Deep Data in Your Center of Gravity

Your center of gravity is key to understanding the whole of your being. A good place to begin unlocking the deep data that your center of gravity holds is with the obvious – your center of gravity is directly related to your physical balance. The lower your center of gravity, the more stable you are and vice versa.

To go a bit deeper, we must look at the nature of a center of gravity. Every 3D object, not only your physical body, has one. A key characteristic of the center of gravity of any object is that it can never be separated from its object. If you cut into an object, like a watermelon for example, to try to find its center of gravity, you will never find it and hold it on its own. You might split the watermelon into pieces looking for it but each piece will have its own center of gravity. It’s like magic/sorcery!

Studying your center of gravity reveals that the whole of your being is comprised of tangible and non-tangible parts and that there is a deep interplay between them.  Tangible parts are all the components that make up your physical body. Non-tangible parts are everything that does not have 3 dimensional form, like your center of gravity, thoughts, and emotions. Also, studying your center of gravity requires you to engage your physical body. Visualization and/or imagination is not needed. 

A simple way to engage the interplay between your tangible and non-tangible parts is to stand on one leg. Once you steady yourself and find your balance, close your eyes and see how your balance is affected. You will more than likely wobble a bit more in one scenario than the other. Repeat this process in different postures. You may find that there is very little, to no difference, with a lower center of gravity and a wide base (i.e. hands and knees on the ground) and more obvious differences with a higher center of gravity and a small/narrow base (i.e. tiptoeing on one foot). It is recommended that you try the example above as the physical experience is very different from conceptual understanding. 

Something as simple and mundane as gaining your physical balance can be a very useful tool when you need to stabilize your thoughts and emotions. Having physical stability serves, at the very least, as a tangible reference for what stability is to your mind, emotions and other non-tangible components when those parts are feeling unstable. 

Seeing and understanding the deep interplay between your physical body (tangible part of your being) and your thoughts and emotions (non-tangible parts of your being) may spark curiosity as to how many other non-tangible parts you actually have.  

Your physical body is a gateway to all your other components. Engaging, referencing, and including your physical body in your experiences (regardless of profoundness or comfort level) is a good way to discover and explore all your other components and the interplay between them.

Enjoy your cultivation and all that you do.

Special & sincere thanks to Lydia Campbell & Rob McMullin for assistance with this post.