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PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
After my personal experimentation was convinced that adherence to these four rules
guaranteed diaphragmatic breathing researched these concepts to find support for them in
the scientific literature Further research brought me to the realization that certain clinicians
have been using tenets remarkably similar to these for decades For instance psychologist Erik
Peper developed an excellent system he calls effortless diaphragmatic breathing which
consists of a large tidal volume ml slow respiration rate breaths per minute
and continuous flow rate Additionally Resonant Breathing Coherent Breathing and the
Conscious Breathing Method are similar breathing methods that think are scientifically
accurate and very helpful
Related techniques for diaphragmatic breathing retraining have been used by relaxation
and biofeedback programs for decades They have also become popular in psychiatry and
clinical psychology and are now considered fundamental tools in cognitive behavioral therapy
Diaphragmatic breathing in general is now touted as an effective evidencebased stress
reduction intervention that is low in cost easy to use and can be selfadministered with no
equipment needed You might be wondering How is diaphragmatic breathing defined in
medicine Its simple In the clinical literature participants are considered as performing
diaphragmatic breathing if sensors show that they are breathing longer and deeper decreasing
the respiratory rate while increasing the amplitude of the respiratory waveform
Diaphragmatic breathing is well known to slow the heart rate and decrease blood pressure
It has been proven to reduce sympathetic arousal anxiety panic attacks and hyperventilation
syndrome It is also an effective treatment modality in pain management motion sickness
breathlessness and a range of psychiatric and medical disorders For all these reasons
diaphragmatic breathing retraining is used by healthcare providers around the globe
Participants in clinical stress reduction programs often report that the breathing stuff was the
most important thing they learned
Lets not forget that diaphragmatic breathing is also an ancient practice Scientists and
clinicians appropriated diaphragmatic breathing methods from India where they have been
used for thousands of years as part of religious and social customs Diaphragmatic breathing is
central to the practice of yoga Yogis use long deep inhalations and exhalations The Buddhist
form of meditation called anapanasati mindfulness of breathing and the Hindu practice of
pranayama control of breath have both explicitly utilized the first two rules outlined above
since antiquity Yoga teachers in every tradition make it clear that the only way to control your
mind is to cultivate control of your breath These sages advocate that we never stop paying
attention to it Yogis who are masters of svarodaya the yogic science of breathing claim to be
aware of every breath they take
Diaphragmatic breathing has been around for thousands of years and may just be the most
powerful tool in psychiatry if not medicine as a whole Why isnt it more mainstream How did
finish a formal education in psychology and brain science without being introduced to it
dont know for sure but think this is partly because it has never been taught correctly
Most existing breathing practices dont offer a systematic regimen to permanently increase the
depth and duration of breathing Consequently they dont provide enough of a benefit to make
a substantial difference for most people and thus are only used for extreme cases of anxiety
believe the unique program outlined in this book is so powerful that it can provide substantial
Chapter Breathe Deeply Smoothly Slowly and on Long Intervals
benefits for any user Hopefully by the end of this chapter you will agree Let us continue
by looking more closely at each of the four rules
Depth of Breath Increase Your Tidal Range
The average adult human has a total lung capacity of five to six liters of air but only a small part
of this capacity is used during normal breathing Nervous breathing will often involve
inhalations of less than half a liter We rarely breathe fully and most of our breaths are
confined to a narrow range This range is called tidal volume When you increase your tidal
volume which is done by deliberately breathing all the way in and out you increase your
likelihood of accomplishing the other two criteria of longer interval and constant rate
There is more than one way to deepen your inbreaths but the exercise below is one of the
most straightforward and reliable Its based on the work of Joseph Pilates who saw forced
exhalation as the key to full inhalation He advised his students to squeeze out their lungs as if
they were tightly wringing a wet towel Doing so improves the strength of your breathing
musculature quite rapidly Take advantage of this to increase your tidal range
Breathing Exercise Deep Breaths
Take five complete breaths For each breath inhale as much as you can and exhale as
much as you can To ensure that you are exhaling completely purse your lips and blow on
a fingertip as you did in Chapter until you can no longer feel your breath Both the top
and bottom of your exhalations will probably feel unfamiliar stiff and achy Just one full
evacuation of the lungs is often enough to kickstart diaphragmatic breathing because the
resulting vacuum automatically pulls the diaphragm through its full bottomend range
of motion
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
Deep
Inhalation
Inspiratory
Reserve
Volume
Tidal
Volume
Expiratory
Deep Reserve
Exhalation Volume
Figure This graph shows a sine wave that indicates normal tidal volume The increase on the fifth breath
depicts a deep inhalation that extends the tidal range into the inspiratory reserve This is followed by a deep
exhalation extending the tidal range into the expiratory reserve Regularly extending the tidal range in this way
during breathing training will permanently broaden your default tidal volume and increase the involvement of
the diaphragm
Using an inspirometer while practicing Exercise can be very helpful An inspirometer
which you can purchase online for about ten dollars is an instrument that allows you to keep
track of exactly how much air you can breathe in vital capacity Using one consistently can be
helpful to track your progress You might consider monitoring your lung capacity for several
weeks with an inspirometer recording the results and watching your tidal range expand
At first it can feel uncomfortable when you breathe all the way in You might cough It
might feel like your lungs are going to pop It did for me Within two months of performing
Exercises and this all changed There was nothing uncomfortable about being at either
the top or bottom of my capacity and it no longer made me cough Before the training it took
me six seconds to inhale completely and about ten seconds to exhale completely After training
it took me only one second to inhale completely and only five seconds to exhale completely
What is more the maximum could breathe in as indicated by the inspirometer went from
to milliliters
Chapter Breathe Deeply Smoothly Slowly and on Long Intervals
Illustration A Inspirometer or incentive spirometer B Patient on a medical respirator C Two chest views
from the side depict a narrow diaphragmatic range versus a wide range
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