Depression: change your posture, change your mood

Depression is a BIG word. But when you're not feeling well, or sad or depressed, give this little posture trick a go. It is basically about changing your posture from slumped to straight.

Recently I saw a patient and she was not feeling very well. She used the word 'depression'. She was sitting slumped and when I entered the room I could see it straight away: she was not feeling well and it wasn't only because of her spine. There's an amazing TED Talk from Amy Cuddy, professor and researcher at Harvard Business School, on this topic. It's called "Your body language shapes who you are", and we can't agree more.

So I asked my patient to change her posture. I asked her to sit straight and smile. Smiling wasn't an issue. But when I asked to tell me a bit more about her depression she simply couldn't do it. The point is, your mind and body are connected. Even when you feel bad, when you stand up straight your mind has to follow. If you find yourself slumping, you find your mental state go down. So sit tall, stand tall. And the smile helps too. Give it a go.