Body Language

Body language is the process of communicating what you are feeling or thinking by the way you place and move your body rather than by words. And how to read others' thoughts by their gestures, expression and body posture. Understanding body language involves the interpretation of several signals from the eyes, mouth, arms and hands.

Our eyes are a very significant aspect of the non-verbal signals we send to others. To a lesser or greater extent we all 'read' people's eyes without knowing how or why, and this ability seems to be inborn. Eyes and especially our highly developed awareness of what we see in other people's eyes are incredible. For example we know if we have eye contact with someone at an almost unbelievable distance. Far too far away to be able to see the detail of a person's eyes about 30 metres away or more sometimes, we know when there is an eye contact. This is an absolutely awesome capability when you think about it. Also, we can see whether another person's eyes are focused on us or not, and we can detect easily the differences between a 'glazed over' blank stare, a piercing look, a moistening eye long before tears come, and an awkward or secret glance. We probably cannot describe these and many other eye signals, but we recognise them when we see them and we know what they mean.

The mouth also has more visible moving parts than other sensory organs, so there's a lot more potential for variety of signalling. For example, smiling is a big part of facial body language. As a general rule real smiles are symmetrical and produce creases around the eyes and mouth, whereas fake smiles, for whatever reason, tend to be mouth-only gestures. Hand clamped over mouth, an unconcious gesture of holding back, suppression or shock with something. And other example is when we laugh. Laughter is a sign of relaxation and feeling at ease. Natural laughter can extend to all the upper body or whole body. Forced laughter/unnatural laughter is often a signal of nervousness or stress, as an effort to dispel tension or change the atmosphere.

Arms are quite reliable indicators of mood and feeling, especially when interpreted with other body language. Crossed arms represent a protective or separating barrier. This can be due to various causes, ranging from severe animosity or concern to mild boredom or being too tired to be interested and attentive. Crossed arms is a commonly exhibited signal by subordinates feeling threatened by bosses and figures of authority. People also cross arms when they are feeling cold.

Hands is an extensive body language. This is because hands are such expressive parts of the body, and because hands interact with other parts of the body. They are extremely expressive and flexible tools, so it is natural for hands to be used a lot in signalling consciously as with emphasizing gestures or unconsciously as in a wide range of unintentional movements which show hidden feelings and thoughts. Tapping or drumming fingers which mean we're impatience with something. As the simple signal is 'thumbs up' means OK, approved and the Victory-sign . It's a very positive signal. Two hands is a bigger statement of the same meaning.

Importantly, understanding body language enables better self-awareness and self-control too. We understand more about other people's feelings and meanings, and we also understand more about these things in ourselves. When we understand body language we become better able to refine and improve what our body says about us, which generates a positive improvement in the way we feel, the way we perform, and what we achieve.