Signs Someone Is Thinking of You

Burning Cheeks

Yeah, your body often picks up on signals that you never would have noticed. In the middle of a conversation, for seemingly no reason at all, your cheeks or ears might light up red. They might get your tingle like you just walked into a room full of people with no clothes on. But it's not because you're embarrassed or because you're sick. Your cheeks are burning because someone is talking or thinking about you.

Just imagine you're chatting with a group of friends. All of a sudden, someone makes an off comment about how they're tired of people who are too nice all the time. They're not looking at you or saying your name, but your cheeks light up anyway. Why is that? Well, because deep down your brain can read between the lines better than you can. It can spot those hidden signals. It notices the tiniest changes in someone's tone or speech.

Now, on the outside, their conversation might have nothing to do with you, but your body still picks up on that hidden subtext. When that happens, blood rushes into your cheeks, and you're left wondering why. So the next time your cheeks start burning for no reason, pay attention to what people are saying around you. There's a good chance someone has you in mind.

Stomach Knots

A similar phenomenon can happen deep within your digestive system. If someone makes a passing comment about you, throws you a dirty look, or drops a few hints that you're not getting, your stomach will let you know. It'll drop, ache, and twist in knots. Whether you're at a party or at dinner with your friends, your stomach might suddenly feel like you're at the top of a roller coaster.

This weird reaction stems from the way our digestive system responds to emotional tension. For starters, your stomach is more emotionally intelligent than you. It can pick up on complex feelings like awkwardness, anxiety, and happiness. Your gut has the second largest population of neurons in your body, and those neurons communicate constantly with your brain. So it's very possible that your gut will learn and recognize something way before you do.

That's usually what happens with social discomfort or emotional tension. With all those neurons at its disposal, your stomach recognizes environmental stress and reacts with those twisting, dropping feelings that you know so well. But what's actually happening within your body? Where does that physical pain come from? Stress typically triggers a reaction in your central nervous system, and that creates all kinds of digestive issues. You might have spasms in your esophagus, excess acid in your stomach, inflammation in your colon, and, of course, a whole lot of indigestion. But my point here is that your stomach is a lot more perceptive than you give it credit for. So if you want to know if someone is thinking of you, just see what your stomach thinks. It might tell you more than your eyes or ears ever could.

Subconscious Slips

Okay, let's say you know a secret about your coworker. Your boss told you this morning that they're going to get fired, but you're not supposed to tell them until next week. You're usually pretty good at keeping secrets, so you just go about your day like nothing's wrong. But a few minutes later, disaster strikes. That same co-worker walks right up to you and asks you for a favor. They need you to file some documents for them.

So you try your best to act natural. You answer by saying, "Sure, I'll get those filed for you," but instead of saying filed, you accidentally said fired. Oh, so what went wrong? Why did that word pop right out of your mouth? Well, it turns out your internal trains of thought can leak out of your unconscious mind and into your conscious speech, resulting in a psychological phenomenon called parapraxis, or as most people call it, a Freudian slip. Freudian slips happen to everybody.

In fact, the average person slips up at least once or twice every 1000 words, so it's not that unusual for someone to slip 15 or 20 times in a single day. Not all of these slips are unconscious, and not all of them tell you when someone is thinking of you, but you can still learn a lot about someone's inner thoughts by listening to their mistakes. So start by paying attention to the kind of slips they make and the specific words that tangle up their tongue.

Subconscious Slips and Context

Just like our example, content and context play a major role in any Freudian slip. When you hear someone say the wrong word in front of you, it tells you two important things. First, you know that this person was thinking about something different than what they're saying; otherwise, they wouldn't have slipped in the first place. And second, you know that this person was most likely thinking of you because their mistake happened when talking to you and about you. So listen for these subconscious slips and note the kinds of information that leak out of your friend or co-worker's unconscious brain because those little mistakes give you a rare window into someone else's mind.

Specialized Machinery

Have you ever been sitting in a public place when you start to feel someone staring at you, but when you look back, no one's looking? So does that mean it wasn't real? Well, the truth is, most of the time when you think someone's staring at you from across the room, they probably are, even if you can't see them doing it. Your brain has a special system of neurons designed to recognize eye contact.

You may not be able to see things at the very edge of your peripheral vision, but your brain can. Okay, imagine you're sitting in a library. If someone two tables over starts staring at you, your specialized machinery will jump into action. Those neurons will light up and tell you that someone is looking your way, even if your eyes never actually see it happen.

Spotlight Syndrome

Now, of course, your specialized machinery isn't always perfect. Many people, especially teenagers, experience something called spotlight syndrome. They think that everyone's paying attention to them constantly, but in reality, no one really cares. Feeling self-conscious will trick your brain into believing that you're being watched, so just make sure you don't get these two confused.

Mutual Friendships

One of the best ways to get to know someone is to get to know their friends first. If you meet the people they're closest to, it gives you an idea of what kind of person they are, what kind of things they like, and what kind of personalities they mesh with. So if someone wants to get to know you better, they might use your friends as an entry point.

Not only do mutual friendships teach them more about you, but it also gives them an easy excuse to spend time with you. If they're a part of your social circle, they'll be invited to the same events, know the same names, and hear the same stories, which gives them more material to strengthen that bond. As an added bonus, if this person really makes a good impression, your friends might just vouch for them down the road, and that kind of support can make all the difference.

So if you do notice someone getting closer to your friends, it might be a sign that they're thinking of you and they really want to get to know you better.

The Arrow

You naturally point at the people that you like. Your legs will shift towards them, your head will lean in their direction, even your feet will aim right at them. Without realizing it, your body turns into a giant arrow that points toward whoever is on your mind.

So if you want to know if someone's thinking of you, follow that arrow. Take a closer look at their body language and pay special attention to their eyes, hands, and feet, because these are the three most expressive gesturing tools that humans have. You use them to signal everything from interest to anger to confusion.

You wave your hands around when you talk and create different meanings with your fingers. You jitter your feet when you're excited, and you create entire sentences with your eyes. Even though you could use words to say almost anything, this kind of physical gesturing is ingrained into your physiology. So it's no surprise that your body also gives people a glimpse into your inner thoughts.

Most people assume that you need to hear it out loud, that the other person has to actually say it before you know anything for sure. But if someone is thinking of you, their body language will be a dead giveaway.

Confusing Smiles

How do you know if someone's thinking of you while you're talking to them? Sometimes the look on their face tells you everything you need to know. If you've been running around someone's mind, they'll smile throughout the entire conversation, even if it's a weird thing to be smiling about.

You might be talking about something meaningless or frustrating, but for some reason, that person just keeps smiling. Now, most of the time, this confusing smile means only one thing: talking to you makes them happy. It creates such a positive internal reaction that they can't hold it in. Their face can't do anything but smile. In other words, they're not just thinking of you; they're genuinely happy to be around you.

Summary

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