powerless, closed postures not only undermine persistence, they also increase learned helplessness—the process whereby people avoid challenges they’ve previously struggled with, assuming they are not capable of effectively handling them. They may have helped us to hide from predators or to convey submissiveness to dangerous and volatile alphas in primitive times, but it’s hard to find evidence that they continue to benefit us today, in the twenty-first century. Expanding your body frees you to approach, act, and persist.
