Newsletter no. 56 – Thursday 8 January, 2026
This is the web-based version of Stretch Therapy Newsletter no. 56
It seems clear to us that the world is less stable than it was a year ago. What can we do? Worrying and becoming more anxious does not help anyone.
We can only influence and affect the people we know personally ourselves. To be useful to them in times like these, we need to make sure that we have looked after ourselves first (a bit like the airline safety announcement about putting on your own oxygen mask before helping someone else). In practice, this means getting the minimum amount of activity you need each day, eating properly, stretching what’s tight, strengthening what’s weak, and doing a relaxation practice regularly. Let go of tension, and let yourself relax whenever you think of it. Smile internally.
One more way this might be implemented practically is take care of the business you know you need to take care of, and do not put this off. This helps secure your house. Part of being resilient in the face of difficulties is knowing you have done all you can in preparation—and this is where our system can help.
With this in mind, we wish you the absolute best for the coming year.
With love,
Kit and Olivia
AI has no hands
Have a look at this graphic*** that represents the cognitive domains and capacity sets that most AI research is focussed on:
Screenshot
You’ll notice straight away that the sense of touch is not there. Touch is the still-uncharted territory, or the experiential space between, intelligence and capacity to act on the world.
The sense of touch is the core of what we call “feeling” and which AIs of all kinds have literally no knowledge, or concept of. Feelings and sensations in the body are ephemeral (they exist only in the continuously unfolding now, in other words), and feelings constitute the main way humans know themselves, and via empathy, have understanding of what others might be feeling.
And in ST we have long argued that all of the core, most important aspects of daily life, and the source of most of its pleasure, derive from touch, and its sister sense, taste, also missing from the graphic.
In our current era, AI has assumed centre stage in news, and in the financial markets. Some are arguing it’s the latest bubble. We intend to explore this more deeply, but for now please remember that as a human being, our priorities need to be the capacity to work with one’s own body, to be able to work out what it needs to be healthy, well-functioning, and to feel good to live in. It’s all about feeling!
*** Courtesy Ethan Mollick’s newsletter, One Useful Thing
Site-wide sale starts Friday 10 January!
The Stretch Therapy website is re-opened for new sales. We will send full details of the sale – including the discount coupon 😻 – in a newsletter tomorrow.