I wanted to be taken more seriously. I believed this would be achieved by performing to a high standard and having a strong work ethic. Although doing this did help me become more noticed, I was still frustrated especially with regards to my general aura so I began looking into body language.

My body language, consciously or unconsciously, was sending out cues that I didn’t want to be noticed and that I didn’t want to have any personal interactions.

I stumbled across one of the best Ted Talks I have ever seen by a social psychologist called Amy Cuddy (see link below). She examined testosterone and cortisol levels with regards to dominance and stress hormones. Through her research she was able to show people with open, arms up and dominant behaviours had higher levels of testosterone and lower levels of cortisol. On the other hand, people who showed small, closed-off, defeated behaviours had lower levels of testosterone but higher cortisol levels.

Taking this into account it showed that body language and behaviours were linked with different stress levels and mental mindsets.

We often use our bodies deliberately when shrugging our shoulders and clapping our hands. In other times our bodies reveal our or thoughts without our awareness. It is evident our mindset influences our body languages but, I firmly believe that our body language can influence our…