Need your sentences to stir up some action?  Participles and Participle Phrases will do the trick.  A participle is an ing verb added to the beginning or end of a sentence.

I ran, sweat pouring down my face, gasping.  (Stephanie Meyer)

Blinking, he put on a straw hat.  (Stephanie Meyer)

The participle can also be expanded into a phrase.

I kept walking, sloshing angrily through the rain.  (Stephanie Meyer)

Lifting myself up with great effort, I walked back into the air-conditioned house.  (Lucy Grealy)

String them along to create a SERIES of participle phrases.

I’d sit down on a chair, pulling my nightgown over my knees, stretching the material tight.  (Lucy Grealy)

Taking no chances, looking both ways, carrying his matches and his can of gasoline, Dr. Sarvis marched through the weeds.  (Edward Abbey, Monkey Wrench Gang)

Sweating, trembling with nervous fatigue, they started at each other.  (Edward Abbey, Monkey Wrench Gang)

NOTE:  Not all “actions” can be SEEN!

EXTERNAL (visible)

stumbling
boiling
grasping
flicking
rising

INTERNAL (inside)

regretting
wanting
fearing
hoping
dreaming