What’s Your Waggle Dance?
Our bodies are always communicating.
What is your body saying to you right now?
Is it saying, “I’m tired, go back to bed!”
Or perhaps, “I’m anxious about this.”
Or maybe “I’m excited for what’s about to happen!”
Our body generally starts our conversations. It impacts how we walk into a room. The tilt of our head. What we do with our eyes. How we hold our shoulders (I keep trying to relax mine!).
All of that broadcasts a message.
Is it sending the message that you want?
Here’s something I learned recently: Honey bees actually dance in the hive. They don’t just move around—they perform actual choreographed dances. And these dances serve a purpose.
These figure-eight patterns tell other bees what they need to know about where the best food is.
Bees communicate directionality to the food location with the angle of their bodies. And they communicate how far away the spot is by how long they do the dance. Research shows that one second relates to about 750 meters away.
It’s called a “waggle dance.”
Amazing, right?
But researchers discovered recently something even more interesting. They created colonies where young bees never got to watch experienced bees before they tried dancing themselves.
And those young bees? Their dances were a mess. Disordered. Inaccurate. Their communication became garbled.
These little bees had the instinct to dance—they just never learned how to do it well.
Sound familiar?
We all learned our body language by watching others: Our parents. Our siblings. Our friends. Since we were little, we absorbed how other people moved through space, how they held themselves, and how they expressed their feelings without words.
The way you communicate with your body right now is therefore not just you. It’s actually from generations of learning, passed down through observation.
What have you learned from your ancestors about how your body should communicate?
Perhaps your parents were warm and affectionate. You learned bodies could be safe, open, and expressive. Or maybe you learned to make yourself small. To take up less space. To guard your energy. To tuck into yourself.
We all know non-verbal communication can be incredibly powerful. While our words say, “I’m fine,” our face can be telling a different story.
I started practicing this when one of my colleagues once said on Zoom that I could be intimidating.
Intimidating!
So, I have been trying to practice opening my face up. Showing open and curious energy. Watching myself for more closed, “I have an opinion about this,” or “I have other things to do than be here” energy.
I noticed this week that I even tend to lean forward when I’m on Zoom.
“Anticipatory,” a friend named it.
What is my body anticipating? I’m probably thinking about the next six weeks—which will be really busy work-wise—as if I’m getting ready for it.
So, I am now saying to my body, “I hear you! I get the anticipation. It’s all good. I can relax.” And I practice sitting back in my chair and resting my head.
What is your body saying to you right now?
If someone were watching you, what would they perceive?
And is that what you want them to think about you in this moment?
Like honey bees waggling across a hive, we do intricate dances all day long. We convey who we are, what we need, and how we feel. And the more conscious we can be about this dance, the more skilled we become—and the more accurately we transmit what is true for us.
It’s also so important that we tune this instrument that carries us around through the world. How are you tuning yours each day? What small adjustments could help create the resonance you actually want?
I hope you are finding activities that bring you waggle.
Joy.
Aliveness.
And if you aren’t sure what that is, ask your body.
It knows!
Your body is wise. It has probably already been trying to tell you things.
It’s time we all tune in even more and listen up. And remember those young bees around you that are learning from you. They are watching your dance too.
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