Expressions Through 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.