Flavour three for me is particularly tricky. Thanks to the twist in my spine, I have been singleminded in my need/obsession to unwind it, and my twist (like in so many others) affects my upper back, neck and head. Hopefully you will find this flavour easier than I do, so I encourage you to follow the instructions, as they really do work, more than copy my exact movement.
I was thinking that flavour three is a bit like the head on a pint of Guinness, (not that I have ever drunk one) in that without this white foam on the top, it doesn’t look or (apparently) taste right. Without flavour three, we are always missing the brighter, lighter flavours we can taste in the breath. Flavour three really does taste of bubbles!
We cannot live of foam alone, so this flavour is not one we really want to cultivate too much in isolation, so just like flavour two coming after our practice of flavour one, favour three must ideally come after one and two. The obvious reason for this is that weight and energy of the first two balance the obvious light, heady nature of number three.
Movement three is actually really good for us, as it shows us how our head is designed to move on our necks.
Remember in the warm up set when we were discussing ankles*, how the ankle is actually just as much of a pivotal joint as it used for flexion. Well, this flavour encourages us to move in the opposing direction to which modern technology draws us. Moving our head backwards and up is good for us. And when we being to let go of the soft parts between our palate and collarbones, we begin to move the soft parts at the very top of our lungs. Then having actively movement them, we are gifted with spontaneous ‘clavicular breathing.
Clavicular breathing can be an excellent antidote when we feel sluggish and heavy. We just need to look at our bodies natural responses of a yawn, or the sharp inhale which comes before a sigh, to see that our body holds the way out of moods we are too consciously entrenched in to consciously get ourselves out.
This is the whole point of the flavours, as these shapes require us to sincerely apply ourselves, then let go and wait. This waiting takes us out of ourselves, our need to control, and our fear over unknown outcomes. All of this and it is just the breath! If you feel your get it wrong, you have so many other breaths with which to ‘feel it do you,’ until your recognise that you and your breath are constantly dancing.
Flavour three is fun, and I really do hope you have fun giving it a go. If you are giving it a go, leave a comment on how you feel it is deferent than flavour one or flavour two.
Next week we put it all together. But until then, if ending your practice with flavour three leaves you feeling a little ungrounded, then simply re-do flavour one, and you’ll feel back in the floor. Or, if you need a bit of forward energy, then end with flavour two, as this will give you a natural boost.
*you’ll find ankles in the very first article of the warm up set, titled no.1
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