Ever wish you could increase your confidence levels on demand? Or relieve a stressful feeling in a moment? Using your body differently can be an easy way to give yourself a quick boost in the feeling happier department. Fighters don’t walk into a cage wearing an expression of serenity, neither do world leaders deliver their speeches hunched over and looking small. And most of us have felt the feel-good benefit of a belly laugh, a little dance or even a good cry. So how can we use our bodies to influence our thoughts and feelings?

Words: Carolyn Ranson // Photos: Anton Dee

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Looking Up

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Things are looking up, cheer up, bringing me down, feeling down – language can often provide us with a bunch of clues about ourselves, if we’re listening. Looking downwards is easily associated with depressing, draining emotions while looking upwards is often connected to happier, lighter feelings. In the field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), eye movements are considered linked to thought patterns in the brain. Looking upwards usually relates to imaginative and creative ideas - rather than strong emotions - so if you’re feeling down in the dumps, you know where to look.

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Take Up Space

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Amy Cuddy’s excellent TED talk explains how our posture can affect our mood. Adopting a stronger, larger posture can make someone feel more powerful - in minutes. For some, this is hands on hips, legs apart while for others it may be sitting up straight and relaxing the arms. You’ll appear more confident and capable to others, but more importantly you’ll be communicating to yourself that you’re in control and there’s nothing to stress about. Remove stress from the brain and you’re free to do your best thinking – especially handy in a job interview.

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Walk This Way

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Our feet are intricate, complex things with 26 bones, 19 muscles and thousands of nerve endings; they were never designed to be wrapped in leather or plastic all day. Going barefoot might not be for everyone but ‘rolling’ through the balls of your feet as you walk will put a natural spring in your step – making you feel good and reducing the risk of pulls and strains. Speed is important too. To generate a sense of purpose, try walking 25% faster; for a more relaxed feeling, try slowing the pace down by 25%. The key here is to make a conscious decision; rushing for the bus or shuffling along mindlessly isn’t going to cut it.

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Shake It Off

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Too often we carry tension in different parts of our body: shoulders, solar plexus, stomach, even our face. Many people feel anxiety as a tightening in their chest. Football legend Paul Scholes often did a ‘silent scream’ when he ran onto the pitch – stretching and relaxing those face muscles. Even Taylor Swift has gotten in on the action. Shaking our stress off can be done with big or small movements. Let the shoulders drop and literally dust yourself down – all over or anywhere you feel tight. This works in two ways: it interrupts the brain’s autopilot function of always looking for the next threat and it draws your attention to any muscles that might be in need of a rest.

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Smiles and Smiles

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It may seem obvious but simply smiling, whether you feel happy or not, can have a profound effect on your day. Even holding a pencil between your teeth has been reported to boost mood and yield health benefits. Smiling can also help prevent the brain from absorbing negative feelings when in the presence of a perpetual complainer. You might want to consider Orphan Annie’s advice and decide that you’re ‘never fully dressed without a smile’.

by Carolyn Ranson

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It may take practice but the more you use your body to generate positive feelings. The more accustomed to a happier way of thinking your brain will become and the better you’ll feel. It’s simple, it’s free and - as long as you don’t try all these tips at the same time – no one will suspect a thing.

*Thank you to Carolyn for contributing this awesome little article. Leave us a tweet and let us know if any of the tips above have helped you in any way. For more check out our latest lookbook with Bench, street style from London Collections or my trip to the magical city of Coimbra. As always stay classy and if you have a story you wish to share please contact editorial@thestyledivision.com or tag your social posts with #DVSN

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London, it’s over, and it’s not me, it’s you. At what point do we say enough's enough and actually realise we'd rather live in affordable cities? This isn't a 'goodbye' though, this is just a see you later as I'm not done with you yet, not by a long shot. The problem with your dream city is that they have a habit of becoming real. You may look at London, New York or Paris as cities bustling with opportunity, and to some extent that is true, but real life problems are never too far behind. At this time of writing I have had to leave London and reevaluate what I actually want out of life because breathing smog and spending half of my earnings on rent was never going to be a long term solution.

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Alan Watts Wisdom

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The universe is always sending you signals, it's just a matter of recognising them. I'm quite an athletic person but one morning I woke up and felt truly terrible. Both physically and mentally. I cannot narrow it down to just one thing but a combination of stress, diet, personal issues and environment must have played a part. The solution was simple - change my routine, return to basics and give my body a much needed detox. In times like these unconditional love from friends and family is invaluable.

I also began listening to a lot of Alan Watts, a British philosopher best known as an interpreter and populariser of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. He outlined concepts of love, work and pleasure in such a simple way I wondered how I got through 25 years of life without them. Below I have transcribed one of his talks in the hope it jolts your mind into action in a way it did for me.

"In music one doesn’t make the end of a composition the point of the composition.  If that were so the best conductors would be those who played fastest, and there would be composers who wrote only finales. People would go to concerts just to hear one crashing chord; because that’s the end!

But we don’t see that as something brought by our education into our every day conduct. We’ve got a system of schooling that gives a completely different impression. It’s all graded. And what we do is we put the child into the corridor of this grade system with a kind of “come on kitty kitty kitty”, and now you go to kindergarten. And that’s a great thing because when you finish that you get into first grade, and then come on; first grade leads to second grade and so on, and then you get out of grade school.

Now you’re going to go to high school, and it’s revving up – the thing is coming. Then you go to college, and by Jove then you get into graduate school and when you’re through with graduate school you go out and join the World! And then you get into some racket where you’re selling insurance. And they’ve got that quota to make, and you’re gonna make that. And all the time that thing is coming. It’s coming, it’s coming! That great thing, the success you’re working for. Then when you wake up one day at about 40 years old you say “My God! I’ve arrived! I’m there”. And you don’t feel very different from what you always felt.

And there’s a slight let down because you feel there’s a hoax. And there was a hoax. A dreadful hoax. They made you miss everything. We thought of life by analogy with a journey, with a pilgrimage which had a serious purpose at the end and the thing was to get to that end. Success or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after you’re dead. But we missed the point the whole way along. It was a musical thing and we were supposed to sing or to dance while the music was being played."

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You Are Enough

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I'm glad I cracked the game when I did and didn't spend any more years chasing this arbitrary recognition or fame or whichever name one chooses to call it. My drive and determination have not diminished, in fact this learning experience has made me stronger. There is also a weight that is lifted off your shoulders when you realise the only person you're in competition with is yourself.

The most important things in life such as friends and family and social connections are free. They're also really good for us because loneliness kills both figuratively and literally. I don't wish to dissuade anyone from following their dreams or their heart but do so without sacrificing important things and people in your life. So London, thank you for teaching me this invaluable lesson and the next time we see each other I hope you welcome me with open arms.

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Thanks for reading my latest article. Give it a share using the links below so others can enjoy it too. For more check out my latest lookbook from Paris, street style from London Collections or my trip to the magical city of Coimbra.

As always stay classy and if you have a story you wish to share please contact editorial@thestyledivision.com or tag your social posts with #DVSN

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