Okay, there is a type of holding the breath when we are surprised, shocked, whatever, that is true, there are people who go, "Ugh!" That is a type of reaction to something that is unknown and the unknown is unpleasant, disturbing the peace we have at the moment. Some people might get a higher heart rate in their excitement.
So, more about the mind/body interactions, inter-reactions. Last night when I was giving the Unpleasant Physical Sensation talk up in the other hall, if you remember the example, you are in a restaurant eating, talking with some friends, then somebody comes in whom you do not like, you have tensions in the body, and being able to see that tension, the body awareness of these sensations helps us then to recognize the reactions in the body and the mind. So the mind/body relationship is very important to be able to see this bodily reaction and, being able to let go of negative thoughts, negative emotions and so on.
Now, as to every day examples of holding the breath, etc. Bangkok, when you first get to Bangkok, most of you have been on the streets that are really big, where they hold the light red for five minutes. And the motorcycles move up to the front of the line that stops the traffic. Then when the light turns green and we start walking, those motorcycles start "wuff," like a race track. The fist time, it is like, "What is this!"
But the Thai person next to us, who lives in Bangkok, just simply walks across the street without even thinking about it. What is the difference? Why am I surprised with these motorcycles taking off, but the Thai person is not? The difference here is wisdom. Wisdom of Bangkok, this person lives here, they have seen it a 1000 times, I see it for the first time, I have this kind of shock, my heart beat races, I hold my breath, but this Thai person, it doesn't happen to them.
Now as a practitioner, as a meditator, if you have this type of mind/body awareness practice and you have done it well enough, then that kind of surprise feeling may still come, but then very soon comes in the thought, "seeing, seeing, hearing, hearing". The body will relax if you are able to do it well enough. That is one of the benefits of this kind of practice. When I was talking a minute ago about mindfulness of breathing practice, a meditator who has done only that type of practice will not be able to do what I just said. They are going to be at that corner on the road in Bangkok, they are go to cross the road, the motorcycles take off and they are shocked. They may try to go into the breathing meditation to escape this thing that has very much surprised them, shocked them, they are going to try to escape in order to calm down. Because that is the only method they know.
We are not going to escape, we are going to deal with it right there, we are going to be right there with the seeing, right there with the hearing, and calm ourselves down, staying in the moment. That is very different and that is part of the benefits of relating physical reactions in the body to thoughts and emotions in the mind.