The Universal Solvent

If you’ve followed this column over the years, you know that physical, chemical, and emotional stressors, beyond the individual’s ability to adapt, are the root cause of nearly all disease.  Two of these are easier to adapt to and prevent a state of excess.  For physical stress, you need to make time for regular exercise and utilize healing methods such as chiropractic, massage, physical therapy, yoga, etc.  In the case of chemical stress, you need to reduce the toxins from fake foods, drugs/medications, and other chemicals while fortifying with the proper sources of lean proteins, fruits and vegetables.  But what do you do for emotional stress?  Given the season, I thought this would be an appropriate time to discuss strategies of psychological stress reduction.

I found an article that was given to every patient that came to the Mayo Clinic for treatment of fibromyalgia.  The article was all about forgiveness.  The article stressed that we all need to let go of grievances, anger, resentment, guilt, and regret.  These negative emotions only hurt the person who’s carrying them while stimulating the hormones in our body that perpetuate the stress response.  This response is known to cause high blood pressure and cholesterol, inflammation and pain, depression, sleep disorders, sexual dysfunction, cancer and virtually every other ailment.  As the Mayo article states, we have to let go in order to begin the healing process.  Traditionally, there are five basic steps to achieve complete forgiveness.  First you need to forgive any other person that is involved.  This does not mean you agree with the person or condone their behavior – you’re just letting go and not letting them control you anymore.  Next, you allow the other person to forgive you for any part you may have played in the situation or conflict.  Most importantly you need to forgive yourself.  Fourth, you need to learn the lesson from the situation.  Try to find some positive lesson you can gain from going through even the most negative experience.  Finally, and this one’s the toughest, once you recognize a lesson, you need to be grateful for that lesson and the opportunity the conflict gave you to learn from that situation.  These steps sound simple and sometimes it can be when you’re ready to let go. 

Emotional stress truly is the silent killer because it gets into our subconscious mind and alters our physiology through the stress response.  Fortunately, healthy diet and exercise can help shut off the stress response temporarily.  Yoga and meditation are also very helpful at interrupting stress at a subconscious level and helping to restore emotional homeostasis.  But forgiveness is the universal solvent that heals the negative emotions linked to so much stress.  In the spirit of Christmas, I thought I’d leave you with scripture from Mark 11:25:  “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”  Wishing you peace and forgiveness this Christmas and in the coming new year.

Giving Thanks

As a chiropractor, I’m always challenging people to look to the cause of their pain, ailment, or illness because unless you uncover the cause, you’ll always be treating and managing the symptoms.  The World Health Organization has reported that the ultimate cause of any loss of health is excessive amounts of physical, chemical, and/or emotional stress beyond the body’s natural ability to adapt.  Research suggests that emotional stress is the single biggest factor of these different stressors.  In my discussions with people, I certainly find that many are dealing with excessive amounts of this emotional stress resulting with increased pain, sleep disorders, anxiety and depression, digestive disorders, amongst other health problems.  In preparation for Thanksgiving, I wanted to share a reminder of a strategy on how to reduce the effects of our daily stress.

First of all, I’d like to emphasize that we weren’t born into stress.  Instead, we experience different stress, and over time we practice this stress until we get very good at it.  In time, our conscious stress (what we perceive and what we choose to focus on) becomes subconscious stress.  In subconscious stress, our brain is functioning in a revved-up, fight/flight state that is appropriate for survival (fighting a bear) but not appropriate for every-day life.  When our brain is in this state, it changes our physiology through our nervous system and our hormones and our organs start to function differently. Eventually, this can manifest as almost any disease out there.  So we must interrupt the stress response!  Physical exercise, yoga, meditation, prayer, and other disciplines have been proven to decrease stress.  But given the season, I would like to encourage you to just try another strategy that can reduce the subconscious stress.  This strategy is using a gratitude journal.

Science has proven that our brain cannot be in a state of stress and gratitude at the same time.  This is why I like to call, gratitude the universal solvent of all emotional stresses.  All you need is a small notebook or journal and a pen by your bed stand.  In the mornings, before your feet hit the floor, you simply write down five things that you’re grateful for.  These can be big or small.  This is to allow you to at least begin your day in this state with the goal of staying in a state of gratitude as long as possible.  Then at night, right before your head hits the pillow, you read some of the things you’ve written over the mornings until you feel like you are back in that state of gratitude.  This will work best if you stay in this state and don’t let any other thoughts enter your head until you’re asleep.  In doing this, you will be retraining the subconscious mind to be in this state rather than a state of anxiety, depression, anger, etc.  This is a simple strategy that will render results over time.  Give it a try and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Why it Works

It will soon be a new year with new resolutions and many, many, new gym memberships.  I believe this is a great thing!  What’s not great is how many people fail to meet their health goals and go back to their old habits after just a couple months.  After helping coordinate our wellness program, I’ve seen that there are three main reasons for this phenomenon.  First, people have the intention but no plan or knowledge of how to meet their goals, so they get frustrated and quit.  Secondly, they overdo it, get sore or hurt from exercising the wrong way and get frustrated and quit.  Finally, even with a plan, the hard work didn’t produce the results desired as quickly as hoped so they get frustrated and quit.  The beauty of RTC Wellness Program or any complete health enhancement program is that it addresses these three pitfalls.

We can all walk into a gym and within just a few minutes pinpoint who knows what they’re doing and who does not.  The ones who know what they’re doing simply had a plan while the others did not.  When you walk into the gym or step onto any machine, you need to know what your workout will be.  How long will it take, what parts are you working, and how much are you doing?  The easiest way to get a plan like this is to consult a personal trainer who can design your workouts to meet your specific goals.  But remember, you need to change your workouts routinely to keep improving and challenging your body for results.  To address the second pitfall mentioned above, I would also consult a personal trainer.  The main reason people get injured with exercise is that they don’t know how to do it properly.  Another reason for injury or excessive soreness is that people tend to overwork some body parts while neglecting others.  This creates an imbalance.  Personal training prevents this.  In our wellness program, we also recommend incorporating chiropractic care and massage to prevent injury.  Many people have structural or muscular imbalances present before they even hit the gym.  These imbalances can often be aggravated when working out.  The chiropractic and massage are also excellent at reducing the normal muscle soreness from exercise which makes it easier for people to keep going and not interrupt their program.  Finally . . .  results!  We all know people who work their tails off and still don’t get the changes they’re looking for.  This is where your program must be more complete.  If you’re looking for weight loss, you must realize that exercise is only about 30% of the solution.  A low glycemic diet with the proper amounts of protein, fruits, and vegetables is the other 70%.  You need to plan your diet with even more diligence than you plan your exercise especially in the beginning to get things going for you.  Some people need to do a detoxification, before even beginning, to rid their body of the toxins stored in the fat cells that can prevent fat metabolism from occurring.  What about stress?  We’ve all seen the commercials about cortisol – the stress hormone that deposits and maintains fat around the belly region.  This is a real thing.  If you cannot sleep properly and you cannot reduce the stress, weight loss is almost impossible.  We take this seriously and utilize meditation along with the diet and exercise to combat the stress component.  Even with all of this, about 10% of the time people still struggle due to hormonal imbalances that have developed over long periods of toxicity, insufficiency, and stress.  In these cases, I recommend consulting a doctor that deals with bio-identical hormones to complement the rest of your program and enhance results.

If you’re renewing your commitment to your health, please use some of the strategies listed above and consider joining us for our FREE wellness talk on December 10^th where we will workshop more of these strategies to help you meet your wellness goals for 2019. For more information, call our office at 812-273-HEAL (4325), or visit our Facebook page.

Behavior Modification

Is there something you know is bad for your health and potential for wellness, but in spite of that knowledge you do it anyway?  Perhaps you watch too much T.V. or stay up too late, or maybe it’s a toxic relationship, or most likely it’s something you put into your body.  We all do this, right?  Oh, we may feel guilty about it afterwards or pledge that we’re never going to do that again.  But the reality is that everything we do, we do because we want to – it gives us instant pleasure.  So the experts, advisors, or judgers in our lives will instruct us that we need to change our behavior.  Let me assure you that this approach will never work because all our behaviors are driven by our beliefs.  Until you change the way you believe or feel about something any attempt at changing the behavior will be short-lived.  Here is an exercise in “belief” modification.

Focus on that behavior that you know is not good for you – the one you do anyway.  Then close your eyes and think of the last time you indulged in this behavior.  While doing this, write down every thought you can recall or the conversation in your head that allowed you to indulge this behavior.  This internal dialogue is your actual subconscious belief about that behavior and it is a lie and merely a rationalization that you’ve programmed yourself to accept over time to provide you temporary pleasure at the expense of your health.  Now write down the consequences of continuing to engage in this unhealthy behavior.  Then right down the consequences (benefits) of changing or eliminating that behavior.  Finally, I want you to look at these consequences and benefits and write a true statement of how your life would be improved when you alter this behavior.  This statement needs to become your new internal dialogue and you need to write this down on a few index cards and post it on your mirror, your fridge, in your car, put a note in your pocket – anywhere you can review it multiple times each day.  You should review this every day for 30 days and see what changes. 

Necessity not Luxury

In my constant search for wellness-related subjects, it occurred to me that I’ve neglected all the massage therapists out there.  The biggest misconception regarding massage is that it’s a luxury that only the wealthy indulge in while they’re vacationing in Monaco.  The other stumbling block with massage is the thought that you’re required to take your clothes off. Neither of these is true.  Many people get massage through their clothing even though it’s not as comfortable.  And for the rest, they usually choose to undress to their undergarments, but remain fully covered by sheets.  The therapist only reveals the part of the body they are working on and the experience should always be comfortable and discreet. 

While massage therapy is great for stress relief and tight muscles, it offers much more than this.  In our wellness program, massage is very helpful with the sore muscles from the rigorous exercise.  Massage helps improve circulation and move the blood through and out of the tissues.  Studies have shown that the therapy can reduce blood pressure at least temporarily.  By releasing endorphins and serotonin, massage is proven to help with depression and anxiety.  By reducing this stress and calming what is called the sympathetic nervous system, massage can even help with digestion.  I believe one of the biggest benefits of massage is that it helps move the lymphatic fluid of the immune system.  This will aid in boosting the immune system to help fight off and prevent infection. 

At last count there were over 20 different massage therapists in Jefferson County.  Many of them are very good.  In my experience the best ones provide service that is long-lasting and can help make change even with chronic pain and muscular problems.  It should make a real difference.  As is true with diet, exercise, chiropractic and everything else, massage therapy works best when you make it part of your regular lifestyle as a habit to promote greater wellness.

Kinesio Taping

In the late 70’s, a taping method was developed to facilitate the body’s natural healing process.  While it’s been around for a long time, it gained popularity and credibility in the 2008 Summer Olympics when many of the athletes were sporting the tape to enhance their performance including the unbeatable sand volleyball team of Walsh and May.  The original product, called Kinesio Tape was developed to have a similar texture and elasticity to human tissue.  The misconception is that this tape is designed to support or limit motion of the joints or tissues.  On the contrary, the tape works by increasing range of motion and increasing circulation thereby promoting healing.

By stretching it on the skin, the Kinesio Tape pulls the upper layers of skin, creating more space between the skin and the muscle. The space created is believed to relieve pressure on the lymph channels in the area between the muscle and the skin, creating more space for lymph flow and better lymph drainage through an affected area.  This drainage is beneficial for nearly any injury because it allows the swelling and inflammation involved with the injury to drain out of the injured area back into the circulation.  This, in turn, takes pressure of the muscles and off the nerve receptors that carry messages of pain back to the brain.  Likewise, by reducing pressure and friction on the muscles, the taping procedures also improve muscle performance and reduce muscle fatigue.  As a result, the Kinesio Taping method is thought to re-educate the nerves and muscles to enhance the healing process, reduce pain and inflammation, enhance performance, improve circulation, as well as prevent injuries of overuse and repetitive trauma.  Each application of the tape is only good for a few days and many times must be repeated, but if the inflammation can be resolved, the resulting relief can be long-lasting.

We utilize this procedure often in our office, and we see results with new and older injuries.  I must admit that, initially, I was reluctant to provide this service, simply because it sounded too good to be true.  However, the taping is being used by all health professions from orthopedists, to physical therapist, chiropractors, and medical doctors.  Everyone seems to agree that this stuff works.  What I like most is that even on the occasions that it doesn’t work; it can do no harm or cause any side effects.  Research the tape and the technique yourself and if you’re dealing with a new or even chronic injury, look into Kinesio Taping as a possible method of relief.

A Mousy Mystery

In the year 2000 a simple study performed at Duke University changed the way scientists looked at genetics and DNA.  The study was set up to look at sets of so-called agouti mice which are mice that displayed an agouti gene causing the mice to be extremely obese and yellow in color.  More than this, the presence of this gene also rendered these mice much more prone to cancer and diabetes.  Almost 100% of the time, these agouti mice would give birth to offspring that also displayed the agouti gene and shared the same bleak fate.  The researchers in the study wanted to see if they could change the outcomes of these offspring by making changes in the mother mice.

Understand that the thinking before this study (and still with many today) was that your DNA is your destiny.  This way of thinking leads many to believe, “Well my Mom had a bad heart, so I will too.”  But the researchers at Duke wanted to see if this was really true.  So they took the obese, yellow agouti mother mice and for a short time before the mice were allowed to become pregnant they simply changed their diets.  They put the mother mice on a diet rich in vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients to see if it would change the destiny of their DNA.  With the first generation, the agouti mothers gave rise to offspring that were slender and mousy brown.  Even more importantly, these offspring did not display their parents’ tendency to cancer and diabetes and therefore lived much longer.  The effects of the gene had essentially been erased.

The importance of this study is its simplicity.  The researchers did not alter the DNA of these mice with genetic therapy or any complicated procedure.  They simply exposed the mice to a healthier lifestyle and they changed the outcome of future generations.  One other point important to understand is that the offspring of the agouti mothers still shared the same genes.  What happened here is that the change in environment, or in this case lifestyle, changed the expression of these genes thereby changing the outcome.  Similar changes in your own lifestyle will invariably change the expression of your DNA to your own benefit and to the benefit of future generations.