For some years now, facial expressions, gestures, and unconscious bodily movements have been systematically studied by psychologists, who have given the name of "kinesics" to this field of knowledge. More recently, the term "body language" has become part of the general idiom, owing in part to popular books on the subject. Body language consists of movements by parts or all of the body, which communicate a message. In many instances this nonverbal communication is more emphatic than, and even at odds with, the verbal communication in which one may be engaged. The raised eyebrow, the tightly drawn mouth, the clasping and unclasping of hands—all of these send messages to others, and such information is considered useful in coming to understand more fully the complex process of human communication.
But there is a more crucial form of nonverbal communication that is directed not at others but at ourselves: the almost endless series of messages our bodies seem to send to us. In times of stress these messages can be unwelcome news. Although we receive bulletins of physical well-being, sometimes the report is of disturbing physical symptoms or general malaise.
This apparent communication has also been studied in recent years, with particular attention to those inner feelings that may give rise to or shape these messages. It has become more widely realized that mental and emotional states affect physical states. Awareness of this relationship may sometimes prove beneficial, in that people recognize more clearly than before the influence of thought on the body.
