The Universal Language

The universal language is movement. It is the one language that all living things share. To move is an essential aspect of our definition of what it means to be alive.

Verbal language helps us communicate about our thinking, talking about the past and future, and dealing with abstractions, the things that have to do with our conscious minds. But for the rest of it -- emotions, intentions, social status, sexuality, gender, communal affiliations, power preferences -- information mostly about our subconscious minds, it's our bodies that communicate most clearly. Human facial expressions are particularly communicative. Even small movements of the eyes, mouth, or nose can convey deep emotion, subterfuge, or intent beyond any words we may say or even consciously know.

As a species we've evolved to "read" the body language of others. We don't necessarily realize we're doing it, but we learn a lot from the angle of someone's eyebrow or shuffle of their feet. We read their facial ticks, their eye movement, and the way they run their fingers through their hair. We are aware when the body language doesn't match their words. Obviously, some of us are better at this than others, and the ability to understand body language can be improved with conscious practice, but it's something that even very young children can do, because, after all, it's our native tongue, the language we share with all living things. Indeed, the vast majority of living things on this planet, including plants, thrive perfectly well without verbal language at all.

As preschool educators, whether we know it or not, we are forever studying the body language of the children in our care. We all know the "potty dance." We recognize when they are "hangry." We learn to tell when this or that child is on the edge of being overwhelmed, if they're frightened, if they're tired. If we take our responsibilities seriously, we get quite good at reading the nuances, because we all know that when it comes to young children verbal language (e.g., "Why did you do that?" "Are you sleepy?") often doesn't get us anywhere.

The other interesting thing about body language is that it's much more difficult for us to lie. Our various ticks, our blushes, our unconscious hand gestures, our posture . . . Only the most practiced and conscious of confabulators -- like a professional con artist or politician or actor -- can "lie" convincingly with their bodies. Young children may lie with their words, a necessary developmental practice, as they explore "theory of mind" through "counterfactual" communication, but never with their bodies.

It's important to remember that we too communicate with our bodies. Children understand a clenched jaw, even if the words we speak are honey sweet. They hear the disconnect and, as it does with all of us, find the contradiction confusing. I've found that when I want to know how I'm really feeling, it's necessary to check in with what my own body is doing. Am I holding tension in my legs, back, or shoulders? Am I chewing my nails? Messing with my hair? Scratching imaginary itches? Unable to stand still? Where are my eyes looking? Why is my jaw clenched? Which way are my feet turned? All of these aspects of my body language are communicating to those who around me, but they can also be a form of self-talk, something that often is at odds with what's going on in my head. 

It's a form of self-care to take time each day to listen carefully to our own body language with as much clarity and purpose as we do the children in our care. Not only does it help us understand what we are unconsciously communicating to the children, but also what our subconscious is trying to tell us about ourselves.

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