A slumped or despondent body posture is linked to low moods, feelings of sadness and low energy, a slouched posture is also linked to the fight or flight stance of submission and surrender.
This is why when you're experiencing low moods, you can feel weak, submissive and vulnerable.
Evolution had taught the mind and body to associate slouching and shortening in stature of the body which occurs when you feel anxious or depressed with, you're about to be attacked.
In this submissive state and stance, your mind is expecting the worst case scenario or even death, so you're not going to feel good.
It also blocks the flow of the life force energy from flowing freely around your body, decreases your blood circulation, and restricts your breathing.
Other things that can cause you to slip into a submissive doom and gloom state are,
- Psychological reasons like shyness or anxiety
- Outside issues, like bad news, trauma, grief or pending bad news
- Slouching and slumping when sitting or standing
There is a direct connection between the mind, emotions and body.
Therefore, when you feel depressed it can cause your body to collapse and slump and when you slump and collapse your body, it can have a negative effect on your mood, thinking and your confidence.
Our thoughts and feelings tend to match our posture and our posture matches our thoughts and feelings.
If you have got stuck in a slouched posture, then because of this mind, body posture your going to have predominantly more thoughts of pessimism, doom and gloom, and you will tend to find out that more things seem to keep going wrong for you.
But your body posture is not just linked to depression, you posture can increase your anxiety levels.
One of the most common ways we slip into a negative and insecure state is when we allow the head to become unbalanced off the top of the spine.
This is when we allow the head to protrude forwards whilst at the same time we pull the back of the head down.
This causes the body to collapse, and forces the shoulders to hunch and become rounded, causing a combination of tension and collapsing of the body.
This posture is linked to the fight or flight reflex response and it can be an habitual response.
Some people even get stuck in this potentially damaging and unhealthy posture. Ideally the head should be slightly released forwards and up, without using any force.
Another posture that will make you feel low is when you allow your neck to bend forwards and your head to look down.
Other ways that can affect your mood and confidence is when we allow the pelvis to protrude too far forwards which cause the body to enter into an S shape type of posture.
The position of the pelvis is very important, and having them pushed too far back is equally as bad, ideally your hips should be underneath your rib cage.
Many people stand with their legs and knees to stiff which will throw your body out of alignment and cause excessive tension and stiffness. Any tension in your body can affect how you feel.
Many people when they attempt to change their posture get it all wrong.This usually results in making things even worse.
Often they will try and physically pull themselves up, lift up their chests, pull back their shoulders and lift up their chin or they will use tension to try and escape from tension.
You should never try to sit or stand up straight, a better way of putting it would be, to sit and stand at your natural full height and expansion, without stiffening or tensing. Ideally you want your body to be open, but relaxed and poised, aligned and balanced.
If you want to escape from unhealthy, tense and low mood postures, watch the highly recommended video below, because it can make all the difference.