Inertia Is Memory: The Science of Why We Stay Stuck

We’ve always been taught that inertia is the resistance to change — the tendency of an object at rest to stay at rest, or an object in motion to stay in motion. But what if we told you that inertia isn’t just physics? What if inertia is a kind of memory — the body remembering how things have always been?

Inertia in Physics = Memory in Behavior

In physics, inertia is governed by Newton’s First Law: unless acted on by a force, an object continues doing what it’s been doing. Sounds familiar, right?

That’s also how we operate in life: emotionally, behaviorally, spiritually. Our routines, reactions, even relationships become programmed patterns. Not because they serve us — but because they’re familiar. Because it’s easier to keep doing what we’ve always done than to stop, turn, or redirect.

Inertia is the muscle memory of our pain. Of our protection. Of our fear. It’s the invisible law keeping trauma on loop, making us flinch even when the threat is gone. It’s the reason we say “I don’t know why I keep doing this” even when we do know — we just can’t stop yet.

The Body Keeps the Score — and the Speed

Think of emotional inertia like this: your nervous system is a ball rolling downhill. At some point in life — maybe childhood, heartbreak, survival — that ball picked up speed. It got used to danger. It adapted to instability. And now, even on calm roads, it doesn’t know how to slow down.

When we repeat toxic patterns, stay in dead-end jobs, or sabotage intimacy, it’s not always about choice — it’s about momentum. Your body is wired to continue the motion of what it learned to survive. That’s why change feels exhausting: you’re not just shifting behavior — you’re defying physics.

Breaking Inertia Requires External Force

Just like in physics, you don’t break inertia with thought alone. You need force: accountability, support, interruption. A new pattern. A truth that hits hard enough to knock you out of the loop. Therapy. Cold honesty. Divine timing. Sometimes even rock bottom.

Inertia isn’t laziness — it’s survival logic in motion. But at some point, if that motion keeps you spiraling, you need to remember this:

Just because it’s familiar doesn’t mean it’s safe.
And just because it’s been your path doesn’t mean it’s your purpose.

Inertia Is a Type of Memory — But You Can Reprogram It

The good news? If inertia is memory, that means it can be rewritten. Slowly. Repetitively. Compassionately. The more you practice the new — new words, new boundaries, new actions — the more your body stores that as its default speed. Its new normal.

This is why healing is rarely a single moment. It’s dozens of “interruptions” repeated until they gain mass. Until they’re strong enough to redirect your trajectory.

Eventually, even your pain forgets how to drive.

The concept of inertia as a form of 'memory' in human behavior, particularly in the context of psychological patterns and trauma, has been extensively explored by psychotherapist Britt Frank, LSCSW, in her book The Science of Stuck: Breaking Through Inertia to Find Your Path Forward (2022)

Written by Aiden Valenciano for MurmrX | July 2025
Because breaking cycles means breaking the laws of our own past physics.