Unclenching the Fist of Anger

How hand gestures used in Stoicism may help us cope with our emotions

The clenched fist is a universal symbol of determination as well as of aggressive tension. — Calvert Stein, ‘Clenched fist as a hypno behavioural procedure’, 1963

Many years ago, I used to teach an old conditioning technique introduced by the behaviour therapist Calvert Stein, in the early 1960s. Stein had his clients clench the fist of their dominant h…