Stop Being an Expert on Your Disease

 

Is a Diagnosis a Badge of Honor?  This might be a touchy subject, but there should be an open discussion regarding the ownership people take over a diagnosis given to them by a doctor.  

Folks come to me and tell me what they already have.  I try to pull people out of that mind-set.  I find it very depressing.  They are so accepting of someone else's title or label lavished upon them. I prefer they ignore that kind of identity. 

This is what I often hear:

They inform me that they have arthritis. I say, "so what?"

They have bone on bone.  My response, "I don't care."

They have an autoimmune disease.  Again, I don't care. 

I already know I have sciatic.  Me: Oh really? You do?

There's a knot over here.  Me: Nice... but I'm not really impressed. 

They are telling me what they think I want to hear. 

I don't want to hear that.

Then I get to hear about all the treatments they have tried.  Some work for a while.  Some don't work at all.  Some treatments made them worse. They probably will go for the latest new surgical technique and the saga goes on and on.  

They just know the current scenario they are in and they live whatever kind of story the Mayo Clinic website tells them.  

If you're going to repeat what everyone else has said, where is the new health?  Where are you going to go?  If you allow the textbooks to predict your future, we're in a heap of trouble. 

If you are an expert on your disease, you are not living --- you are just existing. 

You need to be an expert in yourself.  You need to be an expert in your brain's perception.  You need to put more faith in your nervous system instead of a broken medical system. 

You are not a disease.  I shouldn't have to state the obvious.  

If you are looking for something different, it's time your language was different. 

Welcome to Brain Based Chiropractic. 

Welcome to a world that responds to your brain and not the old, tired textbooks.

Your brain has a better perception of what is possible, if you let it thrive. 

Move Your Brain

Feed Your Brain

Talk to Your Brain

You don't have to be an expert in your disease.  Be an expert in you!

See you at the table.....the adjusting table. 

--Dr. Lisa

The Smart Surrender

Get Your Confidence Back!

Looking back on my journey, I've come to the conclusion that no one is interested in the mind/body connection.  Some of you may be the exception.  So, you may relate to my story.  This connection exists whether you acknowledge it or not.  Why live by default when you can make it remarkable? So, I say, give this connection your attention because it will save your life.

When I was a mental health therapist, I thought we were working with the mind.  Turns out not. We were working with manipulation.  That's why I didn't last there too long. The mental health profession actually ignores the mind and the body.  Funny I would say that after all these years.  The mental health field was very good at taking away your dignity. Most of us in the profession had no intention of doing that, but it is a system that belittles people and gives up on them. 

I see BOTH the mental health field and the rest of mainstream medicine letting us down. I went to school to learn about the mind.  I did that.  Then I went back to school to learn about the body.  Checked that off my list, too.  Our knowledge about the body isn't that impressive either. (Disappointing sigh.)

The link between the mind and body is still ignored.  I thought chiropractic college would honor that link and I would find fulfillment.  And there was failure again. Chiropractic college let me down. 

I've seen enough mainstream medicine, mental health care and even modern chiropractic to know we've always cut ourselves short.  We've dropped the ball. We've cheated ourselves. And my journey continued.

I eventually stumbled across the more organized ideas of neuroplasticity and psychoneuroimmunology.  And then I finally realized something.  I knew it instinctively all this time. I had the understanding a long time ago.  I was probably born with it. (You do, too. Reclaim it today.)  

Why did I think I needed some type of formal education to confirm this?  Early programming, of course.  That little birdie inside of you that says you need acceptance and approval from some kind of authority. 

I wanted acknowledgment of some sort.  There's a foolish idea that your "diamond in the rough" talent will be fostered and fulfilled through higher education.  (Sarcastic laugh.)

Many of my peers said to just get through it, get the degree and then go do what you want to do.  Shocked by their comments I wanted to believe I could glean great clinical pearls from my professors' experiences. 

You can't go out into the field without some kind of degree, and the certification that you jumped through the hoops.  And did these hoops help me find what I was searching for? Somewhat...and I've made my peace with it because I have a job to do.  People need their confidence back. 

I can only do what I know best, what resonates with my soul.  

You can partner with your mind and body or you can be one big cantankerous hindrance to your mind and body. 

Sad to say this, but most holistic healers have no idea what it means to partner with the mind and body. It took me a while to get out of that trance, too. 

So, how's your journey going?  I just laid it bare here with my confession. Are you ready to upgrade your journey?

Whatever you're dealing with, we can partner with your brain and body rather than feel like we're at battle.  Even if you are using "natural remedies" and it feels like a battle, I have an alternative for you. 

There is no battle that needs to be won.  You only need to be a partner. 

I teach that. 

Can't wait to hear from you. 

See you at the table....the chiropractic adjusting table.

--Dr. Lisa

How I Talked Myself Out of Headaches // Ed. Workshop

(limited time health workshop)

Read Here About the Doctors Who Jumped Ship

How I Talked Myself Out of Headaches

How I Talked Myself Out of Headaches

* The chiropractic key to  mind-body lock. **

Educational Workshop

Unlock Your Potential +++ Fuel Your Brilliance

+++ Upgrade Your Journey +++

In Person / Zoom Meeting / Groups Sessions

Pick your best venue ** Set a Date

Learn how to translate the old language of illness with the new language of thriving, free from unnecessary obstacles.

• How to question the old and break apart inconsistencies with confidence.

• Reflect on your past “ah-ha moments” to fuel your future “ah-ha” moments.

• This is not a boring talk on types of headaches and treatments.

• We don't treat, we complete.

• I will clarify the ABCD Journey of The BFA Protocol.

$80 per hour    .....   

This workshop is available until January 31, 2022

(More topics TBA)

Brain First / Body Freedom ("Brain First" Boot Camp)

Pain, anxiety & low energy are learned.  

How did that happen?  

The good news: anything learned can be unlearned with new information. 

I call it boot camp because of the intensive nature of this coaching program... along with the intensive body-mind results you can experience. 

Roll up your sleeves. Boot camp means you're ready to get your hands dirty.  And your feet!  You're ready for something different. 

"Brain First" is the protocol that will change how you look at your life and health forever.  

The ideas you and I grew up with are inefficient and ineffective.  (Some are downright dangerous.)

Brain First / Body Follows is best way to sum it up.  

We've been going about it in the wrong order!!

Think in the reverse to rev up your life!! 

Ready for a real change?  

Get off the hamster wheel.  

Do something totally different like Albert Einstein said!!!

Brain First Boot Camp is $2 a minute.  You pick how long you want your sessions to be.  You pick how many sessions you want as you progress.

You are here on this earth to grow your talents everyday. 

Don't stay the same.  Dare to Grow.

Here's an earlier promo I used in the past to tell the story....   can't wait to hear from you.

-- Dr. Lisa

Half Healthy is Half Sick

Half a Solution Is Still Half a Problem

Does your health care feel like unfinished business?

Time to put together a “whole approach.”

How has unfinished business affected you?

Emergency Medicine →	Too Late It doesn't have to be too late. Tissue damage is considerable when an emergency intervention is needed. But we can change that trend.
Annual Screenings →	Epic Fail Researchers have said screenings do not change outcomes, but make profit for hospitals. How can you have true confidence that you are doing the right things for your future?
Maintenance Drugs →	Miserable Decline There is no medicine that restores health. Maintenance drugs do not rebuild failing tissues. We need to step back and ask why tissue does failure begins.
Surgery →	Extreme Risks Why do you sign all those disclosure forms? Because unfavorable outcomes are high. Failed back surgery syndrome has it's own insurance code. Back surgeries have an 85% fail rate. And that's only one example.
Traditional Offices →	Condescending Doctors know they are limited by the bureaucracy of medicine. You have to wonder how severe is your doctor's state of demoralization. Doctors commit suicide at double the rate of the rest of the population. Invite them to join you on this healing journey.

We have an overburdened health care system that helps you get somewhat better, but you fall through the cracks.

Q. Why?

A. 1- No one makes the time to give you what you really need.

2- What you really need cannot be patented or profited but it's still worthwhile.

3- What you really need comes from YOU with a little bit of education and coaching. I know your story. I lived it. --Dr. Lisa

Don't Miss My Latest Videos

How I Talked Myslef Out of Headaches (Ed Workshop)

(limited time, don't miss out.)

Toss the Labels, They Don't Serve You
Just to let you know, I have added more videos to the list.  I don't always put them up here on the blog.  You can subscribe to get instant notifications.  I try to get one or two uploaded each week, when I have some breaks in my day.  I never edit, so what you see is what you get.  LOL.  

There's so much great health information that I can't delve into during your chiropractic visit.  This is your chance you fill your brain with positive inspiration.  Even though we have a habit of labeling everything as a disease or dysfunction, with the media pounding that hard into our heads, we don't have to take on that negativity.  

Here is the link to my YouTube Channel

Co Vid Update - Get Real

Catch up with you soon. 

See you at the table. The adjusting table. 

Dr. Lisa

How I Talked Myself Out of Headaches

 How I Talked Myself Out of Headaches

** The chiropractic key to the mind-body lock. **

Educational Workshop

Unlock Your Potential +++ Fuel Your Brilliance

+++ Upgrade Your Journey +++

In Person / Zoom Meeting / Groups Sessions

Pick your best venue ** Set a Date

Learn how to translate the old language of illness with the new language of thriving, free from unnecessary obstacles.

• How to question the old and break apart inconsistencies with confidence.

• Reflect on your past “ah-ha moments” to fuel your future “ah-ha” moments.

• This is not a boring talk on types of headaches and treatments.

• We don't treat, we complete.

• I will clarify the ABCD Journey of The BFA Protocol.

$80 per hour    .....   

This workshop is available until January 31, 2022

(More topics TBA)

Your Body Talks When You Don't

 

You mowed your lawn and developed back pain.  You have really stiff joints every morning and blame your bed. Your shoulder hurts and you blamed it on raking, shoveling, etc.  

But here's some good observations I've made over the years.  People don't get pain every time they go out in the yard.  A lot of people get new mattresses and still have pain.   

Severe injuries don't happen everyday.  Freak accidents happen, but most of  this is coming from brain issues.

Reminder: pain is an unwanted nervous system pattern.  We need to understand why the nervous system picks it's responses. 

It doesn't take long to give someone a chiropractic adjustment.  I can open up the flood gates in the spine so the energy is delivered to where it needs to go (based on the brain's priority, of course.)

Most of my time is spent listening to people.   And sometimes I have to interrogate them.  (It's a loving interrogation.  I'm not going to yell at them.)  

We can blame the yard, the bed, or your icy sidewalk but that is not what chiropractic is about. 

It's about everything your nervous system has to handle at once.  Your plate is full. 

I will interrogate you and encourage you to acknowledge what your body is crying out for.   Your body is usually crying out for your deepest fears to be understood and alleviated.  

It's not the lawn that bothers you.  It's how long can you keep up with the demands of the yard?

Your mattress is not the problem.  Your sleep is disrupted because you're dwelling on a family conflict.  

You fell because you were distracted by a heavy work demand. 

That car accident caused you some acute injuries, but your anxiety about your future is perpetuating a chronic case of fibromyalgia.

There is always "tag-along stress" that people won't acknowledge.   People want to compartmentalize their problems, and ignore  Or it may be something that makes you feel defeated and stuck. Sometimes you have a "hang up" that triggers the fight or flight that drains your energy. 

Daniel Amen wrote a book called, Your Brain Is Always Listening.

We can use our injuries as a crutch.  We can focus on them rather than face our personal challenges. We can use our injuries as an excuse to postpone other pressing matters.  Meanwhile, an exhausted brain can't rebuild tissues. 

#1 Calm the fight or flight response with chiropractic.

#2 Get the Vagus nerve ready to rest, digest, and rebuild with chiropractic.

#3 Replenish your energy with Standard Process and good nutrition.

#4  Balance your thoughts.  Balance your time.

Move the Brain  **  Feed the Brain ** Talk to the Brain

Upgrade Your Journey.

If you need a Brain-Sense Boot Camp, you are in the right place. 

A True Brain Partner Tosses the Labels. They Never Served You.

 If we stop saying the word heal, can it profoundly impact our lives in a positive way?  I say YES.

If we stop saying the word pain, can it profoundly impact our lives in a positive way?  I say YES.

Who will join me?  This is how you fuel your brilliance and upgrade your journey. 

I used to say the body is self healing.  It's a simple concept.  Even if you take cold medicine, your body self heals.  You can cut your finger and it will heal without a band-aid.  A broken bone will heal.  You might be in a cast for a while, and the pain will keep you from moving around.  But you are healing. 

But I don't want to use the word heal anymore for the main reason that heal indicates something went wrong and it needs intervention to be fixed.  It sends a message that you are a problem that needs fixing.  There is a harsh judgement that you are sick and not well.  

Let's do away with the words sick and well, too?  (Review my last post that you are already whole.  You were always whole, you are still whole.)

When you are in a stressed state, it is a healing state.  It may not be comfortable, but it is a healing state.  When the heart is racing, and the lungs are demanding more capacity for air it is healing.  It is not a state of rest, that's obvious, but it is a state of healing, meaning it is necessary to maintain the body.  It is proper for the situation.  

I prefer to use the word rebuild.  If tissues are disrupted by an injury, the body rebuilds it.  There is swelling, pain, and fatigue.  This is how you restore.   You aren't broken and need to be fixed.  You are actually using up energy to direct body functions and then your body needs to be replenished.

This tissue injury is not necessarily "broken."  It happened.  There is no need to fret about it.  It is an experience that the body responds to.  Even a break in a bone is protective because only one area was impacted which protected more of the body.  One break left the rest of the body unscathed. 

As life happens, the brain assesses and chooses the responses for each tissue, organ, and cell. When a fight or flight event ends, the brain gets back to metabolism and rebuilding. 

Your job is to show your appreciation and give back.  Chiropractic, rest, and nutrition is what the body needs. And a good attitude. 

That also means giving up the word pain unless you admit that pain is purposeful and not a mistake.  You may not like it, but it is purposeful.  You may feel awful, but the body is in a protective state or rebuilding state.  All that activity will be felt.  It's time to call it an "unwanted nervous system pattern."  You can decide to work with it, or work against it.  If you choose an intervention that adds more fight or flight stress, which by the way interrupts the rebuilding process, you will be in a perpetual state of unfinished rebuilding.  The tissues are weaker.  Your doctor may call it arthritis or fibromyalgia.  I call it unfinished business.  The rebuilding process is chronically interrupted.  

What's next?  You take on this new language and nurture yourself through an appropriate rebuilding process.  You avoid unnecessary fight or flight so you can replenish everyday.

My last point here: there is no disease, just adaptations.  

It's called the Brain First Protocol.  Follow the ABCD Journey. 

You are not alone.  Upgrade your journey and do it with like minded people who care. 

-- Dr. Lisa

Toss the Lablels.  Partner with Your Brain. 

Your Language is Demoralizing. Can I Inspire You?

Before I enrolled in chiropractic college I learned chiropractic was a profound way to remove a serious obstacle that keeps people from living their highest potential.  

Then I became a chiropractic college student.  Ugh.  It was soooo boring.  How did I survive?  Does memorizing the nitty gritty molecular details of the vertebral disc give me opportunity to help you grow your talents? Um. No. 

I did it anyway. I learned it.  I wondered when we would be getting to the good stuff.  It didn't happen.  The information was oriented to pathology and disease naming.  I didn't realize my optimism was being sucked right out of my own brain. That was crafty of them.  I wanted to be a good student. This was the most challenging thing I had taken on in my life at the time. Not to mention it was self abuse, if you don't my openness. 

In my spare time, when I needed an outlet from this drivel, I did a lot of extra reading in subjects that interested me.  They were typically articles and books about the mind-body connection.  I searched out unique chiropractic information that none of my professors were aware of.  Hmm....There are two worlds of health language.  And the  language you pick makes the difference in your life.

The mainstream medical language we were all taught does nothing but destroy our self concept and confidence.  

In fact, children today are born sick, raised sick, and made sicker each year of their lives.   

Right from the get-go they have no idea what authentic health feels like....the vitality God intended them to have.  

Under the pressures to make nice with everyone around me and keep my business afloat I let myself get distracted with everyone's language of health.  No problem, I'll teach them....  Easier said than done. 

As I come clean here I mentioned some time ago that I needed to learn more about the body so I could honor the mind-body connection. 

People don't want to learn about their bodies.  They want to manipulate their bodies.  And guess what?  It doesn't work. Your brain is the boss, it will always take charge. And that's why people get disappointed.  They assume they can be successful with medicine, but they truly need to just be a partner with their brains. 

Step one is to stop bitching about pain and find out what it really means.  And second, stop using the word heal because the body does not need to heal.

More to come.  I hope you are still interested in this wonderful journey.  Today may be the day you Upgrade Your Journey.

That means to honestly turn over a new leaf and not just placate yourself with demoralizing ideas. 

You Are Already WHOLE - Quit the Self Loathing!

You are already whole. 

You always were.  

You still are now.  

You are whole. 

Hang on to the positive feeling of this because I am about to go "tough love" on you right now. 

If you feel otherwise, you are wrong.  Being wrong about this is weakening you.  Being wrong about this is wasting your time. 

If you don't feel whole it is because of society's constant negativity.  

I'll tell you what I'm ticked off about.  I am so over it now.  I am over the language of disease, and the language of symptoms.  

Everything your body does is correct for the situation.  You are whole and your wholeness is hard at work.  It may feel like it's not whole. But feelings can be re-framed.  You may call your situation a failure of the body, or a disease.  This is wrong language.  

You are  never un-whole.  

You are never not whole.  

You will have experiences.  You will probably dislike many of these experiences.  Especially since you have been programmed, brain washed and convinced to hate certain experiences, but you are still whole. 

You are having experiences and the nervous system is judging them in order to protect you and make you stronger. 

You may hate certain experiences, but do not hate yourself.  Your brain is listening. 

Your symptoms are stories of what your brain decides to accomplish at every moment. Learn the brain's language.  Get a translator if you need one, like me.

What we don't want to do is exhaust the nervous system.  Unresolved fight or flight is exhaustive.  We want to treat the nervous system with honor.  We give back to it since it gives so much.  

How do you give back?

1- move your brain

2- feed your brain

3- talk to your brain (in terms of wholeness and gratitude)

The golden rules of brain/nervous system thriving: 

    ***You cannot be in a state of growth and defense at the same time.

    ***Gratitude and depression cannot exist together. 

You can translate your symptoms from something negative.  You can upgrade the journey to inspiration and vibrant living.  Get under chiropractic care and dive into the Brain First Boot Camp!!

You are officially invited.  You are whole. Live whole. Live wholly. 

Loss of Smell: Is Co-Vid a Hint of Parkinson's

 Day in and day out the brain faces your stress and tackles it.  How do you pay it back? Add on more stress or take time to rest, rebuild, and replenish?

I've been on this journey to celebrate the magnificent intelligence within the body.  I challenge you to upgrade your journey. 

Here's some food for thought. 

When Your Life Feels Like A Constant Bait and Switch

Back in 1995 I had no idea I was going be influenced by a person I consider to be a quiet hero.  If you read my series called Doctors Who Jumped Ship, you will know he is my #1 pick. (Read the series here.)  Dr. Peter Breggin, is that quiet hero.  And he is still fighting for truth to be set free as dangerous lies are exposed. 

Here it is, Labor Day in 2021.  This is the anniversary of my first look at chiropractic as a new career.  Although I truly believe it is not a career change, but another step in my journey to show people how they can empower themselves. 

On the Friday before Labor day in 1995 I was driving home from work talking to myself.  Still on a search for a drugless approach to health after considering naturopathy, acupuncture, homeopathy and others, the word "chiropractic" popped into my head.  It was divine intervention.  I knew nothing about chiropractic other than I heard it was highlighted on an episode of 20/20.  To this day, I have never seen the episode. 

On the way home, I took a detour and headed to the library to check out some books on chiropractic.  And you could now say the rest is history. 

Back to Dr. Peter Breggin.  His book Toxic Psychiatry moved me to avoid medical school because I knew in 1995 that I could not in good conscience prescribe medications that I would never take myself. 

He has been running his own internet radio show for more than a decade.  With the current health concern usurping our freedoms and demands for second opinions, he has been interviewing prominent people about the chaos created by the government. 

If you recall, I commented on David Hanscom's pronouncement that "the business of medicine is predatory."  He is another doctor who jumped ship, hoping to give people relief from their pain. (I just realized he is not on my official list of Doctors Who Jumped Ship.  My job is not done as he must be included.)  I did mention him here, as well as on my videos. 

Dr. Breggin is in a similar mind-set as he is going to publish his next book title, We Are the Prey.  

I continue to listen to him because he is steadfast in his mission, which is very admirable. There are days my own mission is less prominent in my mind as I am scurrying to pay bills, manage the office traffic, order supplements, completing paperwork. His interviews and comments fuel my purpose.  

In a recent interview he was the guest speaking about his directional change as new experiences impressed him.  He described his medical school education as a "bait and switch."

Once in residency, his ability to truly impact a patient for the better was thwarted from him.  The successes he had as an uneducated volunteer were by far more life changing for the people he encountered prior to his medical education.  And I'm not calling him uneducated as an ignorant nobody.  He was an undergrad student at the time aspiring to be a journalist. 

Was there a time when your dreams and aspirations were shaken to the core because of a bait and switch scenario?  Did you modify your goals or change directions because of an experience that disappointed you?

Our journey may change from time to time. There may be a bump in the road or detour, but most of us keep the dream burning, even if it's at a smoldering yet hot temperature. How you decide to turn lemons into lemonade is still very meaningful. 

I felt a bait and switch in chiropractic college.  The bait was the idea that wellness was a welcomed paradigm.  In the end, the spine was just a mechanical flaw.  The dynamics of the brain residing in the spine was not of importance.  The person merely needed to walk better or flex forward just slightly  more than 50 degrees.  Other chiros and my instructors may yell at me, but that's how I see it. 

Dr. Breggin made a lot of people angry at times.  He won a major lawsuit as an expert witness against pharma companies.  He helped a woman who was damaged by electroconvulsive therapy win monetary damages.  He spoke out about the distrustful health care management of children living in poverty.  Distrustful is my terminology.  He used stronger, more accusatory words. 

He may have been dismayed by the switch he experienced as a new resident, but he didn't let this cloud his original purpose/mission.

Bait and switch in health care seems to be a very illustrative description.  Even chiropractors are accused of harboring a bait and switch mentality.  We're only out for money as we over-adjust patients who don't "need" chiropractic.  Let's just say, yeah, I've heard all that malarkey. But I will not get used to the position that poison is progress.  

Just like Dr. Breggin pointing out the undeniable brain damaging affects of psychiatric drugs, pain medications and maintenance drugs are also just as damaging.  Even the researchers who showed popular medications directly damaging mitochondria, admitted publishers slammed the doors in their faces.  No one likes to hear their star

products are dangerous.  Fortunately, their work was published so you can warn your loved ones.  

The bait and switch I am focused on is the promise of a wonderful life taking a substance in an attempt to manipulate your  body's innate intelligence.  You see the smiling faces in the drug ads on TV. The ads are the bait.  The switch is when you are told you have a chronic disease that will not improve especially when medication side effects make you worse.  

David Hanscom describes the bait and switch in his book, Back in Control. He knows he straightened people's spines and corrected them through surgery.  He said they should not have recurring pain post-surgery.  Yet, they did.  He realized the pain came from the brain and if they had explored that prior and made life style changes, surgery could have been avoided.  So, the disappointed patient experiences the switch when doctors abruptly remind them that their consent forms were signed and nothing is 100%.

Another bait and switch is the wrong idea that one single approach should make all the difference in the world.  This is not true.  We are multi-layered people with multi-layered stress. 

There is no "one answer."  It takes a life style change that addresses mechanical stress, emotional stress, and chemical stress. All three. You cannot try one change and ignore the other stresses draining your brain. 

And when it comes to families, every member needs to be involved.  Every person in the household needs to revamp how they approach their mechanical, emotional, and chemical stresses.  Everyone who loves you needs to incorporate the life style change.

Chiropractic is a very, important, critical step in modifying your nervous system.  Remember, chiropractic is how we access the brain. Then, your life style must be redesigned in a way that supports a life long appreciation and protection of the nervous system. 

Your life doesn't have to be a constant bait and switch with empty promises leading to disappointment.  We can understand the challenges and work around them.  We are challenged with the prevailing mind-set that poor health can only be tolerated.

It's not easy to ask people to give up these dis-empowering notions.  I tell myself that I shouldn't be surprised that most of us are suffering from a chronic condition.  

It's all the more reason to educate. 

I'm very grateful to Drs. Breggin and Hanscom for their tireless efforts even when they get blow back from their own peers. 

Ready to unravel your layers?

Get adjusted and dial in to Brain Sense Tele-Health Self Discovery Sessions.

Diary of an Internal Construction Crew - Understanding the Purpose of Pain

 Update: It's been tricky to have back pain during the night and there is no suitable sleeping position. As I am still in the healing, rebuilding stage, there are phases of increased pain as the body is moving out inflammatory cells that have done their part. They are being retired, so they have to be moved out so the next construction crew shows up. 

 Rather than obsess over each day's similarities and differences, I am very active during the day.  Also, when I had a headache by late afternoon, I knew I was turning a corner.  My brain boosted the process of lymphatic clean up.  

So, this gave me time to think.  Why now?  I have been mowing the lawn all summer.  Why was this the time have a to flare up in my back.  I did take a fall in the kitchen the other day too.  Adding insult to injury is the saying...

I've taken other falls that didn't leave me stiff and limited.  Why now?  This is the question that helps you think about the recent stresses that have primed the brain into a fight or flight event. 

Why now?

I could blame the humid weather. It very easily saps my energy.  But it's been humid for two months.  I've also considered this humid time of year just might be a trigger based on a prior memory of a past stressful event. 

The brain wants to be efficient.  It if believes today's combination of stressors resembles a prior experience, it will initiate the protective stage of fight or flight.  If anything is a subtle reminder, but not related, the brain picks up on it anyway.  Guilty by association, you could say. 

If the humid weather is a subtle key that opens up the flood gates of a past memory, it's possibly happening to me now.  You can't blame the brain.  It's just looking for clues from your past resolutions.  

A major life change such as a death in the family, job loss, or close call with a major health crisis has a lasting impact on the brain.  Even if you worked through it and have a sense of calm about it, your brain may have a slight sensitivity if your current stresses fall into place a certain way.  If today's events perk up the brain as a similar connection, the brain ignites the fight or flight response.  And off you go!

What is my point here with all this? The brain is a big catalog storage unit. It learns from every experience in your life. 

Knowledge of the brain allows us to be a better partner with it. 

Nerves that fire together wire together.

Psychology and biology are wired together for your survival.  

For me, I took a stroll down memory lane and evaluated some prior events that took place over 20 years ago.  I acknowledged to myself a repetitive pattern of things that concern me.

The humid weather is an innocent bystander, but it lights up your senses, that's for sure. 

While I've had trouble sleeping at night,  this morning (8/27) I realized I slept all night on my back.  This is progress.  Yay!  It was a seven day period of me scratching my head telling myself to be more patient with myself. Actually rebuilding of tissue takes time.  Pain can go away in an instant.  Right?  A strong drug.  A huge amount of alcohol.... that will numb pain.  But, the necessary rebuilding can't be rushed.  

You are perfection.  The genius of the nervous system can't be rushed. 

Your interest in chiropractic means you want to be a better partner with your brain.   The adjustment is the most profound way to disrupt a pattern so you can instill a new better pattern.  

You don't have to live on auto-pilot and hope for the best.

Be a partner with your own brain......Marvelous!!

Never Enough

We are all human, so be honest.  How self critical are you?  Do you feel as if you are just not enough?  For example, your efforts are not good enough.   At your job, with your finances, with your relationship, with your children, with your goals, with your everyday balancing of "stuff?"

When people come to me complaining of their back hurting, they are subtly saying to me that they aren't healthy enough to keep up with the demands of their life.  

When folks says they are not able to do yard work or house work, the underlying message is they are not enough.  They are not capable for whatever reason. 

This hidden self talk and unspoken anxiety are real health problems.  When your brain senses you are "not enough," it will break down the connective tissue of your body in order to build it back up again to make you stronger.

This is good news if the stress is short lived. But, if your stress is ongoing, there can be a re-triggering, relapsing issue. 

To your brain, it is equivalent to a life and death matter that requires intense strength such as running away from an attacker, or carrying an injured person to safety (for example).  

The fight or flight response picks up on your internal worry and goes into action to remedy the situation.  

If you go to the gym to begin a workout, you are telling your brain that it is crucial that you get into shape.  When you feel sore the next day, that is your body building tissue back up.  It may be that you over-exerted yourself, yet that nagging concern raises the bar and your brain does more than take the hint.  

When the "not enough" begins to be "never enough," people develop chronic dysfunction.  Most people would call this a chronic disease of some sort.  I call it an exhaustive period where you don't allow the body to rebuild adequately because of an constant re-triggering of the repeated self talk that you are not enough.  

Sorry for that run on sentence but I was on a roll.  This repeated message interrupts the rebuilding and initiates a new break down period.  Muscles, tendons, and bones start to erode again. 

But the erosion takes off where the new repair didn't occur. It's similar to jabbing a fork into a scab on your arm over and over just when the bleeding has stopped and the coagulated blood has just started to dry out. 

Chronic disease doesn't have to by a mystery.  We have to realize when the brain is in a hyperactive fight or flight at the expense of the restful healing period.  

The body is not wrong.  It is responding to perceived danger.  

We use chiropractic to relieve an overburdened nervous system so there can be more time to concentrate on reversing the depletion.

Brain first, and the body follows.  What is your brain working on right now?

--Dr. Lisa

We Don't Treat - We Complete

3 A.M. - So this is what drives people to grab a pill. The pain was worse in the middle of the night. Any position was painful.  I flopped side to side, then onto my stomach, then on my back again, and again, and again. 

I was still awake around 4:30 A.M. I did not take a pill.  I knew exactly why I was in pain.  I figured the flare up was the natural course of the rebuilding process.  Also, I was especially aware of the slice of pizza I had in the evening.  It was just an emotional decision to grab comfort food.  It was not a grain free crust, which is my preference.  It was store bought and full of chemicals. Yuck. Disappointing to say the least. 

Nothing like a little digestive distress to make my back pain even more pronounced. The supplements I took before bed must have been used up in a flash.  A lot of reconstruction going at the muscles and joints.  The increase in pain was just that, a construction crew repairing the area I injured.  Eventually I slept a couple more hours. 

I didn't want to delay this repair process.  The delay could last weeks or months. A medicine such as an anti-inflammatory would have put my brain right back into fight or flight.  There is no healing, rebuilding, repair in that state.  Sure, the pain might be dulled, but my liver would be upset by the toxins.  Why make it worse?  Unfortunately, the public so often downplays these types of consequences.  

Moving around in the morning was challenging, after sleeping late, but I would not be rushing.  I made it to the office with the full intention of doing my day. And by 11 AM I realized I was so focused on the people in front of me that I was 90% improved. 

Okay, I had that delayed onset problem of exercising too much.  I was super excited that the weather finally calmed down after the brutal humidity.  I wanted to make up for lost time.  That's not really a good idea when you're actually pushing your muscles past their comfort zone. It felt good during, but not later. 

The pain made standing, walking, and bending more work than it should have been.  Every movement was a constant reminder that my body was now attempting to re-balance with inflammation and pushing out dying cells.  This is the routine process of healing.   Yes, that's what you're feeling when you are in pain.  Moving cells hurts. It's a very active time that should not be disrupted with additional stress or other harms we think little of, such as a caffeine jolt or burning the candle at both ends.  

Was this the day I was so glad to become a chiropractor because I had back pain and could get adjusted? No, not really.  Was my severe neck sprain ten years ago another reason I was glad to be a chiropractor.  No, not really. 

Spine pain is not an isolated event.  It is a specific pattern instigated by the brain.  The brain also involves the blood circulation, immune system, different parts of liver function, your mood, hormones, and more.  Include them all in your quest for health.

Back surgeries fail because the intended goal is too narrow and valuable body functions are ignored. I can say the same thing about chiropractic care that is too narrowly focused.  It's my biggest criticism of chiropractic and my professional education.   But, I digress.

It's nice to recover quickly from a painful event, but that is not what chiropractic is about.  (That's not even what life is about.)

Most people think recovery is the ending point of an event.  That is not accurate and I do not want to set anyone up for future failure.  That would be like using a sump pump to get the water out of your basement while ignoring the gaping hole in your roof during a rainstorm.  If the rain stops is that recovery?

The Google dictionary definition of recovery is "the action or process of regaining possession or control of something stolen or lost."

Is your health stolen?  Is your health lost?  Did you misplace it? No.

Everything your brain does is correct for the situation.  Your body didn't lose its way.  Your body is responding to your brain's perception of a survival need.  How you mentally respond will make all the difference in your so called recovery.  

Recovery is not a bad word.  It's just inappropriate to use it to describe health. You don't need to recover.  You only need to complete the process.

The goal is to cooperate with the body, not disrupt purposeful body responses.

Chiropractic is not about treatment.  

We don't treat.  We complete.  And we teach you how to recognize your brain's own unique functioning based on your experiences and memories so you can prevent unnecessary stress as well as empower yourself during a healing/rebuilding event. 

A spinal adjustment is actually a brain adjustment.  We reach the brain through the spine.  Then you brain takes care of EVERYTHING!!!!  

Chiropractic care is about allowing your body to be the best it can be with a nervous system that is free to respond appropriately to its environment.  What gets in the way of that?  Anything that exhausts the brain's protective responses as well as anything that depletes the body's ability to rebuild.  

P.S. My back is on the mend and I've stayed fairly active.  What made the difference?  My wellness routine in the weeks and months prior to my injury.

The brain and body work hard for us.  We must give back.  Chiropractic is a profound way to give back.

Ready to dive in?  Give me a call.   Dr. Lisa     315-277-1362

Back to School is Not Contagious

 

Fall is around the corner and that means the kids are heading back to school. Every year people talk about how their kids get sick because they are around other kids.  

Here's the contradiction: it's not every kid.  But this belief or expectation sets up the brain to expect it. 

Here's another way to look at it.

Why do kids get the sniffles, colds, fevers, etc.?  Being thrust back into the classroom puts the brain on high alert.  Now we have kids dealing with separation anxiety, performance anxiety, territorial based anxiety.  Kids are constantly questioning their abilities and seeking approval from peers, teachers, and parents. That's enough to cause a little exhaustion especially with an entirely new schedule and probably sleep deprivation. 

Is it contagious or do they share the same fears at the same time?

Kids don't know how to express their worries.  Their bodies exhibit their worries.  They also absorb their parents' stress.  Their bodies have to sort it out somehow. 

This is the whole point of chiropractic.  Routine adjustments of the spine help the nervous system face the daily ups and downs of life.  And for kids, a lot of their ups and downs are experienced at school.

While you are teaching them how to problem solve and cope, help their nervous systems do it, too. 

F.A.Q. Let's Translate Your Pain/Anxiety Correctly

 

Are you living by default or with intention?  

Chiropractic helps you live with intention.

Click here for the F.A.Q.

My most important rule is to have goals that make you a better person today more than you were yesterday. 

We need your full participation in the world and you cannot do that with an exhausted brain.  

My Rules Are Based on GOALs.     

G  growth                            (Also, click here for the usual FAQ.)

O ownership

A  adventure

L  life style

Growth - Grow your talents everyday.   Get better at something a little bit each day. This takes intention and persistence.  Share your talents with the world everyday so we can benefit, too. Chiropractic helps you stay focused with an intentional and alert brain.

Ownership - You own your body.  Don't give it up to some other approach that takes away your confidence and independence in your own ability to rebuild and nourish your body. Don't outsource your health.  Chiropractic adds nothing to the body and takes nothing away. 

Adventure - Plan an adventure everyday. Life life as an adventure.  

Life Style - Your life style is your passion style.  Every thing you do even if it seems minimal reflects how you are living your purpose and mission.

You're teaching your nervous system everyday!!

If you understand that chiropractic is a teaching method to teach your nervous system how to perceive the world and respond to it, you're on your way to an exceptional experience!!

Are you living by default or with intention?  

Chiropractic is for the intentional. 

Looking Healthy on Paper But Feeling Like Junk

 

So your medical doctor says your blood work looks good.  But you feel lousy.  How can you explain to your doctor that something else is going on?

The medical doctor is at a loss.  It's a numbers game and you are considered WNL (within normal limits).

What comes next?  Hmmm....a trial of anti-biotics?  A trial of anti-depressants or anti-anxiety drugs?

Maybe a set of Xrays will be taken.  Possibly a course of physical therapy will be prescribed. 

When you look good on paper but you don't feel good

Here's what I do.  I look at the nervous system.  The body is very good at tolerating stress.  Your fasting blood sugar can be normal for decades, yet according to Dr. Joseph Kraft 90% of teenagers are already suffering from chronic disease yet it is overlooked.  High blood sugar and diabetes will be diagnosed very late because the body fights hard to maintain homeostasis.  While lab work looks normal, the early stages of inflammation will appear as fatigue, moodiness, stiff, sore joints.  Even blood pressure begins creeping up due to blood sugar imbalances, even with normal fasting blood sugar. 

The most under-recognized condition

This blog post is not a primer on how to interpret lab work, but to encourage you to consider the most under-recognized chronic condition: a burdened nervous system.  

Chiropractors can figure that out in three seconds.  Yep! We look at your posture, skin, facial features, belly, teeth.  No blood work needed.  And when we feel the subluxations in your spine, we can tell how long you're body has been screaming for peace and rest.  

READ HERE: Why the spine is a secret passage way to your brain and organs.

Chiropractic care helps us clear out the speed bumps in your spine, but we also look at the exhausting patterns you've taught your brain to hang on to.  Chiropractic adjustments break the patterns giving you an opportunity to replace unwanted patterns with more desirable patterns. 

If you're not feeling well and not sure why,  let's address the nervous system's preoccupations and give it permission to let them go.  

Sound's unusual?  Think of chiropractic as neuro-feedback on steroids. 

But we know steroids have terrible side effects.  Chiropractic is drug free and actually addresses the cause of the problem. 

We can re-teach your brain to function better.  Yes!  We can!!  

Ready?  Let me know. 

Chiropractic is the Ultimate Prepping - Be Ready and Confident for Anything

Chiropractic is different.  It is meant to be different.  You were looking for different.  That's why you're here on my website.  

If you're hanging out with me you're going to be thrust into different.  

Be different.  Live different. 

I chose different a long time ago.  I was lucky enough to learn the chiropractic story during my early search to enhance the mind/body connection.  I am happy to say I learned the connection is actually innate intelligence working within the nervous system.  It's not a complicated concept, but society tends to ignore it.  

Chiropractic's Big Impression on me happened nearly 30 years ago. Experiences in childhood and young adulthood began to set the stage.  For me, it's old hat.  I'm so comfortable in my chiropractic life style that I forget to share the story with newcomers.  Read my story here.  And don't forget the New Member Orientation Video.

I really hope their own story makes a big enough impact on them.  I've realized the first part of the transformation is to awaken the belief that the body is always doing the right thing at the right time for you.  Your body is always correctly assessing the environment and working hard for you.  

People don't believe it.  I can't change their belief.  I can only be the example and be a creative communicator. 

Chiropractic is a very unique way to disrupt a pattern so you can teach your brain a new pattern.  An unwanted pattern in the mind or body can be replaced with a more desirable pattern.  Chiropractic unlocks that great vault called the brain.  

The second part is to introduce the new, preferred pattern.  That takes a bit of a time commitment.  This is why chiropractic is a life style.  We are constantly modifying our life patterns because stress is also a constant in our lives imposing change we don't want. 

And when I say this is different, I understand the challenge. I understand how a new thought doesn't jive nicely with old thought. It might take a while to grow on you.  Chiropractic cannot be compared to any other healing art, so it bounces out of your acceptance because it has no similar counterpart.   This is a different I want you to embrace. 

And I don't talk about back pain, leg pain, head aches and such because that it just limited thinking.  Yes, the brain controls your back, legs and head.  But these pains are just a reflection of the nervous system's assessment and response to your daily life. 

Rather than taking a narrow look at the pain, it is much more rewarding to take a look at your brain's massive juggling act and evaluating if your life needs to be changed in various ways. 

And at the same time, get adjusted so the spine can deliver appropriate nerve signals rather than over-zealous signals that push the body to exhaustion and organ failure.  Why is the spine so important? What does the spine have to do with organ failure?

The different I am so passionate about is the fact that the body is well equipped to face the ups and downs of life. When life gets wild and crazy you need a brain that is ready for anything and your body has strength and resileince.  Chiropractic is the ultimate prepper activity.  Because you're most important tool is your brain.

Yeah, that's different, but it is also life saving. 

How Chiropractic Saved Me

What If The News Is Wrong? Day Care and the Current Sickness

 

 My local newspaper's Sunday headline speaks of an uptick in sickness at five local day care centers.  Now remember, this is all based on the improper use of the PCR test, so I don't take these statistics seriously. 

This is their bias.  I get that.  That's why we are encouraged to seek second opinions.  

The article goes on to remind people to stay home if they don't feel good.  It also reported on the closure of some day cares or certain classrooms.  

Here's my take on the situation.  What actually makes kids sick? My number one answer is the stress level of their parents. It "trickles" down to the kids.  Kids don't know how to express their concerns so they hold it inward.  Kids don't know how to calm their parents down.  Their young bodies soak up the stress.  The body has to detoxify from it eventually.

This is also a time of a heightened sugar fest, especially in day care centers.  The ice cream truck visits.  There is always a pizza day.  I bet parents get a little lax in the packed lunch department and send in more junk. 

And also of concern to me: Do kids ever get down time?  There is always some kind of crazy camp going on. What if it is too much pressure on a child?  Many of these camps have projects that have to be completed by the last day.  Perhaps it is too much pressure on a child to create some sort of craft  or  activity.  When kids get around each other the competition can be very fierce.  And if they are forced to work in groups? "Yuck," was always my reaction. 

This is the total opposite of the relaxing summers I spent as a kid.  We played make believe and just played.  We ran all over the place outside.  I don't need to remind the old folks here what summers were really like back then. 

By the way, screens are not relaxing.  It is brain poison. 

Why are kids really sick?  Take a second look.  

I am allowed to ask, "what if?"  We all are allowed. 

P.S. I still haven't finished my series on what I've been doing wrong most of my life, until now.  And why I say there is no disease.  It's coming.  Be patient.