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that we share with other mammals and lay out the Program Peace method of overcoming
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them Throughout the book combine modern science with my personal experiences to
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explain key concepts related to optimal wellbeing Each chapter addresses a different bodily
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system and explains why you should use the exercises how they can help you and what you
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can expect your progress to look and feel like
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A little more background on the book started developing it along with its philosophy on
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life morality and healing in early childhood have been working weekly on the present text for
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more than years Much of the material in it has been available on my blog for more than ten
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years have been training clients to perform the exercises for more than five have read
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hundreds of related books and hundreds of scientific journal articles to inform and refine the
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content The intended audience is everyone including people without a hint of anxiety or
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depression However it is also for physicians psychiatrists psychologists social workers
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life coaches personal trainers and other health and wellness professionals looking for safe
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effective and free ways to bring about growth and progress in their clients
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The Importance of Diaphragmatic Breathing
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The Program Peace methodology is applied to organ systems all over the body but begins with
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the breath After introducing the method in Chapters and Chapter will teach you how to
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breathe in a way that activates the resting and healing division of your nervous system The key
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is to breathe with maximal activation of the diaphragm Mammals in a calm and peaceful state
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breathe diaphragmatically When they are exposed to adversity they instead breathe without
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the diaphragm relying on the breathing muscles in their upper torsos Known as distressed
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breathing this is the bodys way of preparing itself for a threatening and hostile environment
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Distressed breathing is an integral part of how animals survive in the wild but too much of it
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promotes chronic hyperventilation An animal that experiences ongoing mental or emotional
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trauma will eventually turn distressed breathing into a deepseated habit Due to how this
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affects its brain the animal ends up in constant fear for its life
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PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
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Our nervous system will always prioritize shortterm survival over longterm wellbeing as
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long as it assumes our environment is dangerous This strategy holds even though it is
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completely unnecessary in the modern world where we are rarely in immediate physical
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danger Most stcentury humans are stuck in a state of distress because nondiaphragmatic
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breathing has been ingrained in their nervous system It convinces their bodies that death may
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be imminent dramatically increases muscle tension and results in constant fatigue Non
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diaphragmatic breathing may be the primary reason why so many people endure persistent
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pain age rapidly experience unceasing negative emotions and can never fully catch
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their breath
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Like most adult mammals you and have learned to stifle and strain our diaphragm
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Cumulatively the nonpeaceful moments in our lives have programmed us to breathe
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shallowly Program Peace is designed to teach you how to reverse this by recruiting the
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diaphragm with every breath This is the process of transitioning from short shallow breaths to
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long deep breaths As your diaphragm strengthens from consistent use its range of motion
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increases and your neurological control over it improves allowing you to breathe more deeply
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and easily without even trying It will take months but the results are worth it Adopting
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diaphragmatic breathing is one of the most significant changes you can make in your life
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because your body interprets it as indisputable proof that your environment is friendly
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and safe
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Shortcomings of This Book
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created the reprogramming exercises in this book to heal my anxiety As developed them
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thought they were original After researching the details came to find that variations on
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some of them already existed in different clinical spiritual and selfimprovement circles It is
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difficult to look for precedent in selfhelp literature because it is not organized as well as
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academic literature This book focuses on methods rather than recounting a history of past
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contributors apologize in advance if have not given proper credit to similar work However
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am quite confident that most of the exercises in these chapters cannot be found anywhere else
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Some readers may find the technical terms in this book to be overwhelming have tried
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my best to make sentences with jargon accessible so that you can get the gist even if you dont
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know the word wanted to keep the science in the text for the scienceminded and other
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interested parties but please dont get frustrated by it If you encounter some unfamiliar
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terminology just power through it and try to enjoy the read There are only a few unfamiliar
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words that you will need to memorize because they pop up over and over These include
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parasympathetic nervous system developmental plasticity and partial muscular
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contraction
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The book is very long Skim through it if you have to You can get an overview by reading
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the bullet points at the end of each chapter Please take your time reading and dont feel
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pressured to finish it or to read it linearly Chapters and may be the most valuable to
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people trying to change their breathing By all means dogear the pages highlight text you like
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and write your notes in the margins This will increase its usefulness to you and allow you to
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more easily reference the passages or exercises you found helpful The book can seem
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repetitive at times intentionally structured it this way to get the therapeutic and bigpicture
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Preface
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messages across from different angles also often use imperative sentences but am not
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trying to be bossyjust a helpful coach
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These pages contain over illustrations created most of them by tracing photographs
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that took Each of the illustrations on the cover of the book corresponds to an analogy in the
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text hoped that it would be fun for the reader to uncover the hidden meanings and have a
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way to reference some of the major principles of Program Peace at a glance
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Much of This Book Is Theoretical
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must be clear that much of what is written in this book is speculative have strong convictions
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about it coming from scientific knowledge and personal experience However as with much
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else in alternative health there is no authority to confirm these hypotheses The writing
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alternates between offering personal anecdotes and theories and reporting on clinical findings
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and research literature To help readers discern between speculation and fact try to make it
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clear which statements are supported by scientific evidence They are often accompanied by a
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bibliographical citation of which there are over Many of the uncited claims are my
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opinions think of them as unproven but heavily informed by scientific knowledge and based
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on a new synthesis of diverse fields
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It would be difficult to reach a quick and firm conclusion about the efficacy of the
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techniques outlined here Empirically validating clinical methods in psychology often takes
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decades It can take just as long in medicine The Program Peace activities and exercises have
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not been subjected to controlled largescale experimental studies You cant just assign
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randomly selected people to the treatment conditions like you would with drugs and placebos
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To benefit from the exercises takes time dedication and discipline that only comes from having
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a deep understanding of why and how the exercises are beneficial in the long run Of course
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thats exactly what this book attempts to provide
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have spent the last ten years stringently testing the exercises In this time have used
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myself as a guinea pig to evaluate and hone the techniques Since doing this have trained
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dozens of clients in the Program Peace method Working with individuals listening to their
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feedback and seeing their bodies and minds transform have given me conviction that the
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exercises here can help you hope that as you read about them and perform them yourself
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you can see clearly how and why they lead to improvement Even if you never perform any of
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