Published: 08/30/2018 - Updated: 02/25/2019
Author: MSc. Miriam Reyes
What is the meaning of the Body Language? Have you ever seen how you walk? How is your posture when you’re standing? What sort of gestures does your face frequently make? Do you wrinkle or forehead, eyes, or nose frequently? Do you hunch? Do you walk practically on your tippy-toes? Do you look other people in the eyes?
What is the Body Language?
Body language seems to have a lot more influence and power over people than words. Each time you meet someone, the impressions from your gestures, your glance, the tone of your voice, and your posture, either while walking or standing, form a large impression about you. You might not notice it just by looking, or you might not even be that conscious of it, but everything that that other someone told you with their body language has registered with you in some way. They sent you a message which you were able to translate in several ways that would later make you say things like: “I trust him”, “I don’t know why I don’t like that person”, “I don’t know why, but they just rubbed me the wrong way”, etc.
Just as other people’s body language makes you remember certain things, your body does the same thing with other people. You send messages to people around you every time you walk, talk, look, or make gestures with your face. These gestures are sometimes quick and left unnoticed in the moment, but subconsciously you and other people register then, and process them.
It is very important to pay attention to our silent body messages. We frequently loose this awareness and we don’t realize all we say to someone with our gestures, habitual movements, and the accommodations we make with our bodies. But most of all, we don’t realize everything that could be taking place inside us, that make us strike certain postures and attitudes. There is nothing better than self-observation for this, which is an extraordinary tool for beginning to take note of how we look, and how we feel when we look at ourselves.
Why is body language important?
Our bodies are an X-ray of our minds. We can notice accumulated tensions through our bodies, and if we’ve felt depressed or if we suffer from fear or anxiety. If we make a habit of observing ourselves, without criticizing or judging, but rather in a simply contemplative act, we could probably perceive this message of disgust, anxiety, desperation, and so many others that we so often transmit without being aware of.
Our voice, for example, is a strong indicator of our emotional states: speaking in a rushed tone, or in a loud and inharmonious volume, in a punishing tone, a low a fearful voice, etc., speaks of tensions, fears, and insecurities. Standing hunched or with a small demeanor speaks of a lack of interior harmony, while constantly scrunching your brow could be a sign of disgust, frustration, or lack of understanding.
Over time, every habit that we have can become more and more engraved in the shapes our bodies take. With time our body will take the same shape as our thoughts. For example, darting eyes speak of someone who has lived with a lot of anxiety and fear, while a very wrinkly face speaks of someone who hasn’t faced life well. A flaccid, swollen, or droopy abdomen can speak of a lack of emotional security.
If you want to learn more about the topic, and would like to deeply enter the mysteries of your body, I recommend you read “Bioenergetics”, By Alexander Lowen, ed. Diana.
Revised by: Dra. Loredana Lunadei on 02/25/2019
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