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flip your thoughts from positive to negative Dont allow it to make you attack others |
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body |
You will find that the raw agonizing buzz of anxiety will fall away if you breathe as if you |
werent in pain By breathing slowly and deeply while focusing on the subtle stinging |
reverberating throughout your body you will learn to unbrace This will heal you |
The Link Between Distressed Breathing and Muscular Tension |
Scientists have documented that average muscle tension especially tension in trigger points |
increases during transient stress Muscles will tighten up during a paper and pencil examination |
or during and after watching a horror film The same is true for more chronic sources of stress |
like longlasting personal or workrelated stress Stress and more specifically heightened |
arousal of the sympathetic nervous system increases the risk of repetitive strain injury |
especially during repetitive tasks This means that if you are stressed while sitting at the |
computer for hours your body is fast at work cementing your computer posture into |
your joints |
Stress causes bracing via distressed breathing Numerous brain pathways connect shallow |
breathing to muscle tension This is a hardwired connection that prepares mammals for |
physical conflict As our breath becomes shallow we brace more in preparation for fighting |
Relaxed breathing by contrast causes us to brace less and experience less pain So unbrace |
your diaphragm and let your outbreaths become passive and limp |
Since childhood my hands used to hurt and cramp after just a few minutes of |
uninterrupted writing or drawing Since started breathing diaphragmatically however my |
hands do not hurt or cramp even after an hour of pushing a pencil When do manual labor all |
day with friends they all tell me the next day that their bodies are sore but notice that mine is |
not This is because the way that breathe now after diaphragmatic retraining is conducive to |
microbreaking As you pursue the five tenets of diaphragmatic breathing described thus far |
you will find similar examples in your own life |
Find Calm Through Visual Imagery |
Imagine finding yourself alone on an inflatable raft following a nasty shipwreck Your mind is |
racing playing out the worst possible scenarios You glance at the few remaining tins of food |
realizing there is no way to know how many days you will be out on the open sea The thought |
of starvation brings on a wave of panic and bodily constriction Then you hear a voice in your |
head Conserve your energy or you are going to die Imagine at that second you have an |
epiphany You recognize panic as an energy consumer that will only increase your caloric |
requirements You realize that you needed a lifeanddeath experience to see how your familiar |
neuroticism is simply a metabolic state that can be adjusted Wow you say Ive been |
carrying this frenetic tension for so long but can just let it go |
Picture yourself laying your head down on the plastic surface of the raft and making a |
concerted effort to placate your hectic reactivity Let your body descend to an absolute |
minimum of activity Your face goes lax your heart beats slowly but steadily you are breathing |
just enough to get adequate oxygen and every muscle you arent currently using unwinds |
You let yourself be still as the rhythm of the ocean lulls you Now this was an extreme example |
but it was meant to help you see that stressing out on a survival raft is counterproductive |
Chapter Recognize Muscular Tension Dormancy |
Similarly your baseline level of stress today is almost certainly out of proportion to your |
immediate physical challenges |
There is no need to return to that raft That was an intentionally provocative example |
Instead come up with positive imaginary In mine am a man foraging on a subSaharan |
savannah years ago well before humanity split apart into distinct races am moving |
and working constantly but at the same time am impossibly calm cool and levelheaded |
Most importantly this version of me allows every muscle in his body to go lax unless it is |
needed for a particular motion With hunger and nutrition major concerns it would have been |
imperative for our ancestors to conserve metabolic activity doing only what is required So this |
Jared walks and talks with incredible ease His stride is fluid his face is placid and his posture is |
perfect yet effortless would like to encourage you to spend some time creating similar mental |
imagery that is compatible with calmness |
Stress raises metabolism in the short term and activation of the sympathetic nervous |
system can double our resting or basal metabolic rate But it does so only for a few hours |
Over weeks and months chronic stress actually leads to a lowered metabolism and everything |
that comes with it including weight gain visceral fat elevated blood pressure cardiovascular |
disease diabetes and other health risks One of many reasons for this is that as you read |
earlier when you start bracing a muscle it burns a lot of energy but if you keep bracing it it |
shortens physically so that it doesnt have to burn energy to remain in contraction |
Scientists distinguish between catabolic states in which energy is burned for movement |
and anabolic states in which energy is stored and used to construct necessary molecules like |
proteins The parasympathetic system uses anabolism during periods of rest to build the body |
back up leading to revitalization The sympathetic system uses catabolism to burn energy for |
fight or flight Catabolic breakdown that goes on too long consumes our energy stores |
including important proteins leading to depletion and corrosion When we become stuck in |
anxious stressed or hyperactive states catabolic pathways within our cells become overactive |
and place huge unnecessary demands on our bodys other systems Stress even burns away |
muscle making it harder to stay fit and lean We are lumbering cellular survival machines |
burning ourselves to the ground because we are stuck in overdrive You need to let your body |
relax so that you can stop burning parts of the ship |
If you need a role model for this kind of calm look to those who naturally breathe with |
their diaphragm toddlers have been fortunate enough to spend time babysitting my friends |
children One day with an imperturbable twoyearold girl was especially transformative for me |
She was so sweet and pacific that my highstrung personality seemed likely to scare her So as |
we passed blocks back and forth worked on getting closer and closer to her level of wideeyed |
peacefulness Now often pretend that it is my responsibility to be a calming influence on |
others the way she was for me |
Some people dont want to be calmer They enjoy being energetic and intense The truth of |
the matter is that being energetic and being calm should be two sides of the same coin |
Without the ability to dole out microbreaks exhilaration turns into exhaustion in a matter of |
minutes If a person cannot balance intensity with periods of rest then they will burn out like a |
sprinter running a daily marathon |
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body |
Never Be Afraid of Being Too Calm |
One of the greatest barriers to relaxation is the instinct to keep alert on edge and ready to act |
Some people are afraid that becoming too calm will result in tragedy It is true that increasing |
the output of the stress system might indeed help you fight or take flight if your challenges are |
immediate and very severe However if you dont know when the challenge will arise then you |
are better off relaxing completely This is because a chronically activated sympathetic stress |
system becomes a detriment in a matter of hours |
For instance if you were convinced that someone or something was going to threaten your |
life in the next few minutes maybe you would need to activate the sympathetic stress system |
This is because it just might free up enough energy or accentuate a reaction that saves your life |
However if you have no grounds for assuming that a physical threat could take your life in the |
next hour then you are better off turning the stress system all the way down and allowing your |
muscles and mind the rest they need to stay strong Even a mixed martial artist would benefit |
from being as calm as possible up until minutes before entering the ring So stop holding your |
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