Gravity

In my teacher’s Sunday class today she told us a story about how she visited a chiropractor and the chiropractor asked her to stand with one foot on one scale and another foot on another scale. Being a great yogi, she was assured that both scales would be the same since she has done Yoga for such a long time and understands Samasthiti (equal stance). To her surprise there was a noticeable difference between each side. So that story got me thinking. Often we are instructed, instruct, and feel as if we are centered in postures and I wondered how much of that is simply in our heads.

So, I went home and did a few poses on scales and recorded the outcome in the chart below in terms of percentages. Granted, I was TRYING to be centered. And when I felt as if I was as centered as could be I had someone write down the weights.

Pose%%
Tadasana48.42% Left Foot51.57%  Right Foot
Warrior 261.14% Front Leg38.86% Back Leg
High Lunge64.71% Front Leg35.29% Back Leg
Handstand45.71% Left Hand54.29% Right Hand
Star Posture50.29% Left Leg49.71% Right Leg
Downward Dog50.29% Hands49.71% Feet
Yogi Squat47.86% Left Foot52.14% Right Foot

On average, I have about a 9.84% difference with Warrior 2 and High Lunge serving as major outliers. Excluding those, I have an average of 3.84% imbalance mostly toward the right.

Before we go further let’s consider some physiological points and weight considerations if we bisected a body down the center.

On our left we have the heart, spleen, and stomach but on our right, we have the liver. The liver outweighs the stomach, spleen, and starts to even out with the added weight of the heart. Everything else is evenly distributed except for the added weight of the dominant side muscle mass which in most cases wouldn’t serve to be a great deal of weight.

Then there’s the question of food. According to the Healthy Journal we carry about 6 pounds of food and food waste in our intestinal tract at any given time and as you know the contents of the intestinal tract could be slightly off balance depending on where it’s sitting in the body. But, overall, for the average person who eats regularly, and has a normal digestion tract, the contents should be evenly distributed.

According to American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons more than 50% of people have Limb Length Discrepancy, where one limb is longer than another. This could be a source of weight imbalance. However, for normal cases of Limb Length Discrepancy the length differences are not significant enough to give us more than a few ounces of additional weight on one side.

Considering all of that, let’s assume we’re about average. Average all the stuff. A normal person. And we do Yoga so we’re probably pretty balanced in terms of most muscle movements. So. Where does that leave us with the Warrior 2 and High Lunge? To get closer to this question I had to do another project. Basement teeter totter. Makeshift basement teeter totter. Probably dangerous makeshift basement teeter totter with a plank of wood and a leg roller.

So, I did that. And the interesting thing about being on the teeter totter is this. When I asked myself to center evenly on one side or another, I didn’t really do so by manipulating my weight, pressing more, shifting more, losing the posture. No. What I did was find the center of gravity.

Our center of gravity lies approximately here when standing in Tadasana:

When I extend one leg out to the left, and one leg out to the right, my center of gravity doesn’t change all that much. When I step one leg forward and one leg back like in High Lunge, my center of gravity changes about 7 inches toward the back. This means I must move backwards about 7 inches on the plank of wood so that the 61.14% front leg weight can compensate for the lower 38.86% back leg weight. Similar with warrior 2 except the compensation was a little less.

So, what does this all mean? I assume that if we did some more testing, we’d come across some variance in results. Maybe I’m just super balanced. Maybe it’s Yoga. Maybe I can’t measure very well. Maybe my sagittal plane is quite even with my frontal and traverse plane.

But what if it wasn’t? What if I had more weight on one side than the other? What if I did have an exceptionally long left leg adding many pounds to one side of my body? Below is another image of the center of gravity. As the figure bends forward his center of gravity moves with him. Just as I did with the teeter totter, and just as I did in every single Yoga pose that I did.

And below here an image of added weight. As the figure has added weight on one side, he shifts laterally moving the center of gravity toward his left.

If instead of 1 item like a suitcase on one side, if I had a larger item that required both hands, like a barbell. Or if I were standing on my hands, like in the handstand which I measured 54.29% on my right side two things may happen. In the case of the barbell, I may slide the barbell to the left, or to the right depending on the strength of the muscles supporting the barbell shifting its center of gravity. Or, in the case of a handstand, I may lean into the naturally stronger arm.

The long-term effects of injury, sprains, weaker and stronger muscle groups and an unwillingness to attempt to notice imbalances such as these could lead to long-term adverse reactions. The harmful side of physically being slanted could be tremendous because of the impact of long-term compensation. Joints wear out faster, ligaments stretch out, we tear muscles, we permanently alter our skeletal framework in a negative way like scoliosis. So if we are compensating in Yoga, if something is not comfortable, let’s try to stop and observe what’s going on. Outside of that advice, I am not a medical professional so let’s leave the long-term effects of this behavior to doctors and chiropractors.

The Dharma of the Thing

From a Yogic perspective what I see in this example is this. We move the center of gravity until everything is ok, we are stable and centered. We move up or down a slanted plank. We lean right or left when carrying something in our hand and shift weights to stronger muscle groups to make the burden more comfortable. While this is true in the physical world, it can serve as a great metaphor for how we respond to the world around us. How we deal with other people. How we handle our own wellbeing.

Mentally, we do this too. We frame, re-frame, we suppress, we tell ourselves stories about the cause and effect of things. We paint a mental picture of our environment that conforms to the schematics we have pieced together over time in our heads. For normal people this means external attribution of things that go wrong, and an internal attribution for things that go right. For depressed people, this means a confirmation of how their negative mind matches the world around them when things are not good, and dismissal of things when they are good. Yet somehow, cognitively speaking, our minds are always leaning toward the left, sliding our center of gravity back, pressing more into our left shoulders.

It may do this with drinking, medication, binge watching television shows, excessive exercise, knitting, or any number of possible solutions. “The solution” that is, to the question not being asked. The question being asked is how do I make it more comfortable when the real question should be, how do I make sure I am balanced?

Humans have an amazing capacity for survival. To become used to situations, to make the best out of situations. People in war-laden countries, or people in a place where healthcare or food is not available. People in prisons. People in horrible work conditions. People in bad relationships. People get used to all kinds of things. People forget what they wanted. Where they were going. People experience learned helplessness and become blind toward change. People procrastinate and say maybe tomorrow, or maybe when this is right and that is right, and this is done, and this is different. People are blind. People are blind and their memories are poor, and their cognitive functions are always looking out for them. Making it easier. More comfortable.

But what if we all stopped. Took a deep breath. And no matter what faced us, faced it? Is my left arm too weak to hold half my body? Build your left arm up. Is it easier to suffer in a situation I don’t want to be in or is it fear that binds me? Face your fear. Is the silence of stopping and asking and listening for the answer painfully deafening? Turn the sound all the way up! The best thing for us to do from time to time is to stop adjusting. Stop shifting. Face the reality of the situation and stop staying busy to avoid the silence of an answer we’d rather not hear. Stop wanting for a minute. Stop going toward that center of gravity and be the center of gravity. Don’t be the constant shift toward an ever moving center. Be the center that you already are.

In all our endeavors, in all the things you learn, and accomplish, and experience there is a moment. In all your life there is a moment. The moment where everything is still, and true, and silent. There in the moment, infinite stillness presents itself. Reality presents itself. That moment is not something separate from you. It’s reality. It is you. You are it. The moment is forever infinitely present whether your eyes are opened or closed. Whether you’re doing Yoga or washing the dishes. Working. Walking. Driving. Whatever you’re doing there is that moment. It’s been here all along. It won’t go anywhere.

There in that moment everything that you can identify as true is reality. And that moment is not something separate from anything else. From the first time you remember thinking, “I am..” all the way until now, “I am reading this paper”. There is that moment with the same reality. Physical things may have changed, but once you recognize this moment you won’t ever forget it. Because it’s so real and sweet. Because it’s honest. Because it’s where we need to go from time to time, removing the dreadful Maya that blinds us, and looking at our reality head on, with serenity, strength, and joy.  And the only way to get there is to stop going anywhere. Breathe.

Update: A few days later. I was thinking about the lesson obtained from this mental exercise and found a very real way of application. For me, I find that when I sing someone else’s song. Even though it was needed and probably still is to learn new techniques and to find my voice and to become comfortable singing in front of others. However, when I do that, I am moving toward their center of gravity. To learn the lesson here, when I sing my own songs, I am the center of gravity. My own voice. My own center. Balanced.

-HealthyJournal.com
-Healthline.com
-https://danielrgray.com/center-of-gravity-and-ground-force-reaction-how-they-help-create-power-and-speed/
-American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases–conditions/limb-length-discrepancy/#:~:text=Description,being%20and%20quality%20of%20life.

Posted in YTT