Weekly Chiropractic Info

It must be luck, because a lifetime of the chiropractic lifestyle couldn’t possibly have maintained me in a state of active organization for so long.

As Dr. William Boyd states in his Texbook of Pathology, “It’s amazing that a harp with so many strings can stay in tune so long.” Spoken like a true mechanist—someone with the view that our bodies are machines, that these machines are imperfect and destined to break down piece by piece. But this mechanistic view, based in the Newtonian notion that the role of science is to “tease out the secrets of Mother Nature so that we may control and dominate her,” has a fatal flaw. We didn’t build the machine. Rather we are created by an infinite intelligence, which provided an individualized portion of itself to be present in every living thing. This innate intelligence is complete in its wisdom and knowledge of how to receive the challenges of our world with grace, to cause constructive changes and adaptations. This is the Law of Life.

The vitalistic view of living things recognizes that there is more to us than a fortunate accumulation of happenstances. An innate intelligence gives rise to innate forces that continually direct the molecular and biological activities to greater order. You may know this as healing, homeostasis, or adaptation. It is simply the normal behavior of a body expressing its portion of life itself.

We are not machines. We are living machines. The power and wisdom of life expresses itself in our material bodies, communicating with, and acting as, the controlling agent of the nervous system. Because nerves are delicate little things, they are easily traumatized. You all know the chiropractic story: Bones on soft nerves causes those nerves to lose their ability to behave normally. This initiates a cascade of events leading to metabolic and cellular behaviors which, once named, take their place in Dr. Boyd’s book of pathologies. Yet these pathologies are just names and descriptions of the ways subluxations—disturbances in the nervous system—choke our lifelines to our innate intelligence. I believe that many of the problems we face today are due to lack of knowledge of the Law of Life. Nature needs no help, just no interference.

So much for luck!

Have you ever wondered how your body heals when you fall off your bike and scrape your arm and knee?

Or how every cell in your body just knows the exact reaction to mount a response to a threat in our immune system? The human body has an amazing ability to adapt, change, and heal all on its own. This is called innate intelligence. Every living thing has innate intelligence.

How does innate intelligence communicate with all of the body parts? How does it know to absorb some nutrients and to reject others, and at the same time grow and develop the muscles that you just worked out at the gym? The answer to these questions is we all have an inborn wisdom, innate intelligence. This wisdom, which God placed in our bodies, is designed to develop us and keep us healthy throughout our lifetimes.

With innate intelligence, every cell of your body is connected and controlled through your brain and spinal cord. Your nervous system is the master communication network for innate intelligence. The brain and spinal cord, also known as the Central Nervous System (CNS), controls all functions of the body by a process that sends signals from the brain via the nerves and then out to the body. This system is called the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS.) 

It is vitally important for the body parts to always have communication and stay connected with the brain. One important reason for this connection is for restoring or repairing and healing from injuries that may happen on a daily basis. We all need to be able to adapt to our environment, which for many of us is always changing.

If a body part loses communication with that network, it will begin to lose its proper function and not be in sync with the rest of the body. This will cause us to become weaker and weaker, and more susceptible to injury or trauma because it isn’t performing and supporting us optimally.

The way for that body part to stay plugged-in to the innate intelligence is through the nervous system. Every nerve supplies every organ, every muscle, and every tissue. Those nerves need to properly relay their signals through the PNS all the way up to the innate intelligence headquarters in the brain. Our brain, being the master controller, sends signals that travel down the spinal cord, then exit out a small space between two vertebrae, which ultimately takes the information all the way to its destination.

If that network is disrupted at any point along its path, the signal will be weaker or even lost. The number one most common way for those signals to be disrupted is through misalignment in the spine. The space that the nerve needs to exit the spine is quite small and also contains blood vessels, lymph vessels, and fatty tissue.

Chiropractic frees up those signals of innate intelligence to flow from your brain to the body, allowing us to properly develop, heal, and achieve normal function. 

It only takes about 10mm of Hg (mercury) pressure on a nerve (about the weight of a dime) to cut the nerve signal off about 50%. The misalignment of the vertebra is called a vertebral subluxation. This mis-alignment causes pressure on the spinal cord and nerve exiting the space between the spinal bones. The result is that the intended body part for that nerve will not be receiving the full message from the brain. So you can imagine if the brain cannot communicate with the body, then there will not be proper function. 

The reason why so many people are helped with peripheral problems like muscle tension and weakness, digestive problems, and even asthma through chiropractic care, is because we remove the interference between those body parts and the brain.

It is not just about pain! So many people correlate chiropractic with helping back pain, neck pain, and headaches. Chiropractic is about restoring FUNCTION. Better communication between the brain and body is our driving force. Chiropractic frees up those signals of innate intelligence to flow from your brain to the body, allowing us to properly develop, heal, and achieve normal function.

Chiropractic’s main goal is to allow a clearer expression of your innate intelligence.

Yes, we help with back and neck pain, but that is not what gets me out of bed every day to help more people! Most importantly, chiropractic allows your innate intelligence to be able to communicate freely throughout the body through the nervous system. Your innate intelligence is programmed to cause your body to thrive with health, and I’m here to support you now and throughout your lifetime.

Creating new neural pathways will help you let go of bad habits.

When you understand how neural pathways are created in the brain, you get a front-row seat for truly comprehending how to let go of habits. Neural pathways are like superhighways of nerve cells that transmit messages. You travel over the superhighway many times, and as you do, the pathway becomes more and more solid. You may go to cigarettes or a specific food for comfort over and over, and that repetition forms a brain pathway. Thankfully, the brain is always changing, and you can forge new pathways and create new habits.

I used to drive with my left foot on the brake and my right on the accelerator, and I wanted to train myself to drive with one foot only. It took some time, as I had a strong neural pathway for two-footed driving. But because I had the will to do it, I built a new pathway and reprogrammed my brain. You can remove a behavior, or a thought or addiction, directly from the brain.

Because of neuroplasticity, the brain’s potential to change, anything is possible. People who’ve had strokes can retrain their brains to function again by building new pathways. Smokers, overeaters and many others can learn new behaviors and attitudes that can transform their lives. Whether you work with others to change their habits, or you work with your own—or both—you can apply these understandings to boost your success.

1. Identify the habit you’d like to transform and set the intention.

You may remember the punch line, “The light bulb has to want to change.” You have to have a high intention to change as well. If there is this high intention, then creating new pathways in your brain is bound to happen.

2. Observe what the old habit or pathway is doing in your life.

Look at your feelings, thoughts, and how your body is responding to the habit, and see what results you’re creating in your life. Be the witness, and be aware.

3. Shift your focus.

This is very important. To create a new neural pathway, you must take the focus off the old habit, and then that old habit will eventually fall away. Don’t pay attention to the doughnuts and cakes. Focus your awareness on wholesome, healthy, delicious foods.

4. Use your imagination.

You can build new neural pathways not only with new behaviors, but through the imagination. Imagine the new behaviors over and over and over. Keep repeating them in your mind so you build new pathways. Focus your mind and retrain your brain.

5. Interrupt your thoughts and patterns when they arise.

Say “no” or “cancel” when an old thought or impulse comes in, and say, “I don’t have to do that anymore.” Then turn toward the new neural pathway you’re building and keep on going in the right direction.

6. Use aversion therapy.

This isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. It’s an optional path. I like to call it the “maggots on the chocolate cake” technique. I used to love candies and sweets, and when I stopped eating them, I still had to pass by the candy store in town. I used aversion to train my brain to keep walking: “That’s junk,” I said to myself. “It’s made in factories, is sickeningly sweet, and makes me feel bad. The company makes it so sweet just to addict buyers. I don’t want any of that.” So I talk myself out of it. I’ve used it with many of my clients (only those who say they want it) to help them quit smoking, eating junk food, using cocaine and many other behaviors.

7. Create a specific plan and choose what to do instead.

When you get specific, it’s easier to build new neural pathways. You “make it official.” Decide that you want to exercise instead of overeating, or that you want to eat fruit instead of candy. Just keep focused on the new choice. You may want to create affirmations and anchors to reinforce your choices. This can be “I’m free,” or “I’m in control.” Reinforce this with energy therapies like Emotional Freedom Technique or other methods.

8. Transform the obstacles.

Look at what’s in the way. Look at secondary gain— what you’ve been getting out of the old habits or pathways. Look at the stress in your life, and think about how you can handle it differently. Get your mind in the place of possibility. Handle the emotions and thoughts, and get on a new superhighway in your mind.

9. Connect with your higher source for inspiration and support.

Listen to our guidance. Know you have the Force within you, and therefore you have great power. Meditation creates new pathways and brain changes. Actual studies have been done on the brains of monks to show meditation’s effect on neural circuits of the brain.

10. Transform and make the shift.

Know that transformation is always possible and that you can create new brain pathways whenever you’re ready to make the shift. When you keep your mind in the “I can do it!” space, you get a clear sense that you’re done with the old and on a new beam now.

Some people feel we’re being rewired spiritually for a new era. There’s great upheaval now in our world. And there’s a process of transformation happening on earth in which huge changes are taking place for all of humanity. You have to be present in the moment, overcome your fears, and get to know the infinite source so you can be a vehicle for the light to predominate on the earth.

How chiropractic supports brain function throughout life

Regular chiropractic care has innumerable positive effects on your ability to live in health and live the life you deserve. While chiropractic can help reduce pain and prevent injury, it also positively affects your body’s ability to function optimally and heal— without being propped up by drugs and other outside interventions. Chiropractic care has improved the lives of millions of people across the globe.

One cool thing about chiropractic is that your adjustments improve your brain function. Yes, regular care can help you learn new things and be more adaptable to new information. This not only has very important implications for you as you age, but also your kids as they grow and develop.

The Role of Neuroplasticity

Your brain’s ability to cognitively function—being able to manage all your voluntary and involuntary tasks—is called neuroplasticity. To do this, your brain must form new neural connections over time. This is how children learn to walk, talk, read, ride a bike, learn a new subject… In fact, brain neuroplasticity is involved in every activity in our lives. Even as adults, when we learn new things or take up a new hobby, we are adapting ourselves to a new situation and processing information to adjust to new ways of thinking.

Our brain’s ability to respond to stimuli and process information and then convert that into thoughts, behaviors, and abilities depends on our brain being able to form new neural connections. Our very existence depends on brain neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity should happen on its own, without any assistance from the outside. A child with optimal neuroplasticity is going to develop and achieve expected milestones. They can pay attention in school, engage with their peers, and respond and adapt to changes in their environment.

The Spine’s Role in Neuroplasticity and Brain Function

The spine is integral to maintaining optimal brain function. The spine—the cervical spine, in particular—is the home to essential nerves and lymphatic delivery systems that are responsible for feeding the brain vital, life-sustaining information.

The nerve bundles housed in the cervical spine carry critical messages to and from the brain, facilitating unconscious and complex functions. Likewise, blood supplied to the brain provides oxygen, amino acids, electrolytes, hormones—essential chemicals and bodily substances for healthy brain performance.

The spine (along with the skull) is the protector of the central nervous system, which consists of the brain and the spinal cord. The spine is made of 33 bones, some fused together, but most that are extremely movable. The cervical spine contains seven bones and is the most mobile (and thus least stable) part of the spine. It is also the closest to the brain and brainstem. When the spine shifts out of alignment (or subluxates), the stress this causes is transferred to the brain supply systems located there. These misalignments, in turn, interrupt the flower of communication necessary for healthy brain function. 

When this happens in adults, we may experience neck pain. But before that, we may experience brain fog, outside interventions. Chiropractic care has improved the migraines, exhaustion (fatigue), memory loss, changes in temperament (more bad moods), etc.—things we may not attribute to poor spine health. But these are all signs of negative brain neuroplasticity. 

For a child, subluxation most certainly affects brain neuroplasticity. To put it plainly, a subluxated child is disconnected from his or her internal and external environments. These kids may struggle with focus and attention, learning, social and family relationships, impulsivity, or exhibit behavioral issues. These are examples of “negative neuroplasticity.” In these cases, the brain is not making the required neurological connections to adequately respond to stimuli and convert that into appropriate and expected thoughts, behaviors, or ability. These are the children who are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, or any number of other behavioral or mental health disorders. They may also live with allergies, asthma, migraines, or other health conditions.

Chiropractic and Brain Neuroplasticity

With the link between the spine and brain evident, researchers have begun to look at how chiropractic may be used as a tool to help preserve positive neuroplasticity.

Clinical studies have already begun, monitoring the effects of chiropractic on patients’ abilities to solve puzzles, multitask, and recall memories.

A growing body of evidence is showing that regular chiropractic care can have a positive effect on brain activity. Chiropractic care removes obstructions in the nervous system and restores the neurological pathways necessary to ensure proper flow of blood and information, which has a positive effect on neuroplasticity. And what we see is that the life of a child improves.