What Does It Mean to Unclench?

​A symposium with Jonny Miller, Michael Taft, and Peter McEwen

Unclenching can describe several kinds of letting go: softening bodily tension, releasing resistance to emotion, or easing the effort to manage experience. How do these relate to the recognition of open awareness? What roles do relaxation and our capacity to stay present with pleasure, pain, and intensity play in contemplative practice? These questions invite a closer look at what is being released, how we understand contraction, and how different traditions approach these experiences.

In this one-hour symposium, Jonny Miller, Michael Taft, and Peter McEwen bring perspectives from nervous system practice, non-dual meditation, Tibetan yoga, and developmental psychology. They’ll explore how unclenching relates to awakening, what we mean by realization, how well-being relates to progress in practice, and where practitioners tend to get stuck.

Expect playful discussion, room for disagreement, and a few openly speculative hunches.

​Topics:

• ​Recognizing awareness, loosening tension: Can you be awake and still clenched?

• ​After recognition: Does realization unwind our contractions, reshape our character, or leave both intact?

• ​Bliss, contrast, and equanimity: Is feeling good the measure of freedom?

• ​Loss and heartbreak: What does it mean to unclench when life genuinely hurts?

• ​Pitfalls on the path: Confusing mechanisms with metaphors, navigating trauma, and knowing which practice fits the moment

• ​Speculation corner: Each speaker shares one wild, two-minute hunch about practice