Joey said HI - but she’s illustrating my “High Five” message!
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Today, as I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, The Model Health Show with Shawn Stevenson, I heard a segment with Mel Robbins.
If you don’t know who Mel Robbins is, let me fill you in. Mel Robbins has taken the world by storm.
The first time was with a book called, “The 5 Second Rule.” The premise of the book is to count down from five any time you want to do something but are struggling to do it, and it will override the subconscious thoughts that are keeping you from taking action. So for example, when you wake up in the morning, if you struggle to get out of bed when the alarm sounds the first time and sometimes it makes you late, you would use the 5 Second Rule to replace your snooze button!
There is certainly more to this book, however, it is really where she got her start. She also talked about it in a TED Talk.
She recently released a book called the “Let Them Theory.” This book has been flying off the shelves and people are really resonating with the information she shares in the book. I’m planning to grab my copy on Audible! (If you don’t have Audible, grab a free trial here!)
Anyway, as I was listening, she was talking about a High Five Habit that she started back during the COVID pandemic. She describes standing in the bathroom in her underwear as she was getting ready for her day, and started looking at herself in the mirror. As an internationally recognized motivational speaker, she didn’t have anything positive to say to or about herself. Even after she recognized the thoughts she was having, she wasn’t able to “motivationally speak” to herself in a way that would reinspire some confidence.
So, in the most cheesy and cringe-worthy fashion, she raised her hand and gave herself a high five in the mirror.
She did it again the next day and realized it actually was helping her get her mindset right at the start of her day.
In the podcast, Mel dives into the science behind a simple high five and the research is undeniable.
If you are a bit of a nut like me and enjoy reading research studies, here is the study I believe she is referencing from the National Institutes of Health.
If you’re not into reading medical research journals, I’ll give you the quick summary.
In this study, they were trying to understand how praise in its various forms (verbal trait; verbal effort; verbal ambiguous; or gestural) influenced a child’s ambition to persevere in a given task.
Praise given verbally regarding a trait in the study sounded something like, “You’re so smart, that is why you got an A on your test.”
Praise given verbally regarding effort sounded something like, “You worked so hard to earn that A on your test.”
Praise given verbally in an ambiguous way looked like a “Yay!” or “Wow!”
Ambiguous praise given gesturally in the study looked like a thumbs up or a high five.
Surprisingly, high fives and other ambiguous gestures had the most positive impact on the children.
There is actual science that backs up the importance of a high five! How rad is that?
(Stick with me - I promise I have a point and I think it is a good one.)
The girls hands were up in celebration of cookies in the oven that would soon be in their tummies!
More science to back up Mel Robbin’s High Five Habit suggests that our brains recognize the gesture of raising our hand(s) as a positive gesture and will release happy hormones into our bloodstream in response. (More science if you’re into it!)
She explains that typically, when our hands are raised, it is for things like celebrating when the Chiefs ( I may have taken some personal and creative liberties on this specific mention of my favorite team…)get a touchdown, hugging our friends and family, high five-ing the people on our team when we do a good job, etc.
This got me thinking…God, the creator of the universe who is perfect in every way…really did create us to praise Him.
Yet again, science backs up the existence of a divine creator.
When you lift your hands in praise, your body is releasing dopamine - a happy hormone! Your mood will naturally lift.
You may also experience a reduction in stress or anxiety, as cortisol will decrease.
If you search your bible for examples of raised hands, you’ll find many examples of heroes who raised their hands in praise and worship to God.
“I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;”
“So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.”
“Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven.”
“If you prepare your heart, you will stretch out your hands toward him.”
Admittedly, I used to be a very quiet worshiper. I still can be at times!
But you’ll see my hands reach for the sky when I start to feel God in the room.
I’ve heard an analogy about this in reference to our children. What do they do when they want you to hold them? When they want you to wrap your arms around them, make them feel safe and loved?
They put their hands up, reaching for you.
That is what I think about when I’m worshipping with my hands in the air now-a-days. It is my request to God to scoop me up in His arms and make all of the pain, doubt, guilt, shame, and fear go away.
If you’re a quiet worshipper, my challenge to you is this: close your eyes and raise your hands to your Father in Heaven this week. There is not a soul on this planet that can tell me they don’t need a physiological boost like a hit of dopamine in their bloodstream. I don’t think you’ll regret the vulnerability and sincerity you feel when you reach up and invite God to hold you in His arms.