Biodynamic Terminology Part 8

Tensegrity. A basic principle of the biological shaping of the wholeness of the human body throughout the life span. It involves the morphological principles of compression and tension to provide stability for a structure. In prenatal development the fluid body generates a pre-structure in which a gel like scaffolding forms to hold the eventual anatomical structure located there. Cells operate with tensegrity through what are called microtubules that appear to be a type of skeleton for the cell membrane to be like a tent. Adult bodies operate with the same principle through the relationship of the myofascial system to the skeletal system. See also topography.

Three Activities of Primary Respiration. Primary Respiration has three activities or modes of function that can be differentiated: to create, to repair and to maintain the human body. Its mode of creation has no specific rate associated with it but rather subjective qualities given many metaphors such as the breath of life, love, grace, bliss and so forth. Its mode of maintenance is associated with its timing of 6 cycles per 10 minutes or 50 second phases or one 100 second cycle. Its mode of repair has flexible times and locations either locally in the body or in the whole in and/or around the body. Primary Respiration chooses what and when to enter this mode of its function. It cannot be determined by the practitioner only observed.

Three Bodies. The developmental sequence of unfolding and growing the first three biological layers of wholeness beginning with the fluid body at conception, the heart (cardiovascular) body during the second week and the brain (central nervous system) body during the third week. Each body manages an aspect of embodied wholeness over the lifespan. At the same time all three bodies are an interconnected whole that continually differentiates through life into greater levels of complexity. See wholeness.

Three Categories of Biological Stillness. The ground of stillness rooted in the biology of the human body and its development:

1. Fluid Fields.
a. Lacunae. The lacunae are pockets of still fluid surrounding the embryo in the structure of the pre-placenta in the second week of development. Their function of stillness is to invite the maternal blood vessels into the pre-placenta and form a connection for the embryo to be nourished.
b. Somites. They are seen next to the neural tube starting in the fourth week of development. Each somite initially contains a center of still fluid. This stillness invites the blood vessels to grow towards the neural tube and thus begin connecting and nurturing the central nervous system.
c. Notochord canal. It begins to develop anteriorly of the neural tube around the same time as the somites. It begins as a tube of dynamically still fluid. It’s cellular structure retains that stillness all through the life span as an orientation for the central nervous system.
d. Venous system. The venous system of the body carries 70% of the blood in the body. It is similar to lacunae in that the veins are like lakes or ponds of almost still fluid moving with the tidal movement of the heart, diaphragm and body movement in general.

2. Growth Resistance.
a. In general, metabolic fields create resistance to each other, some more so than others. This is because they each have their own unique position, shape and prestructuring dynamic occurring. Thus the interface or edge between the metabolic fields has varying degrees of biological stillness especially between the heart and brain/neural tube. See metabolic fields.

3. Cell Biology.
a. Wedge shaped epithelium. When the heart in particular begins to go through its looping phase, the inside hub of the loop becomes pointed or narrow and the outside of the cells become wedge shaped or broader. The inner narrow end of the cells become metabolically less active and thus dynamically still. Stillness forms the core of the heart in this way and induces the growth of the cushions and valves between the chambers of the heart as well as the endothelium of the inner structure of the chambers of the heart.
b. Quiescent cells. This is a category of cell that is metabolically less active and thus dynamically still. These cells are seen in the phases of blood development prenatally and as an important type of cell in the endothelium of the arteries in the adult body and other structures of the body both prenatally and through the lifespan. It is known that when these cells lose their dynamic stillness it is a marker for disease.
c. Senescent cells. This is a special category of cells that when they are dying in the embryo they give off a growth factor that provides nourishment to the surrounding cells. In the adult however, these same cells signal the immune system to generate an inflammatory response. Thus a cell that is dying in the embryo and dynamically still can produce factors for growth and development in the surrounding environment. Senescent cells are differentiated from apoptotic cells or cells that have programmed death and give off no growth factors in their death. Apoptosis has also been called cells inherent suicide program.

Three Embryonic Fulcrums. The third ventricle, the heart and umbilicus represent the embryonic fulcrums that correspond to the amnion, chorion and yolks sac. These fulcrums in the practitioner’s body are the initiating points for attending to the movement of Primary Respiration through the zones (see zones of awareness). Over time a practitioner shifts from deliberately working with each fulcrum until it becomes spontaneous. When the practitioner experiences spontaneous attention moving between these embryonic fulcrums, it becomes automatic shifting at a biodynamic level. See automatic shifting, four zones of awareness and Primary Respiration.