Admit it… You've been enjoying a song and before you know it you are tapping your foot to the beat of the music. No shame in that, we've all done it and music has a way to grab hold of us. But why?

Human brains love finding patterns everywhere, and they love anything that increases their dopamine supply. Whether you realized it or not, music entails both recognizable patterns and a shot of the happy hormones. Music gives us connections to the world around us, and our brains soak it up, filling our bodies with new emotions and experiences. Tapping our feet is like our brain doing a little happy dance to the patterns and emotions music brings.

Scientists have been able to connect movement, deliberate or unconscious, with music. They’ve explained why we get the urge to jump up and dance when a song we love comes on at a party. But how does the feet-tapping come into play? Well, humans have learned that life is not a musical where people spontaneously burst out a song and dance routine to share their emotions. But our bodies still want to move! So we adapted other smaller movements to keep our bodies and society happy.

These small, repetitive body movements are called “stims,” short for self-stimulatory behaviors. Stimming is movement that helps our brains and bodies process and regulate emotions.

So the next time you find yourself tapping your foot to a song, just remember that it’s your brain and your body working together to calm you or express your excitement in a way that won’t get you weird looks on the subway.