ANATOMY: finding the wings of the breath
Getting to know the sphenoid bone, where it is and what it looks like, creates a spaciousness across the skull and horizontal support for the movement of the diaphragm and ribs
In my weekly Rise & Shine sessions, we spend time attending to the breath in imaginative ways before leaning into some Quiet Practice. Here are some ideas for somatising the sphenoid that we have explored.
1. FINDING THE SPHENOID
There are some very odd shaped bones in the skull and face, and of them all the sphenoid is actually not the most irregular, in fact it has a symmetry. You will really benefit from a set of pictures of the bone from different angles, or a 3D model to appreciate its form, or animation*.
However, while you are reading this, place the tips of your index and middle finger softly into the dip of you temples, just behind the bony part of your eye socket, and above your cheek bone - slip your glasses off to do this, if you wear them. You are now in touch with the Greater Wings of your sphenoid. Notice the distance between your left and right fingertips to appreciate the wingspan of the bone, and register how each wing arises out of the sphenoid Body located at the mid-point between your finger tips, set back behind the bridge of you nose.
Follow this by moving the tip of your index fingers to locate the joints of your jaw (temperomandibular or TMJ) just in front of your ear lobes. Again, find a sense of the mid point between your finger tips. This will give you an idea of where the Body of your sphenoid articulates with your occipital bone. Here, you might recognise how the sphenoid forms part of the floor of the cranium, and ponder on your beautiful brain floating just above.
2. IMAGINE A BIRD
The overall shape of the sphenoid bone is bird-like, reflected in the naming of its parts. It has a central body, greater and lesser wings, and pterygoid processes (you can see these as the lower limbs of the bird) - pterygoid from the Greek pterugoeidēs: wing-like. You might place your finger tips on your temples again and conjour an image of a bird into your imagination - I like eagle or owl. Dwell in the sense of bird-like vitality, of true wings and feathers, and see how this might change your felt-sense of this bony structure. Remember how a bird can use the uplift and changing currents of air to fly, to leave the ground, to defy gravity. These ideas can be helpful when you go on to explore your breath (or when you want to balance the sense of grounding in your movement/yoga practice).
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3. SPREADING THE WINGS OF YOUR BREATH
Now you have a clearer idea of the location of your sphenoid bone, settle in for some breath awareness practice. As you draw breath in follow its journey down the trachea and bronchi into the lungs, and follow the reverse journey of the out breath. Track the in/downward sensations and the up/outward sensations of the passage of air. Bring into your awareness the accompanying motion of the ribs and diaphragm; register the shape and verticality of your breath.
Next, as you draw breath in, guide it under and along the Greater Wings of you sphenoid, letting the out breath fall away effortlessly from the wing tips towards the sphenoid Body. It may take a few breaths to find the wing tips, don’t force or drag the breath - keep it easy and smooth. Your breaths may begin to feel like slow wing beats on a journey to nowhere.
Simultaneously, notice any changes in the spreading of your ribs and diaphragm as you breath takes easy flight. Has the overall shape of the breath changed for you? Are there any changes to your sense of verticality in the breath?
4. THE WINGS OF THE VERTEBRAE
Take another look at the structure created by the sphenoid and occiput. Notice the wing-like shape of the former and the rounded structure of the latter; see the space (foramen) through which the spinal cord travels. Now, take a peep at a lumbar vertebra for example, and notice the transverse and spinous processes, the body of the vertebra and the space for the spinal cord. See any similarities? If you do, then what might it be like to let each breath spread over the wings of your vertebra? How might this change the experience of your spine?
5. MYTHOLOGICAL WINGS
Being able to take flight is a clear signifier of being non-human, of possessing non-human qualities and powers. Non-winged beings by definition are not earth-bound like ourselves, who can but marvel and envy the possibility of soaring into the tree-tops and over the oceans. The Greek deities Iris and Hermes both bear wings and assume a role of messenger between the gods and between the worlds. Iris, symbolised in the rainbow, connects earth and heaven, water and air; Hermes (Mercury), fleet footed and wing-capped symbolises an agile mind and communications of all kinds. So, whenever and however you experience stuckness, find the wings of your breath to cultivate a lightness in thought, word and deed.
AND, FINALLY FOR YOU, IF YOU PRACTICE YOGA
On a last note, take a look at the caduceus of Hermes. It is typically depicted as two entwined serpents around a central staff (a symbol seen across cultures and found on artifacts that pre-date Greco/Roman by millennia). At the top are two wings and a finial. If you are a yoga practitioner like me, you might recognise a representation of the ida, pingala and sushumna nadis here, and perhaps the wings of ajna chakra that lift the prana towards the bindhu sometimes associated with the pineal gland. Maybe I am stretching things here, but perhaps you'd like to dive down this rabbit hole with me too**.
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