5 ways to improve our body and gesture language

Gesture and body language it is part of our inheritance received through our ancestors, and therefore it is also part of our subconscious.

Our muscular movements speak for us independently of verbal expression. While it is true that gestures and movements usually accompany our words, the moment the conscious decides to lie about this parity dissolves, because our deepest self is incapable of giving false signals, unless it is, in addition to giving false information, believing it true.

From his birth to three years, the child expresses almost entirely through movements and gestures partly innate and partly learned by imitation. With his advancement in the ability to speak, gestures take a back seat; It is at this time that the child also acquires the ability to lie, as part of its development from imagination, all of which leads to the construction of the game that will serve as training before life real.

Nevertheless, body language was learned prior to lying, so that gestures will always be associated with the subconscious and with the truth.

• Related article: "The 10 pillars for perfect non-verbal communication"

The importance of improving body and gesture language

Between 60 and 70% of our communication is done through body language: gestures, appearance, posture, look and expression. Even at the unconscious level, we capture all this information and transform it into meaning, which is why some people they seem more or less trustworthy, depending on the amount of inconsistencies that we have detected during the conversation.

We do not necessarily capture all the information, it depends on the attention we are paying. If we also know the mechanisms of sign language, we can consciously interpret the messages as if it were a language. It goes without saying that it works in both directions, and, if we learn to interpret them, we can also learn to transmit our thoughts to through the gestures of our entire body, thus enhancing the quality of the message delivered and ensuring greater empathy on the part of the receiver.

Studying our body language allows us observe our psychomotor apparatus and erase the habitual expression, to a large extent regulated and even self-imposed, and allows us to find our own language for communication with others.

Enhancing the free expression of the body also helps us to optimize computational intelligence. From the first contacts with his mother, the child, in the absence of words and symbols to lean on, imprints his physical and emotional sensations on the body memory, which records and preserves all this information in the motor engine of the subconscious. Through bodily expression we can access this memory, recognizing the records to neutralize them and thus avoid automatic movements that can give wrong and inappropriate information in certain situations.

Enhancing gestural language

How do we do it? The ideal thing, without a doubt, especially for the playful component, is to go to clown workshops, theater, dance... without However, with the help of a simple mirror we can do it without difficulty at home by following these simple guidelines:

1. Controlling our gestures

The gesture is the body movement of the joints, mainly of the body movements performed with the hands, arms and head. Before moving, we will visualize the movement with our eyes closed and decide whether or not it is appropriate for what we want to express.

2. Relating to objects

A fork or a pen can be taken in many different ways... let's observe each other, rehearse the movement, make objects our own.

3. Learning to relate to other bodies

React in a controlled and conscious way to what the rest of the expressions cause us around us is very useful in this regard.

4. Relating to space 

It consists of observing the dimensions of the space, the sounds that are around us, the aromas, the sensations that the environment produces. This will make us move through it with greater security.

5. Learning to breathe

We perform breathing exercises on a regular basis until we can naturally adapt its rhythm to what our body requires; in this way you will be able to move organically and integrated into the environment.

Exercising free expression gives us the awareness that we have a unique and extremely useful tool for communication: our body.