So what happens to we're asleep? Despite the fact that we spend a good portion of our lives fast asleep (around a third), most of us aren’t really aware of the fact that we experience different stages of sleep and different times of the night. Sleep is a vastly complicated science, and a typical night of sleep consists of just five sleep stages. Though sleep can also be divided into two broader stages, non-rapid eye movement (NREM), and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The vast majority of our sleep (around 75 to 80 per cent) is NREM; during NREM sleep, dreams tend to be more abstract and quite vague, whereas during REM sleep dreams are more detailed and emotionally charged. During a nights sleep,every 90 to 110 minutes you cycle through five different stages of sleep, often experiencing anything between three to five dreams each night.
Stage One:Within a few minutes of falling asleep your breathing gradually becomes more steady and the heart rate begins to slow down. Your brain produces what are called alpha and theta waves (alpha waves are involved in relaxing you while theta waves are involved in your emotional experience) and your eye movements slow down. This stage of sleep is fairly brief, lasting up to seven minutes. This is where you are in light sleep stage, meaning that you’re somewhat conscious and can be woken easily. Stage Two: During this stage your muscle activity decreases further and your awareness of the outside world begins to fade away. As a sleeper you would not likely be conscious enough to notice any outside stimuli. During this stage, which is still also fairly light, the brain produces sudden increases in brain wave frequency known as sleep spindles (sleep spindles are bursts of brain activity visible on an EEG monitor). Shortly after your brain waves begin to slow down. Stage Three: Deep, slow brain waves known as Delta Waves begin to emerge during this stage (Delta waves are associated with relaxation and healing). This stage transitions you from a light sleep to a deep sleep. Stage Four: This is a deep sleep that lasts for roughly 30 minutes producing more delta waves. Your body begins to perform restorative functions such as tissue and muscle growth, energy restoration and memory consolidation where your brain files away any new information. Stage Five: Most dreaming occurs during this stage known as REM. REM sleep is defined by the eye movement, increased respiration rate and an in increase brain activity. REM sleep is also referred to as paradoxical sleep because, while the brain and other systems in your become more active, your muscles become more relaxed to the point of paralysis. Dreaming occurs due to an increase in brain activity, though your voluntary muscles become paralyzed. Voluntary muscles are the muscles you can consciously move such as moving your arms and legs or tensing your abdominals. Involuntary muscles are the muscles you do not have conscious control over such as your heart or your inner gut. Muscle paralysis during this stage of sleep is a function to prevent you acting out your dreams whilst you're sleeping.
As you may know body language is more complex than it seems at first glance. This is because reading body language has so many nuances and subtleties you have to account for such as context, culture, mood, level of comfort, baseline behavior etc. The list can go on. For example a country and its culture can have a wide range of facial expressions, body movements, and hand gestures that can signal particular emotions and feelings but go from one country to another and those same gestures and expressions can get lost in translation. Take a look at these 10 quick and interesting facts about body language and see if you learn something new. Because body language is often nuanced and subtle with wide variations of expression you'll always learn something new. There are also experts who professionally study and research in reading body language, and even they can’t always read and interpret body language correctly. It just goes to show how complex human beings can be! We hope you enjoy this list of interesting body language facts.
1. Amazingly woman have a wider range of peripheral vision which allows her to look at a man’s body from head to toe without even getting noticed. A male’s peripheral vision on the other hand is not as good. This is why a man would typically move his gaze up and down a woman’s body which is very obvious and can wind up with the man getting caught.
2. Britain, similar to a lot of Northern Europe and the Far East, is labelled as a “non-contact” culture where there is little physical contact in their daily interactions. The Middle East, Latin America, and Southern Europe are considered “high contact cultures” where physical touch is a part of everyday socializing.
3. Covering the eyes or "eye blocking" such as prolonged blinking, lowering the eyes for a longer than usual period are all powerful signals that portray confusion, disbelief or disagreement.
4. Custom officers often notice that passengers who point their feet toward the exit while talking to the officer to make their custom’s declaration are more likely to be hiding something they should have declared in the first place. 5. Research shows that whatever we’re feeling first shows up in our body before entering our conscious minds microseconds later.
6. Kissing and romantic touch releases Oxytocin in the brain. It is a hormone that strengthens the emotional bond between the two people.
7. Similar to how a dog will expose its throat to show submission or surrender, humans use their palms to show that they are harmless and not threatening.
8. It has been noted that in stores thieves will try to hide their physical presence by restricting their motions by hindering their head exposure by raising the shoulders and at times lowering the head. Otherwise most people walk around the store with their arms quite free and active and their posture upright.
9. Squinting is a motion that can be very brief, just fraction of a second, but it can often signal negative thoughts or emotions. We tend to squint when we are angry or when we hear sounds, or music or even voices we don’t like.
10. Even when a person is standing still, a person’s body is always telling a story. For more free and interesting tips on body language, click to get our free Body Language Guide here
Normally misunderstood, introverts generally are lower energy and conservative than their extravert counterparts, but because western society often favours the extravert for their gregarious nature and their outwardly focused approach to life and the people within it introverts often get looked over and even worse misunderstood. As written previously in this post regarding introverts sometimes being introverted can be misconstrued as shy, reserved, even unsociable but in actual fact it is just a lower energy way of interacting with their given environment and they are energised by lower energy activities such as reading, socializing with a smaller group of close friends and long walks.
Susan Cain, the author of Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talkingspeaks in this video below in depth about introversion and their inner strengths and characteristics as well as how some environmental factors such as businesses, classrooms and even group think have their part to play when utilising an introvert personality. She also talks about her own personal experiences on being an introvert and how it affects her, a truly illuminating video from a speaker who clearly has had a lot of experience and done a good level of research on this subject.
Body language can communicate a wealth of information about someone but usually people do not have the correct knowledge or have had the training to be able to spot the subtle sub-communications that take place that the person themselves aren't usually aware of. Having an awareness of peoples body language helps refine your quality of your personal interactions and make you that much more intuitive as you learn to fine tune your ''radar'' for other peoples non-verbals and even improve on your own body language as well. This brief guide on the psychology of body language will describe some facts about non verbal communication and the psychology behind these different aspects to help you understand why they are the way they are.
Having objects in front of your body Having an object in front of you serves as a barrier between you and the other person you are speaking to and barriers normally indicate a sense of insecurity whether it is rooted from shyness, intimidation or maybe just plain distrust. For instance a desk between you and an upset worker at the office, a stool between you and a person you don't really want to speak to and a notepad between you and that person you are about to give bad news to all serve as a barrier or defensive mechanism in the same way you cross your arms when you a feeling insecure. Small objects can serve as barriers also such as a pen on a desk between you and someone else sitting on the other end the same goes for mugs, cups and utensils. Just about anything can be used as a form of a barrier to limit exposure to your body in case of a potential emotional attack. Joe Navarro an ex FBI agent speaks about body language and the use of objects in detail in his book What Every Body Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People
Pupil body language Whether someone is feeling either emotionally open or defensive isn't just indicated through the main parts of the body such as the arms, legs and torso, these emotions are also signaled via the pupils. For instance when you see something you favor, like or you're feeling aroused your pupils quickly open up and dilate to let in a substantial amount of light allowing a large amount of information to reach the brain, while on the other hand when you feel defensive or an unpleasant stimulus presents itself the pupils will close and constrict blocking information from reaching the brain as well. Keep in mind for contextual reasons changes in lighting as they affect how your pupils will react even before any emotions are present; in a brighter setting your pupils will constrict to stop too much reaching the brain while in a darker setting your pupils will dilate to allow more light to reach the brain giving you a better view. Think of the pupils as a something similar to a dimmer switch. Lastly these responses are purely subconscious; meaning we have no control and are barely aware these responses are even happening while there happening.
Early attraction signs and body language In regards to dating and courtship males and females are two different sides to the same coin. In the presence of the opposite sex who they find attractive they will carry out behaviours to emphasize certain characteristics and use body language and non verbal communication to also make themselves seem more attractive. For instance males may act more dominant when around a female they find attractive because dominance is a masculine trait females find attractive. When sitting down or walking he may spread his arms, legs and feet out more giving the impression that he needs more space to take up his large stature. The male may be more controlled in his general behavior also talking in a more deeper evened out voice while making the use of his hands to highlight what he is saying (again taking up space).
On the other side of the coin females will act more submissive when in the presence of a male they find attractive as submissiveness can emphasizes her femininity and males are more attractive to females who are very feminine. When she is seated or standing her legs are more close together to give the impression that she doesn't take up much physical space, the same reason goes for when she uses her hands when she speaks; she'll keep them close to her body not using a lot of the space around her and maybe highlighting parts of her body. She is more likely to perform other behaviors such as tilting her head to the side which exposes her neck making her seem more submissive, she may also have her back arched to tighten and highlight her buttocks while at the same time this same position pushes out her chest to emphasize her breasts also, though some females may lean forward to expose her breasts to give them more shape.
What is fear? Fear is an emotional response towards something which can pose a potential threat alerting us to danger. The threat can be towards ones physical well being or the threat can be towards ones social standing, both can be experienced as very real and result with the urge to withdraw away from the object of endangerment. When someone experiences fear not only is there a negative emotional response, the response is also physical which includes sweating, heightened adrenaline levels and an increased heart rate, this is a fight or flight response which is triggered where the body prepares itself to flee or combat. What has just been described in regards to the physical aspect of fear is called a biochemical reaction; it is likely an evolutionary development from before the early prehistoric human ages to protect and aid in survival against other species, predators and other hazards posing a potential threat.
The emotional aspect of fear naturally alters from person to person as some people are better at handling fear than others even welcoming it while others have severe negative reactions in the presence of fear causing them to avoid any fear inducing situation at all costs though most people are somewhere in the middle. Phobias A phobia is a persistent fear of an object or an event which causes the sufferer to go to extreme lengths to avoid all possible interactions with the perceived problem. Though there has not been an official explanation as to how phobias develop many psychologists have said that people develop phobias through a mixture of genetic dispositions with a mix of environmental and social causes. There are three separate types of phobias: Specific or simple phobias. This type of phobia is in reaction to objects such as heavy machinery or knives, animals like spiders, snakes or dogs and specific situations flying, using elevators and being in or near large vehicles. This doesn't normally interfere with their everyday life as either they rarely encounter their fear or they finds ways to avoid it. Social phobia. This is a fear of social situations whether it involves going to get-togethers, parties even being in public such as something simple as going to the shops and high street. This fear stems from a fear of criticism and sometimes interpret other peoples actions as attempts to humiliate them and can over think conversations long after they've taken place. Agoraphobia. This a fear of open spaces where the sufferer avoids places and situations where they feel escape would be difficult in case an attack occurs, this can be anywhere from the grocery store to a park to a walk path. The agoraphobic feels safe in very few places , usually they mostly feel safe at home.
Anxieties. Similar to phobias as they aren't specific to any particular situation they are an irrational fear which can cause the sufferer top seek avoidance away from an object or situation regarding the phobia. Anxiety at its worst can result in just the thought of the object of fear can send the sufferer into a wild sense of terror, it is usually the imagining of the situation which gets blown out of proportion which sends the sufferer into a loop of picturing the worst case scenario even if it seems unlikely. This keeps the sufferer on guard in case of a ''possible situation''. People who are highly reactive in nature are more likely to suffer from anxieties but as they are extra cautious about everything this makes them well prepared and attentive towards people. Their extra sense of worry can manifest itself in being conscientious at their work or being well prepared for an exam even remembering minor details in booking a holiday, their ability to keep in mind every possible scenario keeps them on top of the most mundane tasks.
Ways fear can be treated Fears can be treated over a period of over time though it may take longer to treat and sometimes recovery can be near instant but this is depending on the person themselves and fear that is being dealt with. Here are a couple of the most common methods of treatment mainly use in a therapeutic setting.. Systematic desensitization Developed be South African psychiatrist Joseph Wolpe, systematic desensitization is a form of classical conditioning therapy where the sufferer is exposed to a succession of circumstances involving the sufferers phobia whilst being in a relaxed state. During this process the patient is first taught some relaxation techniques so that they may extinguish fear and anxiety once it arises in the face of their own personal anxiety or phobia, this may include visualisations, breathing exercises, muscle relaxation exercises etc
Once the patient has learnt these techniques the individual will then be told to use them to help overcome a series of progressive exposures starting from a relatively small fear which will be related top the phobia or anxiety, then next being exposed to a bigger fear which will still be related to the initial phobia laddering all the way up to the target fear. For instance if the patient has a fear of spiders he or she will first be shown a picture of a spider, then a toy spider, then after some sufficient time the patient will be shown a see through box with a spider in it, then that same box will be shown with the lid open, then after some time the patient will put his or her hand in the box, then the patient will touch the spider, then lastly the patient will pick up and hold the spider. By the end of it all the incremental jumps leading to the fear itself will be associated with the relaxation techniques used making the patient desensitized to the phobia or anxiety and eventually the negative emotions attached to the phobia will be extinguished.
Flooding
Invented by psychologist Thomas Stampfl flooding sometimes referred to as exposure therapy is a faster method than systematic desensitization though not always as effective, this method involves putting the person in a situation where they would have to face their phobia at its extreme, again using similar relaxation techniques as stated above attempting to replace the feeling of fear with the feeling of relaxation. Using the example of the patient having a phobia of spiders, using flooding the patient maybe told instantly to hold the spider in their hand for a period of time whilst using relaxation exercises such as muscle relaxation exercises, breathing exercises, visualisations etc until they begin to feel at ease. The experience itself can be stressful to the patient but can help them snap out of their self-created negative associations towards their phobia and may well be necessary if the phobia is interfering with their life. This method is not typically for every individual and the therapist usually interviews their patient to determine whether to use flooding on them as sometimes the individual is not prepared to endure that level of anxiety in one go.
Pretty much everybody has the ability on some level or another to read facial expressions. this can be from cheerful to sad to angry amongst other emotions, from seeing an expressions on somebody's face you can identify that emotion due to past experiences. Now we all know people can fake their facial expressions and most of us have even done it ourselves whether its bumping into somebody you don't really like and greeting them with a fake smile, acting calm when receiving bad news or acting really pleased when you receive that bright green woolly jumper on your birthday for the fifth time. Though we may act nice and relaxed on the outside on the inside it is a different story we may feel disappointed, sadness anger. Sometimes the opposite is true like when you hear good news and try to contain your excitement. Microexpressions are the result of hiding your true emotions; they aren't easily controllable and often leak out without you knowing. When these microexpressions do occur they can last for as short as one-twenty-fifth of a second. The expressions we display for longer periods of time are called macroexpressions and are generally easier to spot and are also evoked by our emotions but unlike microexpressions they can be faked. One of the most well known researchers on the psychology of micrexpressions and lying is Dr Paul Ekman, as a researcher of the subject for about 40 years he discovered that emotions are universal and also biological, and by 1972 he identified a list of seven main microexpressions, these expressions are.. Anger An emotion which is usually quite easy to spot than other expressions anger is very typical in its nature, the lips narrow and tense up slightly, the eyebrows slant and furrow together and eye contact has more focus and intensity. Disgust An emotional reaction against something you really do not like, though it doesn't have to be physical like the sight or smell of a certain food, the sight of bodily fluids or something unclean disgust can be towards something you may hear of such as a belief you disagree with or a story that is gory or unpleasant. disgust is often recognised with the upper lip raised exposing teeth and wrinkling of the nose, the cheeks may be raised and the eyes squint also. Contempt Closely linked with disgust contempt is only in reaction to people and their actions and unlike disgust it isn't in reaction to physical objects, smells and bodily fluids. Contempt is recognised by the wrinkling of the nose and raising of the upper lip but this time on one side of the lip instead of raising the front lip when feeling disgust. Fear Fear can sometimes be misidentified as surprise; this is because both emotions use similar facial muscles. When fear presents itself the eyes are most noticeable as they are more wide open and the mouth opens slightly, the lips pull back towards the ears and the eyebrows are raised considerably higher and pulled together. Surprise Even though it is linked to the emotion of fear surprise does have some differences; the eyebrows are raised, eyes are widened from the outer corners and the jaw is opened just a little being thrust forward. You may also notice that a person being surprised will gasp for air ever so slightly. Depending on the context surprise can be towards something either negative or positive, keep in mind if a follow up reaction is toward something positive a smile may follow the initial response or if it is something negative the following reaction maybe to step or lean back even frown towards the object of negativity.
Sadness An interest emotion as it can empathised with quite easily, for instance if you see somebody who is feeling sad or upset after enough time you will find yourself feeling that very same emotion. When people experience sadness the outer corner of the eyes droop down while the eyes themselves can be fixated on something or in a daze as the eyelids sag, the mouth similarly droop down from the outer corners also. Interestingly enough sadness can be displayed in one part of the face so everything described earlier can be individually isolated and still be recognised as sadness.
Free £59.50 from Topcashback. Click here to learn how! Happiness Just like sadness happiness is an emotion which normally can be empathised and even cause you to smile yourself. Using pretty much the whole face the microexpression of happiness uses the mouth and eyes which are given a lift from each outer corner, though people do fake this expression it can be spotted as people who fake happiness rarely incorporate the eyes which is a key part of displaying this emotion. When studying somebody's non-verbals such as microexpressions it is always useful to keep in mind the context of the situation, this will help to correctly assess the subjects non-verbals with greater accuracy minimizing any misreadings that may occur. A notable authority on the subject is Dr Paul Ekman who realised the existence of microexpressions when he was lecturing a group of young psychiatrists who wanted to know how to tell if a previously suicidal psychiatric patient was lying when asked if they were feeling better in preparation for their possible release. As we know psychiatric patients normally make claims of a positive recovery even though they may not have not recovered at all, and if they managed to gain permission to leave the hospital they may make an attempt to take their own lives. Because some patients can be particularly convincing the young psychiatrists wanted to know; is there any way to be sure they are telling the truth? So Ekman decided to look into it using a collection of pre-recorded 12 minute interviews of some of the patients at the hospital. During a conversation with one of the patients after looking at the interviews the patient told him that she lied to him. so Ekman looked back at the film slowing it right down until he found across two frames an expression of extreme distress, and after that he wound up finding more examples of deceit within the interview. In the words of Dr Ekman... and that was the discovery of microexpressions.
An important factor in growth and development. Similar to food, water and air, the human touch is another one of our basic needs as we have a constant desire to be connected with others. This is a innate need originates from within the womb and being the first sense we develop from 8 weeks inside the warm confines of the womb it can become apparent that physical touch is a vital part of our lives and we need it to survive, interact with our surroundings and stimulate growth. What happens if we do not develop touch early on If touch is not developed early on especially the first six months after birth the new born can suffer from physiological consequences such as being underweight, the immune system would not be fully developed and this can make the child more vulnerable to diseases and the child would be sick more consistently and generally be undernourished, brain development will be affected also giving the infant an increased level of cortisol which is a stress hormone which in large amounts can damage the hippocampus, the part of the brain involved with memory and learning. In worst case scenarios where the child has been extensively deprived of physical touch the child can actually die.
Bonding An article in the Scientific American explains that children who suffer from deprivation of touch early on have altered levels of oxytocin (a hormone present in breast milk) and vasepressin which are deemed important in social bonding. In regards to mother and infant bonding touch is key, the very act of breast feeding has bonding elements to it, the close loving touch, the warm embrace, eye contact and even the smell of the mothers body and clothes strengthen bonding as it all relates to physical closeness. Research shows that infants smile more when in physical contact than an other interaction including a parent and child and similarly the parent of smiles a lot more also in kind. Contrary, lack of bonding and attachment in an adults early life results in the said adult being emotionally withdrawn, angry, upset, cold, often depressed and overall an unsociable individual. Growth and health. Touch is vital for human development, failing to actively take care of this results in a failure to thrive in their surrounding environment and the ability to properly grow. Young infants and babies who are not touched also have a lack of growth hormone and as a result of this it can stunt a child's growth, this transcends also to a child's immune system where their bodies are more likely to struggle against diseases making them more likely to contract illnesses. Prevention is better than cure Human contact should be at abundance in the early life of a baby and not restricted to not just the mother but the father should get involved as well, though fathers tend not to get involved as much they should be encouraged to share physical contact so the baby is overall more relaxed and secure due to the bonding process as a family unit as opposed to just having one source of regular human contact, i.e. only the mother. Touch between the mother and father can promote healthy bonding ensuring the infant develop and grow better psychologically and socially later in life.
speaks in this video below in depth about introversion and their inner strengths and characteristics as well as how some environmental factors such as businesses, classrooms and even group think have their part to play when utilising an introvert personality. She also talks about her own personal experiences on being an introvert and how it affects her, a truly illuminating video from a speaker who clearly has had a lot of experience and done a good level of research on this subject.
