A VERY Simple breathing method that could save your life… What do the following people have in common?: • Martial artists • Yoga practitioners • Policemen • Deep sea divers • Athletes • Top business executives • Stage performers • Soldiers under fire • Asthmatics • YOU They all need to get control of their stress response, manage their adrenaline and get to a calm & controlled state – FAST. Luckily it’s very easy. The result is just a few breaths away. So how is it done? Most important thing is to start with the OUT breath. • • • •
Just breath out 1-2-3-4 Then hold your lungs empty 1-2-3-4 Breath in 1-2-3-4 And hold your lungs full 1-2-3-4
Do this at for at least 4 cycles. Some tips: • Ideally you want to really press your stomach muscles on the exhale. • Really wrap your belly around your spine. • Breathe all the way out. • Then when its time to breathe in you just let go of your muscles and your lungs fill – no effort, no stress. • Just let your belly drop. If you are having trouble getting the hang of this, you can try kneeling on all fours. • Pull the belly up against the spine – Exhale • Hold it – lungs empty • Let go – belly drops down and air streams into your lungs. As an experiment you can also see quite how empty you can make your lungs. When you have fully breathed out, all the way and you think there is nothing left…try singing Lalalalala You’ll be amazed.
Of course there is much more you can do to manage your internal state and greatly improve your performance. We teach this and more at Meditation Mastery. Get in touch if you are interested. ht t p: / / www.m edi t at i onm ast ery.eu/ page009.ht m l But for now. Just try this ONE THING.
Btw: This type of breathing, though based in yoga, qigong, martial arts, is now also known as tactical breathing, or combat breathing and is commonly taught to law enforcement officers, soldiers, and others in high stress occupations. References below:
In “Fear Factor”, his review of Amanda Ripley’s fascinating-sounding The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes, published in City Journal 21 June 2008, John Robb writes: … in complex disasters, the biological-fear response can slow thinking so severely that it can kill you. We can counter fear, however. The best method, FBI trainers say, is to get control of your breathing. “Combat breathing” is a simple variant on Lamaze or yoga training — breathe in four counts, hold four counts, exhale four counts, and repeat. It works because breathing is a combination of the somatic (which we control) and the autonomic (which we can’t easily control) nervous systems. Regulation of the autonomic system deescalates the biological-fear response and returns our higher-level brain functions to full capacity. So one of the best ways you can prepare yourself to overcome fear in a crisis is as simple as a meditation, Lamaze, or yoga class.
In “The Breath of Life” Duane Wolfe shows the results of field testing the technique. It WORKS http://www.threatsolutions.com/combatbreathing.html "Things have gone bad in a heartbeat. The domestic abuse suspect who was sitting peacefully on the couch just seconds ago suddenly stood up and ran for the bedroom locking the door behind him. Inside you hear the unmistakable sound of the slide of a handgun being racked as the man screams, 'You got thirty seconds to get out of my house or I'll kill you!' "As your heart beats so fast you can feel the pounding in your chest, your vision narrows. Through the tunnel vision you are focused on the bedroom door from behind the wall you're using as concealment. You can hear the woman screaming but she sounds far away in the distance, even though she's right next to you where you shoved her to keep her safe. You see your
partner calling on the radio but you can't hear him even though he's only across the hall. "Suddenly you're startled by the sound of the door unlocking. You see the doorknob turn and the door starts to open and everything goes into slow motion. "The first thing that appears in the doorway is a semi-automatic pistol that must be a least a .50 caliber. As it raises you realize it's pointed in your direction. As you try and focus on the shaking front sight of your pistol that has suddenly appeared in view, one thought stands out in the flood of thoughts and emotions in your mind: 'If I have to shoot, I hope I hit him.' "The hit ratio of police officers involved in gunfights varies. The U.S. Department of Justice study 'In the Line of Fire' quotes 41%. A method of improving those ratios might be very simple...as simple as breathing. "In 1998 as a law enforcement instructor at the Alexandria Technical College in Alexandria, Minnesota I was assigned the task of developing a new Officer Safety and Survival class. At the same time I had also enrolled in a Masters Degree in Education program and decided to use the Officer Safety class as a basis for my required class project. These two situations allowed me to research, develop and implement specific drills to try and improve police officer safety and survival for my students once they were employed as law enforcement officers. "During that time I had the opportunity to read and use three books as my sources for these drills and the class itself. Those books were, 'On Killing' by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, 'Sharpening the Warriors Edge: The Psychology & Science of Training' by Bruce Siddle and 'Deadly Force Encounters' by Alexis Artwohl and Loren Christensen. Essentially each of the authors' ideas mirrors the others in their ideas about training police officers. "In a presentation at the 1998 International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors Annual Training Conference I had the opportunity to hear Lt. Col. Dave Grossman speak. During his 'The Bulletproof Mind' presentation he listed three approaches to controlling combat stress. He listed Combat Breathing: Before, During and After Combat; 'Stress Inoculation' in Training; and Conditioned Responses in Combat from Training. "This article will focus on the results of the introduction of 'Combat Breathing' into a Simunition scenario and its effect on student performance. Before going into the testing procedures a brief explanation behind the need for Combat Breathing: "Siddle states in his book, 'Sharpening the Warriors Edge' that research shows that fine motor skills start to deteriorate when the heart rate reaches 115 beats per minute (bpm).
"He defines a fine motor skill as 'skills performed by small muscle mass or groups, such as hands and fingers, and frequently involve hand-eye coordination. In a survival skill category, a fine motor skill would include...shooting a firearm.' Siddle goes on to explain that the higher the heart's rate the lower the ability to perform fine motor skills. In other words, as our heart rate goes up our ability to accurately fire a weapon goes down. "In order to achieve a lower heart rate and increase shooting performance Siddle and Grossman advocate 'belly breathing' or 'combat breathing.' 'Belly Breathing' is described by Siddle as, 'slow deep breaths expanding the belly and controlling the respiration cycle. The respiration cycle technique advocates inhaling for a specific count (normally three seconds), holding the breath for three seconds and controlling the exhale for three seconds. After repeating the technique for three cycles stomach push the hand out each time they inhale and to go in each time they exhale. Once the student understands the proper technique they are encouraged to use it during stressful situations. The use of Combat Breathing allows for more air to be drawn into the lungs resulting in more oxygen available to the bloodstream. The body, having more oxygen available to it, lowers the demand for blood and this lowers the heart rate. "The author having seen the effects of this type of breathing in the martial arts wanted to see its results for police trainees during a stressful situation -- a Simunition scenario. A total of 66 students took part in the scenario. The author has named this scenario the Ring-Around-the-Car drill. In it a student is placed in the driver's seat of a squad car. A suspect's vehicle is parked in front of it in a typical traffic stop position. After the officer exits the squad and before the officer reaches the rear window of the suspect vehicle the suspect driver may exit the car and approach the officer. Sometime during the scenario the suspect produces a weapon and fires at the officer.
"Prior to this scenario the students have been instructed in the use of cover and concealment, shooting from behind cover, and have practiced moving to points of cover during a traffic stop. The drill had already been practiced several times with dummy guns used by both the suspect and the officer. Additionally, the officers had done the drill with a dummy gun while the suspect was armed with a Simunition pistol to practice tactical movement. "In this particular scenario the student was armed with a Simunition Glock pistol and given one round of ammunition. Only one round is used to promote accuracy and to emphasize the importance of making the first shot count. Later drills allowed for the use of more rounds but never more than three rounds. This is done in order to try and reduce the tendency to 'spray and pray' (rapid fire without proper aiming in hopes of hitting the target) and to keep the scenarios from degenerating into a free-for-all firefight.
"The instructor played the part of the suspect. The rules were that if the suspect or officer were hit in the arm or leg the scenario would continue with the 'injured' person stuck acting out the appropriate injury. If the suspect were struck in the torso or head the scenario would stop. If the officer was struck in the torso they were to continue with the drill. "For those not familiar with the Simunition products a brief description follows: "The Simunition pistol is either a drop in barrel for a semi-automatic pistol or in the case of the Glock a specially manufactured pistol. This product only allows for Simunition ammunition to be fired eliminating the chance of an accidental introduction of live ammunition into the scenario. The Simunition round is a specially designed cartridge that propels a plastic capsule containing a marking paste. The projectile travels at about 400 feet per second and provides for immediate feedback (pain) when struck by it. Each of the participants in the scenario wore the appropriate protective clothing -- facemask, long clothing and gloves. "Of the 66 participants in this scenario 44 were coached on Combat Breathing by an instructor several days before the test and just prior to entering the exercise. 22 students participated in the scenario without any instruction or coaching on Combat Breathing. The 66 participants were members of three squads of seniors of the Law Enforcement Program at the Alexandria Technical College. A comparison of basic marksmanship scores of the three groups indicated no more than a two-point difference in class qualification averages (Qual Avg.). The results were as follow: STUDENTS WHO USED COMBAT BREATHING Total Students: Group C: 24 Group D: 20 Shots Fired; Group C: 17/70% Group D: 14/70% Total Hits: Group C: 14 Group D: 9 Center Mass Hits:
Group C: 9/64% Group D: 7/77% Hit Ratio: Group C: 82% Group D: 64% Qual. Avg.: Group C: 91% Group D: 93%
STUDENTS WHO DID NOT USE COMBAT BREATHING (Group B) Total Students: 22 Shots Fired: 13/59% Total Hits: 4 Center Mass Hits: 1/25% Hit Ratio: 30% Qual. Avg.: 92%
"Total Hits/Hit Ratio: "While the marksmanship abilities of the three groups during firearms training were almost identical the inclusion of a stress reduction technique (Combat Breathing) during the Simunition scenario dramatically increased the hit ratio or the ability to aim and hit a moving human target. "Those classes that were coached on the breathing technique had hit ratios of 64% and 80%. "Those students who did not use the breathing exercise experienced only a 30% hit ratio. "This 30% hit ratio during this drill closely echoes the hit ratio of police officers involved in real gunfights.
"Center Mass Hits: "Striking a suspect during a gunfight is highly desirable. However, those shots that have the most immediate effect at stopping a gunfight are those that strike center mass. Center mass is generally defined as the area of the torso above the waist and below the neck. The head was not included as a center mass hit in this study due to its small target area, rounded surface, and hard skeletal structure that frequently results in rounds ricocheting off the target. "The Combat Breathers of the study had a 64% and 77% center mass hit ratio. "The non-Combat Breathers had only a 7% center mass hit ratio. "The use of Combat Breathing showed a dramatic increase in the ability to hit the area of the body most likely to stop an aggressive deadly force assault by a suspect. The sooner an attacker is stopped from attacking the officer or another person the less likely the officer or another will be injured or killed. "Shooting Ratios: "Shooting at a moving target who may shoot at you or already is shooting at you while you are trying to maintain cover and distance, issuing verbal commands and making tactical and deadly force decisions requires a lot of thought in a very short period of time. Combine that with the need to accurately aim and fire a sidearm at a moving human being in an ever-changing situation and the number of thought processes going on at once are staggering. "Each of the students involved in this scenario had received the same training up to the time of the scenario. The only addition was the use of Combat Breathing. Yet the Combat Breathers had a shooting rate of 70% while the non-Combat Breathers had a shooting ratio of 59%. "It would appear that the Combat Breathers had an advantage in their ability to think through the process and fire their weapons. The non-Combat Breathers showed a lower incident of firing even though in every scenario the student was faced with a situation that clearly required the application of deadly force. "Heart Rates "In reviewing the heart rates of the classes the results of Combat Breathing can be clearly seen. Each student checked his or her heart rate [beats per minute (bpm)] prior to the Simunition Drill. After the drill was completed the students' heart rates were checked again. The results
of those findings: HEART RATE AVERAGE Group B: No Combat Breathing Avg. Before: 83 bpm Avg. After: 137 bpm Avg. Increase: 54 bpm
Group C: Combat Breathing Avg. Before: 93 bpm Avg. After: 134 bpm Avg. Increase: 40 bpm
Group D: Combat Breathing Avg. Before: 93 bpm Avg. After: 141 bpm Avg. Increase: 48 bpm "The two Combat Breathing classes (C &D) showed a lower average increase in heart rate. This indicates that the use of Combat Breathing does reduce heart rate and increase shooting performance. The Combat Breathing classes had much higher Hit Ratios. "Conclusion: "The use of Combat Breathing had a clearly seen effect on the students' ability to accurately deliver a projectile towards a hostile moving target while under stress. The results clearly indicate the advantage of using Combat Breathing during stressful situations. Some have said that the use of Simunition is the closest thing you can get to a real gunfight. The author realizes that there is a big difference between shooting at someone with Simunition and shooting at someone with real bullets. The biggest factor would be the level of stress brought on by a life and death struggle. "Combat Breathing is specifically designed to reduce the effects of that stress on officer performance. If used during a real deadly force encounter or other stressful situations the author believes, based on the
results shown, it will increase officer performance and improve officer survival." Copyright 2010 – Susanne Williams - Meditation Mastery Esoteric Energy
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