Your Favourite Sleeping Position May Be Ruining Your Career Prospects
2013.11.08
If you wake up in a fetal position, then you might also be setting yourself up for career self-sabotage. According to Amy J.C. Cuddy, assistant professor at Harvard Business School, sleeping in these "low power positions" may explain why you feel angsty or vulnerable in the mornings.
Research has shown that 40 per cent of people sleep in the "fetal position", which is when you lie on your side with your arms and legs pulled toward your torso. Those who prefer sleeping this way are considered highly emotional and sensitive. And more than twice as many women sleep in this position compared to men.
So how does the way you sleep actually influence your success? Cuddy claims that spending time in a low power position ultimately affects the way you think once you're awake, which could influence how you conduct yourself in a chaotic, competitive workplace:
But what if your body refuses to fall sleep in any of these positions? Cuddy suggests that you make up for it by holding yourself in a power pose for two minutes before starting your day. Practice stances with your arms and elbows out and chin lifted. This will increase your abstract thinking abilities, pain threshold, risk-tolerance, and levels of testosterone, the dominant hormone that makes you feel more confident and powerful.
Research has shown that 40 per cent of people sleep in the "fetal position", which is when you lie on your side with your arms and legs pulled toward your torso. Those who prefer sleeping this way are considered highly emotional and sensitive. And more than twice as many women sleep in this position compared to men.
So how does the way you sleep actually influence your success? Cuddy claims that spending time in a low power position ultimately affects the way you think once you're awake, which could influence how you conduct yourself in a chaotic, competitive workplace:
"Basically, our bodies change our minds, our minds change our behaviors, and our behaviors change our outcomes," said Cuddy. She compared the way you sleep to the effects of smiling. You smile because you're happy, but studies have shown that you become happier when you smile. It's a cycle.
So what's the ideal position to fall asleep in? Cuddy suggests "power poses" like placing your hands behind your head, lying on your back or stomach, or lying in an open position with your arms and legs outstretched to make yourself feel bigger (like a starfish).But what if your body refuses to fall sleep in any of these positions? Cuddy suggests that you make up for it by holding yourself in a power pose for two minutes before starting your day. Practice stances with your arms and elbows out and chin lifted. This will increase your abstract thinking abilities, pain threshold, risk-tolerance, and levels of testosterone, the dominant hormone that makes you feel more confident and powerful.
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