In the study of body language, one must combine the use of gestures in groups, the arms can tell us many things, the hands can tell us many more, but the legs can add the exclamation mark to the group of arm/hand/facial gestures a person does telling us exactly what is on their mind.The legs can reveal if a person is open and comfortable around you, or if they are negative and uncertain, they can display a dominant attitude or indicate in which direction a person wants to go…because the beauty of the legs is that the further away a body part is from the brain, the less aware we are of what it is saying about us, we can be somewhat aware of what our facial expressions are portraying and sometimes control our arms, but we almost always forget about our legs.

• Feet Pointing: The direction our feet point at reveals what our mind is focusing on, we all have a dominant foot that leads us when we are walking (right or left), when speaking to someone we are interested in…our lead foot will point towards them, however if we are in a situation we feel uncomfortable in and/or wish to leave, our foot will point towards the nearest exit or towards a direction we’d wish to continue walking to instead.You will sometimes find people who are perfectly seated and straight on their chair talking to someone while their feet are in the position they would be if they were standing up to leave.
• Standing Leg Cross: There is two ways someone can cross a leg while standing up, one is crossing one leg in front of the other and resting it on the toes of that foot and the other way is by crossing one leg parallel to the other as if they really needed to pee.Crossing our legs is interpreted as a submissive, defensive or closed minded attitude, as if symbolically protecting or denying access to the genitals.It is also thought to be a sign used by people with low confidence, if you watch a group of people you’ll observe there’s sometimes someone with their arms and leg crossed, usually that person is someone who is new to the group (they’ll also be standing further apart from the rest) and feels insecure and withdrawn around the strangers, if it is a group of men and one of them has their leg crossed while the others have a Dominant Stand (read below)…it portrays the man feels inferior around them or less masculine.
• Paying Attention: When somebody stands with both their legs together and remains in a still position with their hands in front or behind of their back (though observe the position as frontal hands indicates defensiveness while hands behind the back can indicate confidence), its a display the person is feeling neutral towards the situation, they have no crossed legs showing negative or closed opinions nor are their feet pointing towards anywhere they wish to go, they remain still like an army soldier awaiting the instructions of his superior.
• Dominant Stand: When someone spreads their legs far apart and stands with both feet firmly on the ground, it is a statement they are making implying “nobody will move me from here because I have my feet well positioned on the ground”, usually this is interpreted as a sign of dominance…seen by confident men approaching women but most notoriously found in superior officers giving instructions to the awaiting-instruction-cadets, bouncers and cowboys.This spread leg position also applies while sitting, you will notice dominant men will sit down spreading their legs as if displaying their crotch.
• Sitting Leg Cross: The same basis applies as a standing leg cross, crossing our legs while we sit is a sign of a submissive, defensive or closed minded attitude, 7 out of 10 people will cross their left leg over their right, always keep in mind leg crossing should be read on context and in groups of other body language gestures, as leg crossing could mean someone feels cold (they will cross their legs tightly when their cold as opposed to in a relaxed manner), that they need to go to the bathroom, in women it could be they are wearing a miniskirt or have cramps.Also note that two types of leg crosses exist, the European one which is one knee resting over the other and the American one where the ankle of what leg is resting on the knee of the other, this last one has a different meaning to the European one as it shows the person has an argumentative or competitive behavior.Some people also choose to re-enforce their attitude, example; Competitive, by locking their crossed leg position using one of both hands, this is a clear sign of a stubborn or tough minded individual who is closed to any other opinion but their own.
• Shy Tangle: Often people (though most commonly women) who are shy or timid will entangle their legs together creating this sort of over and under leg cross as in a way of attempting to lock that negative emotion in place and make themselves as narrow and small as possible in order to appear non threatening, another common shy leg twirl is while standing up they will cross one leg in front of the other and hide the foot of that leg behind the knee of the other leg as if they were scratching.
• Ankle Lock: When sitting or lying down, locking our ankles together is a sign that we are holding back and trying to repress an emotion such as fear or uncertainty, and usually we tuck in our feet under the chair which also shows a withdrawn feeling from that situation.If you ask a dentist about his patients he will confirm 9 out of 10 patients lock their ankles when they are receiving an injection, and 8 out of 10 will usually have their ankles locked during the whole procedure, observe your legs next time you go to the dentist to see for yourself.
• Chair Barrier: Some instead of choosing arm shields will use objects instead, using a cup or a bag or a laptop isn’t considered more than a sign of insecurity or uncertainty but when someone uses the chair as a shield it indicates a different message…firstly because the legs are being spread (as in the Dominant Stand) displaying our crotch while shows the intentions to dominate and take control while at the same time defend their vulnerable bodies with the chairs backrest.
• Smarty Pants: While trying to appear bigger by spreading their arms wide and locking them behind their head, they will and cross their legs the American style indicating they feel they are in an argumentative or competitive behavior, this sitting gestures is used by the person who is feeling confident, dominant or superior than the rest…like the telemarketer who just made a few sales and is bragging about it to his co workers, mostly used by the show off’s and braggers.
• Foot Tapping: Foot tapping repeatedly on the floor can suggest impatience or anxiety, it can commonly be found at dentist waiting rooms, waiting to take the final exams, ect…