Secret Messages Hidden In Body Language
10.
Excessive Blinking- On average, we blink about six to eight times a minute.
Some people feel that excessive blinking indicates the person is lying.
However, factors such as stress, fatigue, and medications can influence our rate of
blinking.
Some nervous ailment can make you blink faster than normal and these quicker blinks will
be more consistent for the most part.
But when stressed or fatigued, your blinks will be slower resulting in eye fatigue as
well.
Blinking is also commonly used as a form of expression.
When we hear exciting news, our eyes may light up, and we may blink a little bit more.
However blinking also shows if we are uninterested as well.
The DailyMail reports that researchers think blinking puts up a small wall that helps to
shut out the outside world.
Dr. Daniel Smilek and his team conducted a study on 15 volunteers and tracked their eye
movements and blinks while a sensor tracked their eyes.
He reported that the volunteers blinked more when they weren’t paying attention, and
you start closing your eyes when the mind begins to wonder, so there’s less information
being processed in the brain.
So the next time you’re talking to a friend and you feel that they aren’t listening
to you, then they probably aren’t.
9.
Lip Biting- In one scenario, you may be talking with your boyfriend, and after you ask them
a specific question, you notice that they start to bite their lip.
You start panicking, thinking they may be lying to you, but lip biting has a variety
of meanings.
Many people bite their lips when they feel nervous or anxious.
In fact, it’s extremely common, and it doesn’t only occur with anxiety disorders, but we
do it when we feel discomfort in a given situation.
Some people may realize it and some may not.
For others, lip biting can be done out of frustration or that they’re thinking about
something.
Someone may bite their lips as a form of reaction to prevent themselves from saying things they
don’t want to say.
This might be a control issue.
When people are annoyed or aggravated, they will bite their lips as a sign of their impatience.
But other times, lip biting is merely harmless and will do it when they are flirting with
others to be seductive or draw attention.
As with other body language cues, it’s important to observe before making a judgment carefully.
8.
Hand movements- We use our hands for everything including to talk!
In fact, our brain automatically uses your hands to convey gestures, thoughts, and emotions
with you even knowing it.
When a person is talking with their palms up combined with outstretched arms indicates
openness and acceptance.
But if their palms are down along with straightened fingers, it shows defiance and authority.
If a person does this to you during a conversation, it means they aren’t going to change their
mind, and you might have to take another approach.
Many men will also have their hands behind their backs which assert some amount of confidence.
Chopping hand movements are used to make a point clear and concise.
A person who “chops” their hand has their mind set and will likely unchanged it.
If a person has their hands in their pocket, it means reluctance and unwillingness.
So, this means you will have to gain their trust first.
When a person rubs their hands together, this conveys anticipation and excitement!
If they are rubbing their knuckles at the same time, it means they are ready for more
action, and it can be seen as a form of positive stress.
Now with all these gestures that our hands make, it is important to pay attention to
your own hands too!
You never know what body language cues you could be giving away.
7.
Posture- The way you stand can quickly indicate confidence or uncertainty.
By standing up straight and tall means you are asserting your dominance in your social
settings.
By putting your hands on your hips, you have just created the power pose.
Power posing automatically increases confidence and testosterone and lowers the stress hormone
cortisol.
Other power poses include standing straight and practicing stillness in the body.
However, if you are in a group of your friends, squaring your chest towards someone and being
eye level with them shows that you are reciprocating what they are saying.
The same can be said if you are passing by a group of friends.
If a person calls out to you and they are slightly angled towards you, they are welcoming
you into the conversation.
However, if this person has their back to you instead, it means they are holding their
ground, and they do not want you to come into their circle.
Now if you tend to slouch in your social surroundings, you could be sending out a message that says
you’re worried or hesitant.
It may show that you’re closed off and unwilling to participate.
To fix this, all you have to do is open up your chest area by setting your shoulder back
and inhaling deeply to relax yourself.
6.
Foot Pointing- When we communicate with other people, our attention is solely focused on
what they say and how they say it.
We look for facial expressions and cues on what they make to indicate body language.
But how many of us actually pay attention to their feet?
If anything we almost never look down, but a person’s foot movements can be the most
accurate indication of their actual feelings without having them speak of their true feelings
at all.
In any group setting, the direction of which our dominant foot points to reveals the way
we want to go, even if they’re engaged in another conversation with other people.
For example, if you see a co-worker talking to another co-worker but their foot is pointed
towards you, then it means they want to approach you.
You can confirm this body cue by the sly gaze they might give you as they will try to keep
you in their line of sight as much as possible.
It’s important to note that even before a person positions their body to where they
want to go, they will move their feet first.
The same applies when we want to exit a conversation.
A person who intends to leave a conversation will point his foot in a direction away from
the group and will leave that way.
5.
Hair Twirling- Actions speak louder than words, and we talk volumes simply by just touching
our hair a certain way.
Hair feels soft and silky between our fingers which can be a reason why many women do so.
But if you’ve noticed, women will subconsciously twirl their hair wherever they’re at.
It’s a mindless activity that is mainly associated with flirting.
A simple hair flip is done to grab a guy’s attention.
But hair twirling is actually a relaxing activity, and it helps calm the person down as well
as decrease their heart rate.
In other cases, to others who witness hair twirling, it can be seen as childlike or convey
insecurity.
But as with any cue pay attention to when you do it and how you do it as you don’t
want to send the wrong message.
4.
Crossing Your Legs- For men and women, crossing one leg over the other is a very popular way
to sit, and it can have several variations.
Ladies prefer to sit with one leg tightly over the other to highlight the legs while
men will often sit using the four figure sitting cross leg position.
The standard leg over leg stand is typically done with the dominant leg on top.
It can specify a reserved attitude and may show that this person is closed off, but that’s
not always the case.
In fact, it has a lot to do with comfort and personal habits.
Sitting in a chair with no available armrests might be difficult to sit in, so it might
be more convenient for the person to sit in a crossed position with their hands on their
thighs.
Women tend to sit with cross legs due to their clothing and because of established habits.
For men, the four figure position with a wagging or relaxed foot gives them more room to breathe
in their groin area and can also indicate that their open to conversation and are relaxed
and calm.
However, it can also indicate they have a challenging and competitive outlook, or they
might show frustration if they are sitting in a four figure position and their foot is
shaking nonstop.
3.
Finger Pointing- Pointing a finger to an object or place is a clear indication of pointing
to the right item or which direction is it placed at.
However, pointing a finger especially your pointer finger at a person while talking is
an authoritative act.
Many people do this to show dominance and power.
Parents do it to their children when they have misbehaved, and teachers do it to students
who are acting out.
It’s a form of expression that conveys anger and aggression, and it’s a way to talk down
to that person.
In most cases, it is seen as rude and impolite, and it’s a more offensive and confrontational
approach when done in any situation.
In other cases, finger pointing done in a playful manner combined with a flirty wink
conveys acknowledgment and approval.
This is mostly done in settings when people are trying to get someone’s attention.
Overall pointing a finger adds emphasis when the person is talking.
Many politicians or pastors point fingers as they speak, but in recent years, it has
been refined to point with your whole hand instead.
2.
Locking Ankles- Both men and women entwine their ankles.
Similar to lip biting, it conveys self-restraint and holding oneself back.
It can hide feelings of anger, aggravation, fear and other negative emotions.
Men will mainly lock their ankles while sitting down and usually their hands will be clinging
tightly to the chair’s arm.
Whereas females, will close both legs and locks ankles and turn them to the side.
A lawyer study showed that defendants who waited outside the courtroom just before their
hearing were three times more likely on average to have their ankles locked under their chairs
in a bid to control their emotional state.
Another study conducted on several hundreds of dental patients discovered that 88% of
them locked their ankles as soon as they got into their dental chair.
In the same study, patients who were only having a general check up locked their ankles
68% of the time and 98% of people locked their ankles when the dentist gave them a numbing
injection.
Since locked ankles are mainly associated with negative emotions, there are a few ways
to get people to unlock their ankles.
For instance, asking positive questions about their feelings can get them to relax and decrease
their worry.
1.
Nail Biting- Nail biting is often a habit most people turn to when they feel stressed
or nervous.
It is a nonverbal gesture that started during childhood and carried over to adulthood.
While it is a difficult habit to break, it is also very common.
It is an involuntary response in social situations and can have a variety of meanings.
It can convey boredom or agitation, and when explored deeper, it is found in both kids
and adults that nail-beating is linked to “self-beating.”
This subconscious repetitive behavior.
During stressful situations, we feel that we have lost control, so nail biting helps
that person to reduce that feeling.
Also when we sink our teeth into something, it makes up feel powerful, and it doesn’t
have to be our nails either.
Some people bite on pencils or pens too.
The need to feel powerful is ignited by the feeling of powerlessness, so this is where
our subconscious stems from.