Create Your Healing Experience

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HOME...What Patients Say. ......Brain First/Body Freedom.......Translate Pain/Anxiety Correctly

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Your Anxiety and Depression is a Food Addiction: How's That For a Twist?

Call to Action: What toxins are getting in the way of your chiropractic care?  How can you make your adjustments more powerful?

Constant toxic exposure messes with your brain. Food (that term is used loosely) is the #1 problem.   We need to eat to live,  but not everything edible is nutritious. 

I mentioned to someone the other day, why would I want to adjust an unresponsive spine?  It took her aback a bit, but she quickly understood.  When your body is clogged up with inflammation, how can the chiropractic adjustment give you positive benefits? 

It does help the body function better.  I wouldn't deprive anyone of the opportunity.  But a plateau is often reached when there is a constant stream of interference. 

Toxic exposure is the #1 threat!    Toxins consumed, inhaled, and absorbed, not to mention toxic thinking.  (Toxic build up of muscle waste products, from overuse, and injury is also a concern. but that's a lesson for another day.)

One super quick way to impair the brain is with foods that lack nutrients forcing your body to crave, hoping for more food.  An insatiable appetite makes someone hungry every 2-3 hours.  Being hungry often is not healthy.  This snowballs into metabolic syndrome, diabetes, chronic pain, poor energy, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, digestive disturbances....
Overlapping causes.....compensating effects.  

Dead tissue cannot respond to the chiropractic adjustment.
Starving tissue is a close 2nd. 
Chronic inflammation takes up residence in tissues that are toxic and starving.
Feeding your tissues properly ensures the chiropractic adjustment can deliver healing energy. 

For a nice summary of food addiction and how understanding it has evolved over the decades, watch this video of an interview with Joan Ifland.  Her personal story is quite compelling. 


How can you get more in depth with this topic?  Sign up for BFA online coaching.

See you at the table.
The adjusting table.
--Dr. Lisa
--Your Health Freedom Advocate

Sunday, October 27, 2019

A Sample BFA Coaching E-mail

Call to Action: 
Sign up today and get your 7 days free!

What is coaching?  
It is drilling and "skilling."
New habits give you a new brain. 

Join the coaching program.  CLICK HERE.

Dr. Lisa's Coaching Approach: 
1- Bite Sized Lesson
2- Question Corner
3- Member Momentum

These emails help us go into more depth on the BFA Protocol when there isn't enough time to do so at your maintenance visit.  You can read them at home, at your leisure because so much great healing and insights happen between office visits.

1- "Talk to Your Brain" Mini-Lesson
       The Significance of ACE
     When I talk to people about their back pain, leg pain, neck pain, arm pain, I prefer to talk about what they are trying to accomplish in their lives.  A specific body pain seems to flare up right in the middle of a busy time of your life.  And even if the pain wasn't there it would be a time of stress, overwhelm, and maybe panic.  

If you're dealing with something new, something you've never had to face,  it makes you feel nervous, self critical, and you question your competency.  That's a lot of stress hormones circulating.

Sometimes, everyone around you makes life look easy.  Darn them!  Well, the truth is, they are faking it.  Take the pressure off yourself. 

Just about every time I start the conversation about life events, daily events, work, recent challenges, folks confess there are multiple events going on that keep them from eating properly and sleeping well.  It's just the perfect storm.  

I'm glad they are taking time to get adjusted.  That is the first step of BFA:  Move Your Brain.  We all need the prefrontal cortex whipped back into shape.  We also need to tell the limbic system to give the energy back to the prefrontal cortex.  The limbic system is a major energy hog.
Every adjustment activates the prefrontal cortex so your brain can conduct business in a proper manner.   Yay!!!

Now: I want to introduce to my readers the ACE Study.  (Adverse Childhood Event.)  Sociologists have been able to track children into adulthood to study how stress impacts their lives. 

Depending on the experiences of your childhood, the brain memorizes early patterns that impact your future health.  This gives us insight into why we may act the way we do.  Logically, we fall back on what we know, what we learned.  Old coping skills are relied upon later on in life.  This may or may  not be healthy in the long run.  But it is not permanent.  If you don't like your brain's coping patterns, you can reteach your brain!

I found an interesting chapter of the ACE Study in the book Cure, by Jo Marchant.   It was noted that 50% of folks who suffer early childhood adverse events yet are successful as adults in stable jobs, etc.,  still maintain high cortisol levels (stress hormones).  It is as if they are still ready to jump.  They are still glancing over their shoulders, waiting for a trauma or bad event. 
But, 50% have normal cortisol levels.  And that is the promising side.  We can tamp down a wayward stress response so we aren't always overcome with unhealthy inflammation levels that impair healing.   (Chiropractic boosts the good inflammatory cells and reduces the bad inflammatory cells.)

Another book I have on my recommended reading list is :
They Can't Find Anything Wrong, by David D. Clarke.  He helps people delve into their stress, and often it is hidden, unrecognized stress.  Once they come to a new understanding , their healing response improves.  Check out his website.
In every coaching email I focus on our Big Why, Little Why and Action Swap

Your Big Why is your reason for attaining better health. For me, I don't want to be surprised with an illness.  I want to be busy and active for decades to come.  My Little Why gets more into the details of self healing.  My little why is to keep my brain programmed with positive responses to stress.  Stress happens everyday, so I don't want to be thrown off my game by it.  I want to be flexible enough in my thoughts to keep away the inflammation process, and reset promptly back to stability.  

In order develop healthy responses to stress, we have to utilize the "Activity Swap."  We can replace old, un-serving behaviors with ideal behaviors.  Out with the old. In with the new.  

An action swap for me is to slow down, take a breath and rethink how I want react to a sudden change in my plans.  It's very easy to overreact, get flustered and lose time with anxiety.  I can waste time dwelling on my disappointment.  Instead I can swap the old reaction with a new focus.  After all, there's more than one way to skin a cat. 

Having an even blood sugar level also helps people deal with stress better, so diet plays a key role in brain activity.  A blood sugar level that is too low or too high gets in the way of your problem solving.  We can think things through, have more patience when blood sugar is managed well.  (Coming up in a future coaching e-mail.)

1- Have you determined your Big Why?
2- Does today's bite sized lesson help you commit to a Little Why?
3- What Action Swap will you utilize based on this lesson?
               -how often during the upcoming week do you envision yourself doing so?  Give yourself a number so you can track it. 

2- Question Corner
     One very common question I get is how long will it take to feel
     better?
     There is no automatic answer to this question as we are all different.  And, we probably compare ourselves to others too often, making us feel defeated.  Some people make it look as if their healing journey was very easy, but you  may not have seen that person during difficult times.  You know, we all hide these parts of ourselves.  So, there's no point in making comparisons.  We have different health histories, different challenges, and it is best if we just keep looking inward rather than outward and all around us.  

I believe someone with a well defined goal who is willing to change course every so often, yet stay focused will have enough small successes to keep the momentum building.  That is the way to not lose sight of the end of the journey.  There is no end to the journey anyway.  We just refine it and keep learning more about ourselves. 
Send me your questions and I will address them in future emails. 
I will repeat these questions in a generalized manner and keep them anonymous.

3- Member Momentum
This is the place where you share your successes.  Folks who lost their function due to an injury are pleased to be back in their routines whether they are back to the gym, back to their jobs. walking up steep hills with more ease, being able to travel again.  I see the change in attitudes.  I see more confidence, more energy.
Your story will go here, very soon.

Also, there are a lot of acceptable behaviors in society that actually bring us down, and lead us to poor health.  We have to step away from the the pack and do things others are not willing to do.  Just having a conversation about chiropractic becomes nonproductive when someone is adamant that you are doing something silly or frivolous.  The member momentum portion of this email will provide support.  You are not alone.  You'll also find great support when you're in the office waiting room.😀

Conclusion: 
Did you give yourself a new activity swap to work on?  
Did you give yourself a reasonable number of times you will act on it this week?
If you check out the suggested links and books mentioned above, be sure to share with us any insights for the Member Momentum.  I will keep them anonymous if you wish. 

Remember, you may be someone else's inspiration.  Don't be shy.  

 *  *  *   *   *  

Thank you for your participation.
Look for your next email in a few days to address another aspect of Moving Your Brain, Feeding Your Brain, and Talking to Your Brain.


--Dr. Lisa
--Your Health Freedom Advocate





Drugs Delay....

Image: https://drherbz.wordpress.com/2015/10/16/medical-quote/

The person who takes medicine must recover twice, once from the disease, and once from the medicine.   
--William Osler



Call to Action: How much do you know about the mitrochondrial damage epidimic caused by "properly" (I use that term loosely) prescribed prescription drugs?

Sadly, in our culture, drugs are pushed heavily as no big deal, despite the side effects and harm to mitochondria.  

Drugs delay.....  That's my simple explanation.  If you want to heal slowly, take a drug.   A drug does not promote tissue regeneration.  Your innate intelligence has to struggle by fighting the toxin before it can help you heal.  

A drug to lower a fever is a common example of promoting a longer illness.  Why do we want to "dumb down" an intelligent body?

People turn to drugs when they feel they have no other alternative. That is the basic reason.  When someone takes a drug, they are usually in a state of high tissue damage that takes a long time to heal.  For some the damage is at a stage that is extreme making it irreparable whether over time naturally or with a surgical type of manipulation.  When we run out of patience and feel overwhelmed we turn to drugs.  

The mind-set I promote is that we are better than that.  We think better than that. We can plan for heath and prevent illness/injury.  And if we do experience a health problem we heal efficiently.  We give our bodies what it needs. 

So what is it about pain?

Pain can sometimes be a mysterious signal in the body.  When we try to cancel out the pain signal we are not doing the most important task, which is to  figure out which tissue is dying or degenerating.

(If you're wondering why a tissue is dying, type "inflammation," in the search box at the top left of this blog and read my other posts about inflammation.)

Pain is a sign the body is trying to heal.  I would rather we rebuild the body so the pain signal reduces on its own. 

Healing begins in the brain.  Your mind-set should be of confidence.  You can be confident your body will work for you.  
That's why I teach B.F.A.  Brain First Always.

Join the BFA Coaching Membership
First 7 Days are FREE

See you at the table.
The Adjusting Table
 --Dr. Lisa
--Your Health Freedom Advocate

Friday, October 25, 2019

What Happens When You Walk Out the Door?

(image: authenticmasculinity.com)

Call to Action: Assess your stress response behaviors.  What are you doing well?  What should you immediately change?  

You came in the office for your regular maintenance adjustment just like all the other visits.

You received your adjustment for the specific purpose of turning on the floodgates of healing energy so the brain is well connected to the body.

You mention your stress and what's been keeping you occupied with some mild worry, or maybe a lot of worry.  You appreciate your opportunity to get adjusted and I appreciate your enthusiasm.  Thank you.  😀😀

But what happens when you step back out of the door way and head back into your life?  You take about 15 minutes of stress-escape when you're on the adjusting table.  But you have to go back into your world and face more stress.

Are we keeping up?  Is your self-care as intense as the stress?  Can we make your chiropractic adjustments more powerful by reducing some of the stress that incites inflammation, hormonal burnout and brain drain?

Yes we can!!  

If you're reading your weekly handouts, you can evaluate yourself and decide what areas of your self-care can be ramped up.  

Have you picked up my most recent handouts?
- Don't Name It Just Heal It
- What WOE Are You?
- What is Metabolic Hypoxia?
- BFA Coaching Has Launched

What to do next:
I encourage you to take notes on what you've read, so you can ask me questions at your next visit.

Refer back to the BFA Template I have given out to everyone and decide what area of self-care you want to focus on.

Schedule a time for a STAR Session.

Sign up for the BFA Coaching program.  These emails will help you become more systematic with stress management and I will answer questions from participants twice a week in these emails, as well. 

See you soon!

BFA Coaching    Get Your First 7 Days FREE
What is a STAR Session?

--Dr. Lisa
--Your Health Freedom Advocate

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Ready to Make Your Life?

You're Invited to Experience B.F.A. Coaching



My calling is to help you live your calling.  
You can only do that with a performing brain. 


The brain makes the body. 
You make your life.
       Wondering how to begin?         
Use Me As Your Coach


(See all coaching packages and rates below)

**Take on the healing activities you can learn to do yourself.

**The medical establishment will not address the real health thief: STRESS.

**There is no drug protocol that relieves stress. None! (Drugs add more stress.)

**This is a radical way to approach your healing journey.

**Doctors cannot teach this during a 7 minute appointment.

**You do have the ability to self heal. But that does not mean leave it up to chance.

**Stress is everyday. You must have an organized brain-based plan.


** This is the opportunity to live with empowerment and not in fear. 


**** Is today a good day to learn more about yourself and plan your future?

Watch an episode of "In Your Court."
I offer a complementary 20 minute "goal determination session" to anyone who completes a video.

Embrace Anxiety - 4 Actions Steps You Can Take Now:


Lessons from Covid -- Building Your Future Now: 


Over Age 50:  Meaningful Career and Retirement:



You already have the tools.  I teach you how to use them proficiently. 



Can't wait to hear from you.      

bfachirocoach@gmail.com     315-277-1362

---Dr. Lisa
---Your Health Freedom Advocate

What is B.F.A. (Brain First Always)?

Interested in My Story?  How Chiropractic Saved Me.

Read here about the ups and downs of my personal journey.

BFA Coaching Packages
Why Coaching?

You set the goals. 
You already have the tools. 
I coach you how to use your tools proficiently.

** These are healing activities you can learn to do yourself.
** The medical establishment will not address the real health thief: stress.
** Doctors cannot teach this during a seven minute appointment. So, they don't.
** There is no drug protocol that relieves stress. None! (Drugs add more stress.)
**Stress is everyday. You must have an organized brain-based plan.
** This is a radical way to approach your healing journey.
** You can get out of your current comfort-going nowhere zone
** YES!! You have the ability to self heal. But that does not mean leave it up to chance.
** This is the opportunity to live with empowerment and not in fear.


Time frame
1:1 coaching
Email check-ins
2 per week
Discounted
Extensions
$399.00
Best Rate
3 months
90 minutes each month
YES
YES
$99 one month
45 minutes 1:1
$199.00
1 month
90 minutes
YES
NO
$99.00
2 weeks
45 minutes
YES
NO

3 Month Sample Plan: BFA Map is the framework using the 3 Doorways (You set the pace)
Month 1 Embrace and apply new information
Month 2 Routine It
Month 3 Refine It

Many life style changes take 3 to 6 months. A three month commitment is ideal for a successful coaching process. The shorter plans are for folks who want to pay as they go rather than pay the upfront fee of $399.00

Email check-ins are only for progress updates, measurable data predetermined through goal planning. They are not coaching sessions. They serve as a mini-diary of personal change and recognizing stumbling blocks or celebrating successes.

There are no refunds if you cannot attend your coaching sessions. If I need to reschedule a coaching time, I will extend your coaching program at no additional cost to you.

Call to Book a time slot:  315-277-1362

Or use the special coaching email address: 
bfachirocoach@gmail.com




Friday, October 18, 2019

Would you build a house without a roof?


Call to Action: There' s more to chiropractic than the "crack your back,"sarcasm I'm personally tired of hearing.  Find out what else is available. 
Don't Skimp, Skip or Cheat Yourself

B.F.A. Services
Chiropractic Care
Chiropractic as a maintenance routine for brain protection.

Once a week is considered a beneficial frequency for maintenance care after the spine feels more stable, however, twice a week or three times a week is not downplayed either. Stress is very intense and it makes sense to counteract our stress with ongoing subluxation removal.

Sometimes folks need to come in twice the same day. There's nothing wrong with that.

Chiropractic is about being proactive, rather reactive.
Watch the Orientation Video Right Here
S.T.A.R. Sessions
** Extinguish stubborn stress patterns
** Establish healthier nerve patterns

A 30 minuted extended chiropractic session using vibration, sound or silence, adhesion release, and essentials oils with adjustments to calm an over-active nervous system.

S.T.A.R. Sessions are especially useful when other typical stress management approaches don't work for you, or you want some extra down time to release tension from your body.
Standard Process Nutrients

The nutrients in our food have been greatly diminished over many generations. Even organic foods have their deficiencies due environmental challenges. Glyphosate is now in all plant foods, animal products and water supplies causing leaky gut and other health problems. This requires us to be diligent with adding back nutrients and detoxing our tissues. Standard Process provides food concentrates that have the best bio-availability. It's no coincidence that people are getting sicker and are stuck on maintenance drugs. (That's the wrong kind of maintenance in my book!) Don't forget- chiropractic care also helps with digestion and nutrient uptake,too.
Dr. Lisa's “Keto Phasing”

People are very hesitant to adopt the ketogenic diet because misinformation abounds. It is truly the original human diet. Sadly, healing has been elusive to most people who continue eating inflammatory foods. The best healing takes place when people are in a state of ketosis, and this includes fasting, so it's not all about food. I offer a coaching program that helps people “phase in” the keto life style with confidence that they are meeting their health goals without feeling they must say good-bye to the enjoyment of food. This is also another brain re-wiring exercise where the addiction to insulin spiking foods is resolved and the false-satiety of unhealthy foods is also extinguished.


What is Metabolic Hypoxia


Call to Action: Decide right now if you are tolerating annoying health problems and need to take a different look at why they are hanging around annoying you.
What is Metabolic Hypoxia?
The logical answer to your confusing symptoms

If you feel as if your healing has stalled, or you hit a plateau.  It is time to consider that there are overlapping causes to your poor health.  We live complicated lives and many negative things are happening at the same time to contribute to your lack of energy, pain, and worry.

Also, as the body goes into self-protection mode, a number of compensating effects will kick in that do not respond to the typical first line defenses, such as a pain relieving drug, topical analgesic, TUMS, or other quick style symptom relievers. 

Face it, we are just complicated creatures. But, that's ok.  What we can do is delve into what it takes to build up the body and step away from the activities that break down the body.

Diet plays an important role in how we heal.  We can't heal properly if we aren't fueling our bodies properly.  One aspect we can look at is how well does your body handle the toxic waste products of energy metabolism.  The by-products of energy production from food digestion are able to be recycled but some people may have difficulty if they are eating a diet high in carbs and/or have nutrient deficiencies.  

Dr. Darren Schmidt from the Nutritional Healing Center of Ann Arbor has been teaching about this for years and realized that earlier in the 20th century, doctors knew about this mechanism of disease but it fell out of favor because food was the solution. And, boy, how boring is that to just go to the grocery store?

You don't need a fancy PhD or sophisticated medical title after your name.  You just have to change your dietary habits.  

Dr. Schmidt created an online quiz to help folks look at their health histories so they can be given nutritional advice to boost their healing.   He encourages people to share this information freely because his life's goal is to put the pharmaceutical industry out of business.  We can work on this one person at a time.

I have borrowed his quiz questions and listed them below so you can see how many examples ring true for you.  Next, you can ask me for the BFA template and healing map, available at the office. 

I also have created the handout called: What is Metabolic Hypoxia?
(Metabolic glitches that add more stress to the body)
*  *  *  
Help Yourself Heal 
Over time the liver cannot detox the metabolic waste products of a typical carb heavy diet.

These toxins, (acetate, acid aldehyde, lactate, give you the wrung out, hangover feelings) build up in the blood vessels, blocking oxygen and pooling waste/inflammation in the organs and muscles. Also the body suffers from a B Complex deficiency. (Think mitochondrial disease)

The healing protocol includes a keto diet, intermittent fasting, nutrients to support the liver and boost B vitamins. It is a major life style change that invites a welcomed sense of personal freedom with a profound disinterest in the unhealthy foods you thought were fine to eat.

Do any of these problems/discomforts affect you?
(Disclaimer:  None of these examples are for diagnosing disease.  If you have an emergency situation, go to the ER or call 911.  This is information about healing tissues that have suffered under metabolic deficiencies and inflammation.)

- Body fatigue/Chronic fatigue
- Achy, sore muscles
- Fibromyalgia
- Tingling in arms or face
- Ankles swelling
- Deep ache or tenderness in calves
- Burning in soles of the feet
- Muscle cramping
- Nausea
- Loss of appetite
- Acid reflux
- Sluggish thyroid
- Core body temperature cold
- Poor circulation in the hands and feet
- Any kind of asthma
- Narrowing or tightening feeling in chest or chest pain
- Choking sensation, throat fullness, esophagus spasm
- Heart pounding or palpitations
- Difficulty breathing / shortness of breath
- Anxiety
- Thoughts of fear, grief, depression
- Wanting to leave a situation
- Obsessive-compulsive
- Dizzy
- Violent thoughts
- Fear of impending doom
- Intrusive thoughts, such as "I can't," or questioning life decisions
- Avoiding the friction of social contact


Typical societal practices Y or N
___ Were you medicating these symptoms for years only to realize the situation became worse and
promoted a potential or actual addiction?
___ Have you been super stressed or overwhelmed from major life events perhaps never fully recovered?
___ Did you grow up on grains, pasta, sugar, rice, and /or still eat them now?

Find out how we move the brain, feed the brain and talk to the brain with the B.F.A. Protocol (Brain First Always).





Wednesday, October 09, 2019

How to Make the Most Out of Your Google Search



(Image: searchenginejournal.com)
When you sit down at your computer and do a google search, don't type like this:

Google:  back pain
Google: headaches
Google: Lyme disease
Google: Fatigue

And most of all, don't type this:   Google: chiropractic

Why?  Because you have a better head on your shoulders than you think, don't you?   You don't resort to simplistic thinking do you?

Of course when you google chiropractic the first thing that comes up is the wikipedia entry.  Are you a fan of wikipedia?  I think it's ok for introductory information. Wikipedia is a place on the internet that can be very generic and should get you started on more specific searches.  

If you scroll down through the wikipedia entry, you come to the paragraph that says there is hardly any evidence supporting that chiropractic is good for anything.....Yup.  That's what it says. 

But here's what irks me.  We presume everyone is the same and that all you need to do is one type of intervention to make yourself all perfect and back to health.  They take a bunch of people, adjust them a few times and record what happens.  Not a really complete scenario.  Sometimes they use fake adjustments so it's similar to a placebo.  It's a good college try, but it has it's limitations.  

The truth is nothing works that way.  Not even a drug.  Taking an antibiotic is not a total cure for a bacterial infection.  There are so many body processes involved.  The antibiotic is only one aspect. If you zap a germ with an antibiotic, your body still has to process the dead cells and clear them out of the body.  What if you're too sick to do that?  Also, antibiotics wreak havoc on gut structures and make people sicker.  The body has to deal with that, as well.  Recently I've been reading about balance problems and neuropathy associated issues with antibiotic use, among other unpleasant side effects.  So, there are always other considerations that impact how you approach a health problem. 

Do I assume chiropractic is a treatment for back pain, headaches, and other health problems?  Of course not.  That's why a generic search on google for a named disease or label is not the way we learn about our health.  

Often, when looking for the quick answer, you get a lot of disappointment.  

If you watched the orientation video and talk to me for less than 15 minutes, you know that we must understand where good health comes from and focus on that.  Disease names take us all over the place in so many directions they don't connect to a solid healing path.  

When you sit down at your computer and type a search term, the following will give you real explanations:

How the body heals

How does the body work?

How to keep the body systems in balance

Unfortunately, when I actually do that, the answers are just as goofy.  
Why? Because we shouldn't be looking for a one size fits all answer.  We should be deciding what kind of philosophy to follow.  

Philosophy is the study of knowledge and how one categorizes information, Generally you make your own conclusions based on how you value the process of understanding information. 

So, when asking the question: what makes me feel better?  You have to pick a philosophy that fits your preference for healing. 

My own preference is without drugs, and risky surgical procedures. As I progressed through my educational career, the profession of teaching and pedagogy, mental health counseling, and then chiropractic, I have focused on an approach that continues to give a person self confidence.  This must come from a person's ability to feel self empowered.  

That means a teaching approach should inspire action in the learner. The learner should demonstrate a finely tuned behavior whether is is the ability to write, speak, perform a musical instrument, play a sport, design a structure, create a piece of art, aid someone in distress, etc. 

In mental health, I wanted so see people reshape their own self perception, demonstrate assertiveness, and choose relationships that are mutually beneficial.  

In chiropractic, I want folks to understand how they add health to their lives and inadvertently deplete health from their lives.  This approach encourages people to consider what is natural to the body and what is unnatural to the body.  This includes what nurtures the body and what puts the body into an emergency state of survival until the body can reestablish balance again.  

 Sadly, if we don't reclaim that balance, the body prioritizes systems until it becomes too weak then it finally loses its resilience. 

Understanding the stage of survival you are in helps you realize there is a multi-step approach.  Life is full of multiple stressors. Health issues stem from overlapping causes, with compensating effects. This is why a one-step-drug, or one healing activity is not going to make a dent in your total well-being. 

Also, with this philosophy, a passive approach isn't congruent.  Your confidence level and self-direction matter.

In conclusion, part of my philosophy is to make healing a meaningful and rewarding practice, because  we use ongoing habits that should be woven into your life on a daily/weekly basis.  

The body heals 24 hours a day.   This is amazingly cool!!! 
 What you do will influence how well your healing gifts take care of you for a long time.

If you've been on the blog long enough you will read about the B.F.A. Protocol, (Brain First Always).  This is how I introduce people to making their healing power the best it can be.  

Ready to dive in?  Call the office and get on board.   315-277-1362.
BFA Crash Course

Office Orientation Video



Sunday, October 06, 2019

How You Can Benefit From My Nerdiness

I admit it.  I am a nerd.  I am especially interested in how the brain works so I can help you get the most out of your chiropractic care. 

You see, there are people who walk around a track, going in the same circle over and over.  There is nothing wrong with that, but I want to send you on an adventurous hike with beautiful scenery and an exhilarating climb up a mountain.  I want to give you the mental ambition to try new and challenging activities. 

We use chiropractic to promote healthy brain wave activity.  What else can you do between visits?
Let this article give you a few great clues.  After all, the way you use your brain matters.  

Let's talk about how you can make your chiropractic and brain building activities meaningful and rewarding. 

--Dr. Lisa
--Your Health Freedom Advocate

********



Top 15 Insights on Neuroplasticity, Brain Training, Emotions, Cognition And Brain Health. Ready?


Copyright (c) 2014 SharpBrains

Curious about modern brain and mind science and about what it has to offer to improve education, health and quality of life?

Here you have some of the most popular ideas and highlights, courtesy of dozens of experts and thousands of book readers worldwide. Which of these highlights surprise you the most? Why?

1. "Emotion is the system that tells us how important something is. Attention focuses us on the important and away from the unimportant things. Cognition tells us what to do about it. Cognitive skills are whatever it takes to do those things."

2. "Working memory is the type of memory that allows us to both hold information in mind and work on it as needed."

3. "The central concept in this new approach is neuroplasticity, the brain's lifelong capacity to change and rewire itself in response to the stimulation of learning and experience. This includes both the lifelong ability to create new neurons - neurogenesis - and to create new connections between neurons - synaptogenesis."

4. "Controlling and managing emotion (including stress and anger) is crucial for performing successfully in anything."

5. "Sometimes our hypothesis will be right, and sometimes it will be wrong. The fear of failing, the fear of looking not smart, is a key obstacle to learning that I see too often, especially with people who want to protect perceived reputations to such an extent that they do not let themselves try new learning cycles."

6. "...a healthy brain is a brain that has the right amount of plasticity"

7. "Meditation is one of the techniques to change both brain activity and structures, and may give us unique control over attention by promoting broadening and focus."

8. "Learning is physical. Learning means the modification, growth, and pruning of our neuronal networks, through experience."

9. "...true brain fitness refers to having the brain functionality - cognitive, emotional, executive - required to thrive in the environment we face each day."

10. "The only leisure activity that has been associated with reduced brain function is watching television. This has been shown, for instance, by one study which followed more than 5,000 individuals, aged 55 years and older, for 5 years."

11. "A consequence of the brain's plasticity is that the brain may change with every experience, thought and emotion, from which it follows that you yourself have the potential power to change your brain with everything that you do, think, and feel. 

So brain fitness and optimization are about much more than crossword puzzles and blueberries; they are about cultivating a new mindset and mastering a new toolkit that allow us to appreciate and take full advantage of our brains' incredible properties."

12. "In every field, elite performers devote more time to practice than to the actual performance. To perform at the highest level, you need to protect and optimize practice and learning time."

13. "We need to expand our vocabulary: "IQ" and "memory" do not encompass all of the brain's functions. The brain is composed of neuronal networks serving distinct functions, including various types of memory, but also language, emotional regulation, attention, planning, and many others. 

This is important because our life and productivity depend on the functionality of all these brain functions, not just one."

14. "... the more a network of neurons is activated (i.e., the more often the neurons fire together), the stronger the connections become. If a network supporting a brain function is repeatedly stimulated through practice and training, it will become stronger, contributing to the optimization of that brain function...the less a network of neurons is activated the weaker the connections become, and weak connections end up dying. 

This accounts for the popular idea "use it or lose it" - brain functions that are not stimulated end up losing their efficiency since the neural networks supporting them weaken or dissipate."

15. "Physical activity and physical exercise are different...Physical exercise (e.g. swimming) refers to the effortful activity of particular parts of our bodies. While both may bring benefits, it is clearly physical exercise that helps build capacity and muscle strength. 

It is thus physical exercise that contributes to staying physically fit. This is the kind of exercise that also brings brain benefits."

As you can see, much food for thought, and much room to start transferring these findings and concepts from research labs into our daily lives.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


This is an adapted excerpt from the new book by neuroscientist Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg and educator Alvaro Fernandez, titled "The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness: How to Optimize Brain Health and Performance at Any Age," described as "An essential reference on the field of brain fitness, neuroplasticity and cognitive health" by Highlight Health. You can learn more at http://www.sharpbrains.com/book/

http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/self-help/top-15-insights-on-neuroplasticity-brain-training-emotions-cognition-and-brain-health-ready.html

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Can You Control What's Not In Your Control? Mastering the Brain

Chiropractic helps us maintain the nervous system's ability to assess and adapt to the changes around you.  We use the spinal joints as our access points to re-calibrate a busy brain.  

It sounds so simple yet it profoundly impacts your health in positive ways.

So much of our brain activity is subconscious.  It happens automatically.  As your body notes changes in your surroundings and inside your body it responds.  For example, if you eat a spoiled food, your brain goes into action by causing your GI tract to reverse course and cause you to vomit, or speed things up and send you running for the toilet.  Your brain doesn't take a vote or mull it over; it does it very efficiently.  But, what if your nerves were already over-stressed or unresponsive for any various reason such as a weakened immune system, infection, or physical damage from a trauma?  Your body may not be able to expel the toxins and you may stay sick and suffer more.  

When you begin to climb a flight of stairs, your brain needs to be in communication with your legs, so your body knows to ramp up your circulation with a faster heart rate.  Anykind of weakness will prohibit your ability to climb the stairs. 

It's not always apparent when your body is about the hit the wall and fail on you.  That's why we utilize chiropractic to maintain brain function and we address stresses that we can modify so they are not as damaging to overall health.  

Chiropractors have their own set of measurable vital signs that let you know how well your body can respond to appropriately to the highs and lows of your life.

Your body is like a dam and the water could be rising without any warning, because the other side of the dam is dry without a drop of wetness.  However, it only takes one minor rise in the water level to break the dam and a powerful flood can occur.  That's one unsuspecting way to ruin your day.  Have you ever had a pipe burst in your house at the most inconvenient time?

As chiropractors we want your care to be meaningful and rewarding.  It all turns back to how you desire to live your life, follow your calling, and make your dreams come true.  Chiropractors want to celebrate your life with you and we want to keep you inspired and proud of your achievements.  We help you do that with a healthy, performing brain. 

This article about the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the nervous system nicely explains how special the brain truly is.  Enjoy this information and ask me how we promote a meaningful brain building routine. 

Why Does Chiropractic Need to Look at Brain Activity?

Chiropractic's primary focus is the nervous system. Insofar as the brain is the central organizing authority, it benefits us to have some objective method of knowing that something is amiss in the Central Nervous System and even more compelling, that our care has improved neurological function. The best researched and simplest method today is via electroencephalograph or EEG studies. 
B.J. Palmer, developer of Chiropractic, taught that the subluxation (or less energy) is found in the nervous impulse, so what better area to examine than the seat of neural activity. Brain waves are created by cortical activity (outer layer of the brain) and are a very accurate method of revealing normal or abnormal brain activity.
Moving from the cortical function, we next need to look at the matured part of the brain - the limbic system. Within this region we find all the life sustaining activities of the nervous system. The limbic system is the center of the Autonomic Nervous System and it is divided into two parts: the sympathetic which is responsible for getting our other systems up and running and our parasympathetic system which is responsible for slowing everything down. 
The activity between these two systems allows us to respond to tasks or threats (sympathetic activity) and then to recover (parasympathetic) from the efforts of these high energy demanding situations. Research shows that Chiropractic adjustments improve Autonomic Nervous System function.
While we think, consciously, that we are in control, 84% of our brain activity is subconscious which is why the majority of time we have no idea that our systems are out of balance. We only become aware of a problem once the relationship between the two become so badly out of balance that symptoms appear.
In order to determine real neurological function we must look at the systems under duress and then recovery to see if they can adapt to a stressor and then recover to normal once the stressor is removed. This is the reason we do dynamic and static testing over time and events.
The Limbic System controls other body systems including: heart rate, hand temperature, skin moisture, respiration rate, general muscle tone, and heart rate variability as well as others.
So, now as a truly neurologically based Chiropractor we can see the importance between cortical activity and limbic system response, but how does that relate to our patients? By understanding what the Neuro Infiniti Screening system is measuring and what we are looking at you will see how important it is we evaluate the connection between the brain and the rest of your body.
Autonomic Neurological Function
Heart rate - Ideal 56 to 66 BPM
Why is heart rate important? As cardiac events are the number one killer, knowing what is going on with heart function is self evident. The Neuro Infiniti provides a great deal of cardiac information including simple heart rate and heart rate variability. 
With the stress/recovery measurements we can objectively see what the heart activity is during emotional stress and physical activity. We can see if the patient has any conscious control on his/her heart rate.
Heart Rate Variability - high bars in the low frequency range
This is a relatively new form of heart function testing and with research now in place, it is important that we use measurement as an evaluation for the effectiveness of Chiropractic care in a clinical setting. 
There are several instruments available in the market today; however, the Neuro Infiniti is unique in its application and combination. The fact that we use HRV findings in conjunction with measured respiration rates and during stress events and recovery, a great deal more information on all three of these procedures is provided.
Respiration Rate - Ideal 6 to 12 BPM
There are several vital sign measurements used in the health field. Brain activity, heart rate, blood pressure and respiration rate are some of the most common. There is more to respiration than just the rate. Upper respiratory breathing is a sympathetic response to a stressor and involves elevating the upper rib cage rather than using the diaphragm to breathe. 
Diaphragmatic breathing involves the Vagus nerve (conveys sensory information about the state of the body's organs) and Phrenic nerve (conveys sensory information about the upper abdomen liver and gall bladder) and the parasympathetic nervous system. This system helps the body stop the stress response. Rapid breathing is very detrimental to the body and can create an imbalance with the body chemistry. Damage to the Phrenic nerve can cause abnormal breathing patterns.
Skin Conductivity - Ideal 0.8 to 1.5Su
The study of Skin Conductivity (SC) or Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) has been ongoing over the last 100 years. While SC measures the conductivity of electrical current, GSR measures the resistance. Both reflect the electro-dermal activity of the skin as affected by the sweat glands. 
There have been many studies over the years which establish the power of the subconscious emotions within the Central Nervous System to control sweat gland activity. With this knowledge and data, we have the opportunity to record the emotional responses to stressors and the ability to neutralize the responses.
Hand Temperature - Ideal 94F to 96F - 34C to 35C
While typical medical practice tends to look at core temperature as a vital sign, there is another area which tells an important story about health response much earlier than at the core. The extremities are very important in reporting on the neurological state of the patient. 
Given any stress of threat, the typical neurological response is to close down the blood flow to the hands and feet and pool the blood into the central core. This is a typical fight/flight response as blood will be required in the heart and lungs to provide oxygen and nutrition to the major muscles. Long term stress patterns keep the patient in this state and cold hands and feet will be a constant.
Muscle tone (sEMG) - ideal 0.5 to 2.5
Over the years, Chiropractic has been associated with musculoskeletal function. In the last 15 years we have seen the development of instrumentation which recorded static para-spinal muscle activity. 
What is important here is to look for the way stressors affect muscle tone. The three areas most reactive are the trapezius (shoulder area), the masseter (jaw area) and the temporalis (eye area) muscles. These muscles provide a window into the effects of stressors on general muscle tone.
As you can see, observing and measuring brain activity is crucial and very important to chiropractic and patients which have a desire to maximize their health. It is our job to assess your nervous system and either jump start it or slow it down by means of the chiropractic adjustment. 
Restoring it to the wonderful and normal state of balance is our intention. In addition, we are able to offer simple retraining methods to augment the power of the chiropractic adjustment.
We welcome your feedback as well as the opportunity to help you and those you care about reach your optimum potential. Ideally, you shouldn't be very off track. Your health is your most valuable asset so please do not wait for symptoms to arise before you take action. 
Always remember to be proactive about your health, not reactive. The shameful trend reveals that most of our society decides to become proactive when health crisis occurs. Individuals spend a large chunk of money trying to regain their health that was lost as opposed to cherishing it along the course of life. 
It makes better sense to spend money on ways to enhance your health so you can be enjoying your life throughout your prime years on this planet.
We encourage being aware at the earliest signs possible. The Neuro Infiniti technology provides that opportunity from a neurological systems point of view. Problems can be revealed much earlier and by doing so, the road to recovery is much shorter. 
Bottom line: determining early what your systems are doing and where we are starting from can save you years and dollars in the future.
Dr. Irma Leon Palmer is available at Chiropractic Today in Inverness. Schedule your Stress Response Evaluation today by calling (205)991-3511 or visit http://www.ChiropracticToday.com to learn more.
If you would like to find out more information about me,my practice, my philosophy or my blog please visit http://www.chiropractictoday.com


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