Power Position

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Give participants a direct, low-stakes physical break to contrast contracted and expansive body postures.

Use it when: Use before a presentation, interview preparation session, or after prolonged seated screen time.

Skip it when: Skip if the group includes participants for whom whole-body physical posing creates discomfort, fatigue, or unwanted attention.

Group arrangement: Individual practice in place, followed by brief whole-group reflection.

Timing: Relationship Makers Handbook suggests under 5 minutes; structured here as a complete 5-minute warm-up.

Materials and tools

• Audio speaker and optional background music track
• Timer or stopwatch

Before participants arrive

1. Ensure room layout allows arm reach without striking neighbors or furniture.
2. Queue an optional low-volume music track if using one.

Say this to open

We spend hours hunched over desks and phones. In this short exercise, we will test how shifting body posture feels. You can participate standing or seated, or simply observe.

How to run it

1. Contrast everyday postures 1 minutes

   Ask participants to observe their current baseline posture. Demonstrate common low-power postures: crossed limbs, slumping forward, or hunching over a screen. Invite anyone who wants to deliberately slouch or contract their shoulders inward for ten seconds to notice how it feels.

2. Introduce expansive options 1 minutes

   Offer three expansive postures participants can choose from: standing with hands on hips, raising arms overhead in a wide V, or sitting tall with hands clasped loosely behind the head. For seated participants, offer sitting upright with feet flat, shoulders back, and hands resting open on the desk.

3. Hold an expansive pose 2 minutes

   Start optional background music if desired. Start a timer for 45 seconds. Direct participants to hold their chosen expansive posture while breathing at a normal pace. Tell participants they may exit the pose, adjust, or drop their arms at any point without notice.

4. Reflect and reset 1 minutes

   Signal time. Invite participants to shake out their arms and return to a comfortable resting position. Ask one or two participants to share any immediate physical sensations they noticed.

Debrief questions

• What physical sensations did you notice when switching from hunched to expansive?
• In what everyday work moments could a quick posture reset be useful?

Finished output: Participants complete a physical posture experiment and identify personal physical reset cues.

Remote

Run via video conference. Invite participants to step back from the camera or adjust their chair. Camera off is explicitly permitted. Facilitator demonstrates options on screen, plays shared system audio softly, and runs the 45-second timer on screen.

Hybrid

In-room and remote participants hold postures simultaneously. Remote video feeds can be displayed on the room screen, but participants may keep cameras off or turn slightly away to minimize self-consciousness.

Access and participation choices

• All postures can be adapted for seated, standing, or mobility-device use (for example, expanding the chest and breathing deeply without raising arms).
• Participants may opt out by simply resting in place or observing the group without explanation.

If the session gets stuck

Participants feel awkward or self-conscious standing silently in a pose.

Play low-volume upbeat music or suggest everyone soften their gaze toward the floor rather than staring across the room.

Someone has shoulder or spine mobility limitations.

Remind everyone that expansive posture can mean widening the collarbones and taking a full breath rather than raising arms overhead.

Terms used here

• Expansive posture: A physical stance that takes up space, opens the chest, and extends the torso or limbs.