Author: hyftechnologies

In a classic scene in the classic 1984 movie Starman, the extraterrestrial Jeff Bridges tells the human Karen Allen that, yes, he does know how to drive. Starman has just blasted through a traffic light changing to red, other vehicles crashing in his wake. Jenny Hayden, his protector, is screaming at him. “You said you know the rules,” she berates him. “I do know the rules,” he rejoins, calmly and purposefully. “I watched you very carefully. Red liight stop. Green light go. Yellow light go very fast.”

Everyone can recognize themselves in those 60 seconds of film footage. In fact, many people who originally saw Starman nearly 30 years ago can recite those lines verbatim. The scene resonates for us because it is deeply human, because we have said and done the things the lead characters are saying and doing. We are drivers ourselves. We have taught others how to drive. We have been back-seat drivers, although we try hard not to be. And occasionally, very occasionally, we press down hard on the accelerator when we see a light change from green to yellow.

Jenny Hayden finds herself unexpectedly caught in a “do as I say and not as I do” situation, again something with which most of us are all too familiar. Jenny very much wants to be a good teacher, in a very challenging set of circumstances, but as always actions speak much louder than words. At this point in the film Starman is only just beginning to develop an ear for the subtleties of human communication. The only things he can go on, the only things on which he can base his decisions, choices, and actions, are the objective actions of others. When confronted with a yellow light, he does what he’s seen others do. He “goes very fast”.

This story sounds so familiar because, in part, it reminds us of how we are with our children. Starman himself is very much like a child and even began his sojourn to Earth as a newborn infant. We want our kids to eat right, get regular exercise, and make good decisions. But often the examples we set for them show the exact opposite behaviors.

We skip breakfast, eat junk food, and rarely serve fresh fruits and vegetables. We may join a health club, but rarely use it after the initial flush of excitement in the first two weeks. Instead of spending time with our kids outdoors, walking, hiking, or biking, we spend three or four hours each night sitting on the sofa or recliner, mesmerized by the television screen, computer monitors, or phone text messages.

Like Starman, our kids learn by our example. They’re watching our every move, although they may pretend they’re doing other stuff. The health and well-being of our children depend on our backing up our instructions and verbal guidance with consistent action.^1,2,3 Regular exercise. Five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. Eliminating excess calories. Getting plenty of rest. Encouraging a positive mental attitude.

If we want our kids to be healthy and well, it’s important that we do the things that will help them learn how to take healthy actions on their own behalf. They are following our lead.

¹Stabouli S, et al: The role of obesity, salt and exercise on blood pressure in children and adolescents. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther 9(6):753-761, 2011

²Sandercock GR, et al: Associations between habitual school-day breakfast consumption, body mass index, physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness in English schoolchildren. Eur J Clin Nutr 64(10):1086-1092, 2010

³Fox MK, et al: Food consumption patterns of young preschoolers: are they starting off on the right path? J Am Diet Assoc 110(12 Suppl)S52-S59, 2010

The weight gain, the bloating, the nausea… Most new mothers will tell you that the aches and pains of pregnancy are a small price to pay for the beautiful bundle of joy they’re rewarded with nine months later.

But as many new mothers can attest, the muscle strains of pregnancy are very real and can be more than just a nuisance. The average weight gain of 25 to 35 pounds, combined with the increased stress placed on the body by the baby, can sometimes result in severe discomfort. In fact, studies have found that about half of all expectant mothers will develop low back pain at some point during their pregnancy. This is especially true during late pregnancy, when the baby’s head presses down on a woman’s back, legs and buttocks, putting pressure on her sciatic nerve. And for those who already suffer from low back pain, the problem can become even worse.

During pregnancy, a woman’s center of gravity almost immediately begins to shift forward to the front of her pelvis, according to Dr. Jerome McAndrews, spokesperson for the American Chiropractic Association (ACA). Although a woman’s sacrum— or posterior section of her pelvis— has more depth than a man’s to enable her to carry a baby, the displaced weight still increases the stress on her joints. “As the baby grows in size,” Dr. McAndrews explains, “the woman’s weight is projected even farther forward, and the curvature of her lower back is increased, placing extra stress on her spinal disks in that area. As a result, the spine in the upper back area must compensate— and the normal curvature of her upper spine increases as well.”

While these changes sound dramatic, Mother Nature does step in to help accommodate them. During pregnancy, hormones are released that help loosen the ligaments attached to the pelvic bones. But even these natural changes designed to accommodate the growing baby can result in postural imbalances, causing pregnant women to be more prone to awkward trips and falls.

What Can You Do?

The following tips are recommend for pregnant women looking for relief from the discomforts of pregnancy:

• Safe exercise during pregnancy can help strengthen your muscles and prevent discomfort. Try exercising at least three times a week— preceded and followed up by a gentle stretching routine. If you weren’t active before your pregnancy, however, now is not the time to start a new fitness routine. Check with your doctor before starting or continuing any exercise regimen during pregnancy.
  Walking, swimming and stationary cycling are relatively safe cardiovascular exercises for pregnant women, because they do not require jerking or bouncing movements. Even jogging, however, can be safe for women who were avid runners before becoming pregnant— if done carefully and under the supervision of a doctor.
  Whatever exercise routine you choose, be sure to do it in an area with secure footing to minimize the likelihood of falls. Also, be certain that your heart rate does not exceed 140 beats per minute during exercise, and that strenuous activity lasts no more than 15 minutes at a time.
  Stop your exercise routine immediately if you notice any unusual symptoms, such as vaginal bleeding, dizziness, nausea, weakness, blurred vision, increased swelling or heart palpitations.
• Wear flat, sensible shoes. Not only can high or chunky heels be uncomfortable, they can also exacerbate postural imbalances and cause you to be less steady on your feet than you already are. This is especially true as you get farther along in your pregnancy.
• When picking up older children— or any other object for that matter— bend from the knees, not the waist. And never turn your head when you lift. Just to be on the safe side, avoid picking up heavy objects altogether, if possible.
• When sleeping, lie on your side with a pillow between your knees to take pressure off your lower back. Many women find that full-length “body pillows” or “pregnancy wedges” are especially helpful during pregnancy. Lying on your left side is ideal. This position allows unobstructed blood flow, and helps your kidneys flush waste from your body.
• If you have a job that requires you to sit at a computer for long hours, be sure your workstation is ergonomically correct. Position the computer monitor so the top of the screen is at or below your eye level, and place your feet on a small footrest to take pressure off your legs and feet. Also, take periodic breaks every 30 minutes by taking a quick walk around the office.
• Eat small meals or snacks every four to five hours— rather than the usual three large meals— to help keep nausea or extreme hunger at bay. Good snacks include crackers or yogurt— bland foods that are high in carbohydrates and protein. Keep saltines in your desk drawer or purse to help stave off waves of “morning sickness” that can, unfortunately, occur at any time throughout the day.
• Folic acid supplements— at least 400 micrograms (mcg) a day— before and during pregnancy have been shown to decrease the risk of neural tube birth defects, such as spina bifida. Some doctors recommend even more for women who are already pregnant, or who previously gave birth to a child with a neural tube defect. However, check with your doctor before taking this or any other vitamin or herbal supplement. Some herbs and supplements that are considered perfectly safe for non-pregnant women can be dangerous or harmful to the baby or expectant mother.
• Get plenty of rest. Don’t let the demands of work and family life put you and your baby at risk. Pamper yourself, and ask for help if you need it. Take a nap if you’re tired, or lie down and elevate your feet for a few moments when you need a break.

Visit the Chiropractor

Visit your doctor of chiropractic. Before you become pregnant, your doctor of chiropractic can detect any pre-existing imbalances in the pelvis or elsewhere in your body that could make pregnancy discomfort even worse— or leave you with additional neuromusculoskeletal problems after childbirth.

Many pregnant women have found that chiropractic adjustments provide relief from the increased low back pain brought on by pregnancy. Also, scientific studies have found that spinal manipulation carries no increased risk to the pregnant woman or her baby. Chiropractic’s non-drug, non-surgical approach to back pain can be especially attractive to pregnant women who are trying to avoid over-the-counter and prescription drugs. Doctors of chiropractic can also offer nutrition, ergonomic and exercise advice that will help you avoid the discomforts of pregnancy.

Chiropractic care can also be helpful after childbirth. In the eight weeks following labor and delivery, the ligaments that loosened during pregnancy begin to tighten up again. Ideally, joint problems brought on during pregnancy from improper lifting or reaching should be treated before the ligaments return to their pre-pregnancy state. In addition, as the upper and lower spine return to normal, muscle tension, headaches, rib discomfort and shoulder problems can result. Your doctor of chiropractic can help.

When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes applied himself to a difficult case, he famously utilized his powers of deduction. Holmes assembled and examined the facts before him and employed a scientific method of analysis to arrive at a solution that took into account of all the elements of the case. The great fictional detectives who followed in his wake including Agatha Christie’s Miss Jane Marple and Hercule Poirot, and G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown, all utilized Holmes’s painstaking attention to detail and his inimitable, relentless logic.

Your chiropractor, as well, employs methods similar to Holmes’ in their search for the causes of your health issues and the keys that will provide access to abundant wellness and well-being. On the first office visit with a new patient, your chiropractor obtains a thorough health history, including current and past problems, past surgeries, medications, and everything else that is important to understanding your present health circumstances. Next is the physical examination, in which your chiropractor gathers objective findings such as the ranges of motion of your neck, lower back, and various extremities. The strength of key muscle groups is determined, reflexes are tested, and sensory patterns in your arms and legs are assessed.

Additionally, your chiropractor examines the mobility and overall function of the joints of your spine, especially in the cervical (neck) and lumbar (lower back) regions, to identify locations of spinal joint dysfunction and nerve interference. Finally, based on your health history and the physical examination findings, as well as information derived from X-rays and other special tests, if needed, your chiropractor deduces the likely source of your health complaints and devises a program of treatment that will help restore and maintain good health.

By utilizing a comprehensive process of deduction, your chiropractor ascertains the primary spinal regions of joint dysfunction and nerve irritation that are interfering with your ability to express optimal health and well-being. Treatment is directed at correcting these biomechanical problem areas by use of manual chiropractic methods and instruction in rehabilitative exercise routines. Your chiropractor may also help you to set-up a healthy eating program that works for you, as well as provide information on establishing nighttime habits to consistently obtain sound, restful sleep.

Regular chiropractic care is important for all of us, from the youngest members of our families to the oldest. By detecting and correcting sources of nerve interference, our chiropractors help us to demonstrate high levels of health and wellness, now and into the future. Habits of good health can spread throughout a neighborhood and a community. As a result, in the long run, everyone benefits.

Sources:

1. Goncalves G, et al: Primary prevention in chiropractic practice: a systematic review. Chiropr Man Therap 2017 Mar 20;25:9. doi: 10.1186/s12998-017-0140-4. eCollection 2017
2. Clijsters M, et al: Chiropractic treatment approaches for spinal musculoskeletal conditions: a cross-sectional survey. Chiropr Man Therap 2014 Oct 1;22(1):33. doi: 10.1186/s12998-014-0033-8. eCollection 2014
3. Gorrell LM, et al: Manual and Instrument Applied Cervical Manipulation for Mechanical Neck Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 39(5):319-329, 2016

In the classic 1944 film noir, “Double Indemnity”, insurance salesman Walter Neff (played by Fred MacMurray), gets into some pretty hot water involving his client (Barbara Stanwyck) and his co-worker (Edward G. Robinson). Neff tries to misuse the concept of double indemnity and he pays a heavy price. Surprisingly, double indemnity works very well for the rest of us. Exercise, healthy nutrition, proper rest, and regular chiropractic care can pay off, not only double, but often in many multiples. However, before we begin reaping these benefits we have to know where to look and how to make use of this property we all get for free.

Out in the world, insurance policies pay us a benefit when problems arise. Car insurance, home insurance, life insurance, and health insurance are all financial instruments that compensate people (in some degree or other, more or less) when things go wrong. Inside our bodies, double indemnity is turned on its head. When we do things that are good for our health and well-being, our built-in “insurance policies” pay off double, sometimes triple, and sometimes in ways that cannot even be calculated.

Let’s consider a person who is overweight, possibly seriously overweight. That person decides, much like Howard Beale in the multiple-Academy Award-winning film “Network” (1976), that he is “not going to take this anymore”. He declares to himself that he will begin to lose weight. He makes a commitment to start exercising regularly and eating nutritious food. Change takes time, and sooner rather than later he loses a few pounds. Then he loses a few more. After three months he’s 12 pounds lighter, and after six months he’s more than 20 pounds lighter than when he first chose to live a healthier life.

By now his body’s double indemnity clause has started to pay off. He began doing some things, began engaging in a healthy new lifestyle, and he begins to reap the benefits. Owing to his new exercise program and his new diet, his blood pressure begins to go down. His insulin levels begin to stabilize,¹ rather than spiking and falling off drastically throughout the day. His blood glucose levels become steadier, too, and his cells, organs, and tissues (particularly his brain) are beginning to receive consistent supplies of oxygen and other precious nutrients.² His immune system gets stronger.³ As a direct result, his stress levels are going down and his heart rate is steadier. His sleep is more restful and he has more energy throughout the day. There are many other benefits, too, known only to him and his loved ones.

Our built-in double indemnity clause is primed for action. It is ready to kick in and begin an open-ended flow of good health and well-being. All we need to do is begin taking consistent actions that will enable our innate powers to function in the ways they were designed to function.

¹Bloem CJ, Chang AM: Short-term exercise improves beta-cell function and insulin resistance in older people with impaired glucose tolerance. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 93(2):387-392, 2008

²Ahmadi N, et al: Effects of intense exercise and moderate caloric restriction on cardiovascular risk factors and inflammation. Am J Med 124(10):978-982, 2011

³Walsh NP, et al: Position statement. Part one: Immune function and exercise. Exerc Immunol Rev 17:6-63, 2011

We are awash in numbers, thanks in large part to the proliferation of personal mobile devices and the wrong-headed use of so-called big data.¹ But applying statistical tools to the same set of data can support competing theories and lead to contradictory results. Such conflicting outcomes, known as antinomies if you remember Philosophy 101, cannot logically co-exist, and the field of statistics gets a bad reputation as a result. But big data can provide substantial value for people as individual patients. The key is to set some ground rules and understand the limitations of statistical investigation.

First and foremost, it’s important to gain some clarity regarding the concept of false positives in regards to health. This statistical construct is familiar to all of us, although we may not be aware of it. If one of your doctors sends you for a laboratory test and the results are “positive”, you’ll be sent for follow-up tests until a final determination is made. If the final test turns out “negative”, then the earlier results represented a false positive. The test results said you had the condition or disease, but in fact you did not.

False positives create numerous serious problems, not the least of which is the emotional toll of stress, anxiety, and fear experienced by the patient and her family and close friends. This is especially true when the suspected disease is a malignancy or other serious, life-threatening condition. It’s useful and empowering for people to learn that 5% of all test results are falsely positive right from the start. Medical tests are designed this way. The 5% false positive rate is a necessary part of statistical analysis. It’s built-in to the statistical design. In other words, test values that represent “normal” are obtained by cutting off the bottom 2.5% and the top 2.5% of a large sample of results from people who are “normal” for the thing being tested, such as white blood cell count or hemoglobin level.

Thus, 5% of normal people automatically have false positive results. Another way of stating this outcome is to consider that if you undergo a panel of 20 blood tests, one result (5% of 20) will be positive no matter what.

The vast majority of patients are not familiar with the statistical concept of false positive results.² With a basic understanding of this construct and its implications, patients could ask their doctors meaningful questions such as, “What do the test results mean?”, “Have you considered the possibility of a false positive result?”, and “How will the additional tests you’re recommending affect decision-making in my case?”

Posing such questions is tremendously empowering for you, the patient, and helps reestablish equity in the doctor-patient relationship.³ As a health care consumer, a little knowledge goes a long way. Gaining more than a little knowledge by reading articles on diagnostic methods and health care decision-making will further strengthen your own process as a patient.

¹Bates DW, et al: Big data in health care: using analytics to identify and manage high-risk and high-cost patients. Health Aff (Millwood) 33(7):1123-31, 2014
²Paddock SM: Statistical benchmarks for health care provider performance assessment: a comparison of standard approaches to a hierarchical Bayesian histogram-based method. Health Serv Res 49(3):1056-73, 2014
³Stacey D, et al: Decision aids for people facing health treatment or screening decisions. Cochane Database Syst Rev 28;1:CD001431, 2014

Your chiropractor has many powerful tools at his or her disposal to help you get well. These powerful tools include chiropractic care itself and specialized knowledge in nutrition, exercise, and rehabilitation. There are some things that you, too, can bring to the chiropractor-patient relationship in order to get the most out of your chiropractic care.

Eating healthy food is very important in helping yourself to get well, whether you’re dealing with a cold, high blood pressure, or lower back pain. A common factor in getting better from any disorder or condition is having the necessary ingredients available to support a strong immune system and to build healthy new cells and tissues to replace those affected by ill health or injury. A balanced diversity of choices from all food groups is necessary for ongoing good health, and is particularly needed when you’re attempting to restore good health. It’s especially important to make sure you’re eating at least five portions of fresh fruits and vegetables every day.¹

Getting regular vigorous exercise is key to feeling good right now and to promoting long-term health and well-being. Government agencies and the scientific literature recommend 30 minutes of vigorous exercise five days a week. This recommended minimum can be easily accomplished by a 30-minute brisk walk each day. Of course, if you haven’t done any exercise in some time you’ll want to build up to a 30-minute duration and gradually build up your pace. The important thing is to begin a habit of regular exercise and stick to it over time. You will likely be delighted to find how personally empowering regular exercise can be. Regular exercise provides benefit for all your body systems and enhances creativity and other cognitive abilities.

A third set of activities that help your chiropractor help you involves developing and maintaining a positive mental attitude. To be effective in this area, it’s important to get a good sense of what a positive mental attitude means and implies. Of course, all of us have real problems at one time or another. Certainly, health issues can often be very problematic. Having a positive mental attitude doesn’t mean pretending that the problems do not exist, nor does it mean spouting a lot of “happy talk” to cover up your feelings. Rather, creating and maintaining a positive mental attitude involves making a choice. Even when faced with some pretty stressful circumstances, we have a choice to be positive or negative. The circumstances may be tough, but we have a choice concerning whether we’re going to have a good day. Such an attitude may require a lot of a person, and there will be many times when so-called negative feelings are foremost. What counts is the willingness to look for the positive and to return to a positive mental attitude as soon as possible.^2,3

Each of these three main activities will help you gain improved health and well-being. Done together with regular chiropractic care, these activities will help promote personal (and, by extension, family) wellness.

¹Boeing H, et al: Critical review: vegetables and fruit in the prevention of chronic diseases. Eur J Nutr 51(6):637-663, 2012

²Melcher T, et al: How negative affect influences neural control processes underlying the resolution of cognitive interference: an event-related fMRI study. Neurosci Res 70(4):415-427, 2011

³Steptoe A, et al: Distinctive biological correlates of positive psychological well-being in older men and women. Psychosom Med 74(5):501-508, 2012

For many of us, the practice of meditation seems like a totally foreign notion. In an era of full-time, morning-to-night distractions and distractibility, the concept of quietly sitting with nothing else to do seems impossibly ridiculous. Why would anyone do that, we ask, as we text message with one hand and channel surf with the other.

Of course, this lack of ability to pay attention and focus for more than 15 seconds at a time is at the core of many of our health issues. Learning how to meditate directly addresses this problem, providing training in developing concentration skills. But meditation offers an abundance of additional benefits, many of great significance to our overall health and well-being.

Years of research have documented the profound benefits of meditation, including reductions in elevated blood pressure levels, stress reduction, pain management,¹ and even rewiring of neurologic connections in the brain.^2,3 Thus, there are many reasons to begin meditation practice. The key question is how to get started.

Learning how to meditate is actually straightforward. There are many types of meditation practice. Some utilize a mantra, a silently repeated short, meaningless phrase. Others involve specific breathing methods. Others focus on the breath itself without utilizing specific instructions on how to breathe.

This latter method is that employed in Zen meditation. You sit comfortably in a quiet space, ideally facing a blank wall, situated approximately two feet from the wall. (Your specific situation may vary. The important point is to be in a quiet space without distractions of people or technology.) You focus on your breath, seeing your breath go up your spine in the back and then down your spine in the front. After observing one cycle of breathing, you silently count “one.” Continue to observe your breathing cycle, adding to your count with each completed cycle. “Two.” “Three.” When you’ve completed ten cycles, go back to the numerical beginning and count “one” on the next cycle.

But if your mind wanders (as it inevitably will) and begins to think about whatever, when you eventually notice that you’ve lost your focus, go back to the beginning and count “one” again.

The “practice” part of meditation relates to practicing paying attention, paying attention to the breath. Your mind wanders, eventually you notice this, and you return to the breath. That’s all there is. There is no requirement that you need to stay focused. A person is not a “bad meditator” when they find they are continually thinking of other things. The power is in the practice itself. By actually sitting down to meditate, by actually setting aside that time to be “still”, you will derive unexpected benefits. And the more you practice, the more your practice becomes a habit, the more you will gain.

What is a recommended length for meditation sessions? There are no rules. The key is to begin, and then to continue. Starting with a five-minute session, twice a day, is a very good beginning. If you wish, you could build up to two 30-minute sessions per day. Again, your meditation practice is not a contest. What works for you will work for you.

¹Marchand WR: Mindfulness-based stress reduction, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and zen meditation for depression, anxiety, pain, and psychological distress. J Psychiatr Pract 18(4):233-252, 2012

²Hasenkamp W, Barsalou LW: Effects of meditation experience on functional connectivity of distributed brain networks. Front Hum Neurosci 6:38, 2012 [Epub 2012 Mar 1]

³Brewer JA, et al: Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108(50):20254-20259, 2011

The time is always right to begin returning to good health. Regardless of whether your issues involve weight, exercise, diet, blood pressure, diabetes, or chronic pain, now is the time to begin taking action on your own behalf.

You are not alone. Literally hundreds of millions of people worldwide have various chronic complaints and illnesses.^1,2,3 Some problems are more serious than others, but everyone eventually wants to find a better way to manage their health problems. Eventually everyone wants to actually begin to be healthier and feel better.

Of course, a healthy diet and regular vigorous exercise are the key elements in any process of returning to good health. People know this, but for the most part this knowledge alone does not do any good. The deep truth is that feeling good and actually being healthy takes a lot of effort. It’s much easier to pick up dinner from a fast food restaurant than to spend precious time planning and shopping and preparing meals. It’s much easier to sit on your couch and watch people on TV trying to lose weight than to actually do the work of losing weight yourself. It’s much easier to spend 30 minutes watching the news for the third time that day than to put on your workout clothes and go for a brisk 30-minute walk.

We are all slaves to our habitual ways of thinking and habitual ways of living. Just as in physics, people have inertia. Newton’s First Law of Motion states that a body at rest stays at rest and a body in motion stays in motion, unless it is acted upon by an external unbalanced force. We will do the same things we have always done, achieving the same results we have always achieved, unless we make an active choice to engage in new thinking and new activities.

By the way, no one is going to make any lasting changes in their lifestyle – for example, by choosing a healthy diet and daily exercise – merely because someone told them they needed to do it. If you’re chronically overweight, your doctor has told you every year that you need to make changes. Every year at your annual physical she tells you to begin regular, vigorous exercise and adopt healthy eating habits. Do any of these admonitions ever make a lasting difference? They don’t, not becauses they are bad advice, but because they were not a match for your own world view. Real change, lasting change, has to come from within, from your own personal choice.

When a person is actually ready to choose to revamp her lifestyle with respect to achieving good health, there are many possible steps to take. Chiropractic care can be an important and critical component of an overall health improvement strategy.

¹Temple R, Murphy H: Type 2 diabetes in pregnancy – An increasing problem. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab 24(4):591-603.

²Li S, et al: Genetic predisposition to obesity leads to increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Diabetologiz Jan 26, 2011 (Epub ahead of print)

³Urquhart DM, et al: Increased fat mass is associated with high levels of low back pain intensity and disability. Spine Jan 25, 2011 (Epub ahead of print)

Many people – adults and children – are familiar with the marvelous animated feature “The Lion King”. Most have found themselves humming the film’s theme “The Circle of Life” long after they’ve stopped actively thinking about the film itself. “The Circle of Life” is not only a terrifically catchy tune, but is also a powerful metaphor. And as is often the case, what we find in our outer experience is also true in our inner experience.¹

In our outer experience, the circle of life suggests that all life is multiply interconnected. Forests, for example, convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and release oxygen gas into the environment, providing a life-giving source of energy for all animals, including humans. Forests provide shade, shelter, and habitat, nurturing and supporting the growth of countless plant and animal species. Forests reduce soil erosion, purify air and water, and influence local and regional climates. Forests are one among an almost limitless number of examples of the web or circle of life on our planet.

Human physiology demonstrates the circle of life in a microcosm, mirroring planet-wide interconnectedness on an individual, internal scale. For example, actively exercising skeletal muscle creates a cascade of effects across many other body systems, affecting far-flung cells, tissues, and organs. Vigorous skeletal muscle work requires extra glucose and extra oxygen for energy.

If the oxygen supply provided by circulating blood is insufficient, the heart will pump harder and faster and the respiration rate will increase. More oxygen will be taken in by the lungs and blood will flow more quickly to the working muscle tissue. If the glucose supply provided by circulating blood is insufficient, liver cells will break down stored glycogen into glucose. Elsewhere, fat stores may be converted to glycogen, further increasing the potential supply for usable glucose.²

Other systems are required to complete the circle. Muscle activity produces metabolic waste, resulting from the burning of oxygen and use of glucose for energy. The end-products of metabolism must be removed and eliminated. Increased circulation sweeps up these substances which are then disposed of by the kidneys and the large intestine.

This single example of your internal circle of life is repeated throughout the day whenever you do physical work.³ Innumerable physiologic circles of life are constantly engaged in the perpetual motion machine that is the human body. The nervous system is the master controller of all these complex and interrelated activities. Chiropractic care helps ensure a free flow of information back and forth between the brain, the spinal cord, and the rest of the body. Chiropractic care helps ensure the ongoing health, welfare, and well-being of your personal Circle of Life.

¹Tyreman S: The happy genius of my household: phenomenological and poetic journeys into health and illness. Med Health Care Philos February 15, 2011 (Epub ahead of print)

²Lazarou C, et al: Lifestyle factors are determinants of children’s blood pressure levels. J Hum Hypertens 23(7):456-463, 2009

³Does participating in physical activity in outdoor natural environments have a greater effect on physical and mental well-being than physical activity indoors? A systematic review. Thompson CJ, et al: Environ Sci Technol February 3, 2011 (Epub ahead of print)

What animates us? In other words, what is it that causes us to be living matter? For example, what distinguishes a living orchid from a tissue-paper-and-paint model of an orchid? Or what distinguishes a hawk from an airplane? What is it that causes the material that is us to hold together and function in an organized fashion, rather than falling apart and decaying as all other non-living matter eventually does?

These are deep inquiries, presenting issues that most of us never take time to consider. We take our existence for granted, although the mental exercise of wondering where we came from and how we got here might prove very useful. In fact, pondering these questions may provide us a bit of insight as to our real nature, and the answers we get may help us become healthier, happier, more self-fulfilled human beings.

Scientists have been engaged in investigating these and related questions for more than 2000 years. Philosophers, writers, and artists have done likewise throughout the ages. Most recently, particle physicists working at the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland, have been attempting to prove the existence of a hypothetical elementary particle known as the Higgs boson. If identified, the Higgs particle would help support the Standard Model, which in turn provides deep knowledge of the structure and workings of the our universe.

The renowned paleontologist and philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin proposed in “The Future of Man” that life is a directed, intended consequence of the development of matter in the universe. Further, he states many times that human consciousness is the intended culmination of the evolution of life on our planet. There are many astounding implications to Teilhard’s philosophy, but what is one practical takeaway that we can use today?

Practically speaking, consciousness is a gift. What we do with it is up to us. One very useful path to take is to use our consciousness to manage the state of matter in our bodies. That is, we can make conscious choices about the food we eat,¹ the healthy activities we engage in,^2,3 and the methods of health care we use to help keep us well.

One such conscious choice is to get regular chiropractic care. In fact, chiropractic care may be directly related to the timeless inquires of philosophers and scientists. Chiropractic care “throws on the switch” that enables clear, optimal communication between your brain and your body. Doing this creates a powerful pathway between the consciousness that is you, the “light within”, and your physical body, allowing both to work together in seamless harmony.

¹Krajcovicova-Kudlackova M, et al: Selected biomarkers of age-related diseases in older subjects with different nutrition. Bratisl Lek Listy 112(11):610-613, 2011

²van Dijk JW, et al: Both resistance- and endurance-type exercise reduce the prevalence of hyperglycaemia in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance and in insulin-treated and non-insulin-treated type 2 diabetic patients. Diabetologica 2011 Nov 29 [Epub ahead of print]

³Awad AB, et al: Vitamin D and metabolic syndrome risk factors: evidence and mechanisms. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 52(2):103-112, 2012