Pose With Purpose: How Power Poses Unleash Confidence
Could simply adjusting your posture make you more confident, charismatic, and resilient under pressure?
The psychologist Dr. Joanne Davis explains, “The body and the mind are not separate. What we do with the body will impact the mind, and vice versa. When we change our physiology even in subtle ways, we can shift our thinking and emotional patterns.”
Research reveals that purposefully adopting open, expansive body postures — known as power poses — can activate psychological and physiological changes that increase confidence. Expanding your posture releases confidence chemicals like testosterone while lowering stress hormones like cortisol.
Read on to learn how power posing can help you self-actualize.
What exactly are Power Poses?
Think Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman or any of your favourite superheroes at their blazing best, full of confidence, ready to take on the world and thrash the bad guys. Imagine yourself standing like that and with your cape flowing behind you as you walk. Try it right now if you like!
Power poses are open, wide postures that take up substantial space. Picture Wonder Woman standing tall with hands on hips and chest lifted. Or a victorious athlete with arms raised overhead. These postures convey an intentional command of space and self-assurance.
“Power poses are open, expansive postures that are associated with pride, dominance, and achievement. They communicate nonverbal confidence by literally occupying and stretching into space.” explains Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy.
Adopting power poses triggers neurological and hormonal shifts that prime feelings of confidence and courage. Intentionally using your body to project confidence convinces your mind in turn to embrace confidence.
The Science Behind Power Posing
Research demonstrates that holding power postures for just 2 minutes significantly raises testosterone levels while lowering the stress hormone cortisol. This biochemical surge generates heightened self-assurance.
Cuddy notes, “Power poses stimulate pathways between the mind and body. Physical expressions of power cause neurological changes. By adopting the body language of confidence, you initiate the psychology of confidence.”
Over time, regularly using power poses wires your mind and body to more readily access feelings of poise, assertiveness, and fearlessness under pressure. By changing posture, you change the flow of neurotransmitters. Pose like you are powerful, and you will feel powerful!
Everyday Power Posing
While you may not strike a full-on Superman or Wonder Woman stance in public, there are plenty of subtle opportunities to work power posing into daily life. Try these on for size:
Sitting — Lean back with arms open and behind chairs rather than hunched forward. See how you feel yourself expand.
Standing in line — Shift weight to one leg with the other leg casually bent. Lift chin high, shoulders back.
Commuting on public transport — Spread arms across the back of seats and extend legs into space.
Waiting at crosswalks — Place hands confidently on hips and expand the chest.
At parties — Strike a wide stance and gesture expressively with arms as you sport a warm smile.
Try incorporating grounded standing postures used in Yoga like the Warrior II and the Chair Pose. These positions open up the chest and extend the arms and legs to take up space.”
Power posing for even 30–60 seconds during mundane moments quickly becomes second nature and pays confidence dividends.
Work Situations — You can use these in any situation that demands confidence. Adopting alpha power poses before and during such situations can be transformative. “I power pose in the car before going in. Taking wide upright stances with hands on hips for a minute or two fires up my confidence,” shares executive coach Peter Jones.
Power posing during the interview also generates a commanding presence.“Sitting forward casually with legs crossed and arms open exudes confidence,” advises career consultant Hannah Wallace. “This expansive pose tells your mind you have nothing to fear.”
Sports Psychology — Athletes and coaches have tapped into the many performance benefits of power posing. Tennis legend Serena Williams noticeably swaggers with hands on hips between serves, which physiologically stokes her competitive energy.
“Power posing as part of pre-game prep sets players up for confident high-energy play.” shares a middle school volleyball coach Lisa Yang. By consciously using the body to express assurance, belief in ability is reinforced. As the body goes, the mind follows.
Overcoming Anxiety — For those prone to anxiety and self-doubt, power posing can be a lifeline. Purposefully moving the body into poses associated with strength gently signals to the mind that it can handle uncertainties and difficulties with poise.
Yoga instructor Rhea Choudhury, who has battled social anxiety, says, “Power poses give me a feeling like I’ve got this right before anxiety-inducing events. I calm my nerves just by standing like Wonder Woman.”
Trauma therapist David Marchante notes: “For patients, adopting confident stances — even if they don’t fully feel it at first — helps rebuild self-trust and courage after feeling powerless.”
Through repeated practice, power poses wire in emotional resilience. As patients embody strength, they rebuild it.
Accessing Self-Confidence
While power poses are not magic confidence pills, they offer an avenue to physicalize self-empowerment. Mustering confidence is sometimes not an internal choice but a physical process — we have to move our bodies into it to fully inhabit the feeling and command attention. I use this a lot with my clients who have confidence issues and the Imposter Syndrome.
Cuddy says, “Don’t just visualize confidence, physically create it in your body. Feel it, don’t just think it. Be the physical embodiment of self-assurance, even if internal doubts still linger.”
Adjusting posture provides a concrete, tangible way to override uncertainty, feel grounded, and self-actualize.
As Susan David, author of Emotional Agility, puts it, “Small tweaks to how you carry yourself can lead to big changes in how you carry yourself in the world.”
So stand up straight, hold your head high, and claim that space. Let your body speak confidence into being. Feel the rush, walk the walk, faith it till you become it.
Bold body language cradles bold mindsets. Try the amazing power of power posing today — your confidence is waiting to be unleashed.
It is a lot of fun to analyze how iconic heroic postures and stances communicate key traits about those characters. Looking at body language in pop culture is an interesting way to highlight the significance of physicality and posture. Here are some famous superheroes who utilize power poses:
Wonder Woman — Hands on hips, chest forward, standing tall and confident. Her signature power pose conveys strength and capability.
Superman — Fists on hips, chin up, chest out. This expansive posture communicates power and readiness for action.
Iron Man — Arms outstretched, repulsors aimed and ready to fire. His iconic palms-forward pose speaks to confidence and command.
Captain Marvel — Legs apart, fists clenched down by sides. This grounded stance projects superhuman resilience and determination.
Thor — Hammer raised to the skies, chest thrust forward. This grand gesture signals supreme authority and inner might.
Black Panther — Crouched down on one knee, claws outstretched. This pose conveys intense focus, precision, and lethal grace.
Spider-Man — Perched in a low crouch, hands ready to shoot webs. This dynamic pose radiates alertness, agility, and boldness.
The Hulk — Arms raised overhead, chest expanding, roaring fury. This power pose embodies raw physical dominance and strength.
Batman — Black cape draped around him, fists clenched. This dark pose projects brooding power and intensity.
Dr. Strange — Arms raised casting magical spells, legs firmly planted. This pose conveys mystical focus and concentration of willpower.
You may want to have fun trying them out for yourself and noticing how you feel!
As a mindfulness and NLP practitioner and life-design coach, I help clients focus on well-being and personal growth and make life choices that prioritize their mental and emotional health. I work with them to resolve confidence issues and Imposter Syndrome. This leads to personal freedom and independence allowing the person to blossom and manifest the life they deserve. If you’re looking to expand your horizons and/or overcome issues, connect with me.