Blowing Air Out Your Cheeks

In regards to this guy, and this video, I asked people what they thought about this man’s behavior of blowing air out of his cheeks. Specifically, what did it mean?

People can do this for a variety of reasons and I don’t think there is one correct universal answer, but in this video, I would suspect this guy was very nervous and stressed, and when people are under stress, they “blow off steam” so-to-speak, but in reality, it is blowing off “stress”.

For me, in this snapshot, he is locking in the air, if even for a second. Notice the bulge in his upper lip area? He tightens the ends of his lips. It’s almost like we forget to breath, for an instant. When people are relieved and do this, they often don’t lock in the air. They just blow it all out. It’s a slight variation, if you can picture it.

It’s a classic sign of stress.