For me, the key to lasting change is to start small, and do something that is easy to keep up.  By layering these changes on top of each other slowly over the years, I’ve been able to achieve extraordinary health.  In my early 20’s I took up to 6 medications and had chronic pain, digestive issues, allergies, anxiety, and terribly painful periods.  Now in my early 40’s, I’ve been off my meds for years, and have more energy, get better sleep, have great digestion, no pain, and so much more!  Here are the Top 5 things I’ve done for myself to create and maintain my health.

1. Celery juicing. The juicing has helped me soooo much with: digestion/bloat, energy, clearer skin, sensory issues, less pain in my bunion, etc.
2. Bone broth – Bone broth helped me with digestion so much, I’ve hardly gone a day without it in 3-4 years. As a bonus, it helps by providing building blocks for healthy skin, nails, hair. A beauty supplement! You can either make it at home in your Instapot, or here is my favorite product.
3. Paleo diet – Again, with underlying gut issues, the paleo diet has helped provide my gut with some awesome nutrients. Has also helped with stabilizing blood sugar, keeps my weight stable, decreases my cravings for sugar, and more.
4. Yoga/exercise – Movement is what keeps me happy as well as healthy. It keeps my energy up, and gives me the strength, flexibility, and endurance to serve others at a high level. I love most exercise – running, weights, elliptical, Tabata, functional training, but most of all, hot yoga! Yoga has been amazing for creating flexibility, stability by strengthening spinal muscles, plus the burn and the sweat are amazing! I love classes all around town – Modo is my favorite hot yoga studio in Mpls, and I love Blooma for prenatal and yoga with your baby or child(ren).
5. Chiropractic Care – There hasn’t been a bigger change for me and my health than when I started chiropractic care. I had almost 15 years of chronic pain that was almost instantaneously gone. In addition, I was able to get off all 6 of my medications within three months. Though chiropractic is not a cure for any specific condition, it helped my allergies, painful periods, muscle spasms, pain, sleep problems, and inflammation. Ready to step forward into a bigger vision of health?  Email us for a complimentary consult.

We have approached that time in winter when most mamas have nearly thrown in the towel - colds, flus, stomach bugs.  Fighting all the viruses, bacteria, toxins, pollution, fungus, and parasites... it's amazing our kiddos have good days.  But will we even be done with this cold before spring allergies kick in?

The key to having a healthy immune system is balance.  Did you know that there are two major parts to the immune system?

The first part of the immune system to form is the one to deal with threats to our cells, such as viruses and bacteria. This is called Cell-mediated, or Th1 immunity. The bonus about encountering these things in early childhood is that it can help the immune system know what to do for future stronger germs. But if it's overactive, it can create autoimmune diseases or frequent illnesses.

Another part of the immune system helps fight against things from the outside, called humeral or Th2 immunity.  When this part gets out of balance, allergies, eczema, asthma, and sinusitis are common.  Exposing your child to dust, dirt, dander, healthy bacteria, other children, and avoiding toxins can help avoid Th2 immunity.

Our top 5 tips for building a healthy immune system include:

1. Nutrition.  Lots of healthy vegetables and fruits with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and prebiotics help the gut and immune system. Bone broth is another awesome thing to help your body heal.  And to avoid mucus building and inflammation, try cutting out dairy and sugar.
2. Movement - light exercise fires up the immune system.
3. Rest - at least 8 hours of sleep helps your body repair and fight against all those foreign invaders
4. Beat stress - As you've probably experienced, it's very common to get sick after a big stressful event such as finals, a big work project, etc. Meditation, breathing exercises, play, and music are all great ways to help your body relax.
5. Chiropractic adjustments.  Compared to a regular control group, long-term chiropractic patients had DOUBLE the immune response. They had a 400% stronger immune system compared to a group consisting of cancer patients and other immuno-compromised people.

If you would like to boost you or your child's immune system, call us for a complimentary consultation at 612 354-2231

Though I am a self-proclaimed supplement and lifestyle experimenter, I’m not typically one for fads (though I do like to embarrass my children and nieces by doing the latest dance moves: Orange Justice and flossing). So I was a bit skeptical about the latest health fad: celery juicing.  @medicalmedium has been touting this herb’s healing properties for years, saying that 16 oz (about one bunch juiced) daily on an empty stomach, about 15-30 minutes before your first meal of the day, can help with all sorts of issues: joint pain, digestive disorders, liver sluggishness, autoimmune problems, etc.

After about 3 weeks of juicing (with a 4-day break for vacation) here are my results:

1.       I was craving it by the second day.  Some people complain about the taste, but not me! I couldn’t wait to get back to it after my vacation.

2.       The celery juice improved my chronic digestion, bloat, and gut issues almost instantaneously.  I could feel it helping on day one, and I feel my digestion turn on within moments of drinking my juice daily.

3.       I’m not sure if my problem was due to joint pain or an underlying autoimmune disorder, but I have a bunion that bothered me daily. After my second juice, the bunion was remarkably less swollen and painful.  Several weeks in, I can fit into a smaller shoe size than I’ve been able to since pre-pregnancy over 6 years ago.

4.       My skin is clearer and brighter

5.       My energy is up!  I am drinking coffee fewer days, and I’m more productive.

6.  Celery juicing is decreasing my sensory issues. Usually I am as cozy as I can be when I don’t need to be dressed up for work – no jewelry, no shoes, and undergarments only when necessary. I usually don't even wear my wedding ring.  Lately, I am in less of a hurry to remove those things when I get home.

I started out eating a 90%+ clean, mainly paleo diet. Though I know that juicing and eating other vegetables is still crucially important, and that there are health properties in all the leftover parts of the celery, I think that someday science will be able to explain why @medicalmedium is correct.  We still eat veggies with almost every meal, and it has increased my cravings for other healthy things. (Also, I have to figure out what to do with all the celery fiber so it’s not being wasted – maybe I will start making soup!) 

All in all - I name celery juicing as one of the top 5 things I've done for my health.  That's a pretty big deal for a chronic health experimenter like me.  It joins the ranks of chiropractic care, bone broth, yoga, and exercise as things that will stay in my routine to feel good and be healthy long term.  

Need help trying juicing?  Have questions? Send me an email! And as always, your nervous system needs to be working properly in order to receive maximum benefits from any health intervention.

Your body has an amazing healing power within. This deep core of chiropractic's philosophy couldn't be more contradictory to our modern culture's way of thinking. We look outside our body - for a quick fix, a pill, a potion, a procedure, a supplement, etc., to get our bodies working right.  We listen to our doctor's advice about our children and our own bodies as if they have all the answers. Even if people choose a more natural way, such as chiropractic, I am seen as the healer.  People ask me to "fix me up, doc" almost daily.

But who does the healing? Is it the adjustment? Is it the particular techniques we as chiropractors use? Is it the words we say?

We believe that the entity behind the healing is the Innate Intelligence in your body.  Each living thing has the Innate Intelligence designed to maintain the material of its body. It coordinates the healing forces and organizes your body, your mind, your emotions... even your life.  This powerful healing power in you directs healing where and how it is needed.  Millions, even billions of cells may be involved, with more rhythms and processes than you can even fathom.

So what coordinates this?  We call it your conductor, your brain. Whether the conductor plays a beautiful, coordinated tune of health, or an asynchronous, out of tune disease depends on whether or not your brain, the conductor, can communicate with your body. And THIS is where your chiropractor comes in.

By removing the interference in your nervous system, we attempt to collaborate with your innate intelligence so that your body has can be more in tune with itself. The healing doesn't happen on the table, but as your innate intelligence takes the force of the adjustment and integrates it. The master conductor can then spark the wave of cellular healing that is needed.

This brilliance within you has been there since conception, coordinating your growth and development, and will always be with you until your last breath. Will supporting this with nutrition and exercise mean we function and feel better? YES.  Might there be times when we need help from the outside to get our bodies through a crisis?  YES.  However, the stronger your innate intelligence's connection to all the parts of the body, the less other "outside" forces will be necessary.

So as you enter our office, we hope you can feel the shift from an "outside" mentality to one that holds space for the powerful inner force within you. We hope your body can come out of protection mode an into growth. As the outside mentality focuses on what's breaking down, we urge you to use your amazingly brilliant and powerful mind to amplify what's right, what's working, where the love and harmony are.

Of course, Lululemon, the favorite clothing store of many, has the new words of wisdom for the ages. I first saw the phrase JOMO on Lulu's Instagram post and was intrigued.  Is it like FOMO (fear of missing out)?  There may be certain contexts where I may have small amounts of FOMO, but having a full life with a business, family, and friends, it is increasingly rare for me.  For lots of friends and others in my life, though, the struggle is real.

So, what is JOMO? According to the post by the wise old sage, Lululemon, it's The Joy of Missing Out!  - and it feels amazing. If 2018 taught me anything, it's that I need to focus less on what others are doing, and be right here, in the present. As I use my 2019 year SIMPLIFY, I am committed to being super present at home; putting down my phone, really listening to my husband, really playing with my kids. While at the office, I am trying to really listen to people, to truly take the time and breathe and connect to their body instead of worrying about anything else.  And guess what?  Just like Lulu promised, it feels fantastic!!

A huge side affect of JOMO and staying present is that you get to truly stay connected to yourself. By stopping COMPARING myself to others (on social media, etc.) and putting my head down to focus on what I intend to do, I have become more in tune with my gut (some may call it inner wisdom, intuition, a higher power or the Holy Spirit). I truly don't miss the subconscious comparison to the most concocted version of others' lives. 

If you feel so inclined, I urge you to try some JOMO this 2019!  Spend some time in the quiet, enjoy your family and friends more, and make some amazing memories without worrying about capturing them on social media. As always, I am so thankful for all of the amazing people who have been on a health journey in our office :)

Who here has made it through our gentle self care challenge?  We have breathed, made peace with our body parts, moved, drank more water, and added more nutrients. Hopefully you have found something pleasurable that you can add to your daily routine that makes you feel good, be more healthy, and be more apt to show yourself love.

If your New Years' resolution has already gone bust, I highly recommend that you take some time and think about reframing an intention or a word of the year for 2019.  A word can help you focus your behaviors and thoughts, as if providing a lens or filter through which you can make decisions.

Some great questions to ask yourself to help decide what aligns best for your values and what word is right for you include: What was the best thing I did in 2018?  What am I most proud of?  Where can I expand on my good work? What are some words that describe how I want to feel, and what feels good in my body? What are my priorities this year?  Is there anything I want to let go of? Is there a theme that connects anything you intend for this next year?

This year, I will be aiming to ‘simplify’ lots of different parts of my life: to decrease clutter and not buy more to fill in what I’ve donated or thrown away, to spend less time on screens and more time in person, to eat more whole and unprocessed foods, to move toward a waste-free home, to read the books I already have (anybody else have piles of unread books?) instead of buying more. 

If part of your intention or word this year includes taking good care of yourself, surrounding yourself with strong women, or chiropractic care, I would love to hear more from you!

Join us in our gentle challenge to get more healthy and love ourselves well

Welcome to the Self Care Challenge!  Our intention for this challenge is for you to nourish your body and your mind, to rest and enjoy this cozy time of year, and if you so choose to reflect on yourself and the year behind you.  It is not for you to have another item to  check off on your to-do list, or another resolution to feel guilty about not completing. 

This challenge is for you if you are hoping to increase yourself-love, accept your body, and take a gentle approach into setting a positive call to shift into something new. As we go through the week’s challenges to show your body a little extra love, we will be laying the ground work on a bonus challenge of setting an intention or perhaps a word that we intend to live into this year.

In this gentle challenge, we are taking our cues from the hibernating animals and dormant plants around us.  We aren’t going to cut our energy sources, or work out to the extreme like many New Years goals and plans call for. Instead,we are exploring what feels good, nourishing, and helps us feel restful in hopes that we can make some of these practices regular.

 If you have set a resolution and have big plans for January to lose 20 lbs, start a new workoutplan, etc., this challenge may be a good way to show yourself some grace and add calm. If you want to avoid becoming a New Years’ statistic, we will be breakingdown the reason for the resolutions.  Is there something about you that you’re trying to fix?  Is there something that you feel guilty or shameful about?  These emotions rarely create the fuel necessary for lasting change.  Remember that the way you showed up for 2018 was just who you needed to be to get through the challenges and situations you made it through, and grew into the person you are now.

Today’s Challenge is easy  – Drink an extra glass of water or two today and help your body flush out the toxins that likely entered your system in the last few weeks 😊 Another recommended part of the challenge is to set a reward for yourself: maybe something simple like buying a juice at the Co-op or a new candle, or trying a new yoga or spin class. Or maybe you want to treat yourself and get a pedicure or a massage.

Reflection Challenge: If you want to do the bonus work of setting an intention or word for 2019, today we start by reflecting on the year past. Spend 5-10 minutes to journal and think about these questions.  What was the best part of 2018? Who was an important person who you met or who influenced you? Who and what are you most thankful for?  What was the hardest thing that you did?  Where did you show up in a big way?  What are you most proud of?

In this nebulous time before New Years and after the holidays, many of us find ourselves in a carb, alcohol, or cheese-coma, trying to find the perfect version of ourselves just in time for the New Year. As we say goodbye to 2018, and possibly try to say goodbye to some of our choices that kept us from living our best lives, please join us in our first annual Self Care Challenge.

Starting on January 2, we will be emailing out daily tips or ideas on how to gently, mindfully make our health a priority, tune in to the inner wisdom of our bodies, and take small steps to relax. 

Rather than punish yourself at the gym or set a lofty diet goal that is nearly impossible to keep, join us on an adventure to show ourselves more love. If you do not receive our monthly emails, please send us a message here.