Start with Universe – Structure (Part 4)

Pelvis Tensegrity 768x576

Start with Universe – Structure (Part 4)

Jordan Terry

 

Part 1 of this series.

Part 2 of this series.

Part 3 of this series.

 

Humans have a fluidity to them that buildings (even tensegrity building structures) rarely have. “When energy becomes manifest, it immediately sets up a polarized dynamic, creating the fundamental form of energetic flow called the Torus. Everything, from atomic “particles” to electromagnetic fields, to weather patterns, to trees, to us, to ecosystems, to planets, to stars and galaxies, is toroidal in nature. The Universe is a seamlessly embedded fractalization of torus energy flow.” -www.cosmometry.net

 

 

This fluidity is the ebb and flow of our movement, away from center and back again perfectly depicted by the Torus. “There is no fixed place in the cosmos; all of nature is in motion.” -Cosmos, Neil Tyson Degrasse version. The relative balancing of all these forces allows us to come to a Vector Equilibrium, never absolute, always perfect “having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics” or “highly suitable for someone” to the best of their needs. The Torus is the mapping of the oscillating of the geometry of the body. Let’s start with the core.

“The core of the body, the torso is probably the easiest to model using tensegrity principles. It has bilateral symmetry, oscillates (breathes) and is bounded on all sides by bony structures. Breathing causes the thoracic cage to expand and contract following the pumping action of the diaphragm. By abstracting the shape somewhat it is feasible to map the force vectors of the torso onto an expanded octahedron tensegrity (each of the three axis of the octahedron have been doubled and separated creating a void within).” Flemons beautifully maps the geometry to the core of the body with an octahedron: bilateral, oscillates (breath = ebb and flow, expansion and contraction) and bound by bone. As he breaks down the torso, the geometer extrapolates the three planes and vertices of the core. The transverse plane is capped by the clavicles and pelvis, a classic interplay of relationships of hips to shoulders. The sagittal plane is strutted by the ribs, and the coronal by the sternum and spine.

Of this core alignment, the main vein of structure and nervous system is the spine. This stacking of bony structures brings us back to the triangle and Flemons denotes its similarity to the tetrahedron. “This intrigued me as stacked stellated tetrahedrons can be suspended in a tensile system to form flexible yet stable tensegrity masts.” Unlike the mast of a ship, a “tensegrity mast” is connected and integral to the entire system as the core of the structure.

 

“The vertebral body is also somewhat compressible much like a stiff spring (and can be modeled by tensegrity prisms). Tensegrities upon tensegrities inside larger tensegrities… a model complex enough to describe the actual behaviors of the spine.” Flemons does admit that the architecture and model of the cervical and lumbar are more complex, but works beautifully through the thoracic vertebra. Either way, his admission of the complexity of the spine is beautiful. He provides a decent understanding for one to imagine the balancing aspects of the spinous processes, transverse processes and the vertebral body.

 

Flemons’ breakdown of the pelvis is pure genius. In its simplest, it is two tetrahedron where each Ilia is bracketing laterally, and the Sacrum to Pubic bone creates the keystone central octahedron. This is truly fascinating as the keystone of the cranium is the sphenoid, and will be discussed in the Polar Reactor Map of cranium and pelvis. This combination of forms creates an octet truss. “Octet trusses are omni triangulated space frames composed of octahedrons and tetrahedrons in a close packing array. It is an extremely strong, lightweight structure that distributes forces along the six axes that form the edges of the linked polyhedra. It has been used extensively in truss–supported roofs for very large buildings but the mechanical advantages are independent of scale,” explains Flemons.

A tensegrity universal joint is explored through the use of tetrahedral tension slings. The meeting of these two slings he calls a tetrahedral “saddle joint.” If certain degrees of motion are limited, the universal joint begins to look like a hinge joint. Flemons extrapolates the idea by looking at slightly modified octahedrons rotated ninety degrees to each other, and finds a very convincing piece of geometry to look like anatomy.

He even theorizes on the Talus taking on a chiral tensegrity known as a T-prism. “The talus distributes the loading both posteriorly onto the calcaneus and anteriorly onto the navicular and other tarsal bones. The geometry of T-prisms is similar­: it makes a credible shock absorber and the helical rotation as it compresses, mimics the pronation of footfall. Stored energy is then released as it expands providing rebound.” For a geometer, this guy knows anatomy. He nails the foot spot-on in terms of movement, shock absorption, and release of energy in his exploration of biogeometry. It is a perfect explanation of the diaphragmatic energy potential and mechanics of the foot.

“It could be said that geometry describes an arrangement in space and tensegrity shows how it is constructed.” I really do love the way this man writes about the human body. He finishes to say that this is not science, but more of a conversation. Although not simple to all, it is the simplest and most amazing definition of human structure that I have come across in geometrical, mathematical, and scientific terms.

Thomas Myers, author of Anatomy Trains, even quotes Flemons in his book, and is a phenomenal source for further information on the Tensegrity model. I simply wanted to pull from and give credit to Flemons for his magnificent mathematical addition to the anatomy of the human body. His writing perfectly personifies the dynamical nature of the human structure aligning with my principles here within Adaptable Polarity Series.

 

 

Structure is the final manifestation in the human form, and it must be clearly defined within APS. Bones are the floating struts meeting at joints, floating in a tensile matrix. Joints are held together by ligaments, bursae, capsules, and pulled by muscles and tendons. This is the architecture and structure of the human body separated from all other systems to be clear and concise when testing and assessing.

Structure is separated within APS because if our foundation is off, it does not matter how much energy work is done. A friend and colleague refers to it as, “rusty pipes.” Sometimes a talus needs to be “realigned,” or a joint needs to open that has been stuck for far too long. If it has persisted in the operating system, then hydrogen bonding, loss of blood flow, scar tissue, adhesions, and dark zones to the brain are all possibilities. This is comparable to structural versus functional issues, such as a leg length discrepancy or scoliosis. Sometimes, like after a physical trauma, it is a structural issue that needs to be directly addressed.

 

 

The body heals in reverse. If the structure of the body is showing an imbalance and a need for a better Vector Equilibrium, then we start at structure, the final manifestation. Just as a cut to the skin scabs over, the healing goes in the direction from the deepest level of penetration of the tissue backwards towards the entry point. Once this reversal process is complete, the body pushes the scab off as the tissue underneath is healed. This healing process is analogous to a nesting doll and/or the idea of onion layers.

Lastly, with a lot of clients in this early 21st century, structure is a  comprehensible area to begin treatment. As Dr. Stone mentioned, “the physical anatomy of man is the accepted foundation and starting point of nearly all the healing arts today.” However, as we have studied the human system for thousands of years, and as an old instructor used to say, “The body is easy to heal. It is the mind and the spirit that are the issue.” From Structure and pure architecture of the human body, we move on to the concept of the Flow of the body.

 

 

Share this post

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *