Body language/facial expressions

This may seem a little random.  I've been reading some material about body language, in the hopes that I might be able to improve my reading of other peoples body language - something I feel I'm very bad at.  Everything I've read seems to be assuming that you're capable of reading your own body language - for instance knowing what expression is on your own face without looking in a mirror. 

I can't.

I mentioned this to the person who is supposed to provide me with advice & her only response was "most people can".  She also said that she'd never heard of anyone not being able to read their own body language, & that was the end of the discussion.

I can't seem to find anything anywhere relating to this issue - am I really the only person in the whole world who can't do this?  Will I ever be able to do anything about it?

Parents
  • I've had the same problem for as long as I can remember, and I have also read books about body language, but they didn't help me as much as I hoped. I think it's because in a book the various facial expressions are laid out in pictures with full explanation, but in real life no one "freezes" for long enough for you accurately identify what it was. You can memorise stuff about the angle of the eyebrows and the direction their feet are pointing in, but who has time to work through all that when the expressions are often so fleeting or ambiguous? Not to mention attempting to tailor their own body language to fit in real time.

Reply
  • I've had the same problem for as long as I can remember, and I have also read books about body language, but they didn't help me as much as I hoped. I think it's because in a book the various facial expressions are laid out in pictures with full explanation, but in real life no one "freezes" for long enough for you accurately identify what it was. You can memorise stuff about the angle of the eyebrows and the direction their feet are pointing in, but who has time to work through all that when the expressions are often so fleeting or ambiguous? Not to mention attempting to tailor their own body language to fit in real time.

Children
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