{"updated":"2026-11-07T18:33:30Z","content_md":"From [ungrasp](https:\/\/ammdi.hyperphor.com\/ungrasp#6aee2ef3-60dc-418d-9e23-353e470cc13a)\n\n![[6fawhyvdg4hvzya5j8zg7eb1v5]]\n\n![[4watfqnys9z7tm3h3r0jpq48j9]]\n\n![[7j7qhzw6jwrf4xv0tq8zpxdbkj]]\n\n![[06p3z2tmcjxv3dy6fw0nszzj7w]]\n\n![[686zcs0t81f7qa8hkd65b5h59x]]\n\n![[0wjfj1fh7q5ycgjpkd4mq7gn20]]\n\n![[0a7zjhcn1x32nqc0bmgqmn0qh3]]\n\n![[65v6874mnwgkyrv34ga9qgq4kf]]\n\n![[5rsknpehycq5np8f0hwap6z5xg]]\n\n![[3sfsq07xy2mc4pakyzc0q0heg5]]\n\n![[5mshbp8z9s67an1yf4h67b7w7r]]\n\n![[1486m4vh1ys5yc953a9z8dfpkm]]","changelog":[{"version":1,"at":"2026-11-07T18:33:30Z","note":null}],"transclusions":[{"id":"6fawhyvdg4hvzya5j8zg7eb1v5","version":1},{"id":"4watfqnys9z7tm3h3r0jpq48j9","version":1},{"id":"7j7qhzw6jwrf4xv0tq8zpxdbkj","version":1},{"id":"06p3z2tmcjxv3dy6fw0nszzj7w","version":1},{"id":"686zcs0t81f7qa8hkd65b5h59x","version":1},{"id":"0wjfj1fh7q5ycgjpkd4mq7gn20","version":1},{"id":"0a7zjhcn1x32nqc0bmgqmn0qh3","version":1},{"id":"65v6874mnwgkyrv34ga9qgq4kf","version":1},{"id":"5rsknpehycq5np8f0hwap6z5xg","version":1},{"id":"3sfsq07xy2mc4pakyzc0q0heg5","version":1},{"id":"5mshbp8z9s67an1yf4h67b7w7r","version":1},{"id":"1486m4vh1ys5yc953a9z8dfpkm","version":1}],"created":"2026-11-07T18:33:30Z","page":"f\/2txmzt4nxzmhmt0ee9dqwbt1aw\/","content_hash":"sha256:a8b5662d6fcea43cea763bcbb708eb6b8c0a6bc0c8a7078582d0fd9c4e4a7978","id":"2txmzt4nxzmhmt0ee9dqwbt1aw","kind":"thread","origin":"https:\/\/ammdi.hyperphor.com\/blyg\/","content_html":"<div><p class=\"source-page\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/ammdi.hyperphor.com\/ungrasp#6aee2ef3-60dc-418d-9e23-353e470cc13a\">ungrasp<\/a><\/p><div><div><h1><span> <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/luma.com\/kykeqv9n?tk=nOAtIm\" target=\"_blank\">What Does It Mean to Unclench?<\/a> <\/span><\/h1><\/div><blockquote class=\"blyg-transclusion\" data-blyg-id=\"6fawhyvdg4hvzya5j8zg7eb1v5\" data-blyg-version=\"1\"><div><div><span>A Zoom session with <span class=\"empty\">Michael Taft<\/span> Peter McEwen Jonny Miller<\/span><\/div><ul class=\"blyg-children\"><li><div><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/us06web.zoom.us\/rec\/share\/e7SdAiQi3FZo3tWHadR9ME7YjdZyLp3ST0DsxJvu3BZl14iENAJ0pY9XoyMOFpFj.48ZnynevrV8mmNcN?referrer=luma&amp;utm_source=luma\" target=\"_blank\">Zoom Recordings<\/a><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/blockquote><blockquote class=\"blyg-transclusion\" data-blyg-id=\"4watfqnys9z7tm3h3r0jpq48j9\" data-blyg-version=\"1\"><div><span>&quot;cohorts&quot;  <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/thefield.us\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Field \u2014 Classical methods, contemporary practice<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/blockquote><blockquote class=\"blyg-transclusion\" data-blyg-id=\"7j7qhzw6jwrf4xv0tq8zpxdbkj\" data-blyg-version=\"1\"><div><div><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/howtounclench.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">How to Unclench | Jonny Miller<\/a><\/div><ul class=\"blyg-children\"><li><div><span>Used the a-word <a class=\"pagelink\" href=\"https:\/\/ammdi.hyperphor.com\/agency\">agency<\/a>  what does it mean to be agentic but unclenched<\/span><\/div><\/li><li><div>Clenching is identified with a sort of single, unchosen mechanical reaction to situation; unclenching permits choice (agency). OK. I see agency as more clenchy (because you are focused on goals).<\/div><\/li><li><div><blockquote>The working definition I have for clenching is: <b>unconsciously holding tension in a way that narrows your capacity to feel and respond.<\/b><\/blockquote><\/div><\/li><li><div><span>Michael Johnson sense of self within smooth-muscle ??? he is the vasocomputation guy <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/opentheory.net\/2023\/07\/principles-of-vasocomputation-a-unification-of-buddhist-phenomenology-active-inference-and-physical-reflex-part-i\/\" target=\"_blank\">Principles of Vasocomputation: A Unification of Buddhist Phenomenology, Active Inference, and Physical Reflex (Part I) \u00b7 opentheory.net<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/li><li><div><a class=\"imga\" href=\"https:\/\/howtounclench.com\/images\/energy-clenching-matrix-handdrawn.webp?v=db2a0b12\" target=\"_image\"><img alt=\"A hand-drawn four-quadrant map from clenched to unclenched and low to high energy: anxiety, flow, depression and rest\" src=\"https:\/\/howtounclench.com\/images\/energy-clenching-matrix-handdrawn.webp?v=db2a0b12\" \/><\/a><\/div><\/li><li><div><blockquote>If you only take away one thing from this essay, let it be this: <b>unclenching is a trainable skill<\/b>. But perhaps not in the way that you think.<\/blockquote><\/div><\/li><li><div><blockquote>Unclenching is like falling asleep\u2014you cannot force yourself to do it, but you can create the conditions for it to arise.<\/blockquote><\/div><\/li><li><div><blockquote>How do you create these conditions? By sending signals of safety to your nervous system<\/blockquote><\/div><\/li><li><div><blockquote>**In fact, the urge to unclench everything at once itself comes from a tightly clenched place (<b>yes, it\u2019s clenches all the way down<\/b>).** (like!)<\/blockquote><\/div><\/li><li><div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/blockquote><blockquote class=\"blyg-transclusion\" data-blyg-id=\"06p3z2tmcjxv3dy6fw0nszzj7w\" data-blyg-version=\"1\"><div><span>Peter: different from recognition of <span class=\"empty\">open awareness<\/span>.<\/span><\/div><\/blockquote><blockquote class=\"blyg-transclusion\" data-blyg-id=\"686zcs0t81f7qa8hkd65b5h59x\" data-blyg-version=\"1\"><div><div>I asked a couple of questions:<\/div><ul class=\"blyg-children\"><li><div><div>Q: what&apos;s the relationship between clenching and the Buddhist idea of grasping? Seem very close but not precisely the same.<\/div><ul class=\"blyg-children\"><li><div>Answer was, they are about the same. OK.<\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/li><li><div><div>Q: is clenching always bad? Presumably it has some valid cognitive function. There is some energy behind it.<\/div><ul class=\"blyg-children\"><li><div>I think this is answered in the essay.<\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/li><li><div>&quot;knots in the energy body&quot; \u2013 ? Some sanskrit name<\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/blockquote><blockquote class=\"blyg-transclusion\" data-blyg-id=\"0wjfj1fh7q5ycgjpkd4mq7gn20\" data-blyg-version=\"1\"><div><div>Taft: imaginal, sambotakaya (?), crosses mind-body boundary<\/div><ul class=\"blyg-children\"><li><div><div>find the real sanskrit term and eli5<\/div><ul class=\"blyg-children\"><li><div><span class=\"hover-tag-container\"><span class=\"hover-tag-lozenge\" onclick=\"toggleHoverTag(this)\">Ask Claude<\/span><div class=\"hover-tag-popup\"><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"eeb851d9-01e3-4e8a-bb30-969fe33c0495\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span>There are actually <b>two separate terms<\/b> from your notes to unpack here \u2014 &quot;knots in the energy body&quot; and Taft&apos;s &quot;sambotakaya.&quot; Here they are:<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"48472cf5-bb0a-484c-9d41-ababf287e667\">\n<li class=\"block\"><hr \/><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"a4d9d62b-7ffb-4d64-b7dd-5617ed385760\">\n<li class=\"block\"><h2><span> &quot;Knots in the Energy Body&quot; \u2192 <b>Granthis<\/b> (\u0917\u094d\u0930\u0928\u094d\u0925\u093f)<\/span><\/h2><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"52d759b6-db4d-454b-a639-fc8725f5bb89\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span><i>Granthi<\/i> is a Sanskrit word that translates as &quot;knot.&quot;<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"236ede9f-3283-4748-949b-c4f83e613a2b\">\n<li class=\"block\"> More specifically, <\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"3a2497ae-ff20-4f9d-8405-8f6ad61fa4c3\">\n<li class=\"block\">it denotes &quot;a difficult knot to untie&quot; and refers to knotted areas of energy which can block the flow of prana in the body.<\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"14af0e5b-7c96-4334-8de6-4684e884e424\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span><b>ELI5:<\/b> Imagine your life-force energy (prana) is water trying to flow up a hose. Granthis are kinks in the hose \u2014 spots where the hose is twisted by fear, attachment, or conditioning, and the water can&apos;t get through.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"531ac577-a55c-4269-929c-ed7935dc7ce6\">\n<li class=\"block\">The three granthis \u2014 Brahma Granthi, Vishnu Granthi, and Rudra Granthi \u2014 are three psychic knots situated in the astral body.<\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"02c31d20-4b9c-4319-a206-aa43d529c4bb\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span>They are located along the <i>sushumna nadi<\/i>, the central energy channel running from the base of the spine to the crown of the head \u2014 specifically the places where energy gets stuck or tied up so tightly that prana cannot ascend.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"e44a69e6-5b68-491c-b165-d737cbca882d\">\n<li class=\"block\">In yoga, the three granthis are a silo of our complexes, unconscious fears, and mental\/emotional\/physical conditioning.<\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"72753786-c439-4341-b429-6d8c038bd838\">\n<li class=\"block\"> These map very naturally onto what Jonny Miller is calling &quot;clenching&quot; \u2014 they are functionally the same idea: places where contraction and holding create a blockage.<\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"7a1183f7-c12a-4043-afef-50d9fa675662\">\n<li class=\"block\"><hr \/><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"85511122-560c-4876-aee1-9ae57f47d165\">\n<li class=\"block\"><h2><span> Taft&apos;s &quot;sambotakaya&quot; \u2192 <b>Sa\u1e43bhogak\u0101ya<\/b> (\u0938\u0902\u092d\u094b\u0917\u0915\u093e\u092f)<\/span><\/h2><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"7562128b-b451-434b-b412-7bdfb06994c5\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span><i>Sambhogak\u0101ya<\/i> is a Buddhist term that translates as &quot;body of divine enjoyment&quot; or &quot;bliss body.&quot; It comes from <i>sambhoga<\/i> (&quot;complete enjoyment&quot;) and <i>k\u0101ya<\/i> (&quot;body&quot;).<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"cc380efa-53cb-477f-9abf-82d825d35d2b\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span>Sambhogak\u0101ya is one of the three bodies (<i>trik\u0101ya<\/i>), the other two being the non-physical <i>dharmak\u0101ya<\/i> (the truth body) and the physical <i>nirm\u0101\u1e47ak\u0101ya<\/i> (the transformation body).<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"30da773c-e5e8-48d0-9498-b7be1d892dde\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span><b>ELI5:<\/b> Buddhist philosophy says a fully enlightened Buddha has three &quot;bodies&quot; or modes of existence simultaneously:<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"d879baf6-713f-4435-8c56-3ab159ee004d\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span><b>Dharmak\u0101ya<\/b> \u2014 pure formless awareness, beyond space and time<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"528f5533-f1f0-4d0a-a6ff-4e0624c409bb\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span><b>Sa\u1e43bhogak\u0101ya<\/b> \u2014 a subtle, luminous &quot;enjoyment body&quot; that exists in a realm beyond ordinary human perception but isn&apos;t fully formless either<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"8c804c41-6f78-4c37-8263-ac6f8cf6d919\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span><b>Nirm\u0101\u1e47ak\u0101ya<\/b> \u2014 the ordinary physical body that walks around in the world (e.g., the historical Buddha)<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"12279943-2a10-421f-bdca-f928e889406e\">\n<li class=\"block\">The Sambhogak\u0101ya is described as a &quot;subtle body of limitless form.&quot;<\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"9eb1ebeb-6055-4c97-a7fa-0c93ffdef91b\">\n<li class=\"block\">In the words of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, it means the &quot;body or dimension of wealth, the wealth being the infinite potentiality of manifestations of wisdom.&quot;<\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"69537036-0bd4-40e6-bdd2-dc3534ea1d0c\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span><b>Why Taft invoked it:<\/b> He&apos;s pointing to the sambhogak\u0101ya as the ontological &quot;layer&quot; where phenomena like karmic knots and imaginal\/subtle-body experience live \u2014 it&apos;s neither purely physical nor purely formless mind, which is why he said it &quot;crosses the mind-body boundary.&quot; It&apos;s the middle tier of existence where things like energy-body architecture, archetypal imagery, and inner visions operate.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/span><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/blockquote><blockquote class=\"blyg-transclusion\" data-blyg-id=\"0a7zjhcn1x32nqc0bmgqmn0qh3\" data-blyg-version=\"1\"><div><span><a class=\"pagelink\" href=\"https:\/\/ammdi.hyperphor.com\/Michael-Levin\">Michael Levin<\/a> mentioned. Donald Hoffman too.<\/span><\/div><\/blockquote><blockquote class=\"blyg-transclusion\" data-blyg-id=\"65v6874mnwgkyrv34ga9qgq4kf\" data-blyg-version=\"1\"><div>Peter: making friends with well-being (?)<\/div><\/blockquote><blockquote class=\"blyg-transclusion\" data-blyg-id=\"5rsknpehycq5np8f0hwap6z5xg\" data-blyg-version=\"1\"><div><div><blockquote>I\u2019m curious if the subtle-body architecture lives in the kamadhatu\/desire realm or is it more the rupadhatu\/form realm.<\/blockquote><\/div><ul class=\"blyg-children\"><li><div><span>annhilatory experiences as good. Making friends with the void <a class=\"pagelink\" href=\"https:\/\/ammdi.hyperphor.com\/mind-destroying-ideas\">mind-destroying idea<\/a>e<\/span><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/blockquote><blockquote class=\"blyg-transclusion\" data-blyg-id=\"3sfsq07xy2mc4pakyzc0q0heg5\" data-blyg-version=\"1\"><div><div>Peter: Bruce Tifts formalist panic (oh it was &quot;formless panic&quot;, that is less interesting)<\/div><ul class=\"blyg-children\"><li><div><div>ok need to know more about that<\/div><ul class=\"blyg-children\"><li><div><span class=\"hover-tag-container\"><span class=\"hover-tag-lozenge\" onclick=\"toggleHoverTag(this)\">Ask Claude<\/span><div class=\"hover-tag-popup\"><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"92bf05d1-81f5-4067-8e60-96a053a7e952\">\n<li class=\"block\">Note: Peter said &quot;formless panic&quot; (not &quot;formalist panic&quot; \u2014 likely a transcription error in your notes).<\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"2467cecd-9364-4012-a71c-8e1f531d5423\">\n<li class=\"block\">Here&apos;s the concept:<\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"d7489539-d687-4683-94f4-8ffab49c5e07\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span><b>Bruce Tift<\/b> is a Western psychologist and longtime practitioner of Vajrayana Buddhism, based in Boulder, Colorado, who studied with Ch\u00f6gyam Trungpa Rinpoche.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"08621b23-fd84-4a04-a114-a1db42f3b85f\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span> His central work integrates Buddhism with psychotherapy, laid out in his book <i>Already Free<\/i>.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"cc510744-4462-4380-bfc8-4264a5463ade\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span><b>&quot;Formless panic&quot;<\/b> is a key term in his framework. <\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"b3095d57-e802-41a0-a54f-289084036cdf\">\n<li class=\"block\">Intimacy with vulnerability opens into formless panic, and beyond that, into open experience without reference. It is specifically the raw, pre-conceptual dread that underlies our emotional strategies \u2014 and working with it means choosing to stay in contact with those sensations instead of fleeing into distraction or compulsive strategies.<\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"f8cfdf9a-ee65-4066-a4cf-5c00f38dac61\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span>The core insight: the sensations we flee from \u2014 that raw panic beneath our emotional strategies \u2014 might actually be <i>the texture of openness itself<\/i>, filtered through a nervous system that reads groundlessness as threat.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"86d5992b-c8a6-4c97-93dd-5e7032a1b848\">\n<li class=\"block\">From a spiritual path point of view, anxiety can be seen as a very intelligent response to an accurate perception that there&apos;s no basis for claiming we are an actually existent, significant, continuing, objectively important self. And who isn&apos;t going to feel panic about that?<\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"751ca33b-97d4-4f92-b233-3f159e95cf4a\">\n<li class=\"block\"><span>His therapeutic method is <b>&quot;embodied immediacy&quot;<\/b>: inviting people to stay embodied with the very real, legitimate panic that goes into our survival-level response, and see for themselves \u2014 does feeling like I&apos;m going to be annihilated mean that I&apos;m actually being harmed?<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"ca96d462-d906-452e-b192-7c27cfbe247a\">\n<li class=\"block\">The practice is counter-instinctual: we have to keep voluntarily doing the counter-instinctual work of taking ourselves into exactly what we&apos;ve organized our life trying not to feel \u2014 over and over, maybe thousands of times. It&apos;s a long-term practice, but the goal isn&apos;t to get rid of those feelings; you just stop being so captured by them.<\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"4a14f371-7a5c-44c1-8aea-22d939ce778a\">\n<li class=\"block\">The endpoint: relaxing our fundamental panic to the point where we can more and more frequently take the risk of just being present without knowing who we are, not knowing what we&apos;re doing.<\/li><\/ul><ul class=\"nondent\" id=\"b7274b19-a358-490c-8784-0846167245c0\">\n<li class=\"block\">This connects tightly to what Peter was saying in the session \u2014 formless panic sits right at the intersection of clenching\/unclenching and those &quot;annihilatory experiences as good&quot; notes you flagged.ic<\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/span><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/blockquote><blockquote class=\"blyg-transclusion\" data-blyg-id=\"5mshbp8z9s67an1yf4h67b7w7r\" data-blyg-version=\"1\"><div><span><a class=\"pagelink\" href=\"https:\/\/ammdi.hyperphor.com\/Internal-Family-Systems\">IFS<\/a> is good for heady people<\/span><\/div><\/blockquote><blockquote class=\"blyg-transclusion\" data-blyg-id=\"1486m4vh1ys5yc953a9z8dfpkm\" data-blyg-version=\"1\"><div><\/div><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>","version":1,"media":[],"blyg":"0.3"}