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Beverley Nolan's avatar

Thanks! I thought you’d get it 😀 I’m going to expand a bit in the follow up notes including the synchrony of the xiphoid and coccyx. Would love your further thoughts to those ideas too 🙏

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Patty Townsend | Embodyoga's avatar

This is wonderful, Beverly! Thank you. A lovely journey as I followed your words and somaticized the process- creating freedom and ease🥰.

Also, keep in mind that there are (by our count 😉) 126 mobile joints in the thoracic cathedral! All of what you have offered here, when woven with the joints, creates an astounding array of movement possibilities!

I’m so grateful to have met you and found the ability to share like this from across the oceans. 🧡

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Beverley Nolan's avatar

Thanks as ever, Patty! I haven’t ever tallied up all the little nooks and crannies in the ‘thoracic cathedral’ - love that, so much more inviting than ‘rib cage’ - I am going to tot them all up over coffee tomorrow instead of doing my crossword 😂

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Patty Townsend | Embodyoga's avatar

Ha ha!!! Yes! To count the joints - or not - that is only one of the beautiful questions we are being encouraged to ask! Please continue to share your wisdom about breath and breathing! So much to learn, right?? I love your input.

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Patty Townsend | Embodyoga's avatar

How many did you count? It takes very close observation to find them all.

Clues:

—Most ribs have three joints at the vertebral bones..

—Some of the sternal costal joints are actually two.

— Don't forget the disks on the manubrium and of course, the joints in the sternum itself and the xiphoid process

—Joints between the cartilage aspects of the ribs and the bone.

I think there are some more places, but I haven't counted these in quite some time now, so may be missing some.

The other thing that is quite amazing is how in Gray's Anatomy the ribs are described as, "elastic bands of bone".

The marrow inside is warm. Pretty amazing structure!!!

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Beverley Nolan's avatar

Gosh …. I’ve only made it to 119… I’ll get Grays out in the morning and dig into the detail!

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Patty Townsend | Embodyoga's avatar

Wow!! I think you might be there because I am also thinking that various structures have fewer or more of those tiny little synovial joints!! It makes me very happy to hear. We can spread the news together. It is pretty amazing for our letting people know how really free our breath can be.

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Center for Barefoot Massage's avatar

Yes! I often feel echoes of a correspondence between sacral and sternal movements as I hold pressure and feel thru the breath of my massage clients. Thanks for this great visualization and palpation meditation: this was a great way to start the day with a mindful practice over coffee with my dog this morning. ❤️

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Heather Martel's avatar

That's great! Coffee, dog time and anatomy lesson with Beverly Nolan. Sounds like my morning. Great way to start.

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Ali Rose's avatar

Lovely to walk the bones with you again Beverly, it reminds me of you guiding a skeletal/breath enquiry on the ribs subtle rotation ‘like slatted French blinds opening’. As a visualisation I find it brings a gentle quality of space and lightness to my breath.☺️

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Beverley Nolan's avatar

Thank you, Ali. Yes, I still like that image: bringing the light in through the slats, and lungs bathing in the light. Breathing light feels different to air 🙏

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Heather Martel's avatar

I read this first thing with my morning coffee. I had not realized that there was flexibility in my sternum and breathing with this in mind is lovely. Thank you for the clear explanation. So glad I found your newsletter.

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