Purpose.

This website is dedicated to supporting people who want to lead more peaceful, easeful and useful lives by using methods that increase their use of the Relaxation Response (i.e. increasing the activity of their Para Sympathetic Nervous System) and thus experiencing more peace, ease and usefulness in their lives.
Each section of this page contains a short summary of an idea.
Click on a section title to learn more about that section.

Our Autonomic Systems.

The Autonomic Nervous is comprised nerves that do not respond to the brains instructions. It has two major parts:The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and the Para Sympathetic Nervous System (PSNS).
When the SNS is active we experience fear, flight or freeze states.
When the PNS is active we experience, rest, digest and connection states. Getting into this state is also known as the Relaxation Response.

Increasing Para Sympathetic Nervous System Activity.

There are many ways that mankind has found to increase PSNS activity. Meditation, Exercise, Singing, Sex etc. .i.e. experience the Relaxation Response. On this site we will focus on one methodology called Heart Rate Coherence aka Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia.
When we take slow (12 sec or so) deep breaths, the rate at which the heart beats ,the Heart Rate, gets en-trained in the breathing cycle .This means the Para Sympathetic Nervous system is activated and we move into the Relaxation Response and become more peaceful, easeful and useful

Existing Systems that increase the Relaxation Response.

It’s clear that over the ages , many humans have developed ways of bringing more peace, ease and usefulness in their lives. These include things like meditation, yoga, tai chi etc. I have speculated that implementing 12-step practisies activtates the PSNS. Religious practices might have begun as ways of activating the PSNS

What practioners of these approaches most probably didn’t realize at the time was they were activating the Relaxation Response by increasing their Para Sympathetic Nervous System Activity.

Recommendations for increasing your ability to activate the Relaxation Response.

We recommend the use of slow deep breathing to activate the Relaxation Response. Typically this is taking deep mindful breaths at five breaths per minute for at least five minutes two or three times a day. This methodology is described in the healing power of the breath by R.P.Brown and P.L Gerbarg . Also D. O’Hare, MD, describes it in Heart Coherence 365. A detailed approach is that you can implement yourself is described here.

Acknowledgements.

Thanks Bill W for developing and sharing the 12-step methodology and Lissa Rankin, M.D. for introducing me to the autnomic nervous system in her book Mind over Medicine

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This page may be found at http://www.peaceeaseuse.com

Disclaimer.
This site offers educational information and is not intended to provide medical advice. Please consult your physician before taking any action on the ideas expressed in this page to ensure your safety and wellbeing.
Copyright.
All material offered on this page is copyrighted Compassionate Coaching,2021 and may not be used without written permission.
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