Stand, sit or walk differently to feel better

You’re probably familiar with the notion that our minds and bodies are interconnected. In a previous blog, we explored how, when we’re under chronic stress, we may be more susceptible to illnesses like colds and ‘flu, we may suffer from digestive problems like IBS, and we may no longer enjoy intimacy with our partner. And that’s because our fight-flight-freeze response shuts down any systems not immediately needed for our survival, like our immune system, digestive system and reproductive system.

On the other hand, when we’re in a good headspace, we’re more likely to enjoy better health, we no longer suffer from anxiety-related nausea or bowel problems and we’re probably having a more enjoyable sex life.

But the link between our minds and bodies extends beyond these better known interconnections. It turns out that how we stand, sit or walk has an impact on our emotional state, and vice versa.

Here’s an example of what I mean. I remember listening to a recording of a wellbeing seminar where the speaker asked the audience to explore the link between their posture and their state of mind. First, he asked them to stand up, then stoop over with their head bowed and shoulders hunched. Then they had to say out loud, ‘I feel terrific!’ When they’d done that, he asked them to stand tall, and make a body- builder pose with their arms in the air as if they were showing off massive biceps. They then had to say out loud, ‘I feel depressed!’ The audience really laughed because both statements felt so out of kilter with their posture. Try it for yourself and see what I mean.

And although this is an extreme illustration, there have been plenty of studies that have found a direct link between our mood and our posture. Here are a couple that demonstrate the point:

A study in 2015 looked at whether participants responded differently to psychological stress if they were seated upright or seated in a slumped position. Study participants were randomly split into two groups, the ‘upright’ group and the ‘slumped’ group. Their backs were held in position with physiotherapy tape to ensure they maintained their posture during the assessment.

The participants were then asked to complete various mood assessments and tasks, including a speech task, known as Trier Social Stress Test. This involves participants making a short presentation and then doing unexpected mental arithmetic tasks in front of an interview panel who provide no feedback. And if that’s not stressful, I don’t know what is!

Amazingly, the upright participants reported higher self-esteem than the ‘slumped’ group. They reported being in a better mood, had more energy and enthusiasm, and were less fearful than the slumped participants. The groups performed differently in the speech stress task too. Slumped participants used more negative emotion words and they used first person words like ‘I, me, my’ more. They used fewer words overall during the task and used fewer positive emotion words than the upright group. The upright group not only used more words during the task, they were more articulate too.

So there you have it, simply sitting upright during a stressful time can improve self-esteem. It can make you feel more positive and less negative. And that has to be a good thing.

I think there’s a lesson there for those of who spend a good deal of time hunched over a computer keyboard.

In another clever study from 2014, researchers were able to demonstrate the link between how we walk and our mood. In this study, participants were first shown a list of positive and negative words, like pretty or anxious.

They were then split into two walking groups and asked to use a treadmill with a screen that subtly guided them to walk in one mode or another. One group was encouraged to walk in a more depressed style, with their shoulders slouched and less movement in their arms. The other group was encouraged to walk in a happier style, with a spring in their step and a more open posture.

After the walk, each group was asked to recall as many words as possible from the list of positive and negative words. Perhaps not surprisingly, the depressed group recalled significantly more negative words than the happier group. So simply walking in a depressed style can result in a lower mood.

In other words, how you walk can have a direct effect on your mental wellbeing.

So, what’s going on? Well, if you think about it, when we’re standing or walking tall, we’re usually feeling pretty confident and, as we saw above, our self-esteem is improved. So that indicates we feel reasonably safe, and our fight-flight-freeze system doesn’t trigger.

But on the other hand, if we’re slouched, it’s as if we’re curling up and making ourselves smaller, to protect ourselves from some kind of threat. In this case our fight-flight-freeze system fires up because it believes we’re in imminent danger. And we know when that happens, we get anxious, depressed and/or angry.

So, it’s worth thinking about how you’re sitting and walking. If it’s anything other than in an upright posture, you’re in danger of feeling anxious or depressed. If this sounds like you, take steps to adjust your stance and gait. It will feel weird at first, but just like any other habit, the more you do it, the more automatic it will become.