What Are Conditioning and Contractions?

If you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll know that I sometimes mention conditioning and contractions. These words come up fairly frequently because they point to something deeply familiar in the human experience—those subtle, and sometimes intense, patterns that shape how life is felt and perceived. In this post, I wanted to offer a clearer explanation of what these terms really mean, especially for those who are just beginning to explore this path.

Conditioning refers to the learned patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior that get formed over time—often beginning in early childhood. These patterns are picked up through family, culture, education, trauma, and personal experiences. Conditioning shapes how the world is interpreted, often unconsciously. It’s the voice in the mind that says, “You must do this to be loved,” or “You can’t be like that.” It’s not inherently wrong, it’s just what the nervous system picked up to feel safe or accepted.

Contractions are the felt sense of that conditioning in the body. They can show up as tightness, tension, holding, or discomfort. Often, these are the physical expressions of unmet emotions, repressed memories, or inner conflict. For example, a child who was scolded for crying might grow into an adult who feels a subtle chest constriction every time sadness arises.

Both conditioning and contractions are completely natural parts of the human experience, but they can be deeply limiting when left unconscious. As awareness grows, they are often seen more clearly; not as problems to be fixed, but as energies and patterns arising in the spaciousness of what is.

And as they are met with presence and allowed to move or dissolve in their own time, there’s often a deep sense of relief. Not because someone “did” something, but because what was long held has been given space to unfold and release.

So when I speak of these terms, it’s not in judgment or analysis, but with tenderness—acknowledging the ways the human form learns to navigate life, and the beauty of how it can also gently let go.