monomer/program_peace · Datasets at Hugging Face

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Breathing is strained whenever a single inhalation pauses slows or speeds up When someone
is stressed you can often hear them straining for more breath as multiple rapid gasps or
shudders will punctuate the inhalation The gasps occur when one is continuing to inhale
despite their bodys inclination to switch to exhalation The weakness in the breath tells us to
stop taking a full inhalation and go back to exhaling prematurely This is the same mechanism
that causes us to breathe shallowly and that creates the diaphragmatic speedbump This
phenomenon of fighting against oneself for breath is sometimes called paradoxical breathing
We are constantly modulating the rate of each breath from second to second depending
on our level of air hunger and transient stress We may alter the rate of a single breath many
times This is not ideal Tell yourself that you will stick with the same rate for the entirety of
each breath If you need to change the rate because you need more air change at the
beginning of the next inhalation or exhalation but not during an actual breath One helpful way
to assist you in this is through breathing exclusively through the nose which we will discuss in
Chapter
Imagine that your breath is an accordion that you have spent your life thrusting and
thrashing in a distraught feverish way Imagine now playing the accordion by moving your
hands very slowly and continuously stretching the accordion out to its full length and then
gently pressing it closed over and over
People who perform intricate manual work or marksmen who shoot targets find that
holding the breath helps steady the hands Once you reprogram your breath to be continuous
and smooth breathholding is no longer necessary to keep you from shaking As you paint an
eyebrow on that tiny face on your canvass or take aim at a distant target you will find yourself
smoothing out your breath rather than holding it
Distressed breathing progresses like an automobile that is alternating between stalling and
redlining You want your breathing to be like a reliable car engine purring on a smoothly paved
freeway with the cruise control on
Breathe Assertively
So far we have covered methods for breathing smoothly deeply and at longer intervals
The fourth rule is to breathe assertively We usually breathe as if we dont have any faith in our
breath A thoracic breather knows that a negative thought could interrupt the breath at any
time by prematurely turning an exhalation into an inhalation or vice versa This causes them to
breathe not only shallowly but cautiously and hesitantly as if they are tiptoeing It also keeps
them from breathing efficiently because they are not taking advantage of inertia If a breath
proceeds steadily it can capture its own momentum resulting in reduced effort
During hesitant unsteady breath the breathing musculature is constantly building and
then losing momentum
Model your breathing on the motion of a pendulum or some other uninterrupted
inevitable oscillating process Something that moves with certainty Each stroke of a pendulum
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
fully captures its momentum until gravity reverses the swing Any pendulum would be useless if
it slowed or stopped midway Picture your diaphragm stroking up and down in a slow but
unfaltering unagitated way Breathe out with certain knowledge that you are not going to
switch prematurely to a gasp Commit to each breath steadfastly
To feel comfortable breathing with confidence you will need to be willing to let the people
around you hear your breath You must not be afraid of being heard or noticed Instead be
proud of how your breath does not waver falter or hesitate Dont think that people will hear
it and be offended Breathe decisively and audibly if necessary for all to hear Breathing
assertively is the demonstration of true aplomb Start by using your imagination
Breathing Exercise Uninterrupted Inhalation
Take a deep long smooth breath all the way in Make the inhalation last as long as you
comfortably can preferably from five to seconds Do this eight times imagining each
of the distressprovoking scenarios below in turn As you do this dont let the upsetting
aspects of the scenario interrupt or cause discontinuity in your inhalation
Someone says something to offend you
You realize you forgot your phone
You notice you misplaced your wallet
You pass by a stranger while walking down the street
You hear a car backfiring or an earpiercing siren
You notice someone looking at you out of the corner of your eye
You tell someone what you expect of them
You are rudely awakened by a loud alarm
Many people who are widely admired and described as charismatic are merely assertive
breathers The selftaught dog behaviorist Cesar Millan is one such person He is widely known
for his Dog Whisperer television series in which he works with aggressive and abused dogs
In The New York Times attributed his success to his sense of equanimity describing this
as a sort of uberbalanced mien Millan calls it calmassertive energy and says that he
approaches dogs as a pack leader
There is good reason to believe that Millans effect on dogs derives from his breathing
Throughout the episodes of his TV series his breathing remains calm constant and resolute
despite repeated problematic encounters with both the dogs and their owners Cesar Millan
and people like him have an autonomous breathing pattern that is not susceptible to being
stopped short by the behavior or misbehavior of others Dogs are in tune with how the status
hierarchy is conveyed through breathing think the dogs know there is nothing they can do to
disturb his breathing so they listen to and respect him Millans techniques work as well on
abused and subordinated dogs as on aggressive and intractable ones
Respiratory rates and fluctuations in them constitute a language that all mammals speak
Try sitting near your cat or dog breathing calmly and then suddenly switch to short quick loud
breaths The animal will become concerned appear nervous and adopt your breathing pattern
Chapter Breathe Deeply Smoothly Slowly and on Long Intervals
If instead you breathe slowly and deeply they are likely to relax yawn and start stretching
If you breathe slowly and deeply while training or correcting them they will heed you
Health practitioners often need to assess their patients respiratory rate the number of
breaths inhalationexhalation cycles taken within seconds The method a doctor or clinician
uses to measure the respiratory rate of a child an animal or an adult can affect the
measurement Simply handling an animal will increase its respiratory rate giving a false
reading unless the animal is handled very gently in which case its respiratory rate may fall
Using a cold stethoscope to measure respiratory rate in a child will increase their respiratory
rate whereas other less obtrusive methods like counting the number of times the chest
rises may not
Clinical texts refer to the invasiveness of different methodological procedures for
assessing respiration A doctor that acts either domineering or too accommodating can raise it
Different aspects of our environment are constantly invading our respiratory dynamics
Dont allow your breathing rate or depth to be dictated by banal occurrences in your
environment Confidence starts with assertive uninterruptable breathing
The Connection Between the Breath and the Mind
Feelings of pain and frustration are compounded by shallow breathing Pride vanity and guilt
are also ramped up by distressed breathing and will focus on these relationships in later
chapters Shortness of breath makes us feel like we are suffocating In such a state we cant
help but think negative thoughts Once you have internalized the four rules and are breathing
deeply smoothly and at long intervals it will become clear to you that the mental bondage

Breathing is strained whenever a single inhalation pauses slows or speeds up When someone

is stressed you can often hear them straining for more breath as multiple rapid gasps or

shudders will punctuate the inhalation The gasps occur when one is continuing to inhale

despite their bodys inclination to switch to exhalation The weakness in the breath tells us to

stop taking a full inhalation and go back to exhaling prematurely This is the same mechanism

that causes us to breathe shallowly and that creates the diaphragmatic speedbump This

phenomenon of fighting against oneself for breath is sometimes called paradoxical breathing

We are constantly modulating the rate of each breath from second to second depending

on our level of air hunger and transient stress We may alter the rate of a single breath many

times This is not ideal Tell yourself that you will stick with the same rate for the entirety of

each breath If you need to change the rate because you need more air change at the

beginning of the next inhalation or exhalation but not during an actual breath One helpful way

to assist you in this is through breathing exclusively through the nose which we will discuss in

Chapter

Imagine that your breath is an accordion that you have spent your life thrusting and

thrashing in a distraught feverish way Imagine now playing the accordion by moving your

hands very slowly and continuously stretching the accordion out to its full length and then

gently pressing it closed over and over

People who perform intricate manual work or marksmen who shoot targets find that

holding the breath helps steady the hands Once you reprogram your breath to be continuous

and smooth breathholding is no longer necessary to keep you from shaking As you paint an

eyebrow on that tiny face on your canvass or take aim at a distant target you will find yourself

smoothing out your breath rather than holding it

Distressed breathing progresses like an automobile that is alternating between stalling and

redlining You want your breathing to be like a reliable car engine purring on a smoothly paved

freeway with the cruise control on

Breathe Assertively

So far we have covered methods for breathing smoothly deeply and at longer intervals

The fourth rule is to breathe assertively We usually breathe as if we dont have any faith in our

breath A thoracic breather knows that a negative thought could interrupt the breath at any

time by prematurely turning an exhalation into an inhalation or vice versa This causes them to

breathe not only shallowly but cautiously and hesitantly as if they are tiptoeing It also keeps

them from breathing efficiently because they are not taking advantage of inertia If a breath

proceeds steadily it can capture its own momentum resulting in reduced effort

During hesitant unsteady breath the breathing musculature is constantly building and

then losing momentum

Model your breathing on the motion of a pendulum or some other uninterrupted

inevitable oscillating process Something that moves with certainty Each stroke of a pendulum

PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body

fully captures its momentum until gravity reverses the swing Any pendulum would be useless if

it slowed or stopped midway Picture your diaphragm stroking up and down in a slow but

unfaltering unagitated way Breathe out with certain knowledge that you are not going to

switch prematurely to a gasp Commit to each breath steadfastly

To feel comfortable breathing with confidence you will need to be willing to let the people

around you hear your breath You must not be afraid of being heard or noticed Instead be

proud of how your breath does not waver falter or hesitate Dont think that people will hear

it and be offended Breathe decisively and audibly if necessary for all to hear Breathing

assertively is the demonstration of true aplomb Start by using your imagination

Breathing Exercise Uninterrupted Inhalation

Take a deep long smooth breath all the way in Make the inhalation last as long as you

comfortably can preferably from five to seconds Do this eight times imagining each

of the distressprovoking scenarios below in turn As you do this dont let the upsetting

aspects of the scenario interrupt or cause discontinuity in your inhalation

Someone says something to offend you

You realize you forgot your phone

You notice you misplaced your wallet

You pass by a stranger while walking down the street

You hear a car backfiring or an earpiercing siren

You notice someone looking at you out of the corner of your eye

You tell someone what you expect of them

You are rudely awakened by a loud alarm

Many people who are widely admired and described as charismatic are merely assertive

breathers The selftaught dog behaviorist Cesar Millan is one such person He is widely known

for his Dog Whisperer television series in which he works with aggressive and abused dogs

In The New York Times attributed his success to his sense of equanimity describing this

as a sort of uberbalanced mien Millan calls it calmassertive energy and says that he

approaches dogs as a pack leader

There is good reason to believe that Millans effect on dogs derives from his breathing

Throughout the episodes of his TV series his breathing remains calm constant and resolute

despite repeated problematic encounters with both the dogs and their owners Cesar Millan

and people like him have an autonomous breathing pattern that is not susceptible to being

stopped short by the behavior or misbehavior of others Dogs are in tune with how the status

hierarchy is conveyed through breathing think the dogs know there is nothing they can do to

disturb his breathing so they listen to and respect him Millans techniques work as well on

abused and subordinated dogs as on aggressive and intractable ones

Respiratory rates and fluctuations in them constitute a language that all mammals speak

Try sitting near your cat or dog breathing calmly and then suddenly switch to short quick loud

breaths The animal will become concerned appear nervous and adopt your breathing pattern

Chapter Breathe Deeply Smoothly Slowly and on Long Intervals

If instead you breathe slowly and deeply they are likely to relax yawn and start stretching

If you breathe slowly and deeply while training or correcting them they will heed you

Health practitioners often need to assess their patients respiratory rate the number of

breaths inhalationexhalation cycles taken within seconds The method a doctor or clinician

uses to measure the respiratory rate of a child an animal or an adult can affect the

measurement Simply handling an animal will increase its respiratory rate giving a false

reading unless the animal is handled very gently in which case its respiratory rate may fall

Using a cold stethoscope to measure respiratory rate in a child will increase their respiratory

rate whereas other less obtrusive methods like counting the number of times the chest

rises may not

Clinical texts refer to the invasiveness of different methodological procedures for

assessing respiration A doctor that acts either domineering or too accommodating can raise it

Different aspects of our environment are constantly invading our respiratory dynamics

Dont allow your breathing rate or depth to be dictated by banal occurrences in your

environment Confidence starts with assertive uninterruptable breathing

The Connection Between the Breath and the Mind

Feelings of pain and frustration are compounded by shallow breathing Pride vanity and guilt

are also ramped up by distressed breathing and will focus on these relationships in later

chapters Shortness of breath makes us feel like we are suffocating In such a state we cant

help but think negative thoughts Once you have internalized the four rules and are breathing

deeply smoothly and at long intervals it will become clear to you that the mental bondage