The model of the gravitational force we employ, as we move about, is deeply embedded within our social construct. This model can be described thus: “Gravity pulls us downward and we have to push ourselves upward against this force to move about”. This model is technically inaccurate on at least two fronts. When it is perceived from our current understanding of the involved physics it is reminiscent of the age when we agreed the earth is flat and the sun moved around the earth from “sun rise” to “sun set“. Experiencing gravity from our current understanding that the Earth is an approximate sphere and that gravity is the inertia of our mass as it is displaced by the ground within the curvature of spacetime involves dramatically different neuromotor engagement. As will be explained later in this post, qualities of neuromotor engagement globally influence our health, even influencing our genetic expression profile.
A technically accurate description of the gravitational effect can be described thus: “The Earth pushes us outward at an accelerating rate of ~10m/s2 along a Secant coincident with it’s center.”
https://www.brianesty.com/bodywork/PDF/Relativity.pdf
(This is about 30 feet a second of velocity increase every second)
As we push inward to oppose this force we concurrently pull ourselves outward.
This statement is quite a handful and I admit to only marginally Groking it. My experience has been that as I have explored this it has opened up enormous physical and neurological potential, along with the wish that I had understood this many years earlier. I developed as a child believing that successfully standing upright involved stacking my boney bits something like how you would stack blocks to make a tower. Moving around with this perspective involved a gait with a significant heel strike that rattled my entire boney assemblage. This stance pattern can be described as dominantly compressive.
I find that it is better to stand and move within a pattern where compressional forces are distributed through the tensional (soft tissue) attributes of the body. The more optimized this distribution the fewer localized high-pressure shock loads (eg: knees and hips) the body tolerates. In practice, this involves engaging the ball of the foot dynamically in stance and gait. The tensional matrix of soft tissues is a primary information conduit for the maintenance and regeneration of most of the systems within our bodies. The more dynamic the tensional matrix, the better the quality and flow of information.
As I have explored actively engaging the tensional attributes of my structure I encounter conflict with my assumptions about gravity. The conceptual “flat earth” upon which we stand, perpendicular to the ground, initially felt neurologically hard-wired – driving my posture towards a compressionally stacked default. Using the spectrum of functions of the feet to engage dynamic tension within my form felt as if I was tipping forward. What occurs is the center of distribution of load in my body shifts from a small cylinder around the spine forward to a larger cylinder encompassing my core. Load is distributed in tension as well as compression. Moving while holding the concept of this cylinder aligned to the center of the earth, being pushed outward while tensionally opposing, is vastly more coherent with my experience of navigating the involved forces. We either push against, or are pushed outwards by, the gravitational effect.
A more vital tensional matrix has holistic health benefits:
- Fibroblasts / Fibroclasts regulate and regenerate the tensional qualities of the connective tissue matrix using information gleaned from the qualities of tension/vibration (-stress) within the matrix.
- Osteoblasts / Osteoclasts regulate and regenerate the compressional qualities of the hard tissue matrix (bone) using information gleaned from the qualities of compression/vibration (+stress) within the matrix.
- Our innate reflexes – the functional attribute of our structural/functional organism – are genetically calibrated to balanced +/- stress stance patterns. These stance patterns can often be observed in younger children. Reorienting to these patterns reengages our reflexes, thereby integrating enhanced functional potential.
- The extracellular matrix (connective tissue) links with the intracellular matrix (Actin Fibers) which transverse the nucleus and influence DNA expression.
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=extracellular+matrix+and+gene+expression&btnG=
This discussion might be challenging to visualize. Perhaps the best example is to imagine how land mammals move, particularly cats. The innate springiness and fluidity in their gait illustrate an intuitive understanding of the underlying physics involved in moving within the gravitational effect. Although we share the underlying neurophysiology facilitating moving with such grace, our species overlaid these embedded faculties with a conceptual framework that stilted and inhibited our innate potential. My experience is that with practice and a conceptual reframe it is possible to transcend these limitations and more fluidly engage our preordained potentials.
Other Posts on Gravity:
- https://www.brianesty.com/bodywork/project-on-feet/
- https://www.brianesty.com/bodywork/0201/02/balance-and-stress/
- https://www.brianesty.com/bodywork/stance-analysis-tool/
- https://www.brianesty.com/bodywork/gait-assessment-and-training-opportunity/
- https://www.brianesty.com/bodywork/2023/02/11-dimensions/
- https://www.brianesty.com/bodywork/2015/04/theory-of-gravity/
- https://www.brianesty.com/bodywork/2011/12/neck-and-shoulder-issues/