Importance of Nonverbal Communication in Relationships

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It’s true that love, trust, and honesty all play an essential part in building a healthy relationship. However, people often neglect the most crucial part of any relationship which is communication. It plays a vital role in creating a healthy relationship, whether it’s verbal or nonverbal communication, your relationship depends on it.

Telling your partner that you love them, again and again, might lose its charm at a certain point. And sometimes you need to express your love and affection without using words. Utilize different methods of non-verbal communication such as hand signs, facial expressions, and other body gestures. To live a happily married life, you need to learn how to interact with your spouse without a verbal conversation as well.

It’s true that sometimes our actions can hurt someone more than our words. Even though you might be listening to what your partner has to say, but by not making eye contact, you may lead them into thinking that what they have to say is of no importance to you, even though that might not be the case.

What is nonverbal communication in marriage?

It is not rocket science to understand what is nonverbal communication. In simple words, positive or negative body language, maintaining eye contact with your audience, facial expressions, and other bodily gestures are examples of nonverbal communication in relationships. 

Both verbal and nonverbal communication help to create and maintain relationships.

Why is nonverbal communication necessary?

Nonverbal communication in a relationship can be incredibly reassuring and understanding the importance of nonverbal communication in relationships can be crucial for the longevity of your marriage/relationship.

From a warm smile to a slight touch on the arm are all forms of nonverbal communication that can help in increasing the closeness between you and your significant other.

Such types of interaction play an essential role in how two people in a relationship can relate with one another. Most of the time we fail to realize that the unconscious mind is powerful and plays a crucial role. 

It picks up things that might not be that obvious; your unconscious mind is most likely to notice things about other people, what they’re doing, their reactions, etc. even though they might not be that obvious.

Body language is another example of nonverbal communication in marriage, a person’s posture can tell you a lot about what the other is thinking. There are individuals who can’t or don’t want to say what they feel. Determining nonverbal cues can help one understand what their spouse is going through.

Nonverbal communication – what you can do

While apologizing, smile a bit to show that you really are sorry. When you see your partner is stressed out, a hug or a light touch on their arm will show them that you’re there for them even if they don’t wish to talk about it yet.

Make eye contact to show them that you’re listening and you think what they have to say is important to you.

Notice what nonverbal cue your partner is giving to you. See if they make eye contact during a conversation. Look at their posture, etc.

How to improve your nonverbal communication

You need to understand three important things –

• What is nonverbal communication?
• Why is nonverbal communication important?
• How to improve nonverbal communication?

The answer to the first question is already mentioned in one of the previous paragraphs of the article and is readily available on the World Wide Web.

On the other hand, the answer to the second question is nonverbal cues shared between people during a conversation says a lot more than mere words can convey. The importance of nonverbal communication is undeniable. 

When you use hand gestures and facial expressions during a conversation, you are trying hard to put forth your point to the others. 

Another interesting fact about nonverbal communication in marriage or any relationship is that it becomes easier to catch a cheater or a liar. Their unwillingness to make eye-contacts during conversations, their body language, and hand movements will tell you they are hiding something or simply lying.

Hence, both verbal and nonverbal communication is equally important.

Now, let’s understand how you can improve nonverbal communication in romantic relationships like marriage.

1. Express your affection and love

Telling your partner you love them is a great way to keep your marriage happy and healthy. And to do that it’s not necessary to say the three words ‘I love you’ every single time. In fact, you can also express your love through other sweet and kind gestures.

As mentioned earlier, nonverbal communication in marriage involves things such as body language, maintaining eye contact, your facial expressions, and gestures, etc. It’s essential that you express affection towards your spouse in a physical, non-sexual way to keep a marriage healthy.

If you aren’t able to ‘show’ how you feel, there’s a chance that your spouse might think that you don’t truly love them, hence the beginnings of marriage issues. 

To show your affection toward them, you can make use of simple gestures such as holding their hands or rubbing their shoulders while watching TV, or even giving them an expected hug.

2. Pay attention to each other’s mood

A healthy marriage requires you and your partner to pay attention to each other’s moods and emotions. People tend to give out quite a lot of cues regarding their mood nonverbally; you must understand these signals to know what’s going on in their minds. 

For example, if they’re making a lot of noise while washing the dishes, it might be their way to tell you they’re feeling upset about something.

3. Handle disagreements positively

No marriage is free from disagreements. However, you can prevent a disagreement from turning into a full blown out argument. Nonverbal communication plays an essential role in verbal communication. 

So, when expressing yourself during a disagreement, it’s often the words you don’t say, but communicate nonverbally that can blow the situation out of proportion.

That’s why it’s better to maintain a positive posture during an argument. Rolling your eyes turns your hands into fists, or banging your hand on something won’t help you. 

4. Surprise them time to time

You can surprise your partner by doing small things, such as leaving sweet notes for them to read, getting or making little gifts for them, buying flowers, cooking dinner or by simply doing their share of the chores. 

There are a lot of ways you can communicate your feelings and affections without speaking a word. This is why nonverbal communication is important. 

So, give the above-mentioned nonverbal communication in marriage points a try. It might take time to perfect them, but with enough devotion you’ll be able to strengthen your marital relationship with both verbal and nonverbal interaction.