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A decade ago when What Every BODY is Saying was first published, I highlighted that our feet and legs are often neglected in the study of body language, even though they are very accurate transmitters of valuable information—often more reliable than facial tells. I shared that:
"[N]ervousness, stress, fear, anxiety, caution, boredom, restlessness, happiness, joy, hurt, shyness, coyness, humility, awkwardness, confidence, subservience, depression, lethargy, playfulness, sensuality, and anger can all manifest through the feet and legs.”
That is quite a lot.
Over millions of years, our limbic system made sure that our feet and legs reacted instantly to any threat or concern; their reliability has, in part, assured our survival. Consider these examples from my latest book, The Dictionary of Body Language:
- Someone walks up to us late at night while we are at the ATM machine and our legs tighten up, assuring a solid footing and orienting our feet toward an escape route—preparing us to flee if necessary. In the same way, our limbic brain tells our feet not to walk too close to the edge of a steep precipice, so we approach hesitatingly.
- We cross our legs when we are comfortably standing in the elevator, yet when a group of strangers enter, we immediately uncross our legs so our feet are firmly on the ground in case we need to leave quickly.
- We are talking to a good friend but as time creeps up on us, suddenly we notice without even looking that one of his feet is pointed down the street. No need to ask: It is time to go. Our feet are transmitting "I have to leave," even before you look at your watch or announce that you have to go.
- Want to know if two people talking in the hallway want you to join them? If their feet don’t move to welcome you and they only rotate at the hips to greet you, then no matter how warm the smile they offer, just keep on walking by.
- When a relationship is turning sour, there will be less and less foot contact. A couple may hold hands in public, but their feet simply avoid each other as feelings cool.
- Alternatively, when people like each other, there will be increasing proximity of the feet culminating eventually with touch or what is often referred to as “playing footsies”—especially during the courtship phase.
- Speaking of courtship, women often telegraph their interest in a potential partner by how they play with their shoe, dangling it from their toes in the new person's presence. This is a high comfort display that says, I am very comfortable with you. The minute she is no longer interested in the other person or feels uncomfortable, note how quickly the foot goes back into the shoe.
- Even poker players can benefit from keeping an eye on foot and leg behavior. Often when a player has a monster hand (“the nuts” in poker parlance) they will inadvertently give that away by demonstrating happy feet (they bounce up and down on the balls of the feet) visible to all by their shaking shirts.
What about deception, you ask? As you know by now, there is no single behavior indicative of deception. What we do know about the feet is that when we are less confident, our feet reflect that. We do fewer gravity-defying behaviors such as rising on the balls of our feet. We may, if sitting, withdraw the feet suddenly under the chair when asked a difficult or incriminating question, as if to guard them, or our feet may shake or quiver at the ankle, revealing our nervous tension or lack of confidence. Our feet can reflect anxiety as well as fear in real time, something we sometimes mask with a smile. And while we can detect nervousness or tension, what we cannot say is that it is decisively indicative of deception.
Our feet and legs allow us to walk, run, and play. They contribute to our quality of life, even to intimacy, as well as to our protection. And I hope you appreciate how useful they are in deciphering what people are thinking, fearing, desiring, or intending.
FAQs
"[N]ervousness, stress, fear, anxiety, caution, boredom, restlessness, happiness, joy, hurt, shyness, coyness, humility, awkwardness, confidence, subservience, depression, lethargy, playfulness, sensuality, and anger can all manifest through the feet and legs.” That is quite a lot.
What emotion is trapped in feet? ›
As a result, we respond differently to situations than someone else without the same trapped emotions and beliefs. This leads to our feet showing different signs; such as calluses, shapes and alignment of toes, or tension in the reflex associated with the organ or body part in which the emotion is trapped, and so on.
What emotion is stored in your calves? ›
The muscles in the forearm were strongly active for anger expression and to a lesser extent for fear expression. In contrast, muscles in the calves were recruited slightly more for fearful expressions. It was also found that muscles automatically responded to the perception of emotion, without any overt movement.
How to release negative emotions from the body? ›
Maybe you feel the need to cry, scream into a pillow, go for a swim, walk or run, dance it out, hit a punching bag, do some gardening, tapping, yoga or TRE, paint your feelings out, or simply breathe deeply while facing the sun—whatever feels cathartic in that moment, do it.
How do you know your body is releasing trauma? ›
One sign your body is releasing trauma is that there is a greater ease of being. You are more aware of sensations, what brings them on, the subtleties of what they feel like, and how they emerge and pass. People who are more somatically connected also are more comfortable moving between 'parts' and 'whole.
What emotion is trapped in the thighs? ›
During times of loss, our fight-or-flight system may be highly activated because the worst has just happened and we are now on high alert. Fear and discomfort can be stored in the inner thighs, to remind us that we are not feeling safe and may need to take off at any time.
What energy is stored in feet? ›
The human foot contains passive elastic tissues that have spring-like qualities, storing and returning mechanical energy and other tissues that behave as dampers, dissipating energy.
Does rubbing your feet release emotions? ›
Relieves tension, stress, and anxiety
Studies have shown that foot massage can be beneficial for lowering patients' stress levels. In addition to reducing tension and stress, foot massage can also be effective in reducing anxiety and depression.
Can you feel emotions in your feet? ›
Anger and fear, for instance, are associated with heightened sensation in the chest, while sadness and depression share a drop in sensation in the legs and feet.
Where is sadness stored in the body? ›
The resulting body maps suggest that people often feel: anger in the head or chest. disgust in the mouth and stomach. sadness in the throat and chest.
This can happen anywhere in the body, and for trauma survivors, it is most commonly held in the core of the body, the stomach, abdomen, and low back, as well as the upper torso, chest, shoulders, and spine.
What part of your body holds the most stress? ›
12 Places Where Your Body Stores Stress
- Lower Back. Our lower backs store most of our unexpressed anger. ...
- The Respiratory System. Our breaths have a way of signalling our state of mind. ...
- Your Shoulders. ...
- Your Voice And Throat. ...
- Your Jaw. ...
- Your Pelvic Floor. ...
- The Hips.
Trauma and the Hips
The hips are also closely connected to the sacral chakra, which is associated with emotions and creativity. As a result, many people believe that the hips play a key role in storing emotional trauma.
What trauma is stored in the back? ›
Lower Back: Anger
If you sit in frustration, the lower back is a common place for storing repressed anger. For relief, learn to articulate frustration constructively and address conflicts with others.
How to heal trauma stored in the body? ›
How to heal trauma in the body
- Cognitive processing therapy. Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is a common therapy option for healing trauma. ...
- Prolonged exposure therapy. ...
- EMDR. ...
- Somatic Experiencing (SE™) ...
- Certain types of talk therapy. ...
- A movement practice.
The visualization of emotions on a human body template created for the present study (Figure 2) revealed that specific patterns existed between the visceral system and corresponding emotions such that anger corresponded with the liver, happiness with the heart, thoughtfulness with the heart and spleen, sadness with the ...
What emotions are felt in the body parts? ›
The resulting body maps suggest that people often feel: anger in the head or chest. disgust in the mouth and stomach. sadness in the throat and chest.
Which part of the body is associated with emotions? ›
The limbic system of the human brain controls emotions. While researchers don't know all the structures within it, some key parts include the amygdala, hippocampus, limbic cortex, and hypothalamus.
What part of the body shows the most emotion? ›
Most basic emotions were associated with sensations of elevated activity in the upper chest area, likely corresponding to changes in breathing and heart rate (1).
