Such a pattern is unconscious in three ways. It is unconscious because it is automatic: it happens without thought, as a robot program. It is also unconscious because it began before the infant had language and hence it is pre-verbal, inarticulate, felt rather than considered. And it is unconscious because it is all-over-the-body-at-once. Specifically, it is characterized by the Respiratory Block first noted by Wilhelm Reich: a chronic muscular armoring that prevents proper, relaxed breathing. Popular speech recognizes this state as “being up-tight.”
