Want to change how you feel? Change the position of your hands

This is such a simple thing and also incredibly powerful:

How you position your hands affects how you feel.

Let’s jump straight into some simple examples:

Here is an example of someone happy:

Here is an example of someone feeling sad:

Note the position of the hands in each of these examples and this isn’t a coincidence. People who are experiencing joy and achievement have their hands up in the air. People who are feeling negative emotions might have their hands across their face, their arms crossed or in their pockets. Their hand position is telling us everything we need to know about their mental state.

So if it works as a way of describing someone’s mental state then surely it can be used as a way to change someone’s state?

Of course, it can. Our brains and bodies are wired up together so they each have an influence on the other. We can literally change how we feel through changing how we hold our body.

Here is a simple exercise of how you can instantly make yourself feel better. Stand up straight and put your arms in the air. Now lift your arms up and down like you are performing a shoulder press exercise and breath out forcibly through your mouth when you push your arms up. Repeat this 20 times and then relax and see how you feel.

What you have just done is a state change exercise which combines physiological movements and breathing to change how you feel. That is the power that you have at any moment in time and you always have the power to make yourself feel better or less stressed at any moment in time.

I do this exercise every morning and it really gets me set up for the day, give it a go now and see how you feel. Remember also, if you are feeling down or unhappy then check where your hands are and check how you are holding your body. Get those hands in the air, stand up straight, lift your head up and take some deep breaths, everything will feel better.