We tell ourselves that if we stop bracing — stop tensing, stop controlling — we’ll spin out of control. We’ll be bouncing off the walls, unproductive, chaotic. But when Joe asks the man in this session to actually do the opposite of bracing, what shows up is not chaos but deep presence. More settled, more energy, more capacity to get things done.
The bracing is the controlling of an emotional experience. It’s a contraction against what we’re afraid might happen if we let go. But the thing we fear — being scattered, being too much, being unproductive — is actually what bracing itself produces. The rushing, the frantic mouse-clicking, the tension — those are symptoms of the brace, not of its absence.
“The bracing is the controlling of an emotional experience and we tell ourselves if we stop controlling we’ll be way out of control and it’s odd to figure out that what actually happens is that we become more present.”
When the man imagines being “recklessly enthusiastic” and then drops the bracing, his presence increases. The body knows something the mind doesn’t: relaxation is not the opposite of productivity. It’s the foundation of it.
Related Concepts
- Ask “what am I bracing for?” to dissolve tension
- Resistance creates the feared outcome
- Control works until it doesn’t
- Enjoyment is more efficient than pushing through
- Bracing maintains the identity of being needed