Reading Body Language

There are numerous physical signs people send one another that can help you identify romantic interest.

The art of reading body language has been studied for millennia. Men and women alike have long known that if you could understand the meaning of body language and eye movement, you could gain power over people in a multitude of situations: sexual, social, financial. Both obvious items like hand gestures and more subtle ones like eye contact have been dissected and examined in the search for understanding.

But you don't have to have a PhD in how to read body language to be a real expert. And if all you're interested in is figuring out who is interested in you, it becomes simple.

Signs of Attraction

There are numerous physical signals men and women send one another, both voluntary and involuntary, that can help you identify sexual and/or romantic interest. More importantly, you should understand that you can't identify signals in a woman by observing yourself; there are significant body language differences between men and women.

When a man makes eye contact with another man, for example, it is usually a signal of challenge. But when reading the body language of a woman, eye contact with a man is usually a sign of sexual interest. Similarly, a hair toss by a woman is best seen as flag waving for your attention; when reading the body language of a man, a hair toss is either a sign of a headbanger or some sort of problem - a convulsion, maybe?

When interpreting female body language, there are several other things you can look for:

Eyes: watch for widened eyes, enlarged pupils, and the glance-and-look-away. All of these are ways a woman uses her eyes to let you know that she is interested - and she is unlikely to have enough control over her pupils to make them enlarge by themselves, which makes this the surest way to detect sexual interest.

Legs: A woman interested in you is more likely to face you with her legs than anything. If you can see the fronts of both legs but not her face, she's probably trying to get your attention with them - or maybe the attention of the guy next to you. (Don't overlook that possibility when reading body language! If you're in doubt, walk to a different part of the room and see if she still pays attention to you.)

Smile: This, in reading body language, is one of the surest ways to identify genuine interest. If her teeth show and her eyes sparkle, you probably should go ahead and move in. Even if she's laughing at you, she'll be more receptive at that moment than at any other.

Arms: If she's holding herself with her arms, stay away. If her arms are wide apart, she's telling you that she's approachable.

Interpreting body language from across the room can be tricky, but rewarding. Be careful not to "see" too much, but only identify what is really there; you can't gauge pupil width from fifty feet, but you can certainly see a hair toss. Reading body language, while difficult, can be rewarding when you've learned how.