Women’s Health SEPTEMBER 2019 | 49
TALK
SOMEONE UP
Turns out that gossip and
self-esteem go hand in hand –
and not because you’ve had your
skirt tucked into your knickers
all morning. Speaking positively
about fellow humans can have
a corresponding effect on your
self-esteem. Researchers from
Staffordshire University quizzed
160 people on their gossiping
habits, self-esteem and social
support, and found that more
gossiping correlated with greater
social support. In a follow-up
study, 140 participants were asked
to talk about a fictional person
positively or negatively, with those
who described the character
positively reporting feeling higher
levels of self-esteem. Start
spreading the good gossip.EDIT YOUR
SOCIAL CIRCLE
Defriending comes with a
scientific stamp of approval.
Researchers at the University
of Waterloo, Canada, explored
the relationship between body
image and social ties in a bid
to find out if the approaches
to appearance that your peers
take can influence your own
body image. They asked 92
female students to complete
a daily diary over the course
of a week, reflecting on their
exchanges with ‘body-focused
people’ and ‘non-body-focused
people’. The results confirmed
what you’ve probably felt first-
hand after an afternoon with
that friend who doesn’t have a
good thing to say about herself.
Not only can spending time with
people who are preoccupied
with their body image be
detrimental to your own, but
spending time around people
who aren’t body-focused can
have a positive impact by
protecting against disordered
eating and promoting an
intuitive-eating approach. It’s
advice that PT Laura Hoggins
has followed. ‘I’ve repositioned
my social circle,’ she says.
‘I hang out with people who
support my physical success
and don’t judge me on whether
I can fit into a certain outfit.’BREATHE
EASIER
At the risk of sounding like a
team leader on The Apprentice,
you’re doing it wrong. ‘The
way you breathe is controlled
by your autonomic nervous
system (ANS) and it will
change in response to your
environment – but breathing
is the only function governed
by the ANS that is completely
under your control,’ says Richie
Bostock (@thebreathguy).
‘Slow diaphragmatic breathing
stimulates the vagus nerve, the
driver of your parasympathetic
nervous (rest and digest) system.’
If counting your inhales and
exhales is maths you don’t have
time for, you can trigger the
parasympathetic nervous system
by making your out-breath longer
than your in-breath. Wondering
what feeling calm has to do with
feeling good about yourself?
Research published in the journal
Body Image earlier this year
found that becoming more aware
of your internal body signals (yes,
breathing, but also heartbeat
and feelings of hunger) can
promote positive body image.4
3
STRIKE A
POWER POSE
The idea that standing in a powerful position can boost your
self-esteem gained traction from a 2010 study and subsequent
TED talk by one of the authors, Amy Cuddy. She and her team
claim that posing in ‘high-power nonverbal displays’ (hands
on hips, legs spread) can increase testosterone and decrease
cortisol, while also increasing feelings of power and tolerance
for risk. Before you climb on to the table mid-meeting, beating
your chest, know that despite multiple attempts, researchers
have failed to replicate their findings and, today, the theory
that power poses can influence your hormones has been
widely discredited. Cuddy has since softened her claims,
highlighting that power posing can still have a meaningful
impact on emotions. WH Features Director Nikki Osman
tested the theory ahead of presenting to a packed audience
at Women’s Health Live earlier this year. ‘There’s something
about adopting a powerful pose (albeit in the privacy of the
ladies’ loos) that tricks your mind into feeling more confident,’
she explains. ‘For me, the hormonal impact was irrelevant- I thought it would make me feel more confident, so it did.’
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