monomer/program_peace · Datasets at Hugging Face

line stringlengths 1 117
fluctuations in anticipated danger In the short run this would have helped our prehistoric
ancestors prepare for the increased oxygen requirements they would need for fight or flight
maneuvers Sadly most of us live in this mode even though we are no longer protecting our
bodies from predators or clubbearing maniacs The modern world has tricked our bodies into
thinking that our environment is too stressful to breathe peacefully when the opposite is true
Distressed Breathing and Social Rank
If you would like to experience pronounced thoracicclavicular breathing watch an internet
video of a violent street fight and pay careful attention to your breath The shallow rapidity will
become apparent You could achieve a similar effect just by watching an internet video of an
argument between two people This is because in primates social confrontation dysregulates
breathing nearly as much as physical violence When you feel disrespected cheated
or compelled to explain yourself you enter a state of respiratory distress When this happens
people usually act at two extremes either becoming conflictavoidant submissive or quick
to anger
Respiratory distress is marked by breathing so shallow that it interferes with your speech
causing your voice to falter You may feel like you are choking and suffocating at the same time
It is usually apparent to those around you and most people are embarrassed when it happens
to them The truth is that awkward social encounters cause most of us to experience a state of
respiratory distress throughout the day
My experience is that most people have little interest in using breathing exercises to
deepen their breath until explain to them that deep breathing is a dominant trait Then they
become eager Our respiratory behavior affects our social standing and how we are treated and
perceived People hear changes in the cadence and pitch of your voice that are caused by
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
distressed breathing and use them to make judgments about your level of confidence
Breathing is one of the most common markers of social rank
Diaphragmatic breathing retraining will make you practically immune to respiratory
distress With enough retraining people will be able to tell that you have little susceptibility to
it When your breathing shows no signs of distress people will not want to challenge or
provoke you because they realize they will reach respiratory distress before you do As you
develop your capacity for diaphragmatic breathing you will come to understand that the
people around you are constantly fighting wars of attrition to see who will show signs of
respiratory distress first
We also breathe shallowly in a distressed manner to communicate friendliness Because we
dont want to come across as overbearing or audacious or because we want to make others
comfortable we shorten our breaths and disengage the diaphragm In other words we breathe
in a distressed manner when we are afraid when we are mad and when we are being nice No
wonder it seems inescapable
Stifling and Neglecting the Diaphragm
Social and environmental stress are not the only causes of distressed breathing It can also be
the result of surgery or injury After colon surgery a gastric bypass a Caesarean procedure
or an appendectomy for instance the patient will have an incision wound on their abdomen
It is common for recovering patients to inhibit normal abdominal expansion during breathing
to avoid the pain of having their injury disturbed They learn to actively stifle diaphragmatic
movement out of fear of pain or stitches bursting at the incision site This learned pain
avoidance can be longlasting causing the patient to neglect the diaphragm and adopt thoracic
breathing as a fixed habit Chronic shallow breathing can result along with breathlessness and
anxiety It is uncommon for such patients to revert to diaphragmatic use even after the pain
from the surgery is gone unless breathing retraining therapy is undertaken You may have
never had abdominal surgery but to some extent past trauma and submissive signaling have
stifled your diaphragm in a similar way
Fortunately we have good models available for how to reinstate diaphragmatic use The
best of these is recovery from a ventilator In situations where medical patients are having
trouble breathing a machine called an artificial ventilator can be used to move air in and out of
their lungs When a doctor takes a patient off a ventilator they need to assess the persons
breathing mechanics to ensure the breathing musculature is strong and coordinated enough to
support unaided breathing Withdrawal from mechanical ventilation is known as weaning
Think of your thoracic breathing musculature as akin to a ventilator from which you need
to wean yourself Years of stress have caused the thoracic muscles to take control and your
diaphragm has weakened through atrophy caused by disuse The good news is that the
diaphragm can grow stronger quickly When you first start breathing diaphragmatically
it will be difficult It will feel as if you have been taken off a ventilator the muscles you are
forcing to breathe for you are not yet up to the job You will need to wean off thoracic
breathing by training the diaphragm encourage you to use the exercises in the rest of this
chapter to remove the ventilator of thoracic breathing and plunge headfirst into strengthening
your diaphragm
Chapter Breathe Deeply Smoothly Slowly and on Long Intervals
The Four Rules of Diaphragmatic Breathing
In the thick of my anxiety could tell that my breathing was highly dysfunctional used myself
as a model for what not to do and slowly made inferences about how to do the opposite of my
acquired tendencies read copiously about ventilatory mechanics and experimented with
numerous breathing styles Slowly after ten years of research introspection and trial and
error developed eight rules of diaphragmatic breathing This chapter will address the first
four which are
Breathe Deep high volume Breathe nearly all the way in by the end of each inhalation and
all the way out by the end of each exhalation
Breathe Long low frequency Engage in longinterval breathing breathing in for four to ten
seconds and breathing out for six to twelve seconds at a time
Breathe Smooth continuous flow Breathe at a steady slow nearly constant rate during
all breathing
Breathe Assertively confident Do not permit social concerns or life stressors to conflict
with the first three rules
Shallow Breath Short Breath Rough Breath
Distressed
Breathing SN
Deep Breath Long Breath Smooth Breath
Diaphragmatic
Breathing
Figure A graphical representation of the first three rules of diaphragmatic breathing The vertical axis
designates the depth of inhalation or volume of air in the lungs the horizontal axis designates time
A helpful way to improve your ability to monitor your breathing is to draw your breathing
pattern on paper Use the examples in Figure to work through the exercise below
Breathing Activity Draw Your Breathing Pattern on Paper
Sit down with pen and paper Become curious about your breath as if it is a phenomenon you
have never encountered As you observe each breath graph it with a free hand Make the
vertical axis correspond to the depth of the breath and the horizontal axis to how long each
breath lasts In other words volume on the yaxis and time on the xaxis Take different kinds
of breaths at different depths and frequencies Depict each as a curve on paper in real time
Just taking a few minutes to represent your breathing in this way will increase your breath
awareness helping you better visualize and monitor your breathing

fluctuations in anticipated danger In the short run this would have helped our prehistoric

ancestors prepare for the increased oxygen requirements they would need for fight or flight

maneuvers Sadly most of us live in this mode even though we are no longer protecting our

bodies from predators or clubbearing maniacs The modern world has tricked our bodies into

thinking that our environment is too stressful to breathe peacefully when the opposite is true

Distressed Breathing and Social Rank

If you would like to experience pronounced thoracicclavicular breathing watch an internet

video of a violent street fight and pay careful attention to your breath The shallow rapidity will

become apparent You could achieve a similar effect just by watching an internet video of an

argument between two people This is because in primates social confrontation dysregulates

breathing nearly as much as physical violence When you feel disrespected cheated

or compelled to explain yourself you enter a state of respiratory distress When this happens

people usually act at two extremes either becoming conflictavoidant submissive or quick

to anger

Respiratory distress is marked by breathing so shallow that it interferes with your speech

causing your voice to falter You may feel like you are choking and suffocating at the same time

It is usually apparent to those around you and most people are embarrassed when it happens

to them The truth is that awkward social encounters cause most of us to experience a state of

respiratory distress throughout the day

My experience is that most people have little interest in using breathing exercises to

deepen their breath until explain to them that deep breathing is a dominant trait Then they

become eager Our respiratory behavior affects our social standing and how we are treated and

perceived People hear changes in the cadence and pitch of your voice that are caused by

PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body

distressed breathing and use them to make judgments about your level of confidence

Breathing is one of the most common markers of social rank

Diaphragmatic breathing retraining will make you practically immune to respiratory

distress With enough retraining people will be able to tell that you have little susceptibility to

it When your breathing shows no signs of distress people will not want to challenge or

provoke you because they realize they will reach respiratory distress before you do As you

develop your capacity for diaphragmatic breathing you will come to understand that the

people around you are constantly fighting wars of attrition to see who will show signs of

respiratory distress first

We also breathe shallowly in a distressed manner to communicate friendliness Because we

dont want to come across as overbearing or audacious or because we want to make others

comfortable we shorten our breaths and disengage the diaphragm In other words we breathe

in a distressed manner when we are afraid when we are mad and when we are being nice No

wonder it seems inescapable

Stifling and Neglecting the Diaphragm

Social and environmental stress are not the only causes of distressed breathing It can also be

the result of surgery or injury After colon surgery a gastric bypass a Caesarean procedure

or an appendectomy for instance the patient will have an incision wound on their abdomen

It is common for recovering patients to inhibit normal abdominal expansion during breathing

to avoid the pain of having their injury disturbed They learn to actively stifle diaphragmatic

movement out of fear of pain or stitches bursting at the incision site This learned pain

avoidance can be longlasting causing the patient to neglect the diaphragm and adopt thoracic

breathing as a fixed habit Chronic shallow breathing can result along with breathlessness and

anxiety It is uncommon for such patients to revert to diaphragmatic use even after the pain

from the surgery is gone unless breathing retraining therapy is undertaken You may have

never had abdominal surgery but to some extent past trauma and submissive signaling have

stifled your diaphragm in a similar way

Fortunately we have good models available for how to reinstate diaphragmatic use The

best of these is recovery from a ventilator In situations where medical patients are having

trouble breathing a machine called an artificial ventilator can be used to move air in and out of

their lungs When a doctor takes a patient off a ventilator they need to assess the persons

breathing mechanics to ensure the breathing musculature is strong and coordinated enough to

support unaided breathing Withdrawal from mechanical ventilation is known as weaning

Think of your thoracic breathing musculature as akin to a ventilator from which you need

to wean yourself Years of stress have caused the thoracic muscles to take control and your

diaphragm has weakened through atrophy caused by disuse The good news is that the

diaphragm can grow stronger quickly When you first start breathing diaphragmatically

it will be difficult It will feel as if you have been taken off a ventilator the muscles you are

forcing to breathe for you are not yet up to the job You will need to wean off thoracic

breathing by training the diaphragm encourage you to use the exercises in the rest of this

chapter to remove the ventilator of thoracic breathing and plunge headfirst into strengthening

your diaphragm

Chapter Breathe Deeply Smoothly Slowly and on Long Intervals

The Four Rules of Diaphragmatic Breathing

In the thick of my anxiety could tell that my breathing was highly dysfunctional used myself

as a model for what not to do and slowly made inferences about how to do the opposite of my

acquired tendencies read copiously about ventilatory mechanics and experimented with

numerous breathing styles Slowly after ten years of research introspection and trial and

error developed eight rules of diaphragmatic breathing This chapter will address the first

four which are

Breathe Deep high volume Breathe nearly all the way in by the end of each inhalation and

all the way out by the end of each exhalation

Breathe Long low frequency Engage in longinterval breathing breathing in for four to ten

seconds and breathing out for six to twelve seconds at a time

Breathe Smooth continuous flow Breathe at a steady slow nearly constant rate during

all breathing

Breathe Assertively confident Do not permit social concerns or life stressors to conflict

with the first three rules

Shallow Breath Short Breath Rough Breath

Distressed

Breathing SN

Deep Breath Long Breath Smooth Breath

Diaphragmatic

Breathing

Figure A graphical representation of the first three rules of diaphragmatic breathing The vertical axis

designates the depth of inhalation or volume of air in the lungs the horizontal axis designates time

A helpful way to improve your ability to monitor your breathing is to draw your breathing

pattern on paper Use the examples in Figure to work through the exercise below

Breathing Activity Draw Your Breathing Pattern on Paper

Sit down with pen and paper Become curious about your breath as if it is a phenomenon you

have never encountered As you observe each breath graph it with a free hand Make the

vertical axis correspond to the depth of the breath and the horizontal axis to how long each

breath lasts In other words volume on the yaxis and time on the xaxis Take different kinds

of breaths at different depths and frequencies Depict each as a curve on paper in real time

Just taking a few minutes to represent your breathing in this way will increase your breath

awareness helping you better visualize and monitor your breathing