On having two nostrils
I was sitting one day a few summers ago with the daughter of my favourite cousin, who was then about six years old. She looked into my mouth and asked, "How many teeth do you have?" I replied, "I don't know, let's count them. I'll point to a tooth with my tongue and you say the number." I started at the rear left of my upper jaw, and worked around to the left incisor - and stopped. I said, "We don't need to count any further, because the other side is just the same. It's called 'symmetry': the left side is like the right side" - put my hands together to illustrate - "except mirrored. You have an ear on the left, and an ear on the right; you have an elbow on the left, and an elbow on the right; you have an eyebrow on the left, and an eyebrow on the right. So if I have seven teeth in the left side of my upper jaw, then I also have seven teeth in the right side of my upper jaw. I have fourteen teeth in my upper jaw. But there's also a second kind of symmetry in our bodies, which is that the top is like the bottom. You have two shoulders, and two hips; you have two elbows, and two knees; you have two wrists, and two ankles; you have five fingers, and five toes."
By this point, she was already grinning from ear to ear, she knew exactly where I was going, she was At One with this concept.
"So if I have fourteen teeth in my upper jaw, then I also have fourteen teeth in my lower jaw. I have twenty-eight teeth."
I find the near-ubiquity of symmetry in the world absolutely fascinating - but why did no Biology teacher ever mention it? Symmetry came up in Maths, but as an abstact numerical tool not related to the real world, certainly not with reference to our bodies. There seems to be a conspiracy in schools, to deny the relation of matters taught to the world in which children actually live.
My point, and I do have one, is this: that we inhabit our symmetrical bodies very asymmetrically. How many readers can write well with both hands? not me. When you stand up from a chair, which foot leads off? you may not know, but watch and see, it'll be the same every time. When you open your wallet to take out money, which hand does the opening and which the taking? again, it'll be the same every time.
I realized a few weeks ago, as I started meditating, that I breathe almost exclusively through my right nostril. I could plug the left and continue breathing without discomfort; but if I plugged the right, I simply couldn't get enough air into my lungs. How odd, I thought, and left it at that.
Well, I woke up this morning breathing through my left nostril, and with a sore throat - on the left side - to show for it.
posted by Udge @ 08:47
8 Comments:
Symmetry is also very economical. Get one thing that works, make a pair and, Bob's Your Uncle!
Apparently more symmetrical people are seen as more beautiful across cultures, probably as it is a sign of good genetic health.
The blood in the nose is a mechanism to keep us from sleeping on one side all night. When one side gets stuffed, we turn over, and the blood gradually fills the vessels on the other side, and we roll the other way.
I, too, have issues with my preferred breathing nostril (left). (I am also very bad about breathing deeply and making sure that air goes in through the nose and out through the mouth when I exercise.) I have attempted yogic breathing/pranayama, but it is quite unsettling to practice! I know it would get better if only I stick with it.
I hope you are enjoying your new camera.
Weird things to think about, but now you've got me thinking!
A dermatologist once told me that if the skin cream healed a psoriasis patch on my right leg, the left leg would most likely heal too, without applying any cream! It did.
It is really interesting thinking about how things are symmetrical in Nature as well.
this is very interesting. in yoga we learn nostril-breathing awareness and have to try to breath in one lung side at a time. i still cannot say i have gotten the hang of it. i've never had very good balance and i'm interested to see how that will change as become more aware of my own symmetry.
also what savtadotty said - i have psoriasis and i never noticed before that it really is symmetrical. everywhere that i have it on one side it appears on the other. what an interesting phenomenon!
Do you know, i almost did my PhD in this subject, I find it fascinating. Go here for how to see your face's symmetry, Section 2:
http://yestheyrefake.net/ideal_beauty.htm
Fascinating if a bit scary. Am assymmetrical as hell, bless me. Yaiks. Have just done Loverboy as well, he's much more symmetrical.
There is even a number, 1.something, of absolute proprotion perfection. You find it in nature, fractals etc, and those whose faces are closer to the ratio are the ones we find most universally attractive. Now we know why. FASCINATING!
Oh, also, there may be an anatomical reason for the preferred nasal breathing, such as a deviated septum. Is yours? Deviated, I mean. If you block one nostril and cannot breathe well through the other one there's something there. Also if you wake up w a very dry mouth.
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