Body Talk: The Silent Language

We may not all be natural linguists, but apart from our native tongue there is one language we all know in part and can improve upon. This is body language. We may not even have given it a second thought before but it is worth giving it some attention because body talk contains volumes of information which we can use to our advantage.

We can all interpret a wink, a smile, a frown and a sigh and would be careful about how we used them, dependant upon whom we were with and whether we wanted them to know our feelings. However there are other subtle messages of which we should be aware.

For instance, you walk into a room full of strangers and feel insecure and out of place. That is not a message you want to convey, so whatever you do don’t cross your arms or legs or lower your eyes. These are sure signs of unease which will be picked up by those who study such things. If you want to give the opposite signal stand tall with your hands behind your back and make eye contact with the people around you. This lets them know that you are a confident person in spite of strange surroundings.

People are sometimes so boring, especially if you are the only one who didn’t see them coming. In this situation you might want your boredom to show. In which case yawn a little, avoid too much eye contact, play with your tie or your ear rings and jiggle anything in your pocket that rattles. That should get the message across and provide a fairly quick escape.

If you are in a situation where you feel yourself getting angry then concentrate on relaxing your hands, which will be getting tense, and slowing down your breathing, which will be getting fast. Relax your jaw muscles too, especially if you have a thin face – they will tighten very noticeably. This is a favourite ploy actors often overdo when acting angry and tense. Of course if you tend to turn red, then there is nothing much you can do about it unless you are a woman, in which case apply the heavy make-up in good time!

Lovers are experts at reading body language. How many times have you looked at your nearest and dearest and known exactly what they are thinking? The language of love is the sweetest body talk of all and it isn’t confined just to sexual encounters, mothers and babies speak it from birth.

Once you start observing people in this way you will see that they really do scratch their heads when they are confused and let their shoulders droop when they are miserable.

Soon you will be noticing your own body language and one of the many assets of body language is that you can use it to speak to yourself. It enables you to reach into your subconscious mind, which is the level from which much body language originates.

So if you are feeling rather depressed on Monday morning, change your body language while you are facing yourself in the bathroom mirror.  Look yourself straight in the eye, put a positive expression on your face, straighten up,  liven up and bounce down to breakfast.  Your week will be off to a good start.