Exercise and Newton’s 3rd Law
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Exercise and Newton’s 3rd Law
Every step we take, in movement or exercise, involves thousands of physical processes in our body: brain and nerve signalling, hormone messages, chemical reactions, oxygen transfer, nutrient delivery, energy production, muscle activation and so on.
The body’s ability to efficiently and timelessly complete these processes in perfect synchronicity is truly profound. It is done with such flawlessness and precision that our foot will naturally and automatically lift, swing and land in the exact right order and timing, with as little effort or impact on the body as possible.
Is there actually any impact on our body with every step that we take?
The article 'The Truth about Running' describes the basic physics of running, associated with Isaac Newton’s third law of motion; “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”. Putting this super simply, and based on human movement, it means that for every step that we take we place a force onto the ground, and an equal and opposite force comes back up into our body. The faster and heavier we move the more force is required into the ground, which according to Newton’s law is therefore more force back up into our body.
The unit of measurement of the force that we are referring to here is called a ‘Newton’ – a Newton is a measurement of energy.
Newton’s third law clearly shows that for every acting force the opposite reacting force is equal in magnitude. But what if we were to also consider the ‘quality’ of the energy and not just the ‘amount’ of the energy?
This is exactly what Serge Benhayon has done, taking Isaac Newton’s third law of motion to a whole new level of understanding and meaning when it comes to contemplating the energetic impact of our movements.
“In the case of Isaac Newton’s 'third law’, where the end action is ‘equal' and ‘opposite’ to the initial action or force, may it be advanced that the end result has also a quality of energy and not just the known measure of its force, thank you Isaac for the latter. Accordingly, and this is the advance: the equal and opposite end action must also be understood by the actual quality of the initial force or movement of energy. Hence, if we walk with anger, so too does anger return in the opposite direction and by equal force i.e. the same level of anger, which for the human body translates to having anger twice in one’s body, first, when it is expressed in reaction, and secondly, when one walks, unresolved, in and with anger. If this is understood we can say much about a) the every-day compounding ill effect by those who express and live in anger, frustration, stress, self-abuse, dismissiveness, hate and bitterness etc, etc and b) the potent healing force of expressing love where it will pass through the body, twice.”
Serge Benhayon in conversation with the author
This expansion of Newton’s third law to include the energetic quality of a force is an historic revelation that has great consequence.
Let’s consider two examples when it comes to exercise.
Example A:
You arrive home from work, frustrated or angry about the day and decide to go for a walk for relief. Every step you take pounds this anger into the ground, and the equal amount of anger comes back up into your body. This is actually magnifying the anger around the body, firstly as it comes out in each step, and then a second time as it comes back up into the body in the ‘equal and opposite reaction’. Experience shows that if we walk long enough the anger is magnified so greatly that a hardness and numbing sets in and then there is a sense of relief as the anger is no longer felt. In truth the anger has been magnified so greatly that it is buried deeper into the body. See this article for more information on this.
Example B:
You arrive home from work, frustrated or angry about the day. Now is the moment you can stop, reconnect to your body, your gentle breath and your true movement – which never comes from anger or frustration. By doing this you may not have dealt completely with the anger, but you are no longer hanging onto it in your thoughts, or the way you are holding your body, or even in the quality of how you are breathing.
From Example A and B we have a choice; we can either hold onto and magnify anger or we can let go of the anger as being part of us, and we reconnect back to the gentleness and love of who we truly are. Then we can go for a gentle walk, remaining connected with our body and our natural breathing rhythm, aware of our posture and our movements – moving with ease and gentleness. As we walk we may feel our confidence and power re-emerge and we arrive home feeling much more like ourselves. We are more relaxed and more at ease, because throughout the walk we have magnified the energetic quality of who we truly are – the gentleness, love and power.
This is huge, in fact life changing, and something that we can consider for ourselves and our every movement throughout our day, not just on our walk.
Joy is the magic of stillness in motion
We move all day long - so how important is it to know that the way we move can either make us exhausted or be joyful?
There is so much more to consider on this topic, in relation to how we move in sport, in exercise, at home, at work. Do we consider the quality of energy we are starting with and what is coming back into our body? What is the impact of how we are moving on the earth? This is most definitely something to ponder.
Filed under
Fitness, Gentleness, Health, Self-love, Healthy living
