Body Language of Nervous Feet or Nervous Hands
Cue: Nervous Feet or Nervous Hands
Synonym(s): N/A
Description: Nervous feet are more jarring with heel bumps, kicks, and grinding. Angry feet can be even more aggressive and stomp. Hands that shake, quiver, or fidget indicate stress through a surge of adrenaline.
In One Sentence: Feet that bump and kick indicate nervousness and excitement – a heightened emotional state.
How To Use it: Bouncing the feet around can give us something to do when we are not feeling particularly relaxed. When actually fixing the problem is out of the question, any movement, even if not productive, can help the body release pent up energy. This can help produce a calming effect.
However, rather than ruminate, it’s advisable to actually take action to fix the problem, or if not possible, engage in a full blown exercise session. This can help really calm the body.
Context: a) General b) Business.
Verbal Translation: “I’m full of adrenaline so my body needs to burn off this energy by kicking or shaking, without fleeing or escape. However, I’m fully prepared to take action if necessary.”
Variant: Related to happy feet or feet that are excited that bounce with joy. Sometimes nervous hands are disguised through clasping or tucked into pockets to prevent them from being noticed by others. See Happy Feet, Fidgeting or Fidget.
Cue In Action: a) The storm was closing in on the shore and Dave’s house wasn’t yet boarded up. His feet bounced up and down as he listened to the forecast. Before the meteorologist had completed the segment, he was up and on his feet – out the door. He converted his nervous energy into action.
b) While waiting to be interviewed, Dave’s feet bounced excitedly in the waiting room. He was confident, but nervous about his prospects – nevertheless, was ready to get going.
Meaning and/or Motivation: When a person is excited, their body produces adrenaline making them feel uncomfortable. In order to mitigate the effects of the hormone, the body begins to move to replace these negative, yet motivating, hormones with soothing hormones produced by movement – endorphins. The body, through movement, can placate itself by burning up some of the excess energy it has stored.
Through our evolution times of stress would have required movement in order to escape or otherwise solve a pertinent issue.
Cue Cluster: Nervous hands and feet are often accompanied by blanching of the face or conversely blushing. The body often moves around uncomfortably accompanied by a deadpan face or one that lacks much affect. A person can be seen soothing themselves such as biting the nails or picking the skin, smoothing clothing, playing with hair, and other pacifying behaviour.
Body Language Category: Arousal, Automatic gesture, Energy Displacement, Excited body language, Metronomic signals, Nervous body language, Stressful body language, Worry body language or worry.
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