4 Weeks

As of yesterday it has been a month since my body revolted on me. I don't want to call it an injury, since I had done nothing to injure myself. But rather it was a more like a seizure. Just as a rabbit or a deer will seize in front of headlights, my body seized in response to an overload of stress.

Since then I have improved quite a bit. I started seeing a chiropractor who specializes in upper cervical adjusting. This is the approach we were initially taught at Palmer College. BJ Palmer, the founder of our school called it the "Hole in One Technique". By addressing the atlas, i.e. the first cervical vertebra, you will affect every process throughout the body. For decades this is all that was taught at the school. Adjust the atlas and let the Innate Intelligence of the body free up and do the healing. This is a very powerful concept, often forgotten by chiropractors because they feel that they have to "treat" the pain rather than free the body to do its own healing. However, the power that created the body heals the body. There is no other way, and when you consider that creating the body is nothing short of a miracle, then healing becomes a miracle too. We don't have to control it, just release the power and get out of the way!

I started running again. My leg still feels weak and the muscle aches at times, but I am able to run about two and a half miles with some walking thrown in. I'm able to adjust people longer without having to sit down. And the numb area has gotten a little smaller. Just a little. But it gives me hope that I will overcome this, and soon. It is very weird when you suddenly lose a function of your body. It changes you, and not in a good way. And you appreciate it so much more when you get it back! You just can't take health for granted because all it takes is a second to lose it!

Health - You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone!

It's funny how we can take out bodies for granted. I try not to, full appreciating all it does for me. But when something suddenly changes, you begin to realize how important a fully functioning body is.

I recently hurt myself that resulted in intense back spasming and left leg weakness. The weakness came on so fast, it was incredible. I found it difficult to stand, let alone walk, and of course, running was out of the question. I love to run. I feel like my life depends on it. I run 4 days a week all year long and in all the weather typical to Cleveland. But not for the last 10 days.

I began to feel like an invalid. I could get up and walk, but after 30 seconds, I had to sit because my thigh would burn in pain as the muscles tried to hold me up. I couldn't do anything. I mean anything! I couldn't go to the store, I could barely get through my day at the office. All I would do is go to the office, sit while I adjust people, and come home. Then I would sit on the couch or the chair in front of the TV and veg. I began to wonder if I would ever have my life back.

I have been working on myself, and with the help of a chiropractor friend of mine, Dave Budney. Slowly the strength is coming back and today I finally felt strong enough to try a run. Actually, I didn't feel strong enough, but I could not take another day of sitting. Running withdrawl is horrible. So I put on my running gear and went or it. It was difficult at first, but I was able to get in about 2 and a half miles. When I got home, I felt absolutely great!

I know now that what has gripped me is slowly leaving and I can see the end of the tunnel. But the body you've been given is the only one you will ever get. A healthy body is defined by how well it works, not how well it feels. And in the matter of a moment something can change that suddenly changes how it works. And that is a horrible, horrible feeling. Thank goodness for chiropractic, because that is the only approach that can restore health, and keep us healthy (i.e functioning!). Because once it's gone, health may be gone for good!

How healthy is a health nut?

Today one of my practice members mentioned that someone she knows lost his fiance to pneumonia. The lady who passed away was in her 40's and Diane described her as a "health nut". She exercised all the time, at the right foods, took her supplements - a true health nut. So how was it that someone would come down with an illness like pneumonia and die from it?

My question to Diane was "What is the missing variable?" She didn't know.

The missing variable is that the woman was not under chiropractic care. The most important aspect of health is maintaining the health of the operating system of the body - the nerve system - with regular chiropractic care. It doesn't matter how much exercise a person gets, or if they have the most expensive urine from all the vitamins they take. If the nerve system is not fully communicating in the body, the body will get sick.

The circulatory system distributes food and oxygen throughout the body. It also collects wastes to be eliminated from the body. The nerve system also circulates. But it circulates information, and most importantly, Life Force. If the nerve system is sick, the circulation of Life Force can be altered. If a part of the body is not getting proper Life Force, that area of the body may start to break down. The body is programed to self-destruct when Life Force leaves it. In a dead body, this is called decay. If it happens in a part of a living body, it is called and infection. But it is not an infection. It is the cells undergoing self-destruction by creating bacteria that digest the cells. If this happens on a grand scale, the whole body will die.

The chiropractic adjustment is the only way to make sure that the nerve system is operating properly and that Life Force is flowing. The important thing to remember is that healthy people do not suddenly die! Diet is important. Exercise is important. Proper sleep and hygiene are important. But without chiropractic care as part of the equation, one can never be truly healthy or truly well.

What do you believe?

'Thoughts create things.''

" What you think about is so."

I hear this over and over again from various people talking about attracting things into our lives. This applies to things we want, and things we don't want. People all want better health, but how often do you here people say "oh that just makes me sick!" Or, "that person I work with is a pain in my neck!" Or, "It's winter, I always get sick in the winter". Then what happens? They get sick, develop a neck pain, or something else.

When we think of something, the body listens. Every thought creates a reaction, without exception! If you think thoughts of sickness, it will happen. The pain in your hip may not be arthritis, but if you continue to say it is because your Aunt Mildred had it, then you will get it too.

The secret to having good health and anything else in life is to alway feel good. Be happy - always! Instead of thinking about the things in life that make you ill, think about what makes you well - and be happy about it! Regardless of the circumstances.

So, think about what you say. Even if you are joking, thoughts become things!

I'm Back!

I guess it has been over a year since I posted anything to my blog. It's funny how you plan things and then, slowly, life gets in the way and you forget about certain things that you had planned. But that's all behind now. It's a new year, with new energies, and now, new blogging!

This past year my granddaughter, Madison Lucy was born. She was born on May 30 to be precise. She came into this world healthy, and she has not been vaccinated. In her almost 8 months of life, she had one little cold that she got over in two days. She cut two teeth during the past month and had a little fever with each one. But she did not get a congested nose or ear infections.

Vaccinating newborns is such a ritual in this country. But health does not come from chemicals being shot into the blood stream of an infant. Health comes from proper nutrition, hygiene, exercise, and keeping the nerve system in its proper tone and tension with chiropractic care. Our little Maddi is already developing into a healthy child because she gets adjusted regularly!

Keeping the nerve system, the operating system of the body, healthy is the most important thing everyone can do for themselves - at any age!

The clouds and sun!

Yesterday, N told me that she was getting discouraged. She had only been with me for a month, so I was little curious as to her comment. She said that her leg hurt, and she had bouts of dizziness and this past week wasn't too good for her.

I asked, "Didn't you tell me last week that you had felt better?" She said that she did, but it all came back.

She is also having bladder trouble, and mentioned that hse was feeling better there, too. "And didn't you tell me that you had more feeling in your bladder?" She said she did, but it didn't last.

"So tell me, N. How old are you?" She said that she is 83.

"And how long did it take for you to develop into who you are?" She said a few months.

"No", I said. "You are 83. Your body is a reflection of 83 years of your life. Although healing is possible, we are still working against 83 years. So whatever you are going through is not going to go away overnight.

"Also, don't dwell on your pain or other symptoms. You have had days where you were feeling better. If your discomforts are the clouds on a rainy day, the times you feel better are as if the sun were peaking through. The sun is there, behind the clouds, even if you can't see it. So dwell on the sun, and just like a rainy day, eventually the clouds go away. That's what healing is all about."

Until next time....

Is It Holistic?

I received a call the other day from a gal who had been in a car accident. She wanted to see me because I am, as she termed it, "a holistic chiropractor". Since we are a cash only office, she wanted to find someone who took her car insurance, so she was going to continue trying to find a holistic DC.

But in reality, her search is not for someone who is holistic.

People tend to think my work is holistic just because I do not thrust into the spine as most chiropractors do, but this is far from the truth. Holistic vs. allopathic is not about the technique, it is about the INTENT.

An allopathic approach to the body is one that 'treats' a diagnosed condition. The intent is to make the condition go away. It does not consider the entire person. It is judgemental in that it considers that whatever the condition is, is wrong and must be dealt with.

The holistic intent is not concerned with a condition at all. This intent considers that any condition is an attempt by the body to heal something, but its ability to heal may be interefered with. The approach to healing is to strengthen the body, remove whatever blockages may be occuring, and allow the body to heal in whatever way supports its greater good. There is no judgement placed upon the condition. It is neither right nor wrong, good or bad. It just is.

In this case, this lady wanted to be treated for the car accident, but she wanted my gentle approach thinking that it is holistic. However, this is actually allopathic, because the conditions being treated are injuries from the accident.

As you can see, it's all about the intent.

Until next time...