Learning from Trees - 16 - Pinecone Finale - Expand from the Root, Lengthen to Close

Painted pine cone arrangement by Marcy Lenard

Learning From Trees - 16 - Pinecone Finale - Expand from the Root, Lengthen to Close

Filling the chest from the pelvic floor up

Based on “Quadrant Breathing” as taught by Prisca WInslow GCFP®

A Tree Is Breathing

Jane Desmond

Gently, now…
The tree is breathing.

Leaves hang like
small green hearts,
tiny pulses,
each tipped lightly to a tendril,
and that in turn to branch

Tatted tracery against the paling sky of
early morning’s white-grey blush
ebbs and flows, dancing the
puffs and exhales of
invisible air.

Stirring, just slightly,
gently shaking tree awake at dawn.

When I was first training, I could not fathom how to break up a lesson and, yet, fill an hour. But here we are, on the fourth spiral around a pine cone, and there is still more to glean.

So far, pine cones’ have taught lessons on spiral patterns, expressing the Fibonacci sequence, flowing through the myofascial system that distributes ground forces through the body. The hands curl and uncurl in a similar natural pattern.

Thinking of the spine as a pine cone core and the ribs as the scales that open and close has helped amplify the sensation of opening the chest, in the round, from the ribs. We have opened in concert with the breath - inhale down the center line as ribs open. Inhale down the arms as well, opening the palms as surrogates from the pelvic floor receiving the breath. And inhale from the hips to the toes, opening down to ground.

And, now, another variation that we were building to, but didn’t quite arrive at. This week we breath deep into the pelvic floor - and palms and soles of feet - and open the torso from the pelvic floor’s belly of air rising up.

This lesson is about allowing the very root of the pelvic floor to organize the belly, the low back and spine. As the pelvic floor fills with breath, the air overflows out into the belly. Keeping the belly soft allows that filling to spread all the way around to the back. The low back and spine just want to align as the breath fills up the torso. Lengthening and releasing down on the exhale can highlight and simplify stacking the spine into its stable configuration, with all the ribs lining up in whole new ways.

If we get to it, we will fill the core and arms from the pelvic floor to the crown. The rest just follows. Expect an aligned spine, open ribs, relaxed arms, powerful legs.

We will start in sitting to sense the movement of breath from the pelvic floor up. And then a real Feldenkrais lesson supine. Again, we will apply the healing sounds. Again we will find the balance of ribs front and back, and side to side.. Again, we will look for evenly flowing breath up and down the center line. And again, use those ‘sine cone spines” to exaggerate the sensation of knots, blind spots, and blessed moments of flow. All taught by an unassuming pine cone.

Science Nerd Candy Bowl:

Set up for a seated and supine lesson:

  • Mat on floor with room to reach overhead and support for knees and head as needed

  • Seated on a chair with knees and hips level

How you might feel after this lesson:  Experience the ribs opening and closing with the breath; Experience the Feel the spine and ribs together; Use the power of the ribs to press down,; Correlate an open chest and improved balance; Get a deep, deep breath;

LessonsJacki Katzmanpelvic floor, spine, foot to spine connection, breath, abs, ribs, Learning from Trees, diagonals, quadrant breathing