The Hedge is on Fire
December 31, 2012 § 18 Comments
Usain Bolt at the Olympics
All people, everywhere, including blind people, do this when they win: arms in a V shape, chin lifted. Try it. Feel better? Amy Cuddy of the Harvard Business School claims that assuming a winner’s stance changes you for the better. Sounds corny, but I like things that are free and easy to try in private.
Look! It works! I’m glowing! The hedge is on fire! Hmm… Might be time for some new jeans and a haircut.
Happy New Year!
For more on improving yourself:
Dear Julie,
It is an alleluia pose and I love that it creates a burning bush.
Happy New Year.
Ann
Same to you Ann! Best wishes —
I noticed Anderson Cooper doing that on CNN’s New Year’s broadcast each time he answered a trivia question right. I’ve never really thought about how that winning feeling really opens you up. Pretty cool. Happy new year!!
Baboons do it too! Happy New Year to you!
I love the simplest things that get me thinking–I know the V-position opens up the ribcage and makes hitting the high notes easier. Interesting all around.
Thanks for the tip! My band Tombolo is playing at a coffee house on the 18th, and there might be a few high notes involved. Best New Year wishes!
Oooo, you sing too? What voice? What kind of music? Where?
In a manner of speaking, or maybe I should say singing. We’re in Eugene Oregon, 3 folky voices, awesome lead guitarist (not me, I’m on rhythm and bass), play something between folk and rock, heavy on harmonies. You must be a musician too?
Not a musician but I have sung here and there–not professionally. Voice seems to be changing or maybe I haven’t been taking care of it properly.
My son is learning guitar. Love to hear him just hanging out on the acoustic. Relaxes me to no end. I’m in awe of anyone who can coordinate two hands to get music out of an instrument, lol.
Hi Julia,
That pose is fun to do, even if used while doing an overblown victory lap (complete with fake crowd noise) after winning a battle of wits with my daughters. When I lose, I “get small” as mentioned in the video and hand over the car keys or my wallet.
Ha ha! Amazing how the wiles expand exponentially when it comes to wits, women and wallets! Thanks for the visit.
If I do that, I’ve a tendency to fall over backwards (which most definitely doesn’t brighten my mood!)
Ha ha! Maybe we could invent a stand for you, the kind that beauty queens have in parades. Thanks for the visit.
Hi, visiting thanks to Susie! LOVE this! So simple and easy to do-thanks!
You’re welcome. I’ll pass this on to my pal Usain. (I wish.) Best wishes and thanks for the visit.
I do that all the time, though I never thought of it as a victory pose. I always think of it as my happy pose, because that’s how I’m feeling when I raise my arms like that. Now I know why!
So happy I dropped by. Happy to meet you. Just, happy, happy, happy!
Okay, so now it’s MY turn to peer through the lace curtains, because reading the comments and replies here has been fun and educational as well. Colleen Patrick’s comment on Anderson Cooper doing the Usain Bolt victory gesture every time he got a trivia question right, made me laugh, and your reply that “Baboons do it too!” made me laugh even more!
I was also impressed to learn that you are a musician who plays something between folk and rock. Cool!
While I was a three letter varsity jock in high school, (I was also an Art and English major, so please don’t judge me too harshly! lol) I don’t remember ever doing the chin lifted, arms in a V shape celebratory thing, when I did something exceptional on the playing field. But this was back in the mid 1970s, and “showboating” was frowned upon. If you did something really cool – like make a spectacular catch in center field to rob the batter of what looked like a sure home run… you were supposed to fire the ball back to the infield, and act cool – like it was just another day at the office for you, and nothing out of the ordinary. But baseball players have always been kinda uptight, so maybe they aren’t the best example. Lol
In any case, fun post, Julia!
Baseball players are another breed altogether because they spend a lot of time learning how to stifle natural behavior. It is not natural to step toward a small object rocketing toward you and put your hand in front of your face. Once you develop the level of cool necessary to catch a fly ball at the Green Wall (told you I’m a Red Sox fan), you probably don’t need a gorilla stance to celebrate. People already know how big you are. Thanks for the visit –