We All Need Confidence

You may or may not be familiar with the Superhero Pose which is also known as Power Posing and that’s OK because we are about to explore it together.

Researcher Amy Cuddy out of Harvard University explored the idea of Posture Feedback. Participants in her study were asked to engage in either High Power Posture or Low Power Posture. While in these poses the participants were asked to complete tasks and then rate how they felt about themselves and their quality of work. Those in High Power Posture felt more confident in themselves and in their work. After researching how the participants felt Cuddy also investigated changes in the physical body. It was observed that those in High Power Posture poses reduced their levels of Cortisol. As a light refresher for your memory, Cortisol is our stress hormone. Cortisol is responsible for: Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Faint. Cortisol is our natural built-in alarm system that helps control our moods, motivation, and fear. We need some cortisol in our system, but too much creates health concerns and limits our brains ability to reason out our actions. The study also was able to observe that those in High Power Posture had increased levels of Testosterone. Testosterone gives us a sense of power and confidence.

It takes a lot of confidence and courage to stand up for what is right and support a student who is being bullied. 30% of students admit to being a bully. Over 70% of students report seeing bullying occur at school. Over 70% of school staff report they too have witnessed bullying. Only 20-30% of those being bullied report it to adults.

When a bystander intervenes, the bullying stops within 10 seconds 57% of the time.

We need to help our staff and students find their inner superhero and help fight against the bullying and stand up for each other. A great mindfulness activity to help us with this task is the Superhero Pose.

Practicing a Power Posture or also called Superhero Pose is an easy and quick way to help gain some confidence in our ability to stand up for others and do what is right.

Our Superhero Pose takes 2 minutes of standing with your feet shoulder width a part, hands on your hips, shoulders back, back straight, head held high, and taking some good deep breaths.

While engaging in the Superhero/Power Pose we can utilize other mindfulness skills we have been working on. We can teach our students and ourselves to repeat mantras of positivity. Utilize “I Can” “I Am” and “I Will” positive talk statements. “I can show respect today.” “I am a respectful and responsible student.” “I will stand up for others.” Utilize the two minutes of the superhero pose to speak out your heartful mindfulness, wishing yourself and your students to have a positive and productive day.

My challenge for you this week is to practice the superhero pose daily. It only takes 2 minutes a day. Use it to start the day, transition from lunch or recess or snack time, or another high energy time. Stand tall, calm, and quietly sharing positivity in your mind or aloud.  Let’s take a Superhero Stand Together Against Bullying.