monomer/program_peace · Datasets at Hugging Face

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do this will allow you to harness the energy seeping through the cracks and transform it into
excitement and power that you can reroute to your advantage
If you had to point to places in your body and say My anxiety exists in the pain feel
here where would you point Do you think it is possible to rehabilitate that area think it is
Do you think it involves muscles that can be contracted think it does As Chapter discussed
you can heal your chakras by bringing them to fatigue Holding the muscles involved in a firm
sustained contraction for several seconds will exhaust them If you are relaxed and breathing
diaphragmatically muscular exhaustion leads to recuperation
The chakralike modules are pots that are boiling over leaking everywhere People
engaging in tension management try to put a lid on the pot but find themselves constantly
cleaning up the spillage The exercises in this book take another route Instead of trying to
cover up the spills or hide them they turn down the heat on the stove so that you can exhibit
grace under pressure
Even Sea Slugs Take on Trauma
One of Earths simplest animals provides a great model for trauma The sea slug Aplysia
californica is a large shellless sea snail The Aplysia has a defensive reflex to protect its
respiratory organs from damage When the area around its gill is touched the animal retracts
the gill up into the bulk of its body The response is so simple and reliable that neuroscientists
have used it to study the cellular basis of protective reflexes
Chapter Persistent Adaptation to Chronic Stress
In neuroscientist Eric Kandel was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine
for his research on these animals He decided to use the sea slug in his experiments because it
has very large neurons and there are only about twenty thousand of them Contrast this with
the one million neurons in a cockroach or honeybee and the billion neurons in the human
brain This simplicity however is no barrier to effective function The slugs are more than
capable of learning carefully about when and how much to retract their gills and thanks to
Kandels work we have a clear understanding of the neural mechanisms involved
The Aplysias gill retraction reflex exhibits a phenomencn called sensitization whereby the
reflex can be strengthened by adding a painful stimulus By shocking the animal with a small
amount of electricity experimenters cause it to startle Pairing the shock with a touch to its gill
can make its natural defensive response much more powerful Sea slugs trained this way are
constantly on guard withdrawing their gills more forcefully and for up to four times as long
when touched This change occurs because the slugs on high alert have generalized the
negative experience of the shock to other stimuli so that even a benign light touch elicits a
powerful withdrawal
Illustration A Sea slug Aplysia californica B Aplysia with gill fully relaxed C Aplysia with gill fully retracted
You could say the muscles and nerves involved in retracting the gill constitute a chakra
This is similar to how humans come to hold tension in muscles all over their bodies overreact
to unthreatening stimuli and generalize traumatic experiences to everyday life The Aplysias
gill retraction reflex is analogous to the reflexes responsible for a wide range of submissive
displays from our squinting eyes to our hoarse voices from our suppressed sexuality to our
tense diaphragms The only real difference is that the sea slugs are traumatized by actual
painful stimuli whereas most of our trauma comes from the way we interpret social
competition
The good news here is that the Aplysia can very easily be desensitized and so can we
When the slug is touched lightly and repeatedly without being shocked there is a progressive
decrease in how far it retracts its gill Gradually it relearns that there is no risk associated with
light touching and it becomes able to relax Such a decreased reaction to a stimulus is known as
desensitization or habituation Slugs cannot heal their own chakras in this way However by
simulating an optimal environment through relaxed diaphragmatic breathing and using the
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
right mindset we can Rather than researchers prodding us with electrodes we have social
contacts prodding us with provocation This book will teach you how to desensitize your
chakralike modules to their competitive attacks
Stress and Competition in the Dominance Hierarchy
Since the discovery of the pecking order among hens by SchjelderupEbbe in status
hierarchy has been understood as the predominant form of social organization in vertebrates
Animals that live in social communities must actively compete in the same space for resources
When food mates or territory are disputed dominant individuals will prevail over
subordinates Interestingly a tiered social system helps the group become stable and viable
over the long term On average it is beneficial for each member even for those of the lowest
ranks This is because it minimizes violent competition over resources by defining the
relationships among members Dominance hierarchies improve reproductive fitness for all the
animals involved by discouraging physical fighting thereby saving time and energy and reducing
the risk of injury
Unfortunately a stable hierarchy necessitates constant signaling Many mammals send out
submissive signals even before any direct confrontation occurs For instance the subordinate
dog will often whimper and place its tail between its legs in response to an immediate threat
Even in the absence of any threat it will carry its head low tremble slightly and adopt a
restricted tail posture all the time
In primates being harassed or subjugated by higherranking individuals even without any
physical contact is the major form of stress for many species But it is not just being
dominated that is stressful It is the compensatory response Submissive displays activate the
bodys sympathetic nervous system and create continuous strain on the muscles and organs
responsible for them
Chronic Submission Turns into Social Defeat
Most animals have a nearly equal propensity to display dominant and submissive displays in
infancy and young mammals often use both interchangeably in bouts of play However as the
animal matures one of the two types of display becomes more frequent and more
pronounced Their experiences with victory and defeat drive this shift The term social defeat
refers to losing a confrontation or dispute with a member of your species This happens
constantly in the wild The more frequently you feel defeated the stronger your submissive
signaling becomes It is anticipatory and preemptive Animals that lose repeatedly exhibit
chronic subordination wearing the extent of their social defeat on their sleeves to advertise
their place in the hierarchy
Cricket fighting is a popular pastime in China and provides a perfect example of social
defeat A cricket loses a match if it is thrown from the ring runs away from a battle or avoids
contact Studies have found that after just one loss a cricket can lose its fighting spirit and
will only fight again one time out of ten Rather than engaging in actual combat the insect will
simply flee the next time it is approached without even taking the time to size up its opponent
Other examples are just as dramatic In experiments with mammals the resident
intruder paradigm is often used This involves placing a subordinate rat near the cage of a
more dominant one Inevitably the dominant rat will make a dominance display resulting in
Chapter Persistent Adaptation to Chronic Stress
the subordinate animal being threatened and acting defeated Sometimes the submissive rat is
placed inside the dominant rats cage which leads to the intruder being attacked and forced
into submission Because the cage is small and escape is impossible the intruder will lie on its
back emitting distress calls and freezing behavior to appease the attacker In both
experimental protocols the submitting animals physiology is significantly changed
Social defeat is a source of chronic stress in animals capable of affecting both neuro and

do this will allow you to harness the energy seeping through the cracks and transform it into

excitement and power that you can reroute to your advantage

If you had to point to places in your body and say My anxiety exists in the pain feel

here where would you point Do you think it is possible to rehabilitate that area think it is

Do you think it involves muscles that can be contracted think it does As Chapter discussed

you can heal your chakras by bringing them to fatigue Holding the muscles involved in a firm

sustained contraction for several seconds will exhaust them If you are relaxed and breathing

diaphragmatically muscular exhaustion leads to recuperation

The chakralike modules are pots that are boiling over leaking everywhere People

engaging in tension management try to put a lid on the pot but find themselves constantly

cleaning up the spillage The exercises in this book take another route Instead of trying to

cover up the spills or hide them they turn down the heat on the stove so that you can exhibit

grace under pressure

Even Sea Slugs Take on Trauma

One of Earths simplest animals provides a great model for trauma The sea slug Aplysia

californica is a large shellless sea snail The Aplysia has a defensive reflex to protect its

respiratory organs from damage When the area around its gill is touched the animal retracts

the gill up into the bulk of its body The response is so simple and reliable that neuroscientists

have used it to study the cellular basis of protective reflexes

Chapter Persistent Adaptation to Chronic Stress

In neuroscientist Eric Kandel was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine

for his research on these animals He decided to use the sea slug in his experiments because it

has very large neurons and there are only about twenty thousand of them Contrast this with

the one million neurons in a cockroach or honeybee and the billion neurons in the human

brain This simplicity however is no barrier to effective function The slugs are more than

capable of learning carefully about when and how much to retract their gills and thanks to

Kandels work we have a clear understanding of the neural mechanisms involved

The Aplysias gill retraction reflex exhibits a phenomencn called sensitization whereby the

reflex can be strengthened by adding a painful stimulus By shocking the animal with a small

amount of electricity experimenters cause it to startle Pairing the shock with a touch to its gill

can make its natural defensive response much more powerful Sea slugs trained this way are

constantly on guard withdrawing their gills more forcefully and for up to four times as long

when touched This change occurs because the slugs on high alert have generalized the

negative experience of the shock to other stimuli so that even a benign light touch elicits a

powerful withdrawal

Illustration A Sea slug Aplysia californica B Aplysia with gill fully relaxed C Aplysia with gill fully retracted

You could say the muscles and nerves involved in retracting the gill constitute a chakra

This is similar to how humans come to hold tension in muscles all over their bodies overreact

to unthreatening stimuli and generalize traumatic experiences to everyday life The Aplysias

gill retraction reflex is analogous to the reflexes responsible for a wide range of submissive

displays from our squinting eyes to our hoarse voices from our suppressed sexuality to our

tense diaphragms The only real difference is that the sea slugs are traumatized by actual

painful stimuli whereas most of our trauma comes from the way we interpret social

competition

The good news here is that the Aplysia can very easily be desensitized and so can we

When the slug is touched lightly and repeatedly without being shocked there is a progressive

decrease in how far it retracts its gill Gradually it relearns that there is no risk associated with

light touching and it becomes able to relax Such a decreased reaction to a stimulus is known as

desensitization or habituation Slugs cannot heal their own chakras in this way However by

simulating an optimal environment through relaxed diaphragmatic breathing and using the

PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body

right mindset we can Rather than researchers prodding us with electrodes we have social

contacts prodding us with provocation This book will teach you how to desensitize your

chakralike modules to their competitive attacks

Stress and Competition in the Dominance Hierarchy

Since the discovery of the pecking order among hens by SchjelderupEbbe in status

hierarchy has been understood as the predominant form of social organization in vertebrates

Animals that live in social communities must actively compete in the same space for resources

When food mates or territory are disputed dominant individuals will prevail over

subordinates Interestingly a tiered social system helps the group become stable and viable

over the long term On average it is beneficial for each member even for those of the lowest

ranks This is because it minimizes violent competition over resources by defining the

relationships among members Dominance hierarchies improve reproductive fitness for all the

animals involved by discouraging physical fighting thereby saving time and energy and reducing

the risk of injury

Unfortunately a stable hierarchy necessitates constant signaling Many mammals send out

submissive signals even before any direct confrontation occurs For instance the subordinate

dog will often whimper and place its tail between its legs in response to an immediate threat

Even in the absence of any threat it will carry its head low tremble slightly and adopt a

restricted tail posture all the time

In primates being harassed or subjugated by higherranking individuals even without any

physical contact is the major form of stress for many species But it is not just being

dominated that is stressful It is the compensatory response Submissive displays activate the

bodys sympathetic nervous system and create continuous strain on the muscles and organs

responsible for them

Chronic Submission Turns into Social Defeat

Most animals have a nearly equal propensity to display dominant and submissive displays in

infancy and young mammals often use both interchangeably in bouts of play However as the

animal matures one of the two types of display becomes more frequent and more

pronounced Their experiences with victory and defeat drive this shift The term social defeat

refers to losing a confrontation or dispute with a member of your species This happens

constantly in the wild The more frequently you feel defeated the stronger your submissive

signaling becomes It is anticipatory and preemptive Animals that lose repeatedly exhibit

chronic subordination wearing the extent of their social defeat on their sleeves to advertise

their place in the hierarchy

Cricket fighting is a popular pastime in China and provides a perfect example of social

defeat A cricket loses a match if it is thrown from the ring runs away from a battle or avoids

contact Studies have found that after just one loss a cricket can lose its fighting spirit and

will only fight again one time out of ten Rather than engaging in actual combat the insect will

simply flee the next time it is approached without even taking the time to size up its opponent

Other examples are just as dramatic In experiments with mammals the resident

intruder paradigm is often used This involves placing a subordinate rat near the cage of a

more dominant one Inevitably the dominant rat will make a dominance display resulting in

Chapter Persistent Adaptation to Chronic Stress

the subordinate animal being threatened and acting defeated Sometimes the submissive rat is

placed inside the dominant rats cage which leads to the intruder being attacked and forced

into submission Because the cage is small and escape is impossible the intruder will lie on its

back emitting distress calls and freezing behavior to appease the attacker In both

experimental protocols the submitting animals physiology is significantly changed

Social defeat is a source of chronic stress in animals capable of affecting both neuro and