monomer/program_peace · Datasets at Hugging Face

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keep your hands free and turn off the screen of your phone to conserve battery life
Diaphragmatic breathing will keep your muscles from fighting against the forced relaxation
This has the added benefit of reducing the extent of soreness afterward
Illustration A Massage of the temporal muscles B Skeletal muscles of the back C Neck massage
Most masseuses whether they realize it or not specialize in treating the muscles of
respiration This is because any muscle of the torso can be seen as a muscle of respiration After
all every one of them either mobilizes or stabilizes breathing motions Remember how we said
that breathing with the muscles surrounding the thorax and clavicles is especially unhealthy
Any decent massage of the neck shoulders or back will release those muscles helping diminish
the strain responsible for thoracic and clavicular breathing Also you will find that during a
relaxing massage your breathing becomes diaphragmatic on its own and that the activity of
your sympathetic stress system plunges Stress and anxiety cannot remain chronic if you give
yourself intermittent restorative breaks in the form of professional massages
Receiving regular professional massages will teach you how a good massage manipulates
muscle making it easier to give yourself or others effective massage later on You will also
quickly learn where on your body the muscles are dormant so that you can compress them
yourself Additionally massage conditions dominant traits such as not flinching or pulling away
when touched relaxing completely around others and being comfortable while in close
physical contact with people you dont know well These traits will add to your overall sense of
ease and confidence in the world around you
Chapter Release Tense Muscle with Massage
Massage Activity Visualization During Massage
Every time you get a massage spend some time noticing what the masseuse is doing to
your body Note the tempo the pressure and the locations they focus on Notice what
areas are sore and how they respond to pressure Pay particular attention to the
technique the masseuse uses what body parts they employ and how Visualize what the
masseuse is doing to you and visualize yourself doing the same to your muscles or those
of others Spending time picturing yourself giving the massage will make you a fantastic
masseuse in no time
Due to reductions in chronic tension and an increased blood supply after a highquality deep
tissue massage you will find yourself able to jump higher run faster and bench press more
You will have more energy better endurance and exercising will be more pleasurable To help
capitalize on those improvements strongly recommend exercising before a deep tissue
massage Afterward you want to stretch and exercise the muscles that have been released
but you dont want to overload them You do not want to go to a batting cage lift heavy weights
spar or load up a moving truck Do these things before a deep tissue massage but not after
Most importantly massage will allow you to flex into and exercise within positions that
were previously barricaded You will find that you can contract portions of muscles that were
once completely unavailable They become available because the massage gives them a
temporary blood supply allowing them to flex like healthy active muscle tissue is supposed to
Subsequent chapters will detail how to combine massage with exercise to reopen
musculoskeletal obstructions
recommend trying as many different masseuses as possible Almost any massage is going
to be of value but only a certain percentage of masseuses are worth your time and money
Your goal is to find the masseuses in your vicinity who are best at searching out and pressing
into the aching tense parts of your body This does not necessarily mean paying top dollar The
most helpful massages have received myself were not the most expensive ones The Chinese
acupressure studio in the mall near my home is consistently the best In my experience
traditional Chinese massage has excellent biological validity They know where trigger points
are and how to compress them firmly while slightly varying the location of pressure every few
seconds also stand by Thai massage medical massage sports massage active release
technique osteopathic manipulation myofascial release therapy and trigger point therapy
With a skilled practitioner each of those schools can lead to extremely positive outcomes
Tension Insanity Excitement
Having reviewed the most important ways in which touch can heal lets return to the story that
opened the chapter That was not the only time found my friend in crisis Nor was it the worst
The third time had to take my friend to the hospital was the most dramatic Homeless
again he had spent a few weeks with some mutual friends One of them was another transient
who harried and browbeat him constantly After less than a week of this abuse his speech was
accelerated and the things he said came primarily from resentment and frustration One day
was looking after him along with a woman he was dating We watched his mental state slowly
devolve over just a few hours and by nighttime his behavior was delirious He was pacing and
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
ranting in a state of purposeless volatility In the episode described at the beginning of this
chapter my friend was in a state of catatonic stupor This time his condition was catatonic
excitement commonly cited as one of the most dangerous mental states in psychiatry
Patients in a state of catatonic excitement are completely impulsive and exhibit bizarre
nongoaldirected hyperactivity My friend was storming around restlessly pointing yelling
and making wild accusations raving about a new topic every two sentences It took me
minutes of this to realize that even though he was on his feet and talking he was barely
conscious His nonsensical incoherent ranting seemed inexhaustible He wouldnt let anyone
touch him and started yelling when any of us came near him or made eye contact He
repeatedly jabbed his finger into the chest of a common friend while screaming As soon as he
made a violent physical overture toward his girlfriend quickly but gently used a wrestling
takedown to bring him to the floor knew that using physical force with a person with a mental
health condition is unethical but reacted to protect the others spoke to him in a friendly
authoritative way and massaged him firmly kneaded the muscles along his spine for a half
hour until he started weeping in relief Remarkably our friends were able to talk him into going
back to the place he dreaded the most cant imagine that any intervention other than
massage could have helped him relax enough to make that choice willingly
It was his third admission to a psychiatric hospital in two years After four days there he was
expelled for fighting with other patients spent hours searching streets near the institution
before found him shivering in the rain He was frenzied rambling madly with a swollen lip and a
gash over his eye All his medications had been stolen from him and he was crashing down as
the prescribed drugs cleared from his cerebral circulation Withdrawal from the sedatives and
antipsychotics caused his sympathetic stress system to go berserk realized that no matter what
we did he would seek out and engage the most upsetting aspect of any scenario put us in
So we avoided stimulation checked us into a hotel in a quiet neighborhood and spent
three days with him working hard to remain as calm and as boring as possible To avoid
overstimulating him hid my phone and took the rooms television down to the front desk At
that time he could only fathom what was physically in front of him so because there was no
television in the room he didnt miss it Instead brought a few board games for us to play
spent most of the time trying to be the perfect combination of nondominant and
nonsubmissive He tried to dominate me he tried to act submissive toward me and ignored
these so as not to reinforce either
During that time also practiced many breathing exercises with him He said he liked them
but he was so restless that he could only concentrate on them for a few seconds at a time He
did not have the attention span necessary for paced breathing For this reason every half hour
asked him to take one long slow inhalation and one complete exhalation while blowing on his
finger He said it made him sleepy Calming our anxiety with proper breathing can make us

keep your hands free and turn off the screen of your phone to conserve battery life

Diaphragmatic breathing will keep your muscles from fighting against the forced relaxation

This has the added benefit of reducing the extent of soreness afterward

Illustration A Massage of the temporal muscles B Skeletal muscles of the back C Neck massage

Most masseuses whether they realize it or not specialize in treating the muscles of

respiration This is because any muscle of the torso can be seen as a muscle of respiration After

all every one of them either mobilizes or stabilizes breathing motions Remember how we said

that breathing with the muscles surrounding the thorax and clavicles is especially unhealthy

Any decent massage of the neck shoulders or back will release those muscles helping diminish

the strain responsible for thoracic and clavicular breathing Also you will find that during a

relaxing massage your breathing becomes diaphragmatic on its own and that the activity of

your sympathetic stress system plunges Stress and anxiety cannot remain chronic if you give

yourself intermittent restorative breaks in the form of professional massages

Receiving regular professional massages will teach you how a good massage manipulates

muscle making it easier to give yourself or others effective massage later on You will also

quickly learn where on your body the muscles are dormant so that you can compress them

yourself Additionally massage conditions dominant traits such as not flinching or pulling away

when touched relaxing completely around others and being comfortable while in close

physical contact with people you dont know well These traits will add to your overall sense of

ease and confidence in the world around you

Chapter Release Tense Muscle with Massage

Massage Activity Visualization During Massage

Every time you get a massage spend some time noticing what the masseuse is doing to

your body Note the tempo the pressure and the locations they focus on Notice what

areas are sore and how they respond to pressure Pay particular attention to the

technique the masseuse uses what body parts they employ and how Visualize what the

masseuse is doing to you and visualize yourself doing the same to your muscles or those

of others Spending time picturing yourself giving the massage will make you a fantastic

masseuse in no time

Due to reductions in chronic tension and an increased blood supply after a highquality deep

tissue massage you will find yourself able to jump higher run faster and bench press more

You will have more energy better endurance and exercising will be more pleasurable To help

capitalize on those improvements strongly recommend exercising before a deep tissue

massage Afterward you want to stretch and exercise the muscles that have been released

but you dont want to overload them You do not want to go to a batting cage lift heavy weights

spar or load up a moving truck Do these things before a deep tissue massage but not after

Most importantly massage will allow you to flex into and exercise within positions that

were previously barricaded You will find that you can contract portions of muscles that were

once completely unavailable They become available because the massage gives them a

temporary blood supply allowing them to flex like healthy active muscle tissue is supposed to

Subsequent chapters will detail how to combine massage with exercise to reopen

musculoskeletal obstructions

recommend trying as many different masseuses as possible Almost any massage is going

to be of value but only a certain percentage of masseuses are worth your time and money

Your goal is to find the masseuses in your vicinity who are best at searching out and pressing

into the aching tense parts of your body This does not necessarily mean paying top dollar The

most helpful massages have received myself were not the most expensive ones The Chinese

acupressure studio in the mall near my home is consistently the best In my experience

traditional Chinese massage has excellent biological validity They know where trigger points

are and how to compress them firmly while slightly varying the location of pressure every few

seconds also stand by Thai massage medical massage sports massage active release

technique osteopathic manipulation myofascial release therapy and trigger point therapy

With a skilled practitioner each of those schools can lead to extremely positive outcomes

Tension Insanity Excitement

Having reviewed the most important ways in which touch can heal lets return to the story that

opened the chapter That was not the only time found my friend in crisis Nor was it the worst

The third time had to take my friend to the hospital was the most dramatic Homeless

again he had spent a few weeks with some mutual friends One of them was another transient

who harried and browbeat him constantly After less than a week of this abuse his speech was

accelerated and the things he said came primarily from resentment and frustration One day

was looking after him along with a woman he was dating We watched his mental state slowly

devolve over just a few hours and by nighttime his behavior was delirious He was pacing and

PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body

ranting in a state of purposeless volatility In the episode described at the beginning of this

chapter my friend was in a state of catatonic stupor This time his condition was catatonic

excitement commonly cited as one of the most dangerous mental states in psychiatry

Patients in a state of catatonic excitement are completely impulsive and exhibit bizarre

nongoaldirected hyperactivity My friend was storming around restlessly pointing yelling

and making wild accusations raving about a new topic every two sentences It took me

minutes of this to realize that even though he was on his feet and talking he was barely

conscious His nonsensical incoherent ranting seemed inexhaustible He wouldnt let anyone

touch him and started yelling when any of us came near him or made eye contact He

repeatedly jabbed his finger into the chest of a common friend while screaming As soon as he

made a violent physical overture toward his girlfriend quickly but gently used a wrestling

takedown to bring him to the floor knew that using physical force with a person with a mental

health condition is unethical but reacted to protect the others spoke to him in a friendly

authoritative way and massaged him firmly kneaded the muscles along his spine for a half

hour until he started weeping in relief Remarkably our friends were able to talk him into going

back to the place he dreaded the most cant imagine that any intervention other than

massage could have helped him relax enough to make that choice willingly

It was his third admission to a psychiatric hospital in two years After four days there he was

expelled for fighting with other patients spent hours searching streets near the institution

before found him shivering in the rain He was frenzied rambling madly with a swollen lip and a

gash over his eye All his medications had been stolen from him and he was crashing down as

the prescribed drugs cleared from his cerebral circulation Withdrawal from the sedatives and

antipsychotics caused his sympathetic stress system to go berserk realized that no matter what

we did he would seek out and engage the most upsetting aspect of any scenario put us in

So we avoided stimulation checked us into a hotel in a quiet neighborhood and spent

three days with him working hard to remain as calm and as boring as possible To avoid

overstimulating him hid my phone and took the rooms television down to the front desk At

that time he could only fathom what was physically in front of him so because there was no

television in the room he didnt miss it Instead brought a few board games for us to play

spent most of the time trying to be the perfect combination of nondominant and

nonsubmissive He tried to dominate me he tried to act submissive toward me and ignored

these so as not to reinforce either

During that time also practiced many breathing exercises with him He said he liked them

but he was so restless that he could only concentrate on them for a few seconds at a time He

did not have the attention span necessary for paced breathing For this reason every half hour

asked him to take one long slow inhalation and one complete exhalation while blowing on his

finger He said it made him sleepy Calming our anxiety with proper breathing can make us