Awe, Social Connection, and Serotonin

Dr. Brennan Spiegel, Director of Health Services Research at Cedars-Sinai and Professor of Medicine and Public Health at UCLA, author of the book Pull, explains why illness is often a failure to manage gravity.

He describes how our relationship with gravity defines strength, balance, digestion, mental stability, and emotional health.

Take the Gravotype Quiz at BrennanSpiegelMD.com to identify how your body manages gravity.

Key Insights and Action Steps — Dr. Brennan Spiegel

"Every single cell of your body evolved from this force of gravity. Physics came first, and biology came second." Illness arises when we fail to manage gravity. Every organ, tendon, and cell depends on that relationship.

"When you stand up straight and lift your diaphragm, it pulls up this sack of potatoes that we all have in our belly. When you open up the gut, it opens up digestion." Posture determines how well the gut, diaphragm, and circulation function. Sitting compresses digestion and lowers energy.

"Your balance and relationship to gravity is a predictor of how long you're going to live." Balance, grip strength, and posture are measurable indicators of longevity.

"The inner ear is like a gyroscope constantly keeping track of your position in relation to gravity." The nervous system continuously measures gravity. Inner-ear disturbances can create dizziness, anxiety, and panic.

"When you're depressed, you can't get up out of bed. Your body is slumped over. It's almost like there's so much gravity pulling on your body, it's like you're in a black hole." Depression mirrors an excessive gravitational load. Emotional heaviness is a physical experience of being pulled down.

"Strong negative emotional experiences can permanently change the way the brain forms… the mind has learned to be pulled down emotionally, physically, socially." Childhood trauma reshapes how the brain perceives gravity, making the body feel heavier and slower to rise.

"The feet are a gravity management surface… only five percent of the body's surface area but holding one hundred percent of the weight." Feet are the interface between body and planet. Strengthening them restores alignment and balance.

"Your relationship to the planet, both latitudinally and altitudinally, will determine your health." Altitude, light, and environment influence serotonin, immunity, and microbiome function.

"Serotonin itself is a gravity management substance." Serotonin regulates mood and physical stability, linking emotional and gravitational balance.

"When it's stimulated, it activates the rest and digest phase and helps release serotonin." The vagus nerve is the primary connection between body and mind, calming the system and improving serotonin flow.

"I pretended I was on a bigger planet… I became stronger and stood up straighter." Carrying additional resistance through weighted movement improves posture, strength, and metabolism.

"When we lay down to sleep, we give our body a break… the blood easily flows into our brain and flushes out amyloid." Sleep restores gravitational equilibrium and supports brain recovery.

"Gravity doesn't change, but your relationship to gravity does." Long-term health depends on strengthening that relationship physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Action Items from Dr. Brennan Spiegel

1. Identify your gravotype. Take the 16-question quiz at BrennanSpiegelMD.com to learn which of the eight gravotypes you belong to and how your body manages gravity.

2. Build gravity fortitude. Strengthen the muscles and bones that keep you upright — especially your back, core, and legs.

"When you stand up straight and lift your diaphragm, it pulls up the gut and opens digestion."

3. Stand tall and move often. Avoid long hours of sitting. Use a standing desk or take frequent standing breaks. Sitting compresses the abdomen, slows digestion, and reduces serotonin.

4. Strengthen the diaphragm and posture daily. Practice standing with shoulders back and chin level to engage the diaphragm and improve breathing and gut function.

5. Train your balance. Test and improve balance by standing on one leg, walking heel-to-toe, or using a balance board.

"Your balance and relationship to gravity is a predictor of how long you're going to live."

6. Practice grip and hanging strength. Hang from a bar daily. Aim for 30 seconds, then increase gradually toward 2 minutes. Even short "dead hangs" improve shoulder, spine, and nervous-system alignment.

7. Use light weighted resistance. Try a weighted vest or light ankle weights while walking or doing chores.

"I pretended I was on a bigger planet… I became stronger and stood up straighter."

8. Walk, run, or train barefoot or in minimalist shoes (safely). Let the feet feel the ground to activate stabilizing muscles.

"When you ground your foot, everything else pulls up straight from there."

9. Reconnect with the ground. Spend time standing or walking on natural surfaces (grass, sand, earth) when possible.

10. Stay hydrated. Keep enough fluid in your body to "pump blood and oxygen up into the brain." Dehydration weakens gravity tolerance and causes dizziness or fatigue.

11. Regulate the nervous system. Do slow, controlled breathing through pursed lips to stimulate the vagus nerve and calm the body.

"Slow meditative breathing activates the rest-and-digest phase."

12. Consider gentle vagus-nerve stimulation. Use only safe methods such as breathing, humming, or medical devices under supervision. Avoid carotid massage unless advised by a doctor.

13. Strengthen vestibular and proprioceptive awareness. Engage activities that challenge coordination: yoga, dance, gymnastics, tai chi, or balance training.

14. Manage mental gravity. Notice emotional heaviness as a physical sensation; practice posture, breathing, and grounding to counteract "mental black holes."

15. Use awe and nature to elevate mood. Spend time in nature, watch sunsets, or listen to music that evokes awe.

"Feeling part of something greater than yourself elevates mood and serotonin."

16. Increase natural serotonin. Seek sunlight, exercise outdoors, connect socially, and reduce processed foods. Serotonin helps both mood and muscle tone to "fight gravity physically and mentally."

17. Optimize sleep for gravitational recovery.

• Sleep 7–8 hours flat or slightly inclined if you have reflux.

• Avoid heavy meals within 2 hours of sleep.

• Limit screens before bed.

"When we lay down to sleep, we give our body a break… the blood easily flows into our brain."

18. Manage reflux and digestion. If prone to reflux, raise the head of the bed about 10 degrees or use a wedge pillow. Sleep on your left side to reduce acid reaching the esophagus.

19. Support circulation through movement. Use your muscles as pumps, walk regularly, stretch calves, and move legs during travel or desk work to prevent stagnation.

20. Avoid chronic compression. Reduce time bent over laptops or phones; keep screens at eye level to protect diaphragm and digestion.

21. Engage with natural environments. Nature exposure increases serotonin and improves gravity resilience.

"Being in green spaces is mood-elevating because that's what we evolved with."

22. Monitor environment and altitude. If you live or work at high altitude, be mindful of mood or sleep changes and adjust oxygen exposure and sunlight time.

23. Balance convenience with movement. Spiegel warns that modern comfort, constant sitting, processed food, artificial environments, represents "our species losing the battle against gravity."

24. Reframe health. Adopt the mindset that "gravity doesn't change, but your relationship to gravity does." Everything, from mood to digestion, is part of managing that relationship.

Get Brennan's book, Pull, here: https://shorturl.at/XjNt3

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