A Body Language Expert Analyzed Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Post-Super Bowl PDA
Taylor Swift has been a regular at boyfriend Travis Kelce’s NFL games this season, and—let’s be honest—we've all be a little obsessed at catching glimpses of Tay in the stands. When the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens to go to the Super Bowl, Travis and Taylor celebrated with some post-game PDA, giving fans of the power couple a closer look at how these two interact.
Well, the 14-time Grammy winner did it again last night at the Super Bowl after the Chiefs won. While fans swooned at their sweet kisses and hugs, Women's Health tapped body language expert Patti Wood for her expert insight on the deeper meaning behind each gesture. Ahead, here's what Taylor and Travis' body language at the Super Bowl reveal about their relationship:
Taylor and Travis feel safe and secure in their 'ship.
In this shot, Taylor tucks under Travis’ arm for a hug as he rests his cheek on her head. “What I love about this photo is there's multiple points of touch,” Patti says. “He’s got the full weight [of his head] on the top of her head. And we know that because there's merging of skin, and you've got the wrinkles that show he wants to be so close to her, and he feels so comfortable that he wants to do a merge with weight.” If you had any doubt that T and T were two of a kind, this head-touching pose should put it to rest. "It's called likemindedness when you merge heads," says Patti, signifying that Tay and Trav are on the same page.
Travis also has his arm around Taylor, where his hand looks "relaxed" because it is "dipping down," says Patti. She also notes that his arm is not pressing into her: “That is not a tight hold—it's safe, it's calm,” Patti says. “It's really comfortable.”
The overall vibe these two give off in this moment is that they’re familiar, comfortable, and at ease with each other, says Patti. “They're tender cues, instead of ownership... [Travis is showing] his desire to get close, but nothing that shows a desire to say, 'She's mine.'” Patti explains.
Meanwhile, Taylor's “head position is cradled right up into that crook of his arm with her face down," says Patti. "..This is very unique to this relationship—this head positioning and the desire to cradle.”
Patti has been analyzing Taylor’s body language with different men over the years, and say that her head placement in this photo shows that she feels protected in Travis’ arms. “The look down and the cradling in [to Travis] is childlike, but she doesn't lack power," says Patti. “It's a place of safety for her; she feels good in that space.”
Patti also notices that Taylor isn’t squeezing Travis’ hand. “Usually when she's touching him, like in this picture, the fingers are fairly relaxed. There's typically a little bit of separation, and that says, 'I want to touch you' but there's a gentleness about it,” Patti says. Overall, their body language signifies a really tender, loving partnership where both people feel secure and safe, and neither one is possessive over the other.
Taylor wants to keep their passionate kiss private.
In this shot, Taylor takes Travis’ face in her hands and plants a kiss on his lips, while kind of shielding their faces with her hands. This body language “is an indication that she wants it to be private. She wants it to be just between the two of them,” Patti says. “In the midst of all this crowd, she wants the kiss to be just theirs, but there's no fear or concern of the public view because look [at] how her fingers are outstretched—there's not tension.”
Patti also notes that Taylor’s chest is pressed into Travis,’ and that level of physical closeness signifies how intimate their relationship has become over the last several months. “It’s a sensual kiss, but she's saying, 'This is not really for everybody else. This is just between us,’” Patti says.
There's “a little bit of primal” energy to the kiss, too, she says. “There's that dichotomy of rawness and sexuality to it,” explains Patti. “Even just looking at their kiss, you can feel her [Taylor's] body kind of lift up to him [Travis]. There's an energy to the photo.”
But what's most notable about Taylor's body language in this photo is that, again, it's unique to her relationship with Travis. “This is different than how she has been in past relationships, where sometimes she was just doing all of it for the camera,” says Patti. “If you look at both of these pictures, there's a spontaneity to it. There's movement in it that indicates it's not posed for the camera.”
Travis doesn't pull Taylor in—he lifts her up.
The pair were also photographed kissing from another angle, and the unobstructed view reveals more about their relationship. "If you look at his [Travis'] arm and how he's cradling her [Taylor], he often does movements and holds as if he could lift her up off her feet, or he is lifting her up slightly off her feet," says Patti. "But it's not a pull; it's a lift." Again, this further shows that Travis is not trying to possess Taylor, but merely lift her up—both physically and literally. In fact, Patti points out that Travis' arm placement "provides just a nice fulcrum anchor for them as a couple" and seems to "be lifting them up as a couple."
Taylor, for her part, “has this nice all-around his body, wanting to take him in [hold], but there's not a desperateness to it,” explains Patti. “It’s very healthy. There's a balance to everything, but it's also sensual. That kiss is a pressed-face kiss, and they're melding chests.”
That said, the couples chests are connected on one side and slightly further away on the other, showing that Taylor "doesn't want to totally block him off" from his teammates, family, friends, and everyone else who wants to celebrate with him. “If she kisses or hugs him, she steps away so he can be with other people, and he can be in the limelight because this is his event,” Patti says. "It's showing a balance that it doesn't need to be all about her." In this moment, Taylor's body language is basically saying, "I'm gonna give him a kiss because I'm crazy about him, but I don't need to block him from having his moment."
Finally, Patti notes that Taylor and Travis share a “smile kiss,” which signifies that they’re both obviously(!) happy.
They're a unified couple who blend together beautifully.
In this video of Taylor and Travis embracing on the field, they start rocking side to side as they hold each other in a "unifying motion" that is "quite beautiful," says Patti. "If you have extraneous emotions, the rocking behavior can kind of center you. So, if you're having lots of happiness and joy, the rocking is both celebratory, but also centering on bringing them together... They're celebrating together as a unit."
What's also notable about the couple's rocking body language is that "they are doing it together," she explains. "Sometimes, one person will rock the other—they want to do it, the other person doesn't, or it's not unified. This is beautifully blended." That signifies that Taylor and Travis are on the same page and "they feel the same way," Patti adds.
And as with the previous photos where Taylor and Travis appeared to be prioritizing a private moment with each other amid a larger-than-life crowd, "this is a moving body language behavior that emphasizes that as well," says Patti.
While it's a special moment for the couple, "if you look at the video, she's not hanging on to him after that. She lets him go back and be," Patti says, noting that Taylor patted Travis on the back. "Patting motions can have multiple meanings, but really that's to say, 'It's okay, I'm done. We're good,'" she explains. Essentially, that pat on the back was Taylor letting Travis know, "You don't have to pay attention to me, we're good; you can go back to what you have to do in your moment."
Ultimately, Patti says Taylor and Travis' body language reveals a healthy and happy relationship—and their joy may even be infectious. "As you look at these photos, notice how you feel," she says. "If you feel that energy kind of lifting them up as a couple, that tells you it's healthy... and that's one of the reasons everybody's curious. Everybody wants more photos and more videos because it feels good to look at them."
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