What Every BODY Is Saying : An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed Reading People

LIVING OUR LIMBIC LEGACY 45

Pacifying Behaviors Involving the Face

Touching or stroking the face is a frequent human pacifying response to
stress. Motions such as rubbing the forehead; touching, rubbing, or lick-
ing the lip(s); pulling or massaging the earlobe with thumb and forefin-
ger; stroking the face or beard; and playing with the hair all can serve to
pacify an individual when confronting a stressful situation. As men-
tioned before, some individuals will pacify by puffing out their cheeks
and then slowly exhaling. The plentiful supply of nerve endings in the
face make it an ideal area of the body for the limbic brain to recruit to
comfort itself.

Pacifying Behaviors Involving Sounds

Whistling can be a pacifying behavior. Some people whistle to calm
themselves when they are walking in a strange area of a city or down a
dark, deserted corridor or road. Some people even talk to themselves in
an attempt to pacify during times of stress. I have a friend (as I am sure
we all do) who can talk a mile a minute when nervous or upset. Some
behaviors combine tactile and auditory pacification, such as the tapping
of a pencil or the drumming of fingers.

Excessive Yawning

Sometimes we see individuals under stress yawning excessively.
Yawning not only is a form of “taking a deep breath,” but during
stress, as the mouth gets dry, a yawn can put pressure on the salivary
glands. The stretch of various structures in and around the mouth
causes the glands to release moisture into a dry mouth during times
of anxiety. In these cases it’s not lack of sleep, but rather stress, that
causes the yawning.