Body Language

Most of the time, words are not enough to express how someone really feels. And sometimes,

what we say are not really what we intend to convey. This is where nonverbal communication

gains its importance in the interaction of two or more people.

Body language, a form of nonverbal communication, is the conscious and unconscious use of

gestures and body movements to send messages, moods, feelings, and state of mind. You can

easily identify one’s emotions if you know how to read and interpret his or her actions.

Anger

This emotion is probably the easiest to identify from one person. Aside from the increasing

of the voice volume, facial movements could identify anger or fury. It could be identified

by one hard, intense look on the source of his anger or when the eyebrows would meet at the

center slightly above the bridge of the nose. Other facial body language involved in this

emotion include nasal flaring, teeth baring, snarling, flushing of the face, shallow

breathing, and tightening of the lips and jaw.

A person with a clenched fist, perspiration, his hands on the waist, or arms crossed across

the chest are signs of anger as well.

Nervousness, Tension, And Anxiety

The most common signs of these emotions are dry mouth, pale face, trembling of the lips and

fingers, and perspiration. A nervous or anxious person would tend to move a lot to remove

the tension off his body, thus he would fidget, rock or tap his feet, drum his fingers on a

surface, or pace around the room back and forth. Lack of eye contact or the inability to

hold prolonged eye contact is also an indication of these emotions.

Fear and Defensive State

Trembling, perspiration, and a pale face could also be seen in fear. The skin will be cold

and clammy, the voice will tremble, muscle tension, and the body will have a defensive

posture when threatened. A defensive posture includes the raising of the hands, crossing of

arms or regressing to the fetal position. The person will also try to make a distance from

the source of his fear or danger.

Flirting And Attraction

Flirting body language is quite complicated since women and men have different ways of

showing it. But the signs that the two genders have in common in showing attraction include

prolonged eye contact, smiling, raising of eyebrows, preening, adjusting or touching of

clothes, looking at the lips of the other person, leaning towards the person, and closing

the distance.

Interest And Focus Of Attention

Eye contact is the most indicative sign of interest and attention. Leaning forward to the

person and nodding are reinforcements that you are indeed listening to him or her. When the

eye would wander to another object, it means that the person may be bored or his attention

was distracted.

Confidence

Confidence is evident in a firm handshake, good posture, calm muscles, and comfortable use

of hand gestures when conversing. When sitting down, a relaxed position is indicative of

confidence as well. Sitting on the edge of the chair with tense back muscle would mean

otherwise – tension or nervousness.

Body language has a way of telling us how a person really feels, but the meanings and

indications are not reliable and true at all times. Basically, the gestures stated above are

the general body movements commonly used by most people in the same situations and emotions.

It is very essential to have the ability to read and understand another person’s body

language. Listening only to the words the other person is saying is not always enough. His

or her body language can always tell if that person is being honest in what she is saying

and what she really feels deep inside.

Body language entails the gestures and movements involving the body, from head to foot. Each

signal of body language may have different meanings, depending on the situation in which it

was delivered.

Head

You can signal yes or no by the movement of the head. Nodding usually means “yes” or “I

agree”. But in other countries such as Yugoslavia and Turkey, it sometimes means “no”.

Tilting the head backwards or to the side indicates that the person is thinking deeply or

considering a though or idea.

Face (Eyes, Nose, Lips)

Facial expressions are obvious visible signs of how someone truly feels, however there are

some people who have practiced to take control of their facial expressions by making them

somewhat expressionless or passive.

Even with an inexpressive face, nobody could miss what is being expressed through the eyes.

The eyes can speak volumes given any circumstance. Eye contact is a strong indication of

focus of attention, interest, attraction, and honesty. You can spot somebody lying to you if

he or she cannot hold an eye contact for a period of time. When the eyes would look away, it

signifies lack of interest, dishonesty, and boredom.  But there are times when looking away

signifies attraction or simply an occurrence of a slight distraction, for as long as the

person will look back to the person he is talking to.

Touching or rubbing the nose is one of the most common self-touching gestures, which is

usually done by people who are lying or trying to hide something. Blowing of the nose is a

gesture seen as rude by most countries, but it is considered as healthy in some countries in

Asia.

Licking or biting the lips is one of the typical signals of flirting done by women. Kissing

is a gesture to show one’s affection, and also used as a form of greeting. But there are

conservative countries, particularly in Asia, which do not allow public display of affection

such as kissing.  And in some cultures like in the Philippines and  Puerto Rico, the lips

are used for pointing instead of the finger.

Arms And Hands

There are plenty different hand gestures, and each one has different meanings. The most

common hand gestures are hands-in-the-pocket, arms crossed over the chest, hands on the

waist, and handshakes. The first one may indicate nervousness or lack of interest. Crossing

the arms signifies a defensive posture, and it may also mean doubt or suspicion of what the

other person is saying. The hands on the waist may indicate anger or fury, but men also do

this to show their masculinity. A handshake, meanwhile, is a form of greeting in most

countries.

Legs And Feet

Crossing the legs are done by most people, especially women. Most of the time, it is done as

a comfortable position. However, there are countries that regard this action as rude.

The Misuse Of The Ability

The ability of reading someone’s body gestures sometimes is not reliable. The gestures

performed by a person that are regarded as rude by other people maybe just habits of that

person without the intention of being rude.

How can you tell that a person is already falling in love with you? A person’s body language

can spell out his or her true feelings and intentions for you. A person in love has that

certain glow every time he or she is with that special person, but what are the other signs?

You will notice that a person is already falling for you if he can’t stand being far from

you, gives more smiles and laughter, mirror your actions, cannot keep his eyes off you, and

have that certain glow.

Personal Space And Distance

A person in love with you would look for several ways just to be closer to you. You will

know that a person’s personal space has gotten smaller when he or she gets comfortable with

you even in the slightest distance. And notice if in a room full of people, he will always

try to stay close to you.

That person would also tend to lean his body towards you, whether when sitting down or

standing up. The direction of his or her body would be always turned towards you. If not,

then the direction of her eyes will show who is in her mind.

More Touch, Smiles, And Laughter

A person who is starting to fall for you would listen to you more, thus would give more

reactions than he or she did during your first dates. There would be more laughter even for

the cheesiest jokes. While talking, one will find in inevitable from smiling, especially

during silence. This is because that person is truly enjoying his or her time with you.

He or she would also touch you from time to time. A tap on the shoulder, placing the hand on

the small of the back, hugging, and holding the hands are some of the most common touching

body language in falling in love.

The Mirroring Actions

This is a funny yet very sweet signal of attraction since it is done unconsciously most of

the time. This is where a person would imitate the actions of that special person. For

example, you will prop your chin onto your hand, the person in love with you will follow

that specific action.

The Longer Stare

A person in love with you simply cannot take his eyes off you. Most especially when the

feeling has just begun to develop, he or she would find difficulty in concentrating on other

things. The stare is usually intimate or intense, and it is accompanied with a slight smile.

That Certain Glow

Somehow unexplainable, a person has a certain aura around him or her when he or she is in

love and happy. It is due to the extreme happiness and joy coming from the inside, and this

is well-reflected with a sparkle in the eyes and a smile that is hard to remove from the

face.

When a person falls in love, it changes him entirely and this is reflected in his or her

body language. Some people fail to notice this, but these signs are definitely there. The

person himself is even unaware that he is already providing hints and clues about his true

feelings for that special someone. Most people find them hard to miss, and would love these

signals of deep attraction sent through the silence but delivered by simple romantic actions

and gestures.

Body language involves many gestures and movements, and each one with different meanings. It

is a  complex method of communicating. But the art of body language is that when you learn

the interpretations and indications of different body signals, you are able to determine

one’s inner feelings and emotions. Thus you can control the situation by knowing how to

react in advance.

Eye Contact

When one can maintain the eye contact and even prolong it, it is indicative that his focus

of attention is in listening to the other person. The inability to maintain it has many

meanings, depending on the situation. When there is sudden breakage of eye contact and the

eye wanders off to another direction, it may mean that he is distracted by a certain object,

like another person entering the room. It may also mean that he is losing interest, getting

bored, and would like to get out of the conversation.

The eyes are also used in flirting, especially in knowing if the person is attracted to you

or not. When your eyes meet across the room, and then one of you looks aways but looks back,

it is a signal of attraction. It is also reflected when the eyes would go down to the lips

and then back to the eyes again.

If the eyes would look up to the forehead of another person, it means he is talking to

someone with superiority. When the eye would go down to the nose, it means that there are no

figure of authority in both parties.

Handshakes

There are two meanings of handshakes. It can show confidence, or the exact opposite,

shyness. Confidence is evident in a firm handshake with the hand pointing downward. The

palms should also come in contact with each other. On the other hand, a weak handshake with

the hand pointing upward indicates shyness or nervousness.

Hand And Arm Gestures

The two most common hand and arm gestures that are advised to be avoided are putting the

hands in the pocket and arm crossing. The first gesture, hands in the pocket, may indicate

four things: he may be hiding something, bored and uninterested, refusing to perform a task,

or nervous and anxious.

The latter gesture, crossing the arms across the chest may mean three things. The person may

be protecting from a verbal attack, simply feeling cold, or even probably lying. But it may

also indicate that he is disagreeing with you if you are the one talking.

Another common hand gesture is the clenched fist. This indicates anger, frustration,

defensiveness, resistance, or confidence.

When Sitting Down And Standing Up

Your emotions can also be reflected by the way you stand or sit. Proper posture is with the

shoulders squared and pulled back, but without too much tightening of the back muscles. With

the back muscle rigid and stiff, you will appear very tense and nervous. Do not slouch as

well. Slouching signifies laziness or boredom.

It is indeed beneficial if you know how to decipher the meanings of another person’s body

language. However, the indications are not true at all times. Not all impressions from

reading body language last. This will only be supportive if you already have an idea on the

personality of the person.