Physiology of Confidence

Physiology for Confident People

It’s common knowledge that the way you’re feeling is reflected in your body. If you’re depressed, you frown, your shoulders droop, your back is hunched, you tend to look down at the floor. If you’re happy, you smile, you stand straight, you look up.

What you might not know is that this works in reverse. By changing your body, you can change the way you feel. If you don’t believe this, try it out. Smile and laugh for no good reason. Dance around a bit. Feels good, doesn’t it? Now frown and hunch over. Bury your head in your hands. Sucks, eh?

A good example of this is when a friend confided in me that I had a "geeky walk”. It was true; I used to drag my feet and I would look down as I passed people. So what I did was figure out how to "walk confident” (And this took some practice…) and I made the effort to keep my gaze steady and make a little eye contact with people. Sure enough, not only did the physical change make me feel more confident, but the way people responded to me as well. I began to get smiles and glances from some of the women (or maybe I always had and just never noticed before), and that is a GREAT feeling!

Also, in case you’re not doing this already, regular exercise does wonders for your self-confidence.