I've been saying to Victor that the lessons don't seem to make a clear distinction between getting behind the uvula and getting the tongue behind the soft palate itself, two very distinct stages. At least, they seem to be very distinct stages for me... but is that just an unusual feature of *my* anatomy?
[Added later -- this is a mistake I am making because of major confusion arising indeed possibly out of unusual anatomy]
In an email, Victor wrote:
>> -I started a thread on kechari so I would encourage
you to post to that thread with your questions on
terminolgy. I am presonally confused by what you mean.
It seems that maybe you mean "hard palate" when you
say "soft palate" The hard palate is directly behind
the teeth and extends to where the soft palate begins.
the soft palate extends back to where it ends at the
uvula. there is no question whether you have gotten
past the uvula as the tongue slides up and unto a
chamber that is above as well foreward of the palate.
No, I'm not confusing hard and soft palate, and I'm with you as far as the '[soft palate] ends at the uvula'.
The next bit is dense. But an Iyengarite should be able to follow it... I think...
Let me put it this way, if my 'soft palate' means 'the roof of my mouth behind the hard palate' mine does not end at the uvula. To eiter side of my uvula, there is more 'roof of my mouth' extending further back and up. On the one hand, let me call this part of the roof of my mouth 'RM' -- Roof major. On the other hand, the front part of my soft palate, and the uvula itself, make up a single tissue, which is layered on RM; I'll call it RLU, Roof-Lower-Uvula. Both of these are soft. Terminology question: What is the meaning of 'soft palate'? RM? RLU? RM + RLU?
My experience when reaching RM in Kechari became much more powerful; the RM tissue is much more sensitive than the RLU tissue. So if everyone were like me, it should certainly be considered a distinct stage.
How are things different for you Victor? Does RM extend beyond the uvula at all? I mean, if you put your tongue up and to either side of the uvual (the uvula will be going 'up' in this position, can your tongue rest on more of the 'roof of your mouth', RM?
Or is RM so short that it is not a useful concept to you? Or was it simply always so accessible to you that there was no 'new' experience for you when you reached it?
Thanks, these clarifications will be helpful.
-David