How to Read Bodies
Shifting Your Weight From Side to Side or Front to Back
“The way you move your body reflects your attitude,” says Goman. Constantly transferring your weight from one foot to the other or rocking forward and backward is a comforting movement that indicates you are anxious or upset. Basically, this is a physical representation of what is going on in your head: You are betwixt and between many unsettling thoughts and can’t stop moving from one to the other.
Massaging Your Forehead or Earlobes
These soothing actions counter feelings of uneasiness or vulnerability—for example, when you are seated in the front row of a lecture hall and hope not to be called on. The same goes for hugging your sides or rubbing your legs when you’re sitting. Stroking the nerve endings in some of these body parts helps lower blood pressure and heart rate.