I have only myself to blame for opening Netflix and picking up Grey’s Anatomy from where I left off over 2 years ago. Since Thursday, I have managed to binge through fourteen hour-long episodes, casting aside homework and responsibilities to waste time on a drama about failed relationships and rare medical conditions. With 25 days left in the semester (shocking, I know), out of necessity and for my mental health, I need to say goodbye to Meredith Grey’s petty problems with her husband and her bad case of mommy-issues to start preparing for finals and (hopefully) conclude my search for an internship or a summer opportunity.
*Spoilers* I just finished the episode where Dr. Shepherd, Amy, finally operates on Dr. Herman with a novel approach to fighting a massive astrocytoma, a surgery that takes over 18 hours to complete, a surgery that the entire world is watching as is Dr. Robbins, Dr. Herman’s mentee. Knowing that failing such a complicated surgery might shatter her reputation in the medical field, the anxiety and the pressure takes its toll on Dr. Shepherd in the brief period before the operation begins. In the mirror, Amy and the resident assisting her, Stephanie, take on a superhero stance.
“I’m being a superhero. There’s a scientific study that shows that if you stand like this in a superhero pose for just five minutes before a job interview or a big presentation or a really hard task, you will not only feel more confident, you will perform measurably better.” S11:E14 4:01-4:58.
And she’s right. In a study conducted in 2012 at Harvard University, researchers show that participants that held an open, “high-power pose,” felt more powerful and subsequently performed better in a high-stakes social evaluation, attributed to an increase in testosterone and decrease in cortisol (however, there’s still insufficient evidence on the hormonal aspect of power posing). While there’s a lot of criticism in the scientific community on this particular subject following Amy Cuddy’s TedTalk, personally I think the body and mind are so interconnected that something simple like a physical stance can translate to a certain mindset or attitude.
Watching this particular scene this afternoon actually helped me reconnect with one of my best friends, Sara, who is currently a junior at Johns Hopkins. We met on our high school’s Mock Trial team, and I distinctly remember before a trial at the Dauphin County Courthouse, she brought all our attorneys and witnesses in the girl’s bathroom, had everyone crowd in front the small mirror and “power pose” alongside each other for five minutes. Stand tall, flex our muscles, pump them in the air if we needed to boost our testosterone. It was awkward and we all laughed, but shockingly enough, our team won that round. Six years later and I wonder if this exact episode helped her instill confidence in myself and my teammates to perform well in front of the jury that night.
The science might be a little unclear on this one, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to try this before my next big task. Anyways, back to watching for more Grey’s… I mean, studying.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2018/04/03/power-posing-is-back-amy-cuddy-successfully-refutes-criticism/?sh=437878533b8e
https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/9547823/13-027.pdf
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