E The Holistic View 129
To begin, there are three parts to looking at the holistic body
language of a person.
- Energy: How lively is the person? Does she look
tired or invigorated? Is it normal or abnormal? When
I say “energy,” I am talking from head to toe, and
even more than that. Bill Clinton has energy that
showed even after his heart surgery. If I were to see
that energy fail, it indicates that something is going on
in his head to cause a downward shift. - Direction: Is the energy this person displays free-
wheeling, all over the board? Is it sharply aimed at a
common goal? Temper this perception with what is
normal for the person. You cannot, for instance, look
once at someone who is scatterbrained and assume
there is a root cause other than genes. - Focus: Is the energy focused internally or externally?
Is the person directed at getting away from some-
thing, or simply disconnected from those around him?
This can tell us more about the mental state of someone
than the other two combined.
These three, primary criteria form the foundation of this new
system for looking holistically at a person. They serve as big-chunk
categories in analyzing behavior. I’m going to wrap them in a simple
label: mood indicators. Combined with the scalp-to-sole list and the
checklist on posture that follows, you can get close to clarifying the
meaning of a person’s body language.