GETTING A LEG UP ON BODY LANGUAGE 55react in synchrony by noting each other’s movements. In our contempo-
rary world, soldiers on patrol will fix their attention on the “point man.”
When he freezes, they all freeze. When he lunges for the side of the
road, they also take cover. When he charges an ambush, they react in
kind. With regard to these life-saving group behaviors, little has changed
in five million years.
This ability to communicate nonverbally has assured our survival as a
species, and even though today we often cover our legs with clothing and
our feet with shoes, our lower limbs still react—not only to threats and
stressors—but also to emotions, both negative and positive. Thus, our feet
and legs transmit information about what we are sensing, thinking, and
feeling. The dancing and jumping up and down we do today are exten-
sions of the celebratory exuberance people exhibited millions of years ago
upon the completion of a successful hunt. Be they Masai warriors jump-
ing high in place or couples dancing up a storm, throughout the world,
the feet and legs communicate happiness. We even stomp our feet in uni-
son at ball games to let our team know we are rooting for them.
Other evidence of these “foot feelings” abounds in our everyday life.
For example, watch children and their foot movements for a real educa-
tion in feet honesty. A child may be sitting down to eat, but if she wants
to go out and play, notice how her feet sway, how they stretch to reach the
floor from a high chair even when the child is not yet finished with her
meal. A parent may try to keep her in place, yet the girl’s feet will inch
away from the table. Her torso may be held by that loving parent, but the
youngster will twist and squirm her legs and feet ever so diligently in the
direction of the door—an accurate reflection of where she wants to go.
This is an intention cue. As adults, we are, of course, more restrained in
these limbic exhibitions, but just barely so.
THE MOST HONEST PART OF OUR BODYWhen reading body language, most individuals start their observation at
the top of a person (the face) and work their way down, despite the fact