3 Ways to Boost Confidence and Happiness by Moving Your Body
Nonverbal communication, such as body language, can be a powerful tool to communicate with others, but did you know your body language can change the conversation in your own brain?
Your body reacts to your thoughts and emotions in predictable ways, smiling when you feel happy or grimacing when you stub your toe. What we don’t often realize is that the communication from brain to body that creates body language can work the opposite way, too.
In other words, you can flex your muscles, change the position of your body, and boost your own mood. Here are 3 ways to increase your happiness with your body language right now.
1. Smile: Your Happiness Superpower
When you smile, the tiny muscles in your face do some serious heavy lifting. According to Stanford research scientist Nicholas Coles, smiling actually sends signals to your brain to boost your happiness. It helps you recall positive experiences and feel greater joy when someone shares a funny story, for example.
What’s even more interesting is that you can “hack your brain” because this works even when you don’t already feel happy. Try it next time you reach a low-energy moment in your day. Flex those happiness muscles—smile—and note the changes in your mood. Feel better?
Smiles are contagious, too. What better way to spread happiness than to share a smile with someone else?
2. Boost Your Confidence with Power Poses
Smiling isn’t the only way to signal our brains to boost our mood or change our feelings. Our brains also react to our posture and the position of our bodies.
Social psychologist Amy Cuddy says poses that open the body, like what’s been termed the “Wonder Woman or Superman Pose”—standing with feet slightly apart and hands on hips—make us feel more powerful.
Try standing in a “power pose” for two minutes before a challenging meeting or social situation that would usually make you anxious. Note the difference in how you feel.
3. Become a Mirror to connect with others
Building strong relationships is one of the keys to being happy. You can use body language to connect with others. Your body language signals alertness, engagement, and understanding of a conversation. Using eye contact and angling your upper body toward the speaker are good ways to communicate that you’re listening.
You can also subtly mirror the speaker’s body language. What’s the energy level of the person speaking to you? Try matching that energy as you listen to them talk. For example, if they have a relaxed posture, relax yours as well.
Quick tip: don’t overdo your mirroring, remain yourself to remain authentic.
Learn About the Connection Between Happiness and Performance
The benefits of boosting your happiness extend over nearly every part of your life. Better happiness can increase the quality of your relationships, health, and work productivity.
Learn more about boosting happiness at work in our Happiness and Performance session. We’ll teach you key strategies to support at-work happiness as well as how to manage stress efficiently. We also have a 21-days to Happiness eLearning program or just pick up my book 21 Days to Happiness on Amazon, available in paperback, ebook or audiobook.
