monomer/program_peace · Datasets at Hugging Face

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happen to us are minor verbal putdowns The likelihood of you dying prematurely is very low
but your body is operating as if it is high Persuade your body to stop this by choosing to
breathe in a new and different way as if your survival was guaranteed
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
To bring the sympathetic and parasympathetic back into balance we must recognize that
we are not fighting for our lives This is accomplished by spending more time with the
parasympathetic prevailing over the sympathetic How can we accentuate the parasympathetic
system Relaxed deep breathing But as you know maintaining a relaxed breathing pattern can
be extraordinarily difficult because we overreact to minor intrusions so strongly
Control Your Reaction to Stress by Mastering Your Startle Reflex
Your body has an inborn reflex known as the startle reaction that controls the frequency and
severity of stress Startle is a panic response to something alarming It is initiated in the
brainstem and kickstarts the sympathetic system It lasts for a fraction of a second between
onehalf and onefiftieth of a second and can be elicited by threatening stimuli such as loud
sounds and fastmoving objects It can also be elicited by thoughts about unpleasant subjects
such as dangers or deadlines When it happens our heart rate increases The next heartbeat
comes early which is a jarring experience This is often described as the heart skipping a beat
Adrenaline floods into the body The breath shortens We also gasp reflexively when startled
and this has the effect of making the breath shallower and more rapid Repeated startle
responses over weeks or months sensitize the startle pathway in the brain which explains why
anxious people are much more prone to startling
Startling can be very subtle in which case you may not realize that you have been startled
When subliminal startling happens continuously it is often recognized as nervousness The
submissive person will almost always experience more frequent startling than the dominant
person Highly submissive people will startle every few seconds during social interactions They
often startle during their own actions as if to apologize for them used to startle whenever
talking to someone It made me come across as shaken and fearstricken Sadly for some of us
startling and trembling are part of being nice
Startling devastates our composure You cannot look someone in the eye with a straight
face and decent posture after you have been startled Once another animal sees that you have
experienced a fullbody startle you immediately become prey With introspection and
patience we can learn to inhibit our startle magnitude and reduce our emotional reaction to it
To do this we must keep ourselves from overreacting when it happens When you feel yourself
startle dont get caught up in it or let it carry you away Instead let it wash over you like a
wave you have ducked under Reducing the startle reflex despite not being acknowledged by
mainstream science is feasible Some Buddhist monks have demonstrated significant inhibition
of their startle reflex even inhibiting almost all evidence of it
Startle also causes the bodys muscles to tense up Some muscles including those in the
hands feet face and abdomen are contracted intensely Contractions in the back jerk frail
spinal segments into unfamiliar positions Sustained contractions from frequent startling can
cause achiness and exhaustion Much of your muscular pain is centered in muscles overworked
by your startle response This is why it is important to cultivate awareness of how startle
manifests in your body so that you can ensure that you do not remain stuck in this
configuration
Aside from questions of frequency and intensity the posture you hold when being startled
is telling When your startle posture is indicative of surrender people and animals can see this
The way you carry yourself at the point of startle affects your default posture and comes to
Chapter Persistent Adaptation to Chronic Stress
dictate many aspects of your personality The fullbody startle is accompanied by specific
movements in mammals intended to protect certain body parts such as the neck and eyes In
human infants the eyes blink the face grimaces the back arches and the arms and legs flail
out with elbows and knees bent Adults form their startle postures over a lifetime Many people
flinch cower wince slump over flail duck backpedal drop things or buckle at the knees
In highlevel military police and martial arts training combatants are drilled to assume
specific fighting stances when alarmed Through repetition we can reshape the automatic
movement pattern that is recruited Most people startle recognizably several times every day
so you should have ample opportunity to correct your startle To begin experimenting on your
own start with Stress Adaptation Activity
Stress Adaptation Activity Designing Your Startle Posture
Imagine yourself startling How does it feel How do you usually move As you imagine it or
whenever it happens to you turn your full attention to how you respond Inspect your
actions and carriage and try to subdue the response Dont let yourself get caught up in the
emotions it evokes Also dont let yourself freeze stay loose and unfixed What do you want
as your favored startle position Look back at Table from the last chapter and think about
how it would feel to retain these optimal displays during and even after startling
recommend maintaining an erect posture a stable stance a calm face and steady
uninterrupted breathing Remember that diaphragmatic breathing inhibits the startle
response How do you orient toward the stimulus that startled you Face it headon rather
than turning away How would your role models startle How can you prepare or defend
yourself in a respectable way without submitting overreacting or lashing out
If touch my cat unexpectedly when he is nervous he will startle If hes not nervous he
wont We need to carry ourselves in a way that if something intense happens unexpectedly we
wont startle Reducing and reshaping your startle response is an example of how you can begin
to make progress in replacing anxious nonverbals with more healthy ones The discussion of
optimal postures throughout this book will help you determine what you want your startle
posture to consist of
Stress Adds Tension to Our Organ Systems
Over months or years elevated activation of the stress response can be highly detrimental to
health This is called stress adaptation and it reallocates the use of available resources in a
way that hinders the organism in the long term This is because most responses to stress are
desperate efforts to keep the organism alive just a bit longer The changes sacrifice longterm
investments in health and biological maintenance for intense shortterm expenditures Its an
ecological wager that acknowledges that the organism will likely not survive for years in the
present environment but may be able to survive long enough to reproduce one last time
Our modern bodies continue to make this same pitiful wager even though it is completely
unnecessary in todays environment The sympathetic upregulation that bought our ancestors
a little more time to reproduce today causes us strife adversely impacts our health
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
and sacrifices longevity Getting stuck in survival mode is antiquated and anachronistic It can
be seen as a Stone Age or even a Mesozoic the age of reptiles way of remembering just how
bad the environment is
Parasympathetic Sympathetic
Eyes SES
Constricts Pupils
Te Eyes
Kor Dilates Pupils
Salivary Glands Salivary Glands
Stimulates Salivation Inhibits Salivation
Heart
Accelerates Heartbeat

happen to us are minor verbal putdowns The likelihood of you dying prematurely is very low

but your body is operating as if it is high Persuade your body to stop this by choosing to

breathe in a new and different way as if your survival was guaranteed

PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body

To bring the sympathetic and parasympathetic back into balance we must recognize that

we are not fighting for our lives This is accomplished by spending more time with the

parasympathetic prevailing over the sympathetic How can we accentuate the parasympathetic

system Relaxed deep breathing But as you know maintaining a relaxed breathing pattern can

be extraordinarily difficult because we overreact to minor intrusions so strongly

Control Your Reaction to Stress by Mastering Your Startle Reflex

Your body has an inborn reflex known as the startle reaction that controls the frequency and

severity of stress Startle is a panic response to something alarming It is initiated in the

brainstem and kickstarts the sympathetic system It lasts for a fraction of a second between

onehalf and onefiftieth of a second and can be elicited by threatening stimuli such as loud

sounds and fastmoving objects It can also be elicited by thoughts about unpleasant subjects

such as dangers or deadlines When it happens our heart rate increases The next heartbeat

comes early which is a jarring experience This is often described as the heart skipping a beat

Adrenaline floods into the body The breath shortens We also gasp reflexively when startled

and this has the effect of making the breath shallower and more rapid Repeated startle

responses over weeks or months sensitize the startle pathway in the brain which explains why

anxious people are much more prone to startling

Startling can be very subtle in which case you may not realize that you have been startled

When subliminal startling happens continuously it is often recognized as nervousness The

submissive person will almost always experience more frequent startling than the dominant

person Highly submissive people will startle every few seconds during social interactions They

often startle during their own actions as if to apologize for them used to startle whenever

talking to someone It made me come across as shaken and fearstricken Sadly for some of us

startling and trembling are part of being nice

Startling devastates our composure You cannot look someone in the eye with a straight

face and decent posture after you have been startled Once another animal sees that you have

experienced a fullbody startle you immediately become prey With introspection and

patience we can learn to inhibit our startle magnitude and reduce our emotional reaction to it

To do this we must keep ourselves from overreacting when it happens When you feel yourself

startle dont get caught up in it or let it carry you away Instead let it wash over you like a

wave you have ducked under Reducing the startle reflex despite not being acknowledged by

mainstream science is feasible Some Buddhist monks have demonstrated significant inhibition

of their startle reflex even inhibiting almost all evidence of it

Startle also causes the bodys muscles to tense up Some muscles including those in the

hands feet face and abdomen are contracted intensely Contractions in the back jerk frail

spinal segments into unfamiliar positions Sustained contractions from frequent startling can

cause achiness and exhaustion Much of your muscular pain is centered in muscles overworked

by your startle response This is why it is important to cultivate awareness of how startle

manifests in your body so that you can ensure that you do not remain stuck in this

configuration

Aside from questions of frequency and intensity the posture you hold when being startled

is telling When your startle posture is indicative of surrender people and animals can see this

The way you carry yourself at the point of startle affects your default posture and comes to

Chapter Persistent Adaptation to Chronic Stress

dictate many aspects of your personality The fullbody startle is accompanied by specific

movements in mammals intended to protect certain body parts such as the neck and eyes In

human infants the eyes blink the face grimaces the back arches and the arms and legs flail

out with elbows and knees bent Adults form their startle postures over a lifetime Many people

flinch cower wince slump over flail duck backpedal drop things or buckle at the knees

In highlevel military police and martial arts training combatants are drilled to assume

specific fighting stances when alarmed Through repetition we can reshape the automatic

movement pattern that is recruited Most people startle recognizably several times every day

so you should have ample opportunity to correct your startle To begin experimenting on your

own start with Stress Adaptation Activity

Stress Adaptation Activity Designing Your Startle Posture

Imagine yourself startling How does it feel How do you usually move As you imagine it or

whenever it happens to you turn your full attention to how you respond Inspect your

actions and carriage and try to subdue the response Dont let yourself get caught up in the

emotions it evokes Also dont let yourself freeze stay loose and unfixed What do you want

as your favored startle position Look back at Table from the last chapter and think about

how it would feel to retain these optimal displays during and even after startling

recommend maintaining an erect posture a stable stance a calm face and steady

uninterrupted breathing Remember that diaphragmatic breathing inhibits the startle

response How do you orient toward the stimulus that startled you Face it headon rather

than turning away How would your role models startle How can you prepare or defend

yourself in a respectable way without submitting overreacting or lashing out

If touch my cat unexpectedly when he is nervous he will startle If hes not nervous he

wont We need to carry ourselves in a way that if something intense happens unexpectedly we

wont startle Reducing and reshaping your startle response is an example of how you can begin

to make progress in replacing anxious nonverbals with more healthy ones The discussion of

optimal postures throughout this book will help you determine what you want your startle

posture to consist of

Stress Adds Tension to Our Organ Systems

Over months or years elevated activation of the stress response can be highly detrimental to

health This is called stress adaptation and it reallocates the use of available resources in a

way that hinders the organism in the long term This is because most responses to stress are

desperate efforts to keep the organism alive just a bit longer The changes sacrifice longterm

investments in health and biological maintenance for intense shortterm expenditures Its an

ecological wager that acknowledges that the organism will likely not survive for years in the

present environment but may be able to survive long enough to reproduce one last time

Our modern bodies continue to make this same pitiful wager even though it is completely

unnecessary in todays environment The sympathetic upregulation that bought our ancestors

a little more time to reproduce today causes us strife adversely impacts our health

PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body

and sacrifices longevity Getting stuck in survival mode is antiquated and anachronistic It can

be seen as a Stone Age or even a Mesozoic the age of reptiles way of remembering just how

bad the environment is

Parasympathetic Sympathetic

Eyes SES

Constricts Pupils

Te Eyes

Kor Dilates Pupils

Salivary Glands Salivary Glands

Stimulates Salivation Inhibits Salivation

Heart

Accelerates Heartbeat