Everything you need to know about body language Part II: The torso

Let’s keep exploring body language together! In our last discussion, we focused on the language expressed through our feet and legs. Today, we’ll shift our attention to another important part of our body: the torso.

Have you ever noticed how you instinctively hold or touch your own body when you find yourself in a strange or unfamiliar situation? Well, you’re not alone! Many people do this, and it’s a form of body language that is understood across cultures. Since the torso is a large part of our body, it’s easy for others to observe and interpret the signals it sends.

Why should we trust the torso?

Our bodies have a natural and instinctive way of responding to both dangers and opportunities, just like our feet do. They either move away to stay safe or lean forward to seize a chance. The torso, being a big and weighty part of our body, requires a lot of energy to move. Humans are wired to conserve energy and do things in the most efficient way possible. So, if our minds want to use that much energy to move the torso, it must be for a good reason.

Positive sign

When the body is leaning in, it means the person doing it is more comfortable or interested. You can see this when talking to someone and they start to like you.

The torso and shoulders like to lean in direction that is more favorable.

Bowing slightly at the waist: showing respect. You often see this in Asian culture and sometimes other places.

When dressing openly (not provokedly), this person is confident. A tip for dressing: you can often see confident people like to dress clothes that’s show their chest or if they wear more layer, the outer layer shows the inner layer instead of covering. If you want to practice being confident, without being too show off, start in the winter and open up.

* Case study: In America, presidential candidate takes advantage of this torso signal a lot. You can often see them come to rallies and take off their jackets in public instead of doing it in the car as they want to say: “I’m open to you.”

Or they would held meeting in a place that is not formal so that they don’t have to wear suit and tie which is “close up”, instead, they can wear more casual and open clothes.

Negative sign

The body lean back or turn away even just slightly: express negative reaction. You can often observe couples, when they start to pull apart physically, they pull apart emotionally too.

Rigid posture: feeling nervous. It’s when someone hold the same body position for a long time as opposed to you can see comfortable people often move around and their body a lot.

When someone tries to shield their body, with their hands or close up their clothes, etc, it means they’re feeling vulnerable. You can argue that they feel cold, but that also means that they’re feeling vulnerable due to the weather, you need to see the background to judge.

A person is adjusting ties, collar or watch: they’re feeling uncomfortable. It’s a way of touching or shielding themselves.

A person is grabbing their arms tighter: growing annoyance.

Chest expand, but rapidly contract: under stress or feeling ill.

Puffing up chest: showing dominace.

Splay: comfort, dominance, but can be disrespectful to do in front of people of higher authority or even equal.

Shoulders rise to ear: low confidence.

Sign to watch out for

When someone removes their clothes, or unbutton, this means they want to fight.

Shoulder shrug is a sign of ” I don’t know” but if someone tries to imitate it and only do half shrug instead of a full one, that person is trying to deceive and not commit to what they are saying.

If you let your child get away with argument in a splay position, that child will lose respect for you over time.

Tips

Dress openly to show confidence, remove outer layer clothes in others’ sight to show that “I’m comfortable with you”

When a child is having a bad posture, hunching over, you should sit close to them as a way to “violating their personal space”, their mind will tense up and automatically sit straight as a response to “danger”.

I recommend reading: What’s everybody is saying by Joe Navarro.