It is widely known that the human mind can change the human body. However, at the same time, our body language affects not only how others see us, but also how we see ourselves. That is the opinion of Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist from Harvard Business School, who is popular worldwide thanks to her successful TED talk called Your body language shapes who you are.
The concept that Amy Cuddy calls "power posing" proves that the opposite is true as well: the body can change the mind. In a recent article for the New York Times, Amy Cuddy describes how detrimental the use of smart phones or other mobile devices can be for our body and mind.
Just look around you on the street and watch the posture of people who are calling and using their mobile phones. Their neck retracts downward and forward, their shoulders become flabby and the upper part of back gets slouched. Even very young people now have the same posture as our grandmothers. The problem here is not just the fact they will soon have a stiff neck, but also in the psychological problems it may cause.
Not just a bad mood
A hunched back is commonly related to feelings of sadness, fear and helplessness. When it is also accompanied by weak shoulders and retracted neck, it's a typical posture of patients who are being treated for depression - and mobile phone users. "Posture doesn’t just reflect our emotional states; it can also cause them," says Amy Cuddy.
Her research confirms that the more hunched and closed posture we take, the more submissive we are. When we spend hours working with mobile phones in order to be productive, we actually become less assertive, our memory worsens and our productivity declines. The smaller the device we use, the worse the situation is.
We can hardly expect people to put away their phones. You can, however, use mobile devices in a really smart way when you consciously focus on your body. Amy Cuddy advises: Try to keep your head up and shoulders back, even if it means holding the phone at eye level. Stretch your neck muscles and do not slouch. You will see that you will be in a better mood and have more self-esteem.
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