I don’t know about you, but this week has pretty much sucked.
Hurricane Harvey (can you imagine digging out from under that?), Hurricane Irma, the earthquake in Mexico, I had a fight with my fiancé, I’ve got too much to do before my wedding (even though we’re keeping it very simple), my sister doesn’t like the bridesmaid dress I picked out (I know, that’s so minor, but it affects me) and it all just piled up to be a sucky week.
I hate that. I spend my life telling people how to not have that happen, how to move through that, how to not be that way.
And then today, someone said something to me that totally changed everything around.
A new client came into Sedona Soul Adventures. I rushed over to the office to greet her. I don’t work at the office anymore, as it’s so busy there I can’t get anything done when I’m there. I work from home, which is literally an 8 minute drive from the office. I do my best to go to meet each client to greet them and at least to hug them and to say hello, because I know what a big deal it is to do a retreat like this.
I rushed to the office and walked in and hugged this woman and asked her how she was feeling and she started telling me that she had wanted to come on a Soul Adventure for over 5 years. She’s been reading my newsletter every week for the past 6 years and always wanted to come but felt like she couldn’t afford it, she couldn’t take the time and her life wasn’t “messed up enough” to warrant doing a Soul Adventure.
She told me that 2 years ago I had written a newsletter that had changed everything for her. It was about how scientists found that simply by standing in a power pose for two minutes increases testosterone and makes people feel more powerful. In the newsletter, I invited people to do that every day for 2 minutes and see if it made a difference.
She told me that it changed her life. She had always been a very mousy, subdued person that people tended to walk all over. She was in an emotionally abusive relationship, but wasn’t calling it that and wasn’t admitting it to herself.
She said that just standing in that position started to make her change.
And then a few months ago, these new feelings of confidence made her decide she wanted to have her life be different. Her new confidence made her feel like this was actually possible. When that light went on, her first though was “I’m going to do a Soul Adventure”.
So she’s in the middle of it now, and when I spoke with her after her second day, she said she can’t believe how her confidence and sense of inner power have increased ten-fold. She said she can’t imagine how she’s going to feel at the end of it.
Needless to say, that completely turned my week around! I haven’t been doing the power pose and just doing it one time today, made me feel great! So, I’m re-creating that newsletter from 2 years ago so that you have it. Here it is:
If you could feel more confident and powerful in 2 minutes would you be willing to do it every day? Believe me when I tell you, it’s worth it.
If you’ve been reading my newsletter this past year, you know I’ve been talking a lot about how our brains affect everything in our lives. But today I want to talk about how doing something with your body can affect everything.
Researchers at Harvard have discovered that not only does your body language effect how other people perceive you, but your body language has an affect on how you perceive yourself and how you feel. What they discovered is that people who stand or sit in a power pose for more than two minutes have increased levels of testosterone and decreased levels of cortisol.
These hormones can change within seconds and have a dramatic impact on how you’re feeling. Testosterone makes people feel more confident, more self empowered. Reducing cortisol results in lower levels of stress and anxiety. Cortisol is also known to lower immune function and bone density, interfere with learning and memory, increase weight gain, create negative impact on blood pressure, cholesterol and heart disease, so anything you can do to lower cortisol is a very good thing.
The power poses that they studied were what we usually call the Superman or Superwoman pose, with your hands on your hips, feet at least shoulder-width apart, chest out, head held high. They also included sitting back with your feet on a table, and the decidedly less-ladylike sitting with your legs spread wide apart (guys, you can get away with this one). What they found was that in 2 minutes, the hormonal levels changed dramatically.
Not only did the testosterone and cortisol levels change, but the people reported feeling much more confident and powerful. And I don’t mean the kind of power where you’re barking orders at everyone and they’re shaking in their boots. That’s not power, that’s intimidation. I’m talking about the feeling that comes from truly being in your own power. Self empowerment.
Try doing this every day. Stand in that power pose and breathe deeply. Do it for 2 minutes each morning. Or do it for 2 minutes before an important meeting (I just did it last week in a bathroom stall!) Visualize powerful energy coursing through you and coming out of you. If you’re doing it before a meeting or an important event, visualize how you want the meeting or event to go.
Okay, so now I’ll be very vulnerable and share my secret with you about how I do this. I do the pose, but I don’t envision myself in a Superwoman costume. Instead I envision myself (don’t laugh) in full Egyptian regalia. I do this because I know I had a past life where I was a priestess in the Temple of Karnak and I had some very strange powers. I wasn’t anyone famous (I’ve never been anyone famous), but I was very powerful. One of the things I could do was blast energy through my hands and knock people over. Literally, I could knock them over. In that lifetime I abused those powers and one of the lessons for me in this lifetime has been around the abuse of power (a lesson that received a lot of healing when I was an attorney).
So I do the pose and see myself dressed as an Egyptian woman in the dresses you see depicted in the temples and tombs, I have gold bands around my wrists and upper arms and a beautiful headdress. I envision the power energy running throughout my body and then coming out of my heart. The power energy is mixed with the heart energy in a beautiful combination of power and love. The energy is never used to blast anyone (or knock them over!), it’s used for my own self empowerment and for the other person to feel that and my love. It’s a very juicy combination!
Self empowerment is so critical to a meaningful and happy life. Do you feel self empowered? Do you know that you have the inner strength to face anything that life throws at you or to create the life of your dreams? Standing in a power pose might not be enough.
If that’s the case, I urge you to contact us and do something about it. Empowering yourself, living your best life is your birthright and helping you find that is what we do best.
Click here and one of our Guides will call you. Or if you’d prefer, call us toll free at 1-877-204-3664 (US and Canada). For our friends outside the US and Canada call 01 928-204-5988 or click here and one of our Guides will call you. They’ll connect with you (or both of you if it’s a couple) and custom design a retreat that’s perfect for you for the life or the relationship you’re craving.
Would you like to speak to someone today? We’re even open on Sundays, because we’re here for you.
Wishing you a week filled with power and confidence,
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://sedonasouladventures.com
Andrew says his Sedona Soul Adventure gave him “a renewed and lasting sense of purpose, clarity, freedom, balance, and support.”
“My Sedona Soul Adventure was a 10! I am beyond excited to have returned from my retreat with a renewed and lasting sense of purpose, clarity, freedom, balance, and support. Thank you, Debra, and EVERYONE at Sedona Soul Adventures!”
– Andrew L., Raleigh, North Carolina
Jane says the Egypt trip “changed my life”
“I have never had a trip that was such a complete experience; mind, body, heart and soul. I really felt myself open to the deep quiet of Egypt and somehow, it changed my life”
– Jane Schafer
The Egypt trip is so amazing and it absolutely is life changing. Come with us as we see the Great Pyramid (including 2 hours of private time just for our group for meditation and ceremony), the Sphinx, Abu Simbel, the Hathor Temple at Dendara, the Isis Temple at Philae and much more.
If you have specific questions, send me an email at:
[email protected]
Or call me – (877) 204-3664
I love talking about Egypt!