The Sky-Pointing Tracheal Flutter

(Latest version of the purring exercise I’ve been working on for 30 years)

The ‘Homo Noeticus’ exercise on this website -- first described the head-back gesture that I develop more fully here.

Recently, I recalled that the courtship displays of various long-billed bird species (the booby, albatross and snowy egret are a few) involve a gesture that ornithologists call ‘sky-pointing’ -- the head thrown back and the beak pointing skywards. Birds also tilt their heads back to slide water down their throats –- perhaps there is a relationship between the two gestures (“You’re my cool drink of water, honey-pie!”)?

I tried the sky-pointing gesture lying on my back. Placing a pillow under my chest tilted my head back nicely, and that allowed me to place the sound further down into my chest. Smiling widely, I then performed what, for lack of another name, I call ‘the full-body in-breath,’ which is related to what the teacher on the Advanced Yoga Practices website names 'spinal breathing.' I highly recommend this excellent -- and free -- course, by the way.

Imagine the inhale beginning from the soles of your feet, tighten the following muscles in this order as you breathe in:

• toes, feet, calves, thighs, buttocks, diaphragm out, chest up and out,

• SMILE, chin muscle up, head thrown way back, eyes up into the forehead,

eyebrows and forehead muscles up. Hold, then release everything but the 'eyes up' and the SMILE. You can breathe from the corners of your mouth If all the above is too complicated, just skip to the following: with head thrown back and SMILING WIDELY ( breathe in from the corners of the mouth as well as the nose)

INHALE: (with slight snore) KAWWWWWWW

EXHALE: (with gargled French 'R') KRRUNHHH

This seems to dissolve the lateral chest tensions that W. Reich termed 'armoring,' and after ten or so I find that my toes and fingertips are a-tingle and my speaking voice seems to resonate all the way out to these extremities.

May we all raise our bliss tolerance levels to that of the Tathagata's in this lifetime!