A Simple Gesture

Last week, we practiced using our sense of touch, a way of physically connecting with the world around us. This week, let’s explore another form of communication without words, that of movement or gestures - body language.

What is a gesture? According to Merriam-Webster, it’s a movement that expresses or emphasizes an idea, sentiment, or attitude. Gestures are spontaneous, immediate responses to what’s happening in the present and often express a feeling. Think of how you might raise a hand to protect yourself in the face of potential threat or smile in response to seeing someone you love. These days, while wearing masks, we have to learn to smile with our eyes. Dance is a form of gesture.

How do gestures arise? There is a little known inner sense called proprioception. It has to do with how we orient ourselves and move in the world and it’s pretty miraculous.

“The word proprioception refers to our body’s proprioceptive system or sense of movement. Just as the five senses take in information about the outer world and transmit it to our brains, this sense gathers information from the inner world of our bodies. Nerves, called proprioceptors, located in the muscles, joints, and tendons communicate with the brain, orienting the body to its own movement, position, and tone. We smile in response to something without having to think about it.” ~ Writing the Mind Alive, Linda Trichter Metcalf and Tobin Simon

Think about it. This sense helps you to orient your body and move automatically. When you move you’re making a gesture that communicates something to the world. This is the language of your body. It’s a type of conversation, another way of touching.

“Things happen when you make gestures in the world - someone sees them, someone sends something back, you make connections with someone interested in similar things.”~ Uta Barth

What I love about gestures are that they’re often true and unique expressions of the moment, no artifice. They’re real and intimate. For example, my daughter tilts her head up and to the left in her own way when she’s considering something. 

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, who was a philosopher of phenomenology (the study of being), writes that the basis of meaning is first communicated through spontaneous gestures of the body in response to its environment. He expands on this by saying that all phenomena, not just humans, are animate and expressive. Trees sway, flowers tilt towards the sun, concrete cracks, and rivers flow. They may not speak in the same way we humans do but everything has the power to touch us. 

Gestures are often subtle and need attention to be noticed. Take a long look at the gesture of the grapevine leaf in the photograph above. It blew my mind, the living expression of that leaf in that moment of time. Photographer Jay Maisel echoes this idea when he says,

“Gesture is not just the determined look on a face; it’s not just the grace of a dancer or athlete. It exists in a leaf, a tree, and a forest. It reveals the complicated veins of the leaf, the delta-like branches of the tree, and when seen from the air, the beautiful texture of the forest. Gesture gives you a visual story of the essence of what you are looking at. It’s important to realize that gesture can be about someone, one who is absolutely still, in repose or even asleep. You can show resignation, sorrow, thought, introspection, delight, acceptance, and more,” ~ Jay Maisel via Shutterbug

Learning to interpret body language is an important skill that can help you navigate life and relationships. But I think it goes even further than that. Learning to see gestures offers intimate glimpses of reality, ones that might possibly lead to seeing more clearly and ultimately, greater empathy.

Practice

This week, notice how you move and communicate in response to your environment. Notice also how everything else responds to its environment and communicates in its own way. Be touched by gestures. They express the essence of something. Such a good practice to cultivate. We can be nourished by this speech if we take the time to see. 

• Notice the subtle gestures that make someone you love who they are (human or pet). What are your unique gestures? Hint: Ask someone who knows you well to tell you.

• Notice the automatic movements and gestures of people, flora, and fauna as you go about your day. Track your own movements and gestures. 

• What gestures of the season can you discover?

• Practice proprioceptive writing (see resources below).

• Dance like nobody’s watching!

How does this help you to see more clearly?

Resources

I highly recommend watching this short video (2:42) on gesture in photography by Jay Maisel.

The book, Writing the Mind Alive, offers interesting automatic writing exercises based on our proprioceptive system. The founders talk about the practice in this short video.