Fake It 'Til You Become It

I definitely fall into the category of yogis who claim that yoga has changed their life. Since beginning my practice, I assumed that the philosophy behind the method was what brought this healing to me. Yes, the asana was a great way for me to work through pain and hardship, but the words were what really prompted the change, right?

Recently I came across a TED talk given by Amy Cuddy, a professor and researcher at Harvard Business School, where she studies how nonverbal behavior and snap judgments affect people. In the talk, Cuddy discusses how we can use body language as a tool in promoting self esteem and confidence. By spending time in postures that are interpreted as confident, we can actually change our brain chemistry to help us become more successful, confident individuals. Cuddy suggests spending a couple minutes in a “power pose” prior to entering into a difficult situation, such as a job interview, speech, or test. Her research found that by spending time in this pose, our brains can be reprogrammed to respond from a place of greater power when facing various stress.

This got me thinking. So many poses in yoga are heart opening. I find myself in some pose or another that would fall into Cuddy’s power pose category. Maybe there is more to this yoga thing than just the philosophy behind it.  According to the research, all of the time I spend in powerful, heart opening asana is changing my brain chemistry. I haven’t done any studies on asana and the brain, but I do know that yoga has, in fact, changed my life. The fearful, self-esteem lacking girl that entered a yoga studio years ago does not exist anymore. I battle through past patterns of low self worth, codependency, and anger one asana at a time. I like the idea of adding my asana practice to my tool box. It becomes so much more that just another way to be fit. Now, in addition to everything else I call on, I get to use my body to keep my mind on track.