Pssst! You! Yeah, you... are a passenger on a planet... on a blue-green planet that's orbiting a golden star. And right now we are traveling through the part of our yearly orbit where we in the northern hemisphere are feeling the heaviness - the gravity - that comes from spending more and more time in the shadow of our planet - in the darkness that we call "night." We could easily mistake this gravity for depression - unless we understand what our indigenous ancestors understood.

All over the world indigenous people developed movements that teach you how to operate from a point slightly below your navel that's called your center of gravity.

EVERY object in the universe is attracted to EVERY OTHER object in the universe by a force called gravity - which nobody understands. (Just because we have a name for it doesn't mean we know what it is!) This attraction increases with mass and decreases with distance.

You have no arms, legs, or head - so far as gravity is concerned. All your mass is concentrated at your center of gravity. So, when Earth's gravity tugs at you, it tugs only at your center of gravity. And gravity is what determines whether we stand - or whether we fall. Meanwhile, Earth is transporting us around the Sun at 68,000 miles per hour. All the while, the Sun is transporting us and its family of planets around the center of our Milky Way Galaxy - and we're moving at half a million miles per hour.

If you're moving this fast, why don't you fall off the Earth? Because your center of gravity is so attracted to Earth's center of gravity that you cannot escape without a rocket boost. Meanwhile, Earth's center of gravity is so attracted to the Sun's center of gravity that Earth cannot escape her solar orbit. All the while, the Sun's center of gravity is so attracted to our Galaxy's center of gravity that our Sun cannot escape its galactic orbit. What's more, our Galaxy's center of gravity is so attracted whatever it's orbiting that ... You get the picture: your center of gravity connects you to the center of the universe!

All over the world, ancient indigenous people developed movements that help us operate from our centers of gravity. In China it was tai chi. In Japan it was aikido. In India it was yoga. In the Middle East it was belly dance. Here in Hawaii it was hula. In Australia there is an aboriginal rite of passage for adolescents, requiring them to stand on one foot at the edge of a cliff for several hours. Only those who are operating from their centers of gravity become adults.

During this season when it feels as if gravity is growing stronger, I'm deeply grateful to our indigenous ancestors for their practical wisdom - and for keeping this wisdom alive so that we can benefit from it today.

This is Harriet Witt, your guide for this little ride on our passenger planet. You can find what you've just heard here -- along with other maps of our cosmic journey -- at passengerplanet.com