Posing like a Warrior would.......

Hiya!  So glad you are here having a look.  If your someone who would like more confidence in ANY part of your life then read on.....help is at hand. 

It's a really exciting weekend for me.  Taking place is the annual Warriors Festival in my local village of Strandhill.  It's a great day and is centred around the Warriors Run which this year is celebrating its 30th anniversary.  Rather than go through the event you can check it out here or have a look at the video (passes my house at 1min40!).  Basically its 15k run taking in multi terrain, climbing 1000ft to the top of Knocknarae then back down into the village to cheering crowd filling the streets.

Theres a couple of reasons why I'm excited in taking part:

One is that it will be my first event since my back surgery at the start of the year, it's given me a target to aim for as part of my recovery (obviously as well as the target of recovering). 

Two....Now I'm going to be honest with you........I REALLY STRUGGLED WHEN I DID IT LAST YEAR!! Mentally & physically, I was in bits all the way through and crossing the line.......So I really want to enjoy the race this year.

Last year I remember looking up the mountain when I left the house and felt dread...I looked up the mountain and felt fear..I got into the starting crowd and had my head down looking at my feet, I couldn't face everyone else as they all looked so up for it, confidence had crashed....The race started and after the first corner I went past the house and saw Hobbes my cat looking out the window, how I longed to be in his paws (I still had 14k and 1000ft to go!)...From there on in it was a total struggle..I tried to think positive but I wasn't in the mood for that. By the time I'd come back down the mountain my body was shot, cramps and strains.  I dragged myself over the line and couldn't even enjoy the amazing crowds coming down the final straight, I was so disappointed.  

I would imagine theres times when you have felt like this? Try and think of a situation you would love to have felt better approaching it or would love to feel better if its still to come.

Thing is I was gone from the start.  Id gone into 'fight or flight' mode and didn't come out of it.  When you go into 'fight or flight' stress hormones are produced, particularly cortisol and adrenaline. Now for short bursts these are fine & have an important function but if you stay in them they stop growth and repair hormones such as testosterone being produced. Staying in this mode can reduce feelings of confidence and self worth.  There can also be physical symptoms such as increased blood pressure, decreased immune system and loss of energy. 

So back to this weekend feeling great is a priority but also posture is really important and is constantly on radar since the operation (yes I know it should have been aware a lot earlier than that.)   The following study shows that by altering posture is one of the quickest and most effective ways of changing body chemistry and emotion.  

Harvard Power Pose

Harvard University & Columbia University carried out an experiment with 42 participants (26 females and 16 men).  They asked participant to do either a high power pose (open expansive secure postures) or a low power pose (closed slouched unbalanced postures) for only one minute.  They then had saliva samples taken 17 minutes after doing their respective poses, they were also asked to participate in a gambling task.

What they found with the silva samples was that those doing the high power pose had marked increase in testosterone levels and reduced cortisol levels of up to 25% to those that did the low power pose.  They found that there was increased feelings of power, self worth and a tolerance for risk for the High Power Pose participants.  So what they were seeing was that just by changing position for 1 minute to the power pose positively influenced their thinking, body chemistry and behaviours! Wow..No drugs, no positive thinking just changing body language...I've included the full report here if you want to check it out.

So why not give it a go, for one minute stand up straight, legs shoulder width apart, hands on hips, chest out, steady breathing (this ones called the Wonder Woman).....Its the quickest and most effective way to change emotion in any situation you would like feel better...

Like anything the more you do it the more benefit you get, perfect way to start the day..Give it a go and let me know how you feel in the comments field below..

I'll be doing it on Saturday before my race, posing like a warrior would....Oh yeah...

Take it & Make it Easy

John :-)