The biggest challenge to understanding health or body function properly is to be responsible for yourself.
Nathaniel Brandenhttp://www.nathanielbranden.com/ was a psychotherapist who coined the term “self esteem.” One day Dr. Branden was asked what the primary secret to mastering self esteem was. His immediate answer was…”You must accept full responsibility for everything you have ever thought, said and done in your life”.
In order to create true change in our lives we need to honour the concept of neuroplasticity? This process describes the adaptive nature of your brain and body. For example the more we do anything, the better we get at doing it. Examples include: learning to walk, learning to speak and learning to play piano. By repeating a particular behaviour our brain actually changes itself physically For example on the dark side of this is addiction
. This can be applied to working with a person’s spine. For example, if a spine is injured in a physical way the alignment over several decades becomes a persistent pattern of movement that may drive the person to a chiropractor. The key concept here is how long has this spinal adaptation been going on? What will it take to restore it? If a fifty-five year old begins care for a condition that has been perfected over the years by spinal postural habits and muscle memory that has developed. It is the responsibility of the D.C and the person seeking help is also responsible to realize that true healing will involve three phases of care.
Subulxation* detection and correction (2-4 months of corrective adjtustment)
Spinal healing and repair process (9 months or more of weekly spinal checkups for natural healing changes)
Prevention of relapse from life stress (lifestyle chiropractic wellness visits).
* Subluxation means a spinal misalignment or movement pattern that is disturbing the precise functions of the body’s master controlling system. This brain body disconnection impacts every tissue and organ and all systems to effect some degree of malfunction. This is why health properly defined is full function and NOT simply how we are feeling.
This is the key role of chiropractic is to successfully correct this deeply ingrained spinal problem which has been preventing proper function of your brain and nervous system. Once you have reached the lifestyle care phase your health or body function has been restored and your responsibility shifts to prevention and lifestyle modification to avoid the buildup of physical, chemical and emotional burdens. Your wellness focused chiropractor will guide you towards the benefits of learning the art of being healthy.
