Table of contents:
- Sitting up straight can fight stress
- Make you breathe better
- Has more energy and a sense of optimism
- Become more concentrated
- Self-confidence increases
- Avoid back pain
Want to be more confident? Have high motivation? Or against stress? The effective solution is to sit up straight.
Sitting up straight can fight stress
A new breakthrough from The University of Auckland which states that sitting with an upright posture can fight stress. The researchers asked participants to complete several questionnaires that were able to influence their mood, self-esteem, and arousal. During the study, the participants were randomly assigned to sit with two different postures. One group was ordered to sit in an upright position, while the others were ordered to sit in a hunched position.
As a result, participants in the upright group reported better self-esteem and felt more enthusiastic, excited, and resilient. Meanwhile, participants in the hunched position group reported feeling more afraid, sensitive, restless, quiet, passive, sluggish, and easily sleepy.
The researchers say that there may be a link behind their findings "Embodied cognition"namely the ability to think born from sensory-motor activity which is the result of human interaction with the environment. This occurs because of an increase in physiological arousal, such as an increase in blood pressure that allows an active response to stress.
In contrast, participants in the hunched group had low arousal, which made them vulnerable to stress. This is characterized by passive behavior and helplessness of response.
Make you breathe better
Most people when they are in front of the monitor screen are positioned to lean forward or bend over. Even if you don't realize it, this causes your respiratory system not to work properly. The reason is, this position will block the passage of oxygen to the nervous system and organs which has an impact on their performance.
If you want a job interview, try this method. Sit up straight and do the abdominal breathing technique to help you relax your throat muscles and make a louder voice. Research shows that people who have a deep voice character have a faster chance of becoming leaders.
Has more energy and a sense of optimism
Dr. Erik Peper, a professor of holistic health from San Francisco State University, has conducted research on how posture can affect mood, provide more energy, and even fight depression. It measured the level of optimism, energy, and mood in students who were asked to bend over or jump.
It is known that those who jump have high energy and are less depressed than those who bend. The same applies to sitting positions, such as research conducted by the Universty of Auckland study.
Become more concentrated
Did you know that the human brain needs 100 billion neurons to keep working? This causes the brain to need about 20% oxygen intake to stay in tip-top shape. The more oxygen we get by sitting upright, the more we will concentrate and have a better focus.
Self-confidence increases
If you enter a new room, your posture is a reflection of your personality. When you stand tall, you radiate a sense of confidence and feel more confident. When sitting in a meeting, sitting position also gives a message. Sitting up straight gives a signal of assertiveness known as a power pose. There is nothing wrong with remembering that our body language such as standing or sitting is a picture of ourselves to others about our thoughts, attitudes and emotions.
Avoid back pain
In many cases, poor posture when sitting is the main cause of back, waist, shoulder and neck pain. If every day you work in front of a computer screen, it should be noted that the computer screen should be made according to the eye. Paying attention to the sitting position is very important because it keeps the arch of the back in the correct position.
