I watched Amy Cuddy’s video on Ted explaining how our body language affects our behaviour and influence on the world around us. As I was listening I couldn’t stop but link what she was saying to yoga postures and how they affect our body language and our mind.
Over the years I have noticed how the physical work performed on the mat, influences us off the mat. Most people who have done yoga for years can’t resist sharing how it has influenced them for the better, they feel more confident, communicate more clearly and feel they can ride the tides of life, ‘as themselves’, with more ease than before. Its effects are immediate and, over the years seem to stay with us for longer. We’re never the same people before or after a yoga session. We don’t perceive ourselves, others or situations in the same way. Whoever has done yoga, and given themselves to it can vouch for that and don’t need any proof. However, for those who are thinking about taking up yoga or are at the beginning of their journey, it always helps to have facts derived from researches which show (even if so partially) what happens in the body that can produce these lasting results.
When we go from one posture to the next, we express our body, opening ourselves in all directions through space in ways that it might have forgotten. In short we EXPAND! An expansion that has a lasting effect on our posture. As our posture changes, it affects how we carry ourselves and how we perceive ourselves and are perceived. I won’t say much more as I’d like to invite you to watch Amy Cuddy explain what happens when we open ourselves in space.
Watch Amy Cuddy as she talks about how our body languages shapes who we are
