Body language and gestures are not something we are born with. It's what we learn finally.

It is
part of our life that our culture and values teach us as we grow up. However, some cultures, body
language, and gestures of other countries and societies can be learned to gain experience. It can be useful
if you are traveling somewhere or living in that place, or doing business there. Learning body language
and gestures of other countries certainly help you to communicate well with the locals. It's easy to take
the way we communicate for granted because it comes naturally to most of us. But seeing and learning
different ways - not just languages but gestures, manners, and underlying beliefs - can be rewarding and
help you make a good first impression among your friends and colleagues.

In Asia, you'll often find that culture is initially formal but becomes less so as relationships
develop. Always be attentive and polite as you would at home. An open-minded and receptive traveler
listens, waits, and doesn't make assumptions. Crossing the road and crossing the world aren't so different
after all.

Most meanings of the body language and gestures outside the Philippines are different from what
the body language and gestures are inside the Philippines. Based on the video that I watched, only one
gesture is similar to the Philippines, which was the thumbs up. However, it depicts a different meaning. In
the Philippines, thumbs up is considered an appropriate gesture, and it means that you agree on something
or someone. In the video, thumbs up were described as an obscene gesture, which is not good in many
other countries. Even if all the body language and gestures presented are all different from the
Philippines; thus, the video gives us new insight and information about the different cultures and leads us
to be more culturally aware and sensitive.

The practice of body language and hand gestures are very common in daily communication in
Filipino culture. If you are an ex-pat living in the Philippines, you would want to familiarize yourself with
these common gestures to avoid any Filipino culture misunderstanding. Here are a few well-known forms
of non-verbal communication and what they mean in the Philippines.

In the Philippines, the most common gesture that we do that conveys respect to the elderly or the
older people is "pagmamano" or bless. It signifies respect and humility towards the elderly, and if
younger people miss doing it, it will be considered disrespectful by a lot of people. This type of gesture is
common to people who were born and raised in the Philippines. This is the act of younger people showing
their utmost respect towards their elders by gently reaching for their hand and touching their forehead
with it while bowing. This gesture or body language has been considered a tradition of all Filipinos for a
very long time. All children were taught this starting from a very young age.

Another thing is "Lip pointing." This is another type of gesture or body language from the
Filipinos, and they commonly use this. This means that when someone asks you about a specific
direction, about the placement of a certain thing, or the whereabouts of a person, instead of pointing it
using your finger, most Filipinos use their lips in pointing at something or someone.
 Like in most countries, handshaking is a small gesture with Filipinos when meeting someone for
the first time. While both greet each other through handshaking, they are usually introduced who first
offer their hand. In some instances, men have to wait for women to show their hand first.

When you are about to pass in between two people talking, you don't need to say "excuse me".
Doing so will only interrupt their conversation. Lower your head and extend your arm downwards before
going in between them. Without saying anything, this gesture instantly indicates politeness and respect
for the two people conversing.

Raising your eyebrows while flashing a smile is another way of greeting a friend or acquaintance
casually. The same goes for nodding or slightly lifting the head to indicate "yes," which means you
acknowledge the presence of your colleague who passed by. Of course, it's an entirely different case when
someone happens to raise their brows while giving you a serious look.

The key to success in both personal and professional relationships lies in your ability to
communicate well. It's not the words you use but your nonverbal cues or "body language" that speak the
loudest. Body language uses physical behavior, expressions, and mannerisms to communicate
nonverbally, often done instinctively rather than consciously. Whether you're aware of it or not, you're
continuously giving and receiving wordless signals when interacting with others. All of your nonverbal
behaviors—the gestures you make, your posture, your tone of voice, how many eyes contact you make—
send strong messages. They can put people at ease, build trust, and draw others towards you, or they can
offend, confuse, and undermine what you're trying to convey. These messages don't stop when you stop
speaking, either. Even when you're silent, you're still communicating nonverbally.

However, by improving how you understand and use nonverbal communication or body
language, you can express what you mean, connect better with others, and build stronger, more rewarding
relationships. Your nonverbal communication cues—the way you listen, look, move, and react—tell the
person you're communicating with whether or not you care, if you're truthful, and how well you're
listening. When your nonverbal signals match up with the words you're saying, they increase trust, clarity,
and rapport. When they don't, they can generate tension, mistrust, and confusion. If you want to become a
better communicator, it's essential to become more sensitive to the body language and nonverbal cues of
others and your own.

People in any ethnic background sometimes express their love, joy, disappointments, anger,
friendship, success, failure, and emotions through gestures. This is also known as "body language."
Gestures do add beauty to any communication. They help or supplement what we try to say, but some
gestures have ethical values. Some gestures are exhibited in place of words. These gestures are
instinctively demonstrated due to the force of habit. Our faith and beliefs play some essential roles in the
expressions of these ethnic gestures. What is important is that we understand what people try to convey.
 Notice the gesture that to Filipinos means "no" but to some nationalities, it means "yes." I felt a
rude, belittling, and animal beckoning gesture is a perfectly acceptable gesture expressed by other people.
"Gestures are only a touch of Filipino cultures." Let's look at some of these gestures and their after-
effects.

Filipinos are generally wary of their actions and how they want to convey a message – either
verbally or nonverbally. That's because, in Filipino culture, people value self-respect, 'pakikisama'
(togetherness), and avoid offending anyone as much as possible. Assertiveness isn't very common among
Filipinos. To avoid misunderstandings and offense, it's a must for foreign travelers to familiarise
themselves with gestures practiced by Filipinos daily.