Helping Hands
IAM District 141 EAP — Employee Assistance Program
What Your Body Language is Telling Others
Body language includes everything from our facial expressions, to eye contact, our gestures, stance, and posture. From a flip of the hair to hands on your hips, how you move, gesture, and your facial expressions can say as much as what comes out of your mouth. While the nuances of body language are complicated, there are some common body language signs worth a thousand words.
Body Language ABC’s
Flipping your hair, shaking hands, making eye contact, and smiling are more than just movements -- they're a part of your nonverbal communication, adding emphasis and emotion.
"Body language represents a separate communication process beyond words," says Ross Buck, PhD, a professor of communication sciences and psychology at the University of Connecticut. "It exists simultaneously with language, but it is emotional and largely happening at the subconscious level."
What are some of the basic body language cues that we display and what kind of effect can they have on the impression we make on other people?
- Posture can be sign of dominance or submissiveness. Shoulders back with an erect posture can be a sign of dominance while being slumped can mean insecurity, guilt, or a feeling of shame.
- Eye contact"While the rules of eye-contact engagement vary from culture to culture, in the U.S., it can mean honesty and forthrightness," says Buck. The eyes are a powerful part of our body language cues and can express everything from personal interest, to annoyance, to happiness and pain, he explains.
- Facial Expression Your facial expressions can show exactly how you feel and give everyone a clue about whether you are being honest or not. Being aware of what your expression is revealing as you are talking with others can help your communications be consistent.
Look for more information on Body Language next month.
Taking Anger to Heart
—When someone cuts you off on a busy highway, do you pound the steering wheel in fury and shout at the driver? Or, do you swallow your anger and dwell on it later? Either way, you’re not being kind to your heart, researchers say.
If you respond to every anger-inducing situation by blowing your stack or holding it in, you could be setting yourself up for serious heart problems. According to Ohio State University researchers, there’s evidence that people who respond rigidly to anger-provoking events are likely to wind up with significantly elevated levels of heart-damaging cholesterol.
Experts suggest that the best response to anger-provoking situations is to be creative and flexible. It’s important to turn off the anger as soon as possible to reduce its physiological effects. In subjects who always reacted to an anger-provoking situation in the same negative way, researchers found levels of “bad” or LDL cholesterol ranked higher, regardless of whether they expressed the anger or held it inside.
Researchers also found that those who were flexible, but who hid their anger slightly more often than showing it, had the lowest levels of bad and total cholesterol.
Why does intense anger trigger the release of lipids (fats) from the tissues into the bloodstream? The body releases the fatty substances for energy as part of its “fight or flight” survival response to perceived danger. In some situations, the healthiest response is to carefully assert your views, which will soon allow the anger to defuse. Still, remain under control and don’t become aggressive. Other survival-threatening situations (such as being chewed out by the boss) may have to be endured in silence until you can slip away to burn off the negative energy, perhaps through a brisk walk or some other vigorous activity.
CALENDAR
November 13-18
EAP I
Placid Harbor, Md.
William P. Winpisinger Center
November 2, 2011
IAH Initial Local Lodge Meeting
November 24, 2011
Thanksgiving
December 25, 2011
Christmas
January 1, 2012
New Years Da
IAM Peer Employee Assistance
The heart and soul of the District 141 Employee Assistance Program is the local lodge EAP peer coordinators. These dedicated men and women volunteer their personal time to assist other union members and their families who are experiencing personal difficulties. EAP coordinators do not make clinical diagnoses or clinical evaluations. However, they are trained to make a basic assessment of your situation and refer you to an appropriate resource for a more detailed evaluation. EAP coordinators will follow up to ensure you have been able to access services that addressed the difficulty you were experiencing.