Category: Life & Home
Power Pose Your Way to Success
Be Powerful: Channel Your Inner Wonder Woman in Just 2 Minutes
Have you ever been told not to stand with your hands on your hips? In high school I remember a lesson on body language, specifically to keep our arms relaxed at our sides in order to appear open and friendly. This body language wisdom handed down to young adults is absolutely correct-but the problem is in what they, especially young women, are not taught-how to use body language to be powerful. And just two minutes of body language a day can, in theory, make anyone feel and be more successful.
Your body language affects you
Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist, has one of the most-viewed TED talks, ever, with over 4 million views. She presents an interesting idea about body language-we think about body language as what are we saying to others with our non-verbals, but Cuddy points out that we should think about what we’re saying to ourselves through body language.
In the classroom of the MBA classes she taught, Cuddy noticed that some students took up a lot of space and raised their whole arm in the air when answering a question. Other students made themselves small, crossing their legs and tentatively raising their hands partway. There was a strong gender divide, with female students adopting the poses that appear smaller and less powerful. “Women feel chronically less powerful than men, so this is not surprising,” Cuddy says in the TED talk.
Fascinated by the power dynamics of non-verbals, Cuddy studied if you can “fake it til you make it.” Do our non-verbals govern how we feel about ourselves? She says yes.
Give yourself an advantage with power poses
By adopting a high-power pose for just two minutes, the hormones in your body actually change. Testosterone, the hormone associated with dominance and leadership goes up, and the stress hormone cortisol goes down. Effective leaders have been studied to have high levels of testosterone and low levels of cortisol, implying that we can trick our minds into thinking we are more powerful and less stress-reactive.
Before you go into a stressful, evaluative situation, Cuddy advises everyone to spend two minutes in a powerful pose, like the “Wonder Woman” pose (hands on hips, feet shoulder width apart). She terms these “power poses.” You don’t have to walk around that way all day long-you can simply stand in power poses in private before you go into a stressful meeting or job interview, for example. Try it and give yourself an advantage-you have nothing to lose but two minutes.
Here’s the TED talk if you’re interested in hearing about the power poses first hand:
What do you think about using body language to increase your personal power?
For outfit details see here.
Make the 10 Day Promise: Distraction Free Driving
I’m honored to share with you a powerful movement started by a friend. After her aunt was tragically killed in a collision involving a distracted driver, Kristin and a supportive group of family and friends began a mission called 10 Day Promise. It’s a pledge to spend ten days driving totally distraction free. Ten days doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a start-the chance to practice the truly focused, distraction free, both-hands-on-the-wheel driving we all know we should be doing. We think we’re perfectly responsible drivers, but we can all be more conscious of distractions that come up while driving.
You know the thoughts that come up while driving: I’ll just peek at my navigation map because I don’t want to miss my turn! I’ll rummage through my purse to find something-I only need one hand to drive. It won’t hurt if I look at this one text for just a few seconds! The good news is that we can all pledge to practice ignoring those impulses and re-train ourselves into more responsible driving behaviors. It starts with ten days.
Truly non-distracted driving is something we all need a little practice on. So the 10 Day Promise kicked off on October 10, but you can join anytime and take the pledge for ten days of distraction free driving. The good habits formed in those ten days can continue on long after the promise period has concluded.
At the kickoff, we created shirts with hand prints to represent keeping both hands on the wheel at 10 and 2 (or 9 and 3, depending on what you were taught in driver’s ed). There were also little treat bags to keep in our cars to remind us to avoid tempting distractions on the road and instead be tempted by chocolate and banana chips when we reach our destinations.
Consider making the 10 Day Promise yourself and share the message so we can all stay safer on the roads.
Giveaway: Get Swoozie’d Up This Fall
I’ve teamed up with a bunch of lovely bloggers to bring you this great giveaway from Swoozie’s. The company has the cutest selection of gifts including personalized, sorority, children’s, stationery, and designer gifts-something for everyone. Here are a few of my Swoozie’s favorites:
Crane Blue Book of Stationary / State Slate Cheeseboard / Personalized Small Notepad / Kate Spade Agenda / Folded Stripe Notecard
Three winners and will each get to pick one item from Swoozie’s valued up to $50 (Contest ends September 26th).
Readers can also use the code SwooFallFun25 to get 25% off your purchases (no minimum). Expires September 26th.
Good luck!
Get Confident & Save the Undies
Okay ladies, today’s post is for you. It’s so important to have confidence in life, especially when you’re a gal on the go. Whether you’re heading to a job interview, a first date, or your first stand-up paddle boarding lesson, confidence is key. That’s why I’m so excited to share with you a product that can enhance confidence when it’s needed most. U by Kotex®‘s 3D Capture the Core pads are inspiring confidence in women everywhere by helping to #savetheundies. 
Guess what? You can try these for free. Seriously, just head over to Kotex to choose which product is right for you and get your free sample in the mail. If you’re anything like me, you’re already running to click on that link at mention of the magic words “free” and “sample.”
Here’s a truth of life: every outfit needs the right pair of undies to go with it, as shown above! And since you want to hold onto those perfectly paired panties and wear them again, you need the right products to use with them to prevent (oh, horror) leaks. You deserve to wear whatever you want without worry, which is where Kotex® 3D Capture the Core comes in.
Another nice thing about U by Kotex® is the packaging. They’re super cute, right? Because really, why should we have to settle for plain white packaging on pads and tampons? These will look cute hiding out in your purse pocket!
Thanks to U by Kotex® Pads for sponsoring this post and offering free samples to my readers!
10 Dorm Essentials for Fall
As much as I love summer, I admit that collecting room essentials for back-to-school is something to look forward to. Here are some adorable ways to decorate your dorm room if you’re heading off to college, plus some essentials you don’t want to overlook! All of these are available in Walmart’s back to college section.
1. First, bedding! You’ve got to be warm and cozy in your extra long twin bed, and then all the other decorating can happen around the colors and style of your ultra-cute comforter set.
2. Towels. Make sure you have more than one set so you’re not towel-less when you’re putting off doing your laundry for weeks at a time (you know it’s going to happen at some point!). This is possibly the only time in your life when you won’t have to match your towels to any sort of decor, so go wild with bright towels in colors you love.
3. Posters. Sharing a room in our sorority house, my roommate and I decorated with a Paris theme. Eiffel towers and Louvre art reproductions covered the walls. Our themed decorations made the room stand out from the other girls’ rooms and it was fun to come home to. Just one piece of framed wall art, even if it’s just a cheap poster, can make a small room look very put together.
4. Lantern decorations. Don’t actually light these, but hanging paper lanterns can add dimension by filling empty ceiling space in your room.
5. Laundry bag. Absolutely indispensable for toting heaping mounds to and from the laundry room.
6. Lamp. For extra light while studying, or for studying when your roommate is asleep and you need the overhead light off!
7. Kleenex Oval Expressions Tissues. It’s amazing how you might forget something like tissues when packing for college. You don’t want to be stuck wadding up scratchy toilet paper when you inevitably come down with a cold-throw in a box or two of these into your dorm supplies. Trust me, at least once a semester you will be so happy for their existence. Find this style, which fits nicely into any dorm room, in Walmart’s back to school section.
8. Wall Decals. Possibly the best invention for dorm decorating ever, decals are an easy do-it-yourself way to decorate empty wall space stylishly. They won’t leave goo on the walls and can be re-used in future residences.
9. Light blocking curtains! Some dorms have great shades, but if yours doesn’t you’ll want to invest in a pair of sturdy curtains. Not only will they help you sleep during the day when you’ve pulled an all-nighter, but they’ll make your room much homier too.
10. Anything monogrammed. Not only is this a super hot trend on college campuses, monogrammed items are much less likely to get lost or confused with your dorm mates’ identical items.
These cute Kleenex boxes are only less than $3 and they’re available in four colors to coordinate with any dorm style! The chevron pattern is very trendy and perfectly collegiate, and the oval shape is a fun departure from the standard boxes. The slender shape fits into small spaces easily, too-a total bonus for dorm living. They’re available for a limited time in Walmart Superstores’ back to school section.
What do you think is an essential dorm room must have?
*Special thanks to Walmart and Kleenex for sponsoring today’s post and keeping dorm rooms stylish!*
