{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Power of Doing What Matters","title":"Relaxation Is Power: Dr. Jim George on Poise Under Pressure","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1491,"description":"What separates a fluid professional golf swing from an amateur gripping the club as tightly as possible? According to Dr. Jim George, one of the biggest differences is the ability to regulate tension: relax, contract powerfully at the right moment, and then relax again.\nIn this episode, Dr. George joins Dr. Clayton Skaggs to explore how that same principle applies far beyond sport. They discuss muscle activation, contract-relax techniques, responding to pain signals, preparing for stressful moments, and deliberately building more relaxation into ordinary life.\nJim also reflects on more than two decades at the Central Institute for Human Performance—from student and intern to Clinical Director and partner. He shares practical ways he resets during the day, including breathing, elevating his legs at lunch, and walking outside without headphones.\nDr. Skaggs reads “Free Kick,” a CIHP Insight about United States soccer player Malik Tillman's relaxed execution under pressure. The reading considers how relaxation before, during, and immediately after a powerful action can support precision, performance, recovery, movement, sleep, and our response to challenging thoughts.\nIn this episode:\nWhy professional golfers remain relaxed until the moment of contact\nThe difference between relaxed power and simply trying harder\nHow contract-relax techniques influence the nervous system\nWhy incomplete relaxation can limit a therapeutic or athletic movement\nMalik Tillman's free kick and the relax-contract-relax principle\nWhat youth soccer in Norway and Erling Haaland can teach us about childlike play\nJim's experience learning to loosen his grip while playing padel\nBreathing, midday resets, and time outside as practical relaxation habits\nThe high-pressure presentation that tested Jim early in his career\n\nGuest: James George, DC, Clinical Director and partner at CIHP  \nHost: Dr. Clayton Skaggs, Founder, Central Institute for Human Performance\nLearn more about the Central Institute for...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/qJtXNrh2sU6BALRyB_bHg4HMO1Nu-Y9as-k_-AtJebM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9iNjlj/YWI2NWZhZTM2NzA3/OWRhOGEzYzMxM2Rk/NmEzZC5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}