Settling the Body First
Before the hard conversation, take 60 seconds to settle your nervous system.
The concept
The body holds the conversation before the mind does
Menakem's somatic work shows that under stress, the body's protective responses (constricted breath, clenched jaw, raised shoulders) hijack the conversation before words start. A brief, embodied settling practice changes what's available to you cognitively.
Try it now
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Pivots only work when you use them. Send me a gentle nudge:
How people ran this
Used this before a portfolio review. Sat with the dread for 8 minutes, then opened Figma and just shipped the worst version. Got the best feedback of my year.
Maya, product designer
Ran it during a planning week when I kept rewriting the same doc. Three rough versions in 15 minutes — my staff eng picked the one I least liked.
Jordan, eng manager
I'm a chronic deleter. The 'name the feeling' step was the unlock. It was almost always shame, not perfectionism.
Anon
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