Tag: Adaptation

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The Importance of Play

the importance of playExperts have long studied the benefits of play for children (allows them to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength). Play is important to healthy brain and social development. It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them. In his book Play, author and psychiatrist Stuart Brown, MD, compares play to oxygen. He writes, “…it’s all around us, yet goes mostly unnoticed or unappreciated until it is missing.”

It’s easy to justify playtime for kids, its a normal activity for them – but what about us? The truth is that we -humans- are in fact the most neotenous species on the planet. Neoteny refers to the retention of immature qualities into adulthood. As in, humans retain the ability to imagine and play, and this gives us an evolutionary advantage in how flexible and adaptable we are. Bottom line meaning: we are uniquely designed to play throughout our entire lifetimes.

Unfortunately in our hurried lifestyle, playing can be seen as an indulgence – and instead this constant rushing around can be a source of constant stress and anxiety for some and can even contribute to depression for others. Play is crucial to our mental creativity, health and happiness. It lifts stress from us, refreshes us and recharges us. It restores our optimism. It renews our ability to accomplish our work. Plus, there is evidence that it does even more; play appears to allow our brains to exercise their very flexibility, to maintain and even perhaps renew the neural connections that embody our human potential to adapt and expand, evolve.

Play also allows us to be present in the moment – something that is so rare these days – that is the space of play, that lightness of being. When we embrace play, we claim a better quality of life for ourselves. We decrease stress. We connect better with those around us. We get out more and get more out of what we do. We find more fun and maybe even meaning. It’s important to remember that play can be almost anything – art, books, movies, music, comedy, daydreaming, sports, storytelling, you name it.

Any time you think play is a waste, remember that it offers some serious benefits for both you and your family. As Brown says in his book, “Play is the purest expression of love.”

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Why Do I Need Maintenance Chiropractic Care?

maintenance chiropractic care

Every day more and more people are reevaluating their options when it comes to health care. They are realizing that wellness comes from within and that the best way to avoid illness and discomfort is to be “health conscious” in their daily lifestyles. In order to accomplish this we must first understand what it is we need to do to get and stay well.

The simple answer is that we need to adopt lifestyle behaviors that promote health – as opposed to those that lead to sickness. Because the truth is there is no drug that can fix our poor diet or remove the toxins from the processed food we eat. There is no drug that can undo our sedentary living or poor fitness – the answer is in our lifestyle choices. One major lifestyle choice we can adopt is to receive regular chiropractic adjustments, often called maintenance or wellness chiropractic care.

Understanding the reason for maintenance chiropractic care mandates an understanding of two major well documented concepts: 1) immobilization degeneration; and 2) the neurology of pain processing. A primary component of a subluxation (misalignment in the spine) is loss of normal motion in that area; and there is an immense body of research to support the ensuing degenerative process that will occur with this loss of motion and the logical conclusion of restoring movement to the spine.

You see, chiropractic is important for our health in many of the same ways that exercise is so crucial for our overall health and well-being. It’s all about movement. Movement feeds the brain, when we become misaligned we lose the normal motion of that spinal segment – which leads to degenerated joints and  decreases these movement- rich nutrients to the brain (proprioceptive signals). Continue reading “Why Do I Need Maintenance Chiropractic Care?”

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Weekly Health Roundup

weekly health roundup

Welcome to True Health Family Chiropractic’s Weekly Health Roundup, where we’ll take a look at what’s making news in the world of health.

Research of the Week

Stanford University researcher and geneticist, Dr. Gerald Crabtree, believes that our human intelligence is slowly declining – mainly due to adverse genetic mutations. But human intelligence is suffering for other reasons as well. This piece points to studies showing the effects of growing up with toxins, GMOs/pesticides, and processed “food” on our children.

Interesting Articles

Ever wonder what other countries do during flu season? Well, they certainly don’t get the flu shot: Only the U.S. and Canada actually encourage everyone older than 6 months to get the flu vaccine. CNN also points out that this year, a year in which the vaccine is supposed to be a good match to the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the vaccine is only 62% effective.

Time has a great Q&A With neuroscientist Bruce McEwen. He explains the effects of toxic stress – where bad things happen, perhaps because you don’t have the inner or external resources needed to cope, which makes us more vulnerable to adverse outcomes. So what can we do? Be physically active, get a good diet, adequate sleep, create a social support, have a good hobby, meditate. {This is also where chiropractic care comes into the equation: Spinal alignment coupled with a healthy lifestyle means the body is at its best and has the best chance to adapt to stress we may encounter.}

Blog Posts Worth Reading

Lifehacker has a very cool post on how we can actually rewire our brains to think positively and break out of that negative feedback loop that so many of us experience.

Time Capsule

One year ago this week we held our Ribbon Cutting at True Health Family Chiropractic! Thank you to all of our patients who have trusted us with their health and everyone who has supported us in this past year.

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What is True Health?

Have you ever thought about what True Health means to you and your family? What is your definition of True Health? Dorland’s Medical Dictionary states that True Health is a state of optimal physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease. In other words, health is not limited to how you feel, but rather refers to your level of function and performance as a whole individual.

In simple terms, the premise of chiropractic is that, if the body’s frame is in alignment, then the nervous system – the brain, spinal cord and the millions of nerves extending throughout the body – can function at its best. And the nervous system, medical science now readily admits, is the master controller of all other bodily organs and systems. Having known that since 1895, chiropractors have always had a holistic approach to health care.

As Peter Senge, the leading exponent of systems thinking, says about the “crisis state” of today’s health care: “The need in health care is very simple. We need to think about health. Health is a systemic phenomenon. What makes you or me healthy is not just what diseases pop up. We need to think about the totality of health – how we live, how we work, what we eat, it’s our exercise – the totality of how we live.”

Chiropractic care views all areas of life as equal contributors to promoting or detracting from optimal health. So, we incorporate practical help and education about “how we live, how we work, what we eat” and how we exercise. Spinal alignment coupled with a healthy lifestyle means that body is the best it can be to throw off potential illness. That’s prevention, pure and simple. But that optimum condition of the body also means the best chance for optimum development – in the mental, emotional, social and spiritual aspects of our lives. The chiropractic perspective even heightens a person’s awareness of the critical importance of environmental health because if the environment is sick – we will be too.

In short, chiropractic offers the systemic, holistic, broad-view approach that facilitates getting better, staying well and realizing one’s full potential in life. Now that’s True Health.

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The Importance of Motion

movement is lifeOne of Albert Einstein’s well known quotes is, “Nothing happens until something moves.” Motion is life. Lack of motion is death. Movement is a vital nutrient to your body, just as much as food, water or oxygen.

It feeds the brain, producing essential nutrient stimulation (called proprioception). It’s also a foundational reason why chiropractors adjust spines – to restore normal motion to joints, mental impulse transmission through nerves, and subsequently, life throughout your entire body.

When your spine is not moving properly it begins to degenerate and become inflamed. The spinal joints begin to send stress signals to the brain that can lead to stress hormones being released (cortisol and catecholamines). Lack of proper motion results in a decrease in proprioceptive messages being sent to your brain. This can also (but not always) lead to pain. High levels of stress hormones in the body will lead to fatigue, illness and ultimately – early death.

This is why – regardless of disease or symptoms – a healthy, properly moving, aligned spine is so essential to our health. By restoring motion to the spine (via the chiropractic adjustment), changes will begin to occur, such as: decrease in stress signals and stress hormones, decrease inflammation, and pain (if present) will subside. Most important of all, it results in a healthy body-brain neurological communication which is essential for overall health. This is why we often see patients who will have significant changes in their health, in areas that they were not expecting at all (digestion, sleep, etc…) when they began care. By restoring motion and removing this stressor on the body – you can begin to function how you were designed to.