I saw a TED talk today titled 'Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are' by Amy Cuddy, Social Psychologist.
"Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how “power posing” -- standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident -- can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success."
She finishes with the conclusion that we can 'fake it till you become it' - i.e. consciously pretend and act with your body what you want to be - and doing so will changes your mind and you become that which you are pretending to be. This is in contrast to the commonly held view that 'faking' it and achieving success leaves one with a bad after-taste of dishonesty. If one has 'become' that which is deserving of success, there is no bad after-taste.
One user's comment :
"I'm quite alarmed to find that I'm perpetually in a non-power pose. It's how I walk, how I sit, how I sleep... And it definitely reflects in my personality. Thanks so much for this talk. I had no idea it was so important."
So why raise this?
Because in Islam, our prophet Muhammad (saw) who was gifted with knowledge from the Creator, Maker and Fashioner of the human mind may well have been gifted with this insight 1,400 years ago and hence laid down the many injunctions that govern each and every aspect of our life.
The injunction of prayer is most eye-opening in this respect. Doing ablution 5+ times a day before each prayer time would have a mental effect of being in a state of purity. Prostrating several times during each raka'a (constituent of prayer) would induce humility in the mind.
The prophet's injunction for prayer extends into every aspect of life - from saying a prayer immediately on awakening and when going to sleep, on starting a meal and on finishing it, on leaving the house and entering it, on starting a journey, on meeting anyone, on sighting the moon, on wearing new clothes, in times of happiness, in times of sadness, etc. These would all have an effect of remembering Almighty God constantly - and how compassionate, charitable and selfless would someone be if he's constantly remembering Almighty God and constantly in a state of gratitude. [Indeed we know from that most powerful prayer for seeking forgiveness from Almighty God that it was because we forgot God momentarily that we committed a sin - "I beg pardon from Allah for all my sins, and turn to Him"]
Finally, with that background, I wrote this post to really share how the Promised Messiah(as) had commented on this aspect over a 100 years ago that Ms. Cuddy is talking about only just now :-
"... according to the Holy Quran the natural state of man has a very strong relationship with his moral and spiritual states, so much so that even a person’s manner of eating and drinking affects his moral and spiritual states. If the natural state of a person is subjected to the control of the directions of divine law it becomes his moral state and deeply affects his spirituality, as is said that whatever falls into a salt mine is converted into salt. That is why the Holy Quran has laid stress on physical cleanliness and postures, and their regulation in relation to all worship and inner purity and spiritual humility.
Reflection confirms that physical conditions deeply affect the soul. For instance, when our eyes are filled with tears, even if the tears are artificially induced, the heart is immediately affected and becomes sorrowful.
In the same way, when we begin to laugh, even if the laughter is artificially induced, the heart begins to feel cheerful. It has also been observed that physical prostration in prayer induces humility in the soul. As a contrast when we draw ourselves up physically and strut about with our neck raised and our breast pushed forward, this attitude induces a mood of arrogance and vain glory. These instances establish clearly that physical conditions certainly affect spiritual conditions
Experience also shows that different types of food affect the intellect and the mind in different ways.
For instance, careful observation would disclose that people who refrain altogether from eating meat gradually suffer a decline of the faculty of bravery; they lose courage and thus suffer the loss of a divinely bestowed praiseworthy faculty. This is reinforced by the evidence of the divine law of nature that the herbivorous animals do not possess the same degree of courage as do carnivorous ones. The same applies to birds. Thus there is no doubt that morals are affected by food. Conversely those who are given to a diet consisting mainly of meat and eat very little of greens suffer a decline of meekness and humility. Those who adopt the middle course develop both types of moral qualities."
"Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how “power posing” -- standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident -- can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success."
She finishes with the conclusion that we can 'fake it till you become it' - i.e. consciously pretend and act with your body what you want to be - and doing so will changes your mind and you become that which you are pretending to be. This is in contrast to the commonly held view that 'faking' it and achieving success leaves one with a bad after-taste of dishonesty. If one has 'become' that which is deserving of success, there is no bad after-taste.
One user's comment :
"I'm quite alarmed to find that I'm perpetually in a non-power pose. It's how I walk, how I sit, how I sleep... And it definitely reflects in my personality. Thanks so much for this talk. I had no idea it was so important."
So why raise this?
Because in Islam, our prophet Muhammad (saw) who was gifted with knowledge from the Creator, Maker and Fashioner of the human mind may well have been gifted with this insight 1,400 years ago and hence laid down the many injunctions that govern each and every aspect of our life.
The injunction of prayer is most eye-opening in this respect. Doing ablution 5+ times a day before each prayer time would have a mental effect of being in a state of purity. Prostrating several times during each raka'a (constituent of prayer) would induce humility in the mind.
The prophet's injunction for prayer extends into every aspect of life - from saying a prayer immediately on awakening and when going to sleep, on starting a meal and on finishing it, on leaving the house and entering it, on starting a journey, on meeting anyone, on sighting the moon, on wearing new clothes, in times of happiness, in times of sadness, etc. These would all have an effect of remembering Almighty God constantly - and how compassionate, charitable and selfless would someone be if he's constantly remembering Almighty God and constantly in a state of gratitude. [Indeed we know from that most powerful prayer for seeking forgiveness from Almighty God that it was because we forgot God momentarily that we committed a sin - "I beg pardon from Allah for all my sins, and turn to Him"]
Finally, with that background, I wrote this post to really share how the Promised Messiah(as) had commented on this aspect over a 100 years ago that Ms. Cuddy is talking about only just now :-
"... according to the Holy Quran the natural state of man has a very strong relationship with his moral and spiritual states, so much so that even a person’s manner of eating and drinking affects his moral and spiritual states. If the natural state of a person is subjected to the control of the directions of divine law it becomes his moral state and deeply affects his spirituality, as is said that whatever falls into a salt mine is converted into salt. That is why the Holy Quran has laid stress on physical cleanliness and postures, and their regulation in relation to all worship and inner purity and spiritual humility.
Reflection confirms that physical conditions deeply affect the soul. For instance, when our eyes are filled with tears, even if the tears are artificially induced, the heart is immediately affected and becomes sorrowful.
In the same way, when we begin to laugh, even if the laughter is artificially induced, the heart begins to feel cheerful. It has also been observed that physical prostration in prayer induces humility in the soul. As a contrast when we draw ourselves up physically and strut about with our neck raised and our breast pushed forward, this attitude induces a mood of arrogance and vain glory. These instances establish clearly that physical conditions certainly affect spiritual conditions
Experience also shows that different types of food affect the intellect and the mind in different ways.
For instance, careful observation would disclose that people who refrain altogether from eating meat gradually suffer a decline of the faculty of bravery; they lose courage and thus suffer the loss of a divinely bestowed praiseworthy faculty. This is reinforced by the evidence of the divine law of nature that the herbivorous animals do not possess the same degree of courage as do carnivorous ones. The same applies to birds. Thus there is no doubt that morals are affected by food. Conversely those who are given to a diet consisting mainly of meat and eat very little of greens suffer a decline of meekness and humility. Those who adopt the middle course develop both types of moral qualities."
Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
