Of our three bodies, the physical body at first glance seems the easiest to observe. Its movements and postures are physical, and therefore observable and traceable. If I take a step forward, it is my physical body that coordinates this action; if I move an object from one place to another, it is my physical body that performs this task. But along with this ability to move, there are many subtle nuances also rooted in our physical body that deeply influence our emotionality and our psychology.
However, to observe its subtler nuances, we must further divide the manifestations of our physical body into two: a motor function and an instinctive function. The first is responsible for the body’s ability to move (muscles, joints, nerves), the second for maintaining its well-being (vegetative nervous system, central nervous system, etc.). Neither of these two functions is exclusively physical because both are active and influence our entire emotional and psychological structure.
The function of movement in the physical body allows us to walk, type, dance, play sports, and perform a wide range of external movements. It also gives us the ability to imitate and automate complex actions, such as repeating exercises, riding a bike, or driving a car, which initially require our concentrated attention, but through repetition become automatic.
It is this capacity for automation that requires closer examination, because it permeates the other emotional and mental functions and enables their fluidity. For example, the motion function enables the intellectual function to connect words and meaning seamlessly and master the ability to speak. It enables the emotional function to match reactions to stimuli and gives it the ability to respond easily to social customs and expectations. In effect, our motion function works like a rotating wheel that enables fluidity not only for itself, but also for the other functions.
This rotational nature correlates our motion function with time, because time is also rotational, cyclical; it is determined by the rotation of the physical spheres: the rotation of the earth on its axis marking a day, the waxing and waning of the moon marking a month, the orbit of the earth around the sun marking a year. Each of these cycles is present and influences our psychophysical structure and to varying degrees influences its rhythms predisposing it to cyclical repetition over time. In fact, it can be said that our moving center is under the Law of Time, although all the implications of this statement would require a longer explanation…
