Rounding out our series on sleep, we can't be remiss about how vital it is to create or maintain a healthy spine. In our fast-paced world, with overbooked schedules, stretched finances, and non-stop communications, it is easy to become stuck in sympathetic, also known as fight or flight mode. In sympathetic mode, our bodies crank out the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, our hearts beat more quickly, blood pressure increases, breathing speeds up, blood goes into the extremities and away from our internal organs and digestion.  The physiology supports running away and thinking quickly. Our body needs sympathetic nervous system to get us through stressful situations, but without having periods of rest from this, while our parasympathetic nervous system is in charge, the resources of the body become quickly tapped, and it is becomes increasingly difficult to wind down.  That is why we find so many individuals who are both tired AND wired. Having a sympathetic dominant system is much like having a Ferrari engine, you are designed to GO GO GO!

Chiropractic, specifically the tonal techniques used at Lifelong Health Family Chiropractic, support a switch away from sympathetic dominance and toward parasympathetic balance. This is because your parasympathetic nervous system is housed in your upper neck and low sacrum and hips, precisely we focus your adjusments because these are the powerful areas where your spine and spinal cord connect.  As your body unwinds its tension, we liken your adjustments to "pumping the brakes" so your body can have big powerful brakes to match the giant roaring engine of the sympathetic nervous system.  As a result, many of our clients, children and parents alike, report an increase in quantity and quality of rest, as well as greater ease with other bodily functions.

Another benefit of chiropractic in those people who struggle with sleep is the physical aspect.  If certain positions are difficult due to pain, or your stress or pain become worsened by lying down, correcting your spine helps your body function AND feel better. 

Cheers to a Happy and Healthy Nervous System with lots of ZZZ's!

As the holiday season begins and we start to look to the New Year, many of us have set some amazing goals for 2018.  In order to accomplish those goals, you need to make sure that your body is healthy and functioning at its best!  For New Year’s resolutions, people often turn to lofty diet fads that end within a week of when it started.  At LifeLong Health Chiropractic, we are focusing on a long term health plan in order to change your health for the better in 2018!  As always, our primary focus in our office is to make sure your nervous system is functioning at its best by making adjustments to the spine.  In addition, for the month of January, we are also going to be doing a Whole30 eating program open to all practice members and the public (invite your friends!).

The Whole30 program is a 30 day program designed to help clean up your diet and jump start you into cleaner, healthier eating.  The program is unlike other diets that result in eating limited portions and being hungry all the time.  Instead, the Whole30 focuses on making realistic changes that your body can handle for 30 days and even longer if you desire.  This is accomplished by eliminating certain foods and ingredients that will spike your blood sugar, disturb our digestion, and contain artificial ingredients.  Listed below are the official rules from the Whole30 website:

Do Eat:

Eat moderate portions of meat, seafood, and eggs; lots of vegetables; some fruit; plenty of natural fats; and herbs, spices, and seasonings. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re whole and unprocessed.

Do Not eat:

• Do not consume added sugar, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, date syrup, stevia, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.
• Do not consume alcohol, in any form, not even for cooking.(And ideally, no tobacco products of any sort, either.)
• Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, sprouted grains, and all gluten-free pseudo-cereals like quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat. This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn, and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch, and so on. Again, read your labels.
• Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).
• Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat, or sheep’s milk products like milk, cream, cheese, kefir, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, or frozen yogurt.
• Do not consume carrageenan, MSG, or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.
• Do not consume baked goods, junk foods, or treats with “approved” ingredients. Recreating or buying sweets, treats, and foods-with-no-brakes (even if the ingredients are technically compliant) is totally missing the point of the Whole30, and will compromise your life-changing results. These are the same foods that got you into health-trouble in the first place—and a pancake is still a pancake, even if it’s made with coconut flour.

The diet program may seem like a lot, but you will find that as you do it, the health benefits will far outweigh the sacrifice of giving up certain foods.  Listed below are just few of the amazing benefits of the Whole30:

• More energy throughout the day due to a stable blood sugar
• Less bloating and better digestion
• Better sleep
• Weight loss
• A sharper, clearer mind
• Better mood
• Decreased joint pain and stiffness

Those are just a few of the many benefits of the following through with the Whole30.  

We will have an official event in our office to kick off the Whole30 on January 9th at 6:30pm at LifeLong Health Chiropractic .  We will be going over the rules, share recipe ideas, and eat dishes that are Whole30 approved.  In addition we will have a Facebook page for everyone who is doing the Whole30 in order to encourage each other throughout the month and also to share recipes and ideas.  RSVP to the event here:  https://business.facebook.com/events/144028783035187/

Two of the most frequent questions I have been asked in my 11 years as a chiropractor include "What is the best mattress for my spine?" and "What's the healthiest position for sleep?"  Being that we spend roughly 1/3 of our days (more for children!) asleep in our bed, improving our spinal position during sleep can go a long way in reducing subluxations, feeling good, and enhancing our rest.

In general, I recommend a firm mattress to provide for the best support for the spine.  Since everyone has a different spine and various preferences, I recommend trying out several mattresses to see which you prefer the most.  Often times a pillow top above a firm mattress is a great choice for those who like a softer feel.  From a health perspective, standard mattresses contain flame retardants, which are known to be highly toxic.  For myself and my family, we purchase latex mattresses to avoid breathing in flame retardants for a relatively long period each day.

In terms of position, there are two that are healthy for your spine: lying on your back, or lying on your side. (If you are pregnant, lying on your side, preferably your left side, is the best choice for you from about 20 weeks on).  Here are my tips for optimizing spinal position and comfort in each sleep position:

Back sleepers: Aim for alignment of your body in the horizontal position.  Just as when sitting or standing, your ear will ideally be in line with your shoulder, your shoulder with your hip, and your hip with your knees and feet. Common mistakes include having a pillow that is too high, lifting your head into anterior forward posture, which causes lots of stress to the neck, shoulders, and potentially the head and jaw. So a small pillow, one that specifically lies under the neck curve, is perfect. One way to provide extra comfort and support for the low back in this position is to have an additional supportive pillow beneath the knees.

Side sleepers: Aim for alignment of your body in the vertical position.  When lying in your side, we also like to see your ear, shoulder, and hip in alignment. Bending the knees is natural in this position. Common mistakes for side sleepers include: curling up too much into fetal position, or rotating or flexing the head down toward the pillow. Side sleepers require a thicker pillow, such as a gusseted pillow, or a down pillow that can be puffed up to support the head and neck. A small pillow between the knees also prevent an extra twist from occurring in the pelvis and hips.  

Stomach sleepers: This is the position that puts a lot of strain on your spine.  Either your neck is turned 80+ degrees for eight hours, or your low back and hips are twisted.  We recommend transitioning to a new sleeping position. The most effective way that our patients have transitioned successfully is by switching to a stomach/side position with a pillow underneath the lower side, and one between the knees. Over time, you can switch to your side and remove the lower pillow.

Cheers to a great night's sleep!

As discussed in our last two blogs, we can do many things on our own to improve our quality and quantity of sleep.  In addition to minimizing blue light in the evenings, and learning how to focus our mind, today we will discuss ways to help your body prepare to sleep.

• Exercise - Getting regular exercise helps the body sleep more deeply, as the use of energy and need for repair requires more sleep.  Both the timing and the type of exercise you do can affect how well you sleep.  We recommend exercise in the morning or afternoon.  Exercise after dinner (outside of restful stretching or yoga) creates adrenaline and other stress hormones, and will cause your body to feel more awake.  In particular, high intensity interval training, and lifting weights have been shown to increase sleep quality.  However, we always recommend doing the exercise or movement that you love!
• Taking a bath - As parents everywhere know, after a bath, the body becomes very sleepy.  This is because a bath lowers the core temperature of your body, which signals your body that it is time to go to sleep.
• Essential Oils/Herbs - Smell is the only sense that goes directly to the central nervous system without being filtered, so it is a powerful way to influence the brain.  Lavender oil on your pillow, in your bath, or on your skin has a known calming effect. Avoid oils such as citrus or mint which have an energizing effect.  Taking herbs in tea form, such as a cup of sleepytime or chammomile tea, also help your body relax.
• Breathing exercise - Deep breathing is highly powerful for calming your nervous system and brain.  Our favorite breathing pattern works well if you're feeling wired lying in bed or wake up in the middle of the night and feel anxious.  Breathe in for the count of 4, hold your breath in for 7, and breathe out over the count of 8.  This pattern, developed by Weil, has been studied and used by doctors to help their patients sleep and manage anxiety after surgeries, etc.
• Prep your space for sleep - To begin with, experts recommend lowering the temperature of your house, apartment or bedroom to approximately 65-67 degrees.  Many people report a deep sleep with layers of blankets that can be taken on or off.  Another thing known to improve sleep quality includes adding white noise, such as a fan or a noise machine. Keeping your room extremely dark (again, minimize blue light in particular!) or sleeping with an eye mask signals to your body that it is time to sleep.  Lastly, we recommend putting your phone on airplane mode to minimize any disturbances.

We hope these sleep tips are helping you catch better shut-eye!  Next up, we will discuss matressess and sleeping positions to ensure your sleep is comfortable.

If you have a full life and full days like me, your brain probably runs like a freight train at 200 miles/hour all day long.  Slowing down our brains, our bodies, and our breath is important to do as we transition to rest each evening.  As we mentioned in our last sleep blog, shutting down any screens and blue light an hour before bed is an important signal to your brain to prepare to sleep.  Here are a five other ways to help focus your mind:

• Write a list – I do a ‘brain dump’ each evening to let my brain know it doesn’t need to remind me of things all night long.  This sometimes means adding events in my calendar, writing in my ‘to do’ list in my planner, or making a note to call or text someone. I also keep paper and pen close to my bed, as my creative juices are often flowing late in the evening or early in the morning.
• Read something positive – The hours before sleep and just after waking are the most important for subconscious programming.  Scary shows and creepy books have always affected my sleep poorly.  I love to read something that makes me feel good prior to bedtime, whether it’s a book that makes me laugh, reading the Bible, or just something relaxing.

• Meditation – Guided meditations have become one of my favorite ways to wind down before bed.  Tapping into the brain’s creative power to focus on what you want in your life just before turning out the light makes for a positive and restful sleep.  Some fantastic apps include Headspace (great for guided meditation) and Calm (specifically for sleep).

• Calming music – Listening to peaceful sounds or music is a great way to signal sleep to your body.  My favorite is listening to MPR while reading a book. 

• Practice Gratitude- What you focus on grows. Gratitude is the antidote to anxiety.  As your focus on what you’re grateful for each day, you become more and more joyful and addicted to this habit.  My family names the item at the top of our gratitude list every evening as we put our daughters to bed.  Later, I love to do a detailed list mentally or on paper highlighting people, situations, and things that have made my life amazing that day.

We are SUPER excited for our first monthly community book club, Thursday Nov 9 from 7-9 pm!  Welcome to Books 'n Bevs!  We are a tribe of people who enjoy reading good books, eating yummy foods, and having a good time!

This is not your grandmother's book club! We are 20% book focused, and 80% fun focused. Come by to discuss the monthly book, sip some delicious beverages, and meet some new people.  We will meet the 2nd Thursday of every month from 7-9.

For our first event, we will be reading 'The Tipping Point' by Malcolm Gladwell. Even if you haven't read it, please stop by and join us for some discussion.  Please bring 1-2 suggestions for our next book. For this first event we will be serving a growler from Dangerous Man, red and white wine, and some N/A beverages. Feel free to bring your favorite beverage or an appetizer to share as well!

As technology progresses, we are becoming more and more reliant on our phones and electronic devices.  The advancing technology is good for increasing efficiency and productivity, but overuse of electronics could be affecting our sleep-wake cycle.  Humans are sleeping less and less and also more poorly than they did in the past.  And even more importantly, the quality of the sleep we are getting is decreasing as well. 

One of the biggest contributors to poor sleep that is often times overlooked is excessive electronics use throughout the day and before we sleep.  Electronic devices emit blue light, which tricks our brains into thinking that it is daytime.  When our eyes sense lights with blue wavelength, our brain signals to our body that it needs to stay awake.  Our brain does this by inhibiting the production of melatonin, a hormone produced in the brain that is crucial for sleep. Decreased melatonin production results in difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, among other health concerns.  Fortunately, there are easy ways to combat the effects of blue light.  Here are 4 ways to powerfully reduce your exposure.

Tips to reduce blue light exposure

*Turn your phone on night shift.  This is by far the easiest step you can take right now to reduce your blue light exposure. To do this, go to settings → display and brightness → manually enable night shift.  This will give your screen a warmer appearance that is easier on the eyes and will reduce your blue light exposure.

*Incorporate blue light blockers on all of your devices.  These are simply detachable covers that go over your screen and work to filter out blue light exposure.  They can be used on computers, tablets, and cell phones.  The brand that I would suggest is TechArmor.

*Stop using any electronics at least 1 hour before you want to fall asleep.   I suggest putting your phone on airplane mode and setting your alarm for the next morning at least 1 hour before bedtime.  Not only will this reduce your exposure to blue light, this will also allow your mind to calm down by reducing the huge amount of stimulation that our phones have on our brain. By activating airplane mode, it eliminates any possibility to be distracted by a notification. 

*Use blue light blocking glasses.  Although a more extreme approach, these will work well for people who have to constantly be on electronic devices such as computer programmers or office workers.  One reliable brand of glasses on the market is TrueDark.  They make glasses that can be worn throughout the day or ones for just at night in order to reduce night time blue light exposure.  

Please join us on Tuesday Oct 17 from 6:30-7:30 pm at our office for our most popular workshop, Unraveling Developmental Disorders.  While we in no way attempt to diagnose or treat neurodevelopmental disorders, we are empowering parents, caregivers, and educators on some fantastic ways to support their children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Our focus will be on explaining the connection of the gut to brain, exploring the role of the autonomic nervous system in neurodevelopmental disorders, and sharing resources that have been powerful in improving the quality of life of children and families dealing with these pervasive disorders.

To save a seat, please sign up through Eventbrite:  https://unraveling1017.eventbrite.com/

Is Bad Posture Causing a “Slouch” in your Mood?

Forward head, rounded shoulders, and slumped back.  With today’s rampant use of cell phones and electronic devices, this is a posture I’m sure you’re all too familiar with.  As your posture strays from its biomechanically ideal position, it becomes obvious that your joints and muscles are taking on extra stress.  But what might not be obvious is how your posture is affecting other areas of your body. 

Recent research has come out finding posture to affect certain functioning patterns of our brains.  In particular, research has found posture to affect brain functions such as cognition, emotions, and memory.  In one study done by San Francisco State University researchers, after participants adopted correct biomechanical posture, they reported improvements in mood and increase in overall energy.  Other literature has found adapting the correct posture to improve memory recall. 
The effects of good posture extend beyond the cranium.  Hormone production and breathing are also affected by posture.  A study done examining how posture can impact our sympathetic nervous system (the system which activates your stress response), found participants who adopt a slumped posture are more likely to have an increased sympathetic response3.  This increase in sympathetic activity results in increased production of the hormones epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol.  Prolonged elevation of these hormones can lead to chronic disease.  If that isn’t enough, posture has also been shown to affect respiratory function.  Studies show the farther forward your head comes out in front of your body, the lower your vital lung capacity4.

Now that you know the HUGE impact posture can have on your health, you might be wondering what you can possibly do to correct your posture in our technology driven society.  Below I have listed the top 5 things you can do today to help correct poor posture.

• Be mindful of your posture

Simply being mindful of your posture is an easy way to help correct it.  Whenever you catch yourself slouching, simply imagine there is a string attached to the top of your head and is pulling you up towards the ceiling.  You can also use personal reminders such as setting an alarm every 20 minutes.  Another way to reminder yourself to keep good posture is by taping kinesotape in an “X” pattern across your upper back.  Using this taping pattern will not only work to pull your shoulders back into a biomechanically correct position, but will also act as a reminder when your shoulders round forward because you will feel the tape stretching.  There are also some very cool devices now on the market that are able to remind us of our posture.  A device such as Lumo Lift or Posture Coach sits between the shoulder blades and monitors your body’s position.  Anytime you adopt a slouched position, the device will send a vibrating reminder down your back telling you to correct your posture. 

• ​Adopt an ergonomically friendly environment

With the majority of our time being spent using computers, tablets and phones, making sure we have a properly set up work station has never been more important.  First, I would recommend everyone has a sit to stand desk.  When you are sitting, make sure your bottom is touching the back of the chair, feet are flat on the ground, and your shoulders are back.  When standing at your desk, make sure your weight is distributed evenly between both legs, and you are standing tall (think string pulling your head again).  If you don’t have access to a sit to stand desk, try to get up every hour to stretch your muscles and to reset your posture. 

• ​Improve your posture with stretches and exercises

In our clinic we use specific Chiropractic Biophysics exercises which are tailored to correct postural imbalances by using mirror image holds.  These exercises are individualized to each persons needs based on their imbalances found through our posture analysis technology.  In general, strengthening the back muscles will benefit the vast majority of people.  Performing exercises that involve pulling with your back, such as rows, pulls back rounded shoulders. 

• ​Breathe from your belly

Breathing from your belly has a plethora of posture benefits.  First, when you take breaths into your belly, it will stabilize your core and result in greater lumbar support for your lower back.  Breathing from your belly forces you to use your diaphragm instead of your accessory respiratory muscles found in your neck and upper thorax.  Overuse of the accessory respiratory muscles results in hyperactive sternocleidomastoid and scalene muscles which can damage your posture.

• ​Get adjusted on a regular basis

There is no substitute for regular chiropractic care, which works to balance your body’s nervous system so it can adapt a normal posture.  In addition, chiropractic adjustments will provide your body the with proprioceptive input it needs to align itself properly.  Adjustments will also calm hyperactive posture muscles and mobilize joint restrictions that can be harmful to posture. 

Sources:
Rosário, J. L., Diógenes, M. S. B., Mattei, R., & Leite, J. R. (2016). Angry posture. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies
2.   Jurik, Vojtech.  “How Body Influences Memory: The embodied aspects in retrieval of autobiographical memories.”  2015.
Nair, S., Sagar, M., Sollers, J. III, Consedine, N., & Broadbent, E. (2015). Do slumped and upright postures affect stress responses? A randomized trial. Health Psychology, 34(6), 632-641.
4.  Han, J. et al. (2016) Effects of forward head posture on forced vital capacity and respiratory muscles activity. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 28(1) p. 128–131.

When life is coming at you hard and fast, just keeping your head above water can be a test of strength.  Since we can't control any circumstances of life, but can master our own mind and body, beating stress is an inside job.  Keeping our minds and bodies out of fight or flight can help us handle and enjoy our lives to the fullest.

1. What you focus on grows. Take time early each day for quiet prayer, meditation, affirmations.  Before you take in information from your phone, computer, or newspaper or start responding to someone else's agenda, spend some time to build yourself up.

2. Exercise!  There's no better way to burn off some cortisol than to exercise.  This time of year is perfect for a walk, run, or bike ride around the lakes.  ANY form of movement, whether you love dancing, yoga, tabata, raquetball or CrossFit has ample benefits for reducing stress in your body and mind.

3. Explore essential oils! Aromatherapy, especially lavendar, has been shown to have a calming effect on the nervous system.

4. Monotasking (the EXACT opposite of multitasking!) has been shown to calm down the mind and the body. Reading, playing an instrument, or producing art are great ways to focus and make the world melt away.

5. Eating a balanced diet filled with healthy fats, fruits and vegetables, and organic humanely raised protein keeps your blood sugar stable, your cells healthy, and your mind sharp. Major disruptors to your brain include artificial colors, flavors, and sugars (excitotoxins, MSG, etc.). Sugary foods and unhealthy fats such as trans fat also cause more stress to the mind and digestive system.

6. The most influential tool we posess to pull your nervous system out of fight or flight is chiropractic care. Adjusting the top and bottom of the spine helps the body relax, digest, and heal. Studies have shown powerful changes in heart rate variability, lower blood pressure, and improved function in the brain after a balancing adjustment.