monomer/program_peace · Datasets at Hugging Face

line stringlengths 1 117
Decades of experiments have found that the offspring of nervous mothers are biologically
programmed to also be nervous Mothers exposed to adversity before during or after
pregnancy upregulate their babies stressresponse systems permanently Mammals from mice
to monkeys with stressedout moms exhibit increased adrenal activity which causes higher
concentrations of stress hormones Mammals with more active adrenal systems are more
susceptible to stress responding to mildly threatening events in exaggerated and
inappropriate ways
These responses often last for the animals entire lifetime They are a specific type of
developmental plasticity called predictive adaptive responses The idea is that if a mothers
environment is hostile then her offspring are likely to face that same environment and ought
to be prepared for it For the same reason rat pups born to calm mothers tend to be calm
themselves Those that received high levels of maternal care in the form of licking grooming
and nursing show increased resilience to stress even in adulthood All mammals begin to
adapt plastically to stress in the womb and continue to do so throughout life This is why it is so
important to take control of your reactions to stress you have the power to steer yourself away
from suffering
We were all born with the capacity for unmitigated strength consummate confidence and
unconditional dominance Despite this our bodys cells are constantly searching for cues about
predation and social competition Upon encountering these cues stress hormones are turned
up the respiratory and cardiovascular systems are strained muscles grow tense and the brain
is adjusted to make us angry fearful and paranoid Again these responses may result in
subtle microscopic changes or profound visible ones The Program Peace method aims to
reverse the negative changes and create lasting positive ones by providing your bodys cells
with the cues necessary to cause them to interpret their environment as advantageous
The Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems
The autonomic nervous system controls the function of our internal organs It affects the heart
lungs various organs in our abdomen skin muscles and many areas of the brain It generally
influences our organs to either prepare for stress as in the fightorflight state or for calm as
in the restinganddigesting state The fightorflight state is associated with the sympathetic
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
branch of the autonomic nervous system while the restanddigest state is associated with
the parasympathetic branch These two systems are constantly working together to maintain
homeostasis to meet organismic needs Both are necessary for health and normal functioning
They work in unison but at any given time one is usually more active than the other
The activity of the sympathetic nervous system rises when we feel stressed and lowers
when we feel calm The sympathetic nervous system becomes toxic when it is augmented by
developmental plasticity This is when the body builds stressadapted proteins into various
organ systems This keeps a person locked in a perpetual state of stress that scientists call
hyperarousal
Specialists describe the retuning of the autonomic system toward stress as an imbalance
that equates to a shift toward sympathetic upregulation This is the antagonist of our story
and it is an adversary for each of us to different extents It is important to point out that the
sympathetic nervous system itself is not our enemy the problem comes only from longterm
persistent sympathetic overactivation This happens when fear and intimidation are regular
occurrences As you might expect inferior and submissive mammals have greater sympathetic
upregulation For example lowranking baboons have the highest blood pressure stress
hormones and heart rates
Moreover the upregulation of the sympathetic system is almost always a ratchet meaning
that shifts toward stress are generally steady and irreversible This is partly because many
experiences coerce us to breathe more shallowly but very few convince us that it is safe to
breathe more deeply The table below details the physiological changes associated with both
branches of the autonomic system
Sympathetic Parasympathetic
Nickname Fight or Flight Rest and Digest
Breath Volume Shallow Full
Breathing Rate Faster Slower
Muscles Tense Relaxed
Average Heart Rate Higher Lower
Blood Pressure Higher Lower
Stress Hormones High Low
Shortterm Memory Poor Good
Thinking Muddled Clear
Emotion Anxious Calm
Immune System Weakened Strong
Social Defensive or Receptive or
Communication aggressive assertive
Table The Autonomic Nervous System Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Branches
If were to walk over to my cat and bang my fist on the counter next to him his autonomic
nervous system would react strongly raising his sympathetic activity This would be very
apparent in the form of a fullbody startle and increased defensive activity After a few minutes
his autonomic activity would go back to baseline but repeated threatening surprises would
Chapter Persistent Adaptation to Chronic Stress
shift his baseline toward sympathetic upregulation If someone were to make a loud
unexpected noise next to me would also experience transiently increased autonomic arousal
Humans share a common ancestor with cats million years ago This funnylooking little
mammal would have shared its habitat with dinosaurs and would have had an autonomic
nervous system very similar to ours But the autonomic nervous system is much more ancient
than this
If you were to find a group of ants walking around on a tabletop then strike the surface
they were walking on they would freeze for an instant before running about their business in a
frenzy The neural components that receive and interpret the quick blow to the tabletop are
very similar in structure to our own Mammals and insects both inherit their autonomic nervous
systems from a common aquatic ancestor that lived around million years ago near the end
of the Precambrian supereon Yet we still share this same basic structure
Not all animals have an autonomic stress system Animals that live their lives attached to
rocks including corals sea squirts and anemones have no use for it Even some primitive
mobile animals such as jellyfish also lack this system We should consider ourselves blessed to
have it We just have to teach ourselves how to bring it under control because it is a great
servant but a terrible master
Ilustration Many orders of animals share similar stress responses and adapt to chronic stress in similar ways
know a man who is a psychopathic bully He is friendly to people at first to gain their trust
Then he says whatever he can to confuse upset and undermine them for his amusement
Before long his victims are breathless trying desperately to mount defensive arguments
against his red herrings Eventually he points at them laughs and says This man is fighting for
his life right now We are no different We overuse the sympathetic system during simple
social confrontations as if we were fighting for our very lives
The sympathetic system retunes our organs for intense uninterrupted physical exertion
This might be appropriate for a person forced to defend themselves against death on a minute
tominute basis But none of us do this in modern times Our stress system is set to overdrive
even though most of us sit on our butts throughout the day and the most upsetting things that

Decades of experiments have found that the offspring of nervous mothers are biologically

programmed to also be nervous Mothers exposed to adversity before during or after

pregnancy upregulate their babies stressresponse systems permanently Mammals from mice

to monkeys with stressedout moms exhibit increased adrenal activity which causes higher

concentrations of stress hormones Mammals with more active adrenal systems are more

susceptible to stress responding to mildly threatening events in exaggerated and

inappropriate ways

These responses often last for the animals entire lifetime They are a specific type of

developmental plasticity called predictive adaptive responses The idea is that if a mothers

environment is hostile then her offspring are likely to face that same environment and ought

to be prepared for it For the same reason rat pups born to calm mothers tend to be calm

themselves Those that received high levels of maternal care in the form of licking grooming

and nursing show increased resilience to stress even in adulthood All mammals begin to

adapt plastically to stress in the womb and continue to do so throughout life This is why it is so

important to take control of your reactions to stress you have the power to steer yourself away

from suffering

We were all born with the capacity for unmitigated strength consummate confidence and

unconditional dominance Despite this our bodys cells are constantly searching for cues about

predation and social competition Upon encountering these cues stress hormones are turned

up the respiratory and cardiovascular systems are strained muscles grow tense and the brain

is adjusted to make us angry fearful and paranoid Again these responses may result in

subtle microscopic changes or profound visible ones The Program Peace method aims to

reverse the negative changes and create lasting positive ones by providing your bodys cells

with the cues necessary to cause them to interpret their environment as advantageous

The Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems

The autonomic nervous system controls the function of our internal organs It affects the heart

lungs various organs in our abdomen skin muscles and many areas of the brain It generally

influences our organs to either prepare for stress as in the fightorflight state or for calm as

in the restinganddigesting state The fightorflight state is associated with the sympathetic

PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body

branch of the autonomic nervous system while the restanddigest state is associated with

the parasympathetic branch These two systems are constantly working together to maintain

homeostasis to meet organismic needs Both are necessary for health and normal functioning

They work in unison but at any given time one is usually more active than the other

The activity of the sympathetic nervous system rises when we feel stressed and lowers

when we feel calm The sympathetic nervous system becomes toxic when it is augmented by

developmental plasticity This is when the body builds stressadapted proteins into various

organ systems This keeps a person locked in a perpetual state of stress that scientists call

hyperarousal

Specialists describe the retuning of the autonomic system toward stress as an imbalance

that equates to a shift toward sympathetic upregulation This is the antagonist of our story

and it is an adversary for each of us to different extents It is important to point out that the

sympathetic nervous system itself is not our enemy the problem comes only from longterm

persistent sympathetic overactivation This happens when fear and intimidation are regular

occurrences As you might expect inferior and submissive mammals have greater sympathetic

upregulation For example lowranking baboons have the highest blood pressure stress

hormones and heart rates

Moreover the upregulation of the sympathetic system is almost always a ratchet meaning

that shifts toward stress are generally steady and irreversible This is partly because many

experiences coerce us to breathe more shallowly but very few convince us that it is safe to

breathe more deeply The table below details the physiological changes associated with both

branches of the autonomic system

Sympathetic Parasympathetic

Nickname Fight or Flight Rest and Digest

Breath Volume Shallow Full

Breathing Rate Faster Slower

Muscles Tense Relaxed

Average Heart Rate Higher Lower

Blood Pressure Higher Lower

Stress Hormones High Low

Shortterm Memory Poor Good

Thinking Muddled Clear

Emotion Anxious Calm

Immune System Weakened Strong

Social Defensive or Receptive or

Communication aggressive assertive

Table The Autonomic Nervous System Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Branches

If were to walk over to my cat and bang my fist on the counter next to him his autonomic

nervous system would react strongly raising his sympathetic activity This would be very

apparent in the form of a fullbody startle and increased defensive activity After a few minutes

his autonomic activity would go back to baseline but repeated threatening surprises would

Chapter Persistent Adaptation to Chronic Stress

shift his baseline toward sympathetic upregulation If someone were to make a loud

unexpected noise next to me would also experience transiently increased autonomic arousal

Humans share a common ancestor with cats million years ago This funnylooking little

mammal would have shared its habitat with dinosaurs and would have had an autonomic

nervous system very similar to ours But the autonomic nervous system is much more ancient

than this

If you were to find a group of ants walking around on a tabletop then strike the surface

they were walking on they would freeze for an instant before running about their business in a

frenzy The neural components that receive and interpret the quick blow to the tabletop are

very similar in structure to our own Mammals and insects both inherit their autonomic nervous

systems from a common aquatic ancestor that lived around million years ago near the end

of the Precambrian supereon Yet we still share this same basic structure

Not all animals have an autonomic stress system Animals that live their lives attached to

rocks including corals sea squirts and anemones have no use for it Even some primitive

mobile animals such as jellyfish also lack this system We should consider ourselves blessed to

have it We just have to teach ourselves how to bring it under control because it is a great

servant but a terrible master

Ilustration Many orders of animals share similar stress responses and adapt to chronic stress in similar ways

know a man who is a psychopathic bully He is friendly to people at first to gain their trust

Then he says whatever he can to confuse upset and undermine them for his amusement

Before long his victims are breathless trying desperately to mount defensive arguments

against his red herrings Eventually he points at them laughs and says This man is fighting for

his life right now We are no different We overuse the sympathetic system during simple

social confrontations as if we were fighting for our very lives

The sympathetic system retunes our organs for intense uninterrupted physical exertion

This might be appropriate for a person forced to defend themselves against death on a minute

tominute basis But none of us do this in modern times Our stress system is set to overdrive

even though most of us sit on our butts throughout the day and the most upsetting things that