Which is true when dealing with illness or disease, "mind over matter" -or- do every tissue, cell and organ need to be healed/detoxed/balanced/fixed? Can both be right, or even connected?

We've all heard how our gut is our second brain, right?  How the bacteria in our gut, the foods we eat, etc. can make a huge difference in our clarity, energy, and connectedness? Candace Pert, a PhD and researcher of neuroscience and pharmacology who studied the mind-body connection and wrote hundreds of articles, took it even further in her book 'Your Body is your Subconscious Mind'  with this powerful phrase..."Your mind is in every cell of your body."

The body uses your spinal cord to communicate information constantly to your brain about your environment, through all of our sensory systems. Your spinal cord and its tension and tone tell your brain whether you're safe and can explore/play/work, or whether you need to be on guard for danger. The brain listens to these signals subconsciously and makes appropriate decisions based on the information it gets. As we are learning, and even the CDC says, 90% of illness is stress related.  Could it be that old thought patterns, or old tension patterns in the spine from something that happened years ago are creating our present reality of illness, pain, or stress?

The brain can make very powerful and instantaneous shifts that create spontaneous healing. Also, changing the state of your body (improving your posture, doing breath work, shaking meditations, etc.) have huge effects on both your brain and your body. So what's better, working from the body up to the brain, or focusing your conscious brain on healing your body?

In my opinion, BOTH! However, since less than 10% of our brain is under conscious control, we will have much more effective ways of processing either a trauma or an illness when involving your body, especially the spinal cord. 

The work we do focuses on the connection between your body and your mind, very gently removing interference to help your brain AND your body be at their best. If you are interested in optimizing your bodymind, fill out the Contact Us form to the side!

Who else has had moments where bright lights, loud noises, a terrible smell, or even stress has made you want to curl up in the closet or under the bed?  That is the perfect example of sensory information - a touch, smell, sound, sight, or taste - that is TOO much for your brain to handle at any given moment. This reminds me of a fully blown fuse box - information/power can't get to and from your brain, just like the power source.  Everything needs to shut down.

Last week we spoke about the behavior of children as a window to their developing brain. We asked... what happens that  might cause the brain to develop with gaps, or get stuck in a stage of development?

We know that if a child is not touched, never sees light or hears sounds, or doesn't receive proper food, he or she will not develop normally. Proper sensory information builds a healthy brain. So what carries that information from all of our bodies (to tell the brain what's happening in the environment)?  The back part of the brain and top of the spinal cord. As a chiropractor, we detect and correct neurostructural shifts, or subluxations, in this upper part of the spine. 

A neurostructural shift occurs as a result of stress to the body. Stressors can come in many forms: emotional stress (like friend struggles or a yelling parent or teacher), physical stress (slips, carrying heavy back packs, sitting too much, being on screens), and chemical stress (air pollution, poor nutrition, polluted water) etc.  When the stress is too much, the fuse blows. Altered movement in the upper spine, which often happens due to a difficult pregnancy or delivery, as well as from head injuries, keeps information from getting to the brain, or alters the sensory information that the brain receives.

If the fuse has been blown, there will be clues. Some of these are what happened along your child's development: perhaps they crawled on three limbs and dragged a leg behind. Did they respond to their name before age 1? Did she skip gesturing and take several years to speak in sentence? Maybe their pencil grip is on the thumb and fourth finger instead of the thumb and pointer.

More clues show up in our chiropractic exam: the way the child holds their head, moves their body, and changes in their structure and muscles. If we find these clues and the upper spine has a blown fuse, we can help by very specifically and gently (with the force of checking ripeness of tomato) correcting the neurostructural shift. If the input to your child's brain is not appropriate and proper, we HAVE to deal with this piece first. This tills the soil to the developing brain so it can learn and grow. Any other treatment is likely to overwhelm or create more imbalances in the brain.

Are you seeing clues that your child might have a blown fuse box? Would you like a complimentary consult to discuss the gaps in your child's development or some behaviors that concern you? Please fill out our contact us form

Does your kid climb constantly? Hum loudly in coffee shops? Have a hard time sitting still in church, school, plays, etc? Touch strangers?  As parents we often see these behaviors as problems that require discipline. However, the more I study brain development, the more I realize these are the best clues our kids give us as to where their brain is at and needs more stimulation.

What we know about brain development is that human babies are born before much of their brain development occurs. As the brain matures, it opens up like a flower: from the bottom up, from the back to the front, from the inside to out, from right to left, like a flower. 

The brain comes with primitive tools to help each baby survive in its environment: a rooting reflex to help it find food, the urge to hold on to the hands of it's loving family members, and dad's favorite: a strong startle reflex. As your child's brain develops like a flower, it will develop more sophisticated tools to engage with the world. Baby can begin to creep, crawl, walk, talk, develop fine motor skills, more advanced eye movements and will eventually use visual cues for cognition about the best way to be in his or her environment. The visualization eventually helps kids be able to decode abstract symbols (READ!), predict the future, "see" future outcomes, and create order. 

Very often, when children are having trouble with higher executive function, or we see "unwanted" behaviors, this is giving us a clue to where their brain is at in its development. Next week, we will discuss  the next logical question - what does this have to do with chiropractic? What affects brain development?  What could have impacted brain development or kept it from moving through all the stages?

If you are interested in a complimentary phone consult to discuss your child's development, please contact us using the form!

We (belatedly!) wish you a happy New Year.  Are you a goal setter? A resolution maker? For the last few years, I have set an intention rather than specific goals. This image suits mine perfectly: to live in aligned freedom. To take up space, to be myself without apologies, and to make sure that the choices I make are not made from the fear of disappointing others, but following the wisdom and calling I hold true. 

So how does this connect to the spine? Many of us lack proper alignment in our spine. We have picked up defense postures and stress through years of living through difficult situations either physically, emotionally, mentally, or even chemically. 

Are there any parts that no longer feel true to you? Are you holding on to stress, or have you built walls that don't serve you anymore? 

The tension, tone, and position of your spine have a direct impact on the tension and tone of you and your life.  For some this can look like pain that keeps you from doing what you love. For others, you find your body constantly under stress and things like sleep and digestion become very difficult. 

For those who are ready to get back to their free and authentic self this year, send us a message! 

Really? Chiropractic can help the position of my baby that’s Breech (or oblique, transverse, posterior)? We will explore more about the technique we use to help mamas, and common objections women have to utilizing chiropractic for pregnancy, and baby malposition in general. 

The chiropractic technique we employ to help expecting moms is called the Webster Technique. According to its definition - The Webster Technique is a specific chiropractic sacral analysis and diversified adjustment. The goal of the adjustment is to reduce the effects of sacral subluxation/ SI joint dysfunction. In doing so, neuro-biomechanical function in the pelvis is facilitated.

Sacral subluxation may contribute to difficult labor for the mother (i.e., dystocia or painful or long labor), caused by inadequate uterine function, pelvic contraction, and baby mal-presentation. Correction of sacral subluxation may have a positive effect on all of these causes of dystocia.

Some expecting moms have hesitations about trying the Webster Technique for a variety of reasons:              

-Won’t it hurt the baby? Or me?  Chiropractic is extraordinarily safe, with virtually no incidents reported per 2,000,000 adjustments. Personally, I’ve adjusted over 1000 expecting moms, and have performed over 100,000 adjustments with no adverse events.  Because expecting moms have surges of the relaxin hormone, to loosen ligaments and open up the pelvis, we use extraordinarily gentle techniques - light touch, adjusting instruments, and gentle drops.

As for your baby, he or she is protected by seven layers – your skin, your muscles, your fascia (surrounds groups of muscles), a layer subcutaneous fat, your uterus, the placenta, and baby’s bag of waters, or amniotic fluid. So soft tissue work involved in the Webster Technique on your round ligaments, the second layer from the outside, comes nowhere near baby.

-My previous baby was breech, is it just something about my body?  In almost 90% of cases, there is something about your body that we can work on – the position and alignment of your pelvis and sacrum. Since our posture, our jobs, and the way we move our bodies is often the same throughout multiple pregnancies, the Webster Technique can help get to the root cause of why your baby might not want to settle into a vertex position.

-I tried the Webster Technique once, and it didn’t work for me. The Webster Technique is shown to be 82% successful. Studies show that success rates go up when the mother starts care in her eighth month of pregnancy. The average visits it took for baby to turn was 6. So if you are less than 36 weeks and are willing to give it a good try, you have a great chance of baby turning!

-I don’t have pain.   Pain is an unreliable indicator of a misalignment.  Even without pain, it is still worthwhile to utilize chiropractic to optimize the structure and neural integrity in your sacrum and pelvis.

In addition to helping align the pelvis, which can improve baby’s position, chiropractic in pregnancy has two other major side benefits: decreased labor time, and increased comfort. Chiropractic care has been shown to decrease labor times by 24 percent in first births and up to 33 percent for second or third births! (The effects of chiropractic treatment on pregnancy and labor: a comprehensive study. Fallon J. Proceedings of the world chiropractic congress. 1991; 24-31.) The study also shows that the sooner the mother starts chiropractic care, the more robust the benefits.  Additional studies show that 75-88% of women experience a significant reduction in their back pain.  

Dr. Erin offers complimentary 10-15 minute phone consults for any expecting mother who is interested in learning more about whether the Webster technique is right for her. We would love to see if we can help, and have fair and affordable prices to ensure that care is within your reach.

Last week, we discussed how much the position, shape and tone of our spinal cord and posture will match the tone, tension, and shape of our lives. Trauma, stress, and other life-shaping events happen, and we change. Sometimes we change for the better – we grow. Sometimes we change to survive, to protect, to stay safe – we put on armor.

Just like in battle, armor creates stability and safety.

This armored identity or spinal “sense of self” stabilizes our health by sustaining certain energy levels, certain tension levels in the muscles and ligaments, and certain emotional biochemistry (molecules of emotion, as Bruce Lipton, PhD calls them). Tight muscles and ligaments stabilize the bones, tissues, organs, and nerves at a certain level… even if it’s not in a great place, it’s better than the WORST place. We know who we are and what to expect.

This is a useful short-term strategy and a painful, energy sucking long-term strategy.

In creating this stable, certain spinal sense of self using the protective branch of our nervous system, it also prevents us from moving forward to actually heal.  Our nerve system can either protect against pain (sympathetic nervous system aka fight/flight) OR heal and grow (parasympathetic nervous system aka rest, digest, and reproduce). They are two different directions with two different outcomes. Staying stuck in Sympathetic nervous system requires a great amount of energy, and doesn't allow for natural rhythms of rest and repair.

As such, when this spinal sense of self is challenged, the protection nerves send fight (anger) or flight (fear) signals and create symptoms as we start doing something contrary to who our spine says we CAN be. “Stay within the lines. The lines are our friends. Terrrible things can happen outside of the lines!" 

Each spinal sense of self serves us for a period of time. If we get “stuck” in one, or if that part of us doesn’t function properly, it causes problems. When this happens, it starts to hurt as we outgrow an old suit of spinal armor that no longer fits.

This shows up as physical pain, anxiety, emotional reactivity, digestive challenges, sleep issues, or any of the other Secondary Conditions to an underlying NeuroSpinal Dysfunction… and usually when we’re not doing anything different than usual.

At this stage of healing, I often hear people say, “I don’t get it doc, I was just doing what I always do! Why is my body betraying me?”

What we’ve always done is EXACTLY why we’re hurting. We’ve outgrown the old and MUST make room for the true.  As Donny Epstein says, “If you’re living someone else’s life, it’s supposed to hurt.”

Like a crab sheds its shell when it grows too big, we too must we shed our spinal attachment to an outdated or dysfunctional sense of self, or we risk becoming crushed by it as we continue to grow.

To do this, you must update your spine to make room.

As you progress through the process of optimizing your brain and spine through Network Spinal care, there is a point where – in order to actually heal and resolve the underlying process behind our problems – we break through those hardwired neurospinal masks, the spinal identities that no longer fit and, ultimately, were never really us in the first place.

We call this part of the process Level 2B, when a powerful “wave” of movement and energy moves through the stuck or “subluxated” regions of the spine that are anchored in to these old patterns. 

These processes invite periods of instability, when we are “off center” and thus more open to radical changes… because stepping past the illusion of our hardwired defensive identity don’t happen with a slow and gradual process. That gives it too much time to strategize and entrench itself. Rather, transformation is a thunderbolt, a radical shift, a seismic event that happens in an instant. Rather than muting the instability, we dare to dive into the waves of uncertainty.

Like a baby bird, we’re pushed from the branch… and we realize that we can fly.

In order to heal – not just manage a painful or stuck situation – we MUST break our addiction to stability and certainty, to an outdated suit of armor.

The counterintuitive part of it all is that, as we shift our function and focus from who we were, we naturally and healthily become who we are. This is one of the classic outcomes of Level 2 in Network Spinal Analysis – liberation of the Undefended Self.

A healthy spine and nervous system that have been optimized to be who you TRULY ARE, even in stressful situations, to be present, loving, and real when life turns up the volume, is a magical thing.

…and IT TAKES SO MUCH LESS ENERGY TO BE REAL!

A healthy spinal sense of self supports knowing who you are, why you’re here, and what you’re made of. To joyfully lose yourself in service, you must have a healthy self to deliver that service.

Find your spine, find yourself.

Change your spine, change yourself.

Free your spine, free your self.

April is Autism Awareness Month.  The incidence of autism has increased from 1/10,000 in the 1970’s to 1/68 children (1/42 boys and 1/189 girls) in March of 2014.  Lisa Ackerman, TACA Executive Director, has stated, “We can no longer assume we are more aware or better at diagnosing. There is just more autism. It is time we offer families help not excuses.”

The fiscal cost of the devastating neurological disease depends on its severity, but has been estimated between $1.4 - $2.4 million over a lifetime.  It is not hard to see that if the rate of autism keeps dramatically increasing, this burden will not be sustainable financially or emotionally for families and individuals.

While we celebrate the wide range of neurodiversity present in our city, state, and even in our own office at Lifelong Health, we believe that adding health to every situation can help improve quality of life.  Since autism affects the nervous system, the digestive system, the immune system, and the excretion systems, symptoms looks very different in different individuals.  But a salutogenic approach, (a focus of health-creation) for children and adults with autism and their families has brought HUGE benefits for many, including sleep, focus, digestion, decrease in tics and improved socialization and behavior.  Over the next few weeks we will discuss the know risk factors contributing to autism, and the many ways we can support health in this all-encompassing disease. 

Top 5 ways to beat Spring Allergies

If you’re like me, this time of year is exhilarating - the snow is melting and the days are getting looong! But for millions of Americans, spring allergies dampen the fun and excitement that spring can bring. As a lifelong allergy sufferer, I’m here to relate the tips that have helped me get through spring the last 12 years without the miserable stuffy sinuses, itchy eyes, runny nose, and dull headache, all naturally.

1. Avoid mucus-producing foods. The top two by far are dairy and sugar. As tempting as Easter candy can be, keeping my ears and nose unplugged feels better than candy, milk, and cheese taste! This time of the year is a great time to dial in on nutrition to prep for summer!

2. Add extra anti-inflammatory foods. This can be super easy and sustainable, such as adding lemon to your water, or eating extra greens with your meals. Less inflammation means less mucus, less itching, less discomfort!

3.  Consider a cleanse or fast.  A 3-day juice cleanse helps pack in great immune-boosting power of vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants. Both a juice cleanse or a day long water fast can help your body clear out toxins.

4. Eat local honey.  Honey is a great antioxidant and has antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-allergenic properties.  Many sufferers from seasonal allergies have reported relief after having local honey in their tea or raw by the tablespoon.  Since bees collect pollen from the flowers in the environment, their honey contains tiny and safe amounts of pollen that can help the allergy sufferer become accommodated to the pollen.

5. Chiropractic and cranial work. The nerves that supply the eyes, ears, and nose are all located in the upper neck.  A misalignment here can keep these areas from working as well as they could. Many of our patients report instant drainage of their sinuses and better function in their immune system after an adjustment.  Gentle cranial work can also help the fluid that may be stuck somewhere in a cavity or sinus in your head free up instantly. We also love to teach our patients drainage techniques that they can use at home.

As always, we offer complimentary phone consults. If you’re frustrated by the idea of a season of feeling stuffy and itchy, call us at 612-354-2231. If you’re a current patient and want to talk more about tips or strategies, we are happy to schedule extra time and talk more about how to have an allergy-free spring!

In addition, with fewer physical cravings, I have really been able to isolate my emotional cravings for unhealthy foods and build new and better ways to address them. 

But let it be known - finding food with no added sugar, unhealthy oils, etc. can be tricky!  Here are some tips that I have found helpful:

Meal prepping:

• When cooking, make food in triplicate so you have lots of leftovers
• Snack/quick protein foods: eggs (HB or deviled), celery with almond butter, fruit (sparingly unless a child/pregnant/nursing), raw nuts, RX bars, beef sticks.
• Investing in a Whole 30 cookbook was worth it for me.  The recipes were delicious and made for good variety
• Sauces – Recommended sauces made with healthy oils include: Tessemae's and Primal Kitchen. I made my own BBQ using apple juice and dates for sweetener and used it for ketchup
• Drinks – Kombucha is compliant (yay!)- in a wine glass it feels even fancier.  I also enjoyed LaCroix frequently.  I drank my coffee with nutpod or blended with coconut oil and collagen.

Going out to eat in the Twin Cities:

• Chipotle carnitas salads are compliant!  No rice or beans or dairy, but as much veggies, salsas, guac, etc. as you would like!
• Foxy Falafel near the St. Paul campus of the U of MN has an AIP special that usually is compliant!  They also have a delicious bone broth.
• At a lovely new restaurant in SW Mpls, Book Club, my server was aware of the Whole 30 and pointed me toward a delicious meal - a turkey leg confit that was fried in its own oil as well as olive oil.  Baby potatoes were also prepared on the oil.  Kombucha was also on tap, which was a big treat!

Traveling:

I was away for 2 ½ days at a seminar in Atlanta, which was the most difficult part of doing the Whole 30 well.  Here are my major travel tips:

• Carry RX or Lara bars, avocado or fruit, raw nuts, beef sticks in case of plane delays or no options
• At a healthy restaurant, I felt free to order a salad that I know had healthy oil with lots of toppings.  If I wasn’t sure about the ingredients, I would simply order a meat with no sauce, and a salad with olive oil and vinegar.

As I round out my Whole 30, I’ve decided to maintain a modified version long term. I will slowly introduce foods (chocolate will definitely be first!).  Grains, dairy and legumes may always stay off limits for me because I’ve been feeling so good!  I can’t recommend the Whole 30 highly enough – whether to lose a few pounds, support an underlying autoimmune disorder, or to break a craving (slay the sugar dragon in Whole 30 terminology!).

Migraine headaches are a mysterious condition that leave people debilitated and in shambles. People who suffer from migraines are often left searching for solutions to the underlying cause of their headaches. In this fourth and final blog of our migraine series, we will explain how chiropractic can be a solution to the underlying problem in the vast majority of migraine cases.

The Anatomy 

Before you can understand how chiropractic can help with migraines, you first need to understand the anatomy of the upper neck. The upper neck is formed by three bones. These include the base of your skull, called the occipital bone, the C1 vertebra, which is the first bone in your neck, and the C2 vertebra, which is the second bone in your neck. These bones surround and protect the lower portion of the brainstem. In addition, a major source of blood supply to the brain, called the vertebral artery, also passes through this area.

Subluxation

When the bones in our upper neck become misaligned, it is very deleterious for our bodies. A misalignment in the spine, also known as a subluxation, can occur when our bodies are unable to handle environmental stressors. These stressors can be physical, chemical, or emotional traumas that our body experiences. Migraines, among a host of other issues, often occur with a serious subluxation in our upper neck because the nerve fibers and vasculature that runs through this area are very delicate.

How Chiropractic Helps

Chiropractors work to remove subluxations by restoring natural alignment in the spine. The first step for your chiropractor is to assess this area in detail by obtaining X-rays of your spine.  This allows a chiropractor to understand if it is possible to make corrections to the area and take pressure off of the brain stem, spinal cord, and delicate nerves.  If subluxation in the upper neck is present, the next step is for your chiropractor to make very specific adjustments to the top bones in your neck. These adjustments are very gentle and can be done by hand or with instrument. There is now proven research that migraine sufferers who get adjusted regularly report having a decrease in both frequency and severity of their migraines 1,2 . How long it may take before you start to see results is dependent on how long your subluxations have been developing. Chiropractic, in combination with the advice given in the previous blogs in this series, offers a comprehensive and natural approach to ending your migraine headaches once and for all.

1. Tuchin PJ, Pollard H, Bonello R. A randomized controlled trial of spinal manipulative therapy for migraine. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2000;23(2):91-95. 2. Bronfort G, Assendelft WJ, Evans R, Haas M, Bouter L. Efficacy of spinal manipulation for chronic headache: a systematic review. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2001;24(7):457-466.