Meetup 13th Relationship & Vulnerability

24th August 2025

Bracing Emotions recently celebrated its first foundation anniversary. The past year was filled with monthly meet-ups which brought mental health experts within a reach of common people. The community kept growing with every meet-up and has now become a safe space to engage in mental health related conversations.

On 24th August 2025, Bracing Emotions arranged yet another meet-up focusing on a very crucial issue - Vulnerability and Relationships. The speaker, psychologist Jiniya Chakraborty began the session with warm up exercises. She encouraged everyone to loosen up by free movements. Then in a relaxed state, the session finally commenced.

The first and foremost question prickling the minds of the audience was what exactly is vulnerability? What does it truly mean to be vulnerable? Is it when you cry your heart out? Or is it when your “deepest and darkest secrets” finally come to surface? Maybe it is the “capacity and possibility of being destroyed!” What everyone agreed upon was that vulnerability is closely linked with the feeling of discomfort, uneasiness.

The speaker explained that we as humans have a very primitive instinct to protect ourselves, to “keep our guards up” and this, mind you, is perfectly natural. Think of it as if wearing clothes - the basic purpose is to protect our body! Similarly, when we want to protect ourselves emotionally, we lock in our vulnerability and build a guard around it. The popular phrase is “being defensive” which is again very normal. In this sense, being vulnerable means to let the guard down. To present your true self before someone - it could be anyone - parents, siblings, partner, friends, colleagues or even strangers!

But then the question arises - what to do when vulnerable? Ms. Jiniya affirmed that here, communication is the key. She rather expressed that more than the emotional breakdown, the conversation that follows it is the true vulnerability. This is because it takes courage to address or confront a difficult issue with a civil conversation. By doing this, you are letting someone in on your emotional space. This may include a secret, an insecurity, a mistake - anything! But having that conversation, however difficult, will surely dwindle future misunderstandings, emotional outbursts and a gaping hole in your relationship.

The speaker gave an example - suppose, your aspirations differ from that of your parents for you. Here, a conversation is due but your alternatives are - 1. Have relentless arguments over this or 2. Sit them down and explain your viewpoint. Naturally, the second option is most probably to have an outcome in your favour and that too, by peaceful means. The former will strike up your stress levels sooner or later. This very conversation that you will have with your parents is you showing your vulnerability.

After the concept of ‘vulnerability’ became clear, an interesting activity was carried out. Everybody drew balloons on a page and wrote different areas of vulnerability which would cater to them. For example, I want to be more vulnerable with my friends and so on. When everyone finished writing, the speaker asked them to visualise what they would do with these balloons - their vulnerabilities… Some wanted to pop them, meanwhile others thought it better to let them go. Delighted with various answers, Ms. Jiniya alluded to handling vulnerability: You need to explore them yourself, try to overcome - if you succeed, well and good - if you don't, explore another one. Sit with yourself and try to process what makes you feel vulnerable. You need to find out your own definition of vulnerability. Remember to be truthful with yourself. It is equally important to hold space for others to be vulnerable around you. Thereby you can have transparent and healthy relationships. Also, while answering a question, she briefly discussed the dynamics between vulnerability and people-pleasing. The core insight was to address the issue in a civil and rational way.

The session concluded on this note.

Key takeaways

• Find your own definition of vulnerability.

• Vulnerability is more about having an honest conversation than just an emotional meltdown

• Communication is the key to navigate through vulnerability.

• Use the phrase ‘I feel’ while conversing rather than ‘You did’.

• Don't forget to let others feel vulnerable around you.

• You can't be vulnerable with everyone and that's totally fine!