Wednesday 3 July 2013

Here's Why Everyone Should Know (and Practice) Body Language!

People are generally very excited about the fact that Body Language is something cool and new. But sometimes I fear that there are individuals who may think that the knowledge of BL is something which is alien from them, or that BL has no benefit in their lives. So this post is about telling those who are just discovering the fun of Non-Verbal Communication and also those who are walking around it looking at it curiously from afar but for some reason are not coming closer, that non-verbal communication is an extremely useful tool to have! I am so sure about this because I know I don’t have to write this piece if you are already acquainted with it; if you use and understand Body Language, surely you know of all the benefits that it has!


Think about it this was way: most of your life, you must interact with others. This is how being Human works. We interact with others; we create connections. And a very important step in the process is both understanding their position and adequately representing yours’.  People want to know the relevance of knowing and practicing NVC, this is it: wherever there are humans (and if you can attain mastery, animals) that we have to interact with, knowing NVC is ALWAYS going to keep you better off in any scenario where you have others to deal with.
And I am not the only one saying it. We are naturally predisposed to learn about body language. You often get ‘vibes’ and ‘gut feelings’ about a situation or a person. Sometimes, you request people to do something for you they say “Yes”, but you feel that maybe they are not going to go through with it. For all the female readers, you seem to get gut feelings about men, and often you find men who may possess everything, but something seems off about them, you don’t know what. Babies can recognize smiles without being taught to do so, so much so that they can tell the difference between a genuine smile and one that is feigned. I have cited these examples simply to demonstrate that the understanding of non-verbal cues are within us, and over and above this, it is a vital tool for survival. And this function of survival is evident in all three examples if we think about where we have come from; in the wild each of these proved to be pivotal tools that determined whether our hunter-gatherer ancestors lived or died.  We need to be aware and respond accordingly to potential war-time deserters, dishonest potential mates and even those individual who will be hostile towards us when we are too small to defend ourselves (so we know whether to call our parent for help by crying).  When the food resources were scarce, and incorrect life decisions meant life or death, these small social choices went a long way. That is why understanding body language is vital. It allows us to make decisions and take calls based on all the facts.
Even today, you may find non-verbal communication very helpful. We have not changed as a species and those non-verbal representations of intentions and feelings still exist, it is for the right perspective to pick them up. When done correctly, they may find application in multiple directions.
So now, we can use our understanding of this innate function of ours to make better life decisions with regard to social choices and communicate and connect with others better.

Please share your experiences! Do you use Body Language in your life? Are you aware of or have you read any literature on the topic? What did you feel afterwards?

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