Gravity is Your Friend, Part 2

Moving through Gravity

Since gravity is constantly pulling all things down into the center of the earth. And the earth is very big. It tends to keep the smaller things stuck to one place as it tries to drag them through the dirt and rock and magma and iron to the one imaginary point in the center of all that mass. In other words, gravity is very strong, and we are very small. 

Since humans are required to move in order to survive, we must stand up to search for game or predators, we must run to hunt or flee, these things demand that we do not stay stuck in one place. Gravity is pulling us down and stationary, but to live we must get up and go. We must go against the pull of gravity. 

Or so it would seem. 

We have our own center of gravity. In fact anything that moves independently has its own center of gravity. A bullet, a car, a plane, a meteor, all have a center of gravity; an independent center of mass separate from the center of the earth. The earth is still bigger so it still keeps the smaller thing trapped in its greater field. Trapped in the field, but not always fused to the ground.

These things, the car, the bullet, etc., travel over the earth for however long the force driving them lasts and then they fall back to the earth. Stuck and fused to the gravitational pull to the center once again. They require external force to propel them and without that they fall as far as their structure and the surface of the earth will let them. Until they get kicked on again by some external force.

But we are not bullets, or cars or planes or meteors, we are human. We are alive. We have a center of gravity, but we also have living tissue, muscle, fascia, bone and a nervous system and brain that can willfully organize our mass around our center of gravity. 

There are 2 models of the human structure. The Frankenstein model and the Intrinsic model.

The Frankenstein Model

The Frankenstein model, though it is living tissue, is just a collection of parts hung together. It has no internal organizing structure. No Intrinsic core or centerline axis. It braces against the outside world. The Frankenstein stands because the legs are stuck between it and the earth. It walks by tipping over and then sticking a leg out before it hits the floor. 

It runs by thrusting the earth away from itself, against gravity, and then landing with all its mass plus gravity on the new leg. The new leg then has to counter all of that force plus the initial pull of gravity to thrust the mass up once again. 

To change direction it has to stop all of the momentum in one direction and then start over and add new force in a new direction. Plus, there is all of the upper body mass to control and keep stiff so as not to be dragged face first into the dirt. 

It is very heavy and very clumsy and there is a LOT of wear and tear on the joints. 

That model, though it has living tissue, has no internal organizing structure. All of the effort is about forcing the earth away and keeping it away. It takes a huge amount of energy to force the earth away. Gravity being the bigger opponent. In order to conserve energy, as the body will have to do in order to keep living, the muscles will become rigid. They will stiffen and they will stay that way, just to accomplish daily tasks like standing and walking without falling over.  

Hips lock up and the spine stiffens. The shoulders and neck get tight to keep the head from falling forward and to keep the eyes in a useful position. Even staying rigid the muscles are burning a huge amount of energy and eventually in their stiffness they get weak. They lose the ability to contract and do what muscles are supposed to do (MOVE). 

Plus, as some muscles get all the job of keeping us upright, (the outer hips, the hamstrings and hip flexors, the neck and shoulders), other muscles get forgotten about entirely and they atrophy, (the intrinsic core, the adductors, the back stabilizers).

Unfortunately, this model is all too familiar. It may even feel like you! 

But there is a better way.

The Intrinsic Model

The Frankenstein model, though living, does not have a working organizing structure. There is no internal tension holding it together from within. All of its shape comes from the constant fight with gravity. Forever rigid against the giant earth. 

But we are not Frankenstein's Monster. Or at least we don't have to be. We have a center of gravity AND  we have an organizing structure that draws inward; toward our center. This is the Intrinsic Model.

Gravity is always trying to pull us into itself. If we are a disorganized collection of parts, we are forever trying to fight to keep all of our parts from falling down. But, if we gather all of our parts into a single internally organized, independent structure we have literally fewer moving parts. Any engineer will tell you that a simpler machine will work better for longer. Fewer moving parts to control, wear and break. 

In the Intrinsic Model, once we have that internal control it is a much smaller matter of moving our much smaller mass. We don't have to spend all of our energy pushing the great and giant earth away. We can spend far less energy pulling our own (much smaller) mass into ourselves. 

Here’s the Paradigm Shift. Here’s where we make gravity our ally.

If we change our intention from pushing things away to drawing them in, we change gravity from something we fight against into something we can simply manipulate. Something we can work with. 

It is far more efficient to manipulate than to fight.