The Ultimate Body Language Book

that create relief. Someone that is nervous or excited will find relief in rubbing their legs with their
hands called “leg cleansing”, or they might rub their hands together or stroke an object vigorously. Leg
cleansing is a gesture that usually goes unnoticed because it happens underneath the table, but an astute
observer will see the upper body move serving to give it away. An example of leg cleaning is that of a
baseball player that is on deck and getting ready to bat. His hands might be sweaty from the excitement
so he rubs his hands on his thighs, soon enough this becomes a habit and he does this every time he
comes to bat regardless of whether his hands are sweaty. With repetition he has conditioned himself to
seek comfort by performing this gesture. Self touching also produces relaxing chemicals in his body to
help him deal with the stress and burns up nervous energy. Self touching isn’t always related to energy
displacement although in this case it is. Energy displacement means the same thing as stress motivated
energy burning. It is the burning of energy that provides a trickle release that occupies the mind and
produces soothing neurochemicals.