Resting Joy Face

Resting Joy Face?!

What would that look like? Many of us are familiar with the term resting bitch face or resting asshole face (currently in my household we are calling this resting pickle face).

Does your internal experience not match what others see? Do others have a difficult time reading your expressed emotions?

Are your emotions expressed on a smaller or larger scale than you experience them? When you are focused on something, do others think you are angry?

Social Signalling is an important piece of how we communicate.

There have been studies that suggest at least 60-70 % of our communication is not just the words that we say, but how we say it, our facial expressions and body language.

Can you tell if someone is smiling without seeing their face? Our voice sounds friendlier when we smile. Try this out when interacting with others by phone--when you smile while speaking, does the other person respond positively?

People who tend toward the overcontrolled side of the temperament spectrum can be more likely to struggle with having a flat or expressionless face. This can impact our relationships and ability to get objectives with others met.

Feeling effective at having others understand what we are trying to communicate is an essential task and an ongoing project in our lives.

Tips:

• Ask for feedback from someone you trust.

• Consider self inquiry about the difference between what you are feeling and how others seem to perceive what you are communicating.

• Observe tension in your body.

Additional graphic from Thomas Lynch explaining how we can get in cycles of both open and inhibited expression: