Meet the Embryo: Coming into rhythm with Nature & Motivation

Reflecting on the privileged status we assign to productivity in our adult lives, do you ever wonder where this urge to get stuff done comes from? What is the nature of motivation, why do some suffer from chronic procrastination or the opposite, and how do we find that sweet spot?

I'm always looking to the embryo for insights. The embryo is instantly on the razor's edge of survival and has much to teach us. Research shows that the developmental potential, implantation and live birth rates of day 3 embryos increased with cell number, which means embryos that have not reached at least 6-10 cells are already at risk.

However, it is also generally accepted that embryos with either lower or *higher* cell numbers have significantly reduced developmental potential. Enter the Goldilocks phenomenon: too many or too few is no good. We are looking for the sweet spot where the porridge is just right.

To simplify, if an embryo's cells don't proliferate fast enough, or they do so too quickly, the tiny proto-human is already in trouble three days after conception. Talk about a steep curve!

So this idea that a human can be out of sync with an optimal species-wide rhythm is really interesting here, because it isn't just about the cellular motivation to get something done (multiply units of self, in this case) or not.

The research points to the *timing* of getting things done as the key factor for a healthy outcome.

But the forward momentum of proliferation has to come from somewhere. What is it that motivates us as lifeforms to increase our cell numbers?

Of course, we look to the genome as a kind of oracle for form and function. Our Biotensegrity Global friends talk about movement as geometrically determined by a triangulated balance of tension/compression through the tissues. But what about the motivation to proliferate? Where does that come from?

Going deeper into the metaphysics of embryology, I find it useful to consider proliferation, measured as cell number as a *function of time*.

Cells progress through a sequence of phases collectively known as the mitotic cycle, tightly regulated in normal cells but not so much in the proliferation of cancer cells. I won't go into the activation of cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (Cdk1), the reaction rapidly and irreversibly sets the cell up for division...

Suffice it to say that division involves a large number of complex, interconnected signalling cascades about which we have a solid knowledge base. However, *how* these loops coordinate as a robust system triggering mitosis precisely in the right rhythm needed for health is not well understood.

In short, we don't exactly know why or how our cells get motivated to proliferate, but I want to go back to the metaphysics here, specifically the spatiotemporal aspects.

The biotensegrity conversation, from my understanding, places focus on the "spatio" side of things. The positive space, the material of our cells, is set up to behave as a function *over time*. So I am interested in the temporal aspect, the timing of the material behaviour.

That timing gives rise to what we experience as vibration, pulsatility, oscillation, frequency. The circadian rhythms of metabolic health built around our human timing, beating to the rhythm of Nature. My sense is that cellular motivation arises from its intimacy with the infinite.

And we'll never get to grips with precisely what that means, but in yoga there is a simple tripartite view on it: rajasic (hot/fast); tamasic (cold/slow). Sattvic is the sweet spot where timing and temperature are balanced.

Going back to our leading question, where does motivation come from and how do we settle into the sweet spot for productivity?

I don't think we know where meta-motivation comes from. However, we do know that the more we make time for reconnection to Nature and its rhythms, the more likely we are to fall in time with our intrinsic metabolic health.

• Less panic, more practice.
• Less procrastination, more courage to face uncomfortable feelings.
• More resilience, more routine, more room for spontaneity.

What is on your to-do list today, and when can you get outdoors for a walk to forget about half of it? I'll see you there.

Get to know the embryo and how her development informs everything we are. Join the early enrolment cohort here:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4831697/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482449/