You are entering into a conference room and at first glance you scan the body posture of all the participants. You have already made the first impression of every single person. They didn’t even have to say a word.
First impression is subconsciously mapped into our brain and it’s hard to change. We have to ask ourselves how we can use our body language to influence others and why. What’s more, how can we improve our first impression?
Good posture is not only important for creating first impressions, but for our health as well.
The impact of posture on health
As soon as people started walking upright three to four million years ago, our spine started adjusting to this new position. Over the years our spine, when seen from the side, developed gentler curves in the shape of the letter S, which was retained until today. Even though this spine position provided greater flexibility, it has significant drawbacks: our spine is prone to injuries and tension. Bad posture is a frequent cause of these health problems.
How is bad posture developed?
Nowadays we spend a lot of time in front of our computer screen, which greatly affects our posture. For those who aren’t familiar with this posture: leaned forward, your shoulders pulled towards your chest, the dorsal side of your hand turned upwards… for 8 hours. Consequences: headache, neck pain, back pain and bad mood. Exercises and regular physical activity can encourage correct posture. What’s more, while sitting we could support our spine. Lumbar support is the right choice for this.
What is lumbar support?
As it was mentioned before, a healthy spine has an S-shaped curve. In medicine lumbar spine is considered to be the lower part of the spine. Lumbar support is an ergonomic support for your back. It supports your spine and relieves tension in the lower back. Lumbar support can be used in various everyday situations: in the office, car, at home. It is particularly efficient during prolonged sitting periods or long drive. Lumbar support may encourage good posture and reduce neck and back pain.
The impact of our body language on others
Body posture greatly affects your body language. Nonverbal communication is the first thing people notice, and we all tend to give a good first impression. We can change that.
What kind of an impression do we give?
In order to give a good first impression correct sitting and standing posture is important. It means a straight back, shoulders pulled back, stomach pulled in. This posture implies self-confidence, competence and is perfect for everyday activities, as well as for those situations when you are in focus, such as in job interviews, conferences or video calls. On these occasions we find ourselves in the sitting position so our posture is equally important whether we sit or stand. Unfortunately, we often forget about our posture, especially while we are are sitting. We loosen up, our back and stomach muscles relax and we end up slouching.
How can we encourage ourselves to sit up straight?
In this case sport can be really helpful. Strengthening your stomach and back muscles might help us to sit up straight. We could also use the lumbar support. Lumbar support does not only ease back and neck pain, but it also reminds us to sit in the upright position so we could give a good and confident first impression.
Conclusion
We can conclude that posture has a big impact on our body language. Since nonverbal communication makes up more than a half of our entire communication it is crucial for giving a good first impression, especially in important situations. As we already know, regular exercises and physical activity help us improve our posture. However, a bit of cheating is always allowed, particularly if it’s good for us. Lumbar support is definitely good for our back.
How important is good posture in a job interview? Post a comment!
Other useful links:
https://www.rtl.de/cms/gesundheitslexikon-lordose-4258779.html
https://www.betten.de/lexikon/lordosenstuetze.html
https://blog.hubspot.de/sales/nonverbale-kommunikation
https://www.berufsstrategie.de/bewerbung-karriere-soft-skills/koerperhaltung.php
