As the AI and I worked on these notes, I asked it what it had observed and it said it thought that I hadn’t integrated the diagonal breathing very well into the overall lesson. So true! Part of the reason this is a Pilot Study is that I have so much to learn, including how to adapt my training and experience with hour-long lessons into a shorter format. We also lost time because of scheduling discussions, and this meant not having any debrief at all and the debrief is the part I love best. I’m not skipping that again.

My take-away for myself: simplify. (Always, always, almost always a good principle.) Don’t let anything cut into the time. Don’t let anything sacrifice the debrief. And, Carie,… simplify.

So here’s a summary. (Over time, we’ll go back to these summaries and x-ref them with videos and links and diatribes and images… for now in a way they are just scaffolding waiting for more.)

Diagonal Breathing & Shoulder Girdle Movement

Exploring diagonality in breathing and movement, integrating shoulder girdle mobility with awareness of interthoracic pressure gradients.

Carla had expressed an interest in the diagonal breathing from Saturday’s lesson. Carla is a guitar player and teacher and had sent a picture of her posture when playing—not surprisingly, it had an asymmetrical element and, in the class, Carla easily recognized that the diagonal she is most comfortable with is the diagonal that supports her guitar-playing.

That’s great! Many activities we love are asymmetric—Denny’s dancing, for instance. Accommodating asymmetry is a part of the body’s genius. It is also true that asymmetry can reinforce itself—the more asymmetric you are, the more comfortable it feels to favor one side over the other, and the more you favor one side over the other, the more asymmetric you become. Eventually, that does stress the body.

The point, as always, is to notice and to be in choice. (Even if the choice isn’t immediately accessible the first day!)

The actual movement we did was sidelying with the arms in front and a slow rotation with gliding of the shoulder girdle. This is such a great move—you could do it every week for five years and still find new wisdom in it.

So my plan is to make a bonus tape—an actual video—yes a demonstration!—along with a bunch of variations which might inspire you to create your own variations. I might not be able to get to this for the next ten days or so, but… it will happen.

Today, continuing with the breathing emphasis, we added in diagonal breathing, illustrating how the breath can make the rotation of the upper body and the movement of the shoulder girdle even easier. The diagonal breathing was also a good way to reinforce the idea that you want to distribute the rotation relatively easily through the entire spine. (But I could have tied that together better.)

Key Takeaways:

• Feeling how the shoulder blade glides across the rib cage is delicious. The shoulder blade is not stapled down!

• Spinal rotation and diaphragm movement are interdependent.

• Experimenting with how the diaphragm modulates pressure between the thorax and abdomen helped participants create smoother, more integrated movement.

• Building asymmetry to increase awareness. The class was one-sided, purposely, because increasing a sense of asymmetry helps you feel the differences from side to side. It is not theoretical—it is warmth, tension or suppleness and the way you press into the floor on one side or the other. Also, once you build the asymmetry, it is very interesting how quickly the feeling fades as you walk around. If the lesson were just about your muscles, then you would be left lop-sided. But these lessons are all about the brain. Once the brain figures out a better organization, it is going to apply it everywhere, not just the side that got the exercise.

• The role of habit in Carla’s guitar playing and how it has come to influence her overall. Not a bad thing! It would sort of worry me if a guitar player didn’t have a favored rotation. But interesting to be aware of.

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Topics for Tuesday

Today we’re going to do a little diagonal breathing, also great shoulder-girdle loosening, unless something else comes up. I asked Carla about the diagonal nature of guitar playing and she sent me a picture which you may be able to see if you click the arrow ‘Back to All Events.’ Here’s what she wrote to me:

your question:

 Your 'diagonality' would surely be related to the position of guitar-playing?

Yes!

From left up to right under feels very natural. 

I think this is because the way my body is when I play guitar. My guitar is also from left up to right down. The right sight of my body is little stretched. 

Diagonality from right up to left under feels strange to my body. 

I send you a pfoto so you can see in what position I play guitar. 

With greetings 

Carla