Horizon Health Care Group - Chiropractor In Sandy Springs, GA USA

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Riding the Brakes

Posted on 2012-02-15 07:20:07

Every driver knows that you can’t get to your destination with one foot on the accelerator and the other on the brake. For safe, efficient travel you switch smoothly between these two pedals and you reach your goal effectively. But simple machines such as automobiles are fairly easy to operate. There aren't that many options. The human machine, on the other hand, has an almost infinite number of possible operating modes. And the human machine doesn't come with an instruction manual.

As an example, it's obvious that your car won't move forward if you're riding the brake. But it's not that obvious when you're holding down the corresponding metaphorical pedal of your physical organism. At some point, most of us slow ourselves down in this way without knowing it. And the price we pay may be far more serious than that involved in the necessity of re-lining the brakes of our car.

What does "riding the brakes" look like for humans? What slows us down? What actions interfere with our ability to thrive, our ability to enjoy vibrant good health? Not eating a wide variety of nutritious food is a prime culprit. Our bodies are not designed to live on fast food, lots of simple carbohydrates, and a dearth of fresh fruits and vegetables.^1,2 Another "brake" on good health is lack of vigorous physical activity. Our bodies were designed long ago for vigorous physical work, i.e., exercise.³

It's really true that we're not born with an instruction manual. Parents know this all too well, first when their kids are infants and toddlers and much later when the formerly cute preschoolers grow up to become too-worldly-too-soon teenagers. But such an instruction manual would be invaluable for all adults and all young people. Finally, we'd be able to have access to first-hand information on how to take care of ourselves.

As the most basic example, when we buy a new car the schedule of maintenance is clear. Check-ups and an oil and filter change every 5000 miles. Bigger systems overhauls every 15,000 miles, with specific diagnostics and possible replacements at 30,000 miles, 60,000 miles, and so on. Most cars have a built-in reminder that flashes when it's time to go to the dealership. Everything's laid out for us.

But with our bodies - very possibly our most precious possessions - such formal guidance is just not available. All we have to go on is folklore and guesswork. And so people ride their brakes, blithely cruising along and never giving a thought to how they're really doing. But at some point a price must be paid and things begin to go wrong. At that point, it's often very hard to recover.

Put simply, if we're missing out on high-quality nutrition and plenty of exercise, we're "riding the brakes" and may find ourselves "coming to a stop". Hopefully we'll notice in time that we're "slowing down'. We can regain our normal "cruising speed" if we're willing to take healthy actions on our own behalf. Fortunately, there are many things we can do to restore our good health. Regular exercise, eating a variety of healthy foods, and getting regular chiropractic care are three important actions that, done consistently, will keep our physical "machine" in peak condition.

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Chiropractic Care Helps Support a Positive Mental Attitude

Posted on 2012-02-08 07:12:32

It's tough to focus on the positive when you have pain. Headaches, neck pain, and back pain can often take the joy out of what had started out as a beautiful day. Even when we have good tools, when we know, for example, how to return to the breath and find our center, physical pain can be insistent and continue to take over our attention.

Chiropractic care can help intervene in a cycle of pain and help restore normal function. By helping spinal joints work more effectively, chiropractic care removes many sources of physical pain. A more normally functioning spinal column leads to more effective function in the nervous system. All body systems improve and overall health and well-being increases. As a result chiropractic care helps us focus and regain our positive.

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Breakfast of Champions

Posted on 2012-01-18 11:57:44

We all know we should eat a "good breakfast". Most us can still hear the voice of our third grade teacher ringing in our ears - "Did everyone eat a good breakfast today?" - the kindly, inquiring tone usually accompanied by a penetrating stare. But as unlikely as it was then that most kids ate a good breakfast, it is even more unlikely now.¹ For those of us who are adults, breakfast is frequently a mere cup of coffee. Or possibly a glass of orange juice and a bagel or a muffin. Maybe a "breakfast sandwich" at a fast-food chain. Regardless, not many of our choices can be construed as nutrition that will support us in being the champions that we want to be.

Everyone knows why a good breakfast is important. First, your gas tank is near empty. If you don't refuel, you'll be running on fumes. Every cell in your body requires high-quality nutrition. Most especially, your brain cells and your muscle cells require plenty of glucose. If you don't have enough energy in your fuel tank, your body feels sluggish and your brain feels as if it's trying to swim upstream against a strong current. Worse, you don't have enough cellular energy to sweep away the metabolic end-products that build up from normal functioning. You can't do maintenance and toxins accumulate. Now you need even more energy to deal with the toxic build-up and a vicious circle develops. You feel run-down, you develop muscle tension and a headache, and your whole day starts to deteriorate. This scenario is typical for many people and it continues day after day. Projecting into the future, the long-term results include diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and overweight/obesity.² What can be done?

For those of us who recognize a problem and are willing to take action on our own behalf, the first step is to be willing to actually eat a nutritious breakfast. We want food that will help us be healthy, rather than "food" that instead adds to our health-related problems. If we choose to take such action, we can follow several easy guidelines. An energy-filled breakfast could consist of whole-grain cereals, fruit, cheese, eggs, nuts, and even meat.³ Not all of this, certainly, but enough to make a breakfast consisting of 300 or 400 calories. The prospect seems daunting, particularly when breakfast has been an afterthought for many years. But the process actually becomes easy once you get used to having this meal.

For example, two slices of whole-grain toast plus a tablespoon of peanut butter and a tablespoon of organic jam makes a great breakfast. You've got approximately 300 calories and you're combining protein with complex carbohydrates. Or two scrambled eggs and a side of 1/2 cup of steel-cut oatmeal (that you've prepared overnight) with a tablespoon of honey mixed in. This meal, too, provides approximately 300 calories and an energy-producing combination of protein and complex carbohydrates. You get the idea - a creative, attractive small meal that is composed of complex carbohydrates and protein. You've now consumed an energy source that will be "slow-burning" and provide high-quality fuel for the next three to four hours. You're ready to have a great morning of productive activity.

Being healthy takes work. It doesn't happen by chance. Having a good breakfast, a "breakfast of champions", is a key component of this overall, life-affirming process.

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Can Work Be Relaxing?

Posted on 2011-12-07 07:03:47

Not too many people would agree that "oh, yeah, my work is relaxing". For most of us, work involves plenty of stress. If we're in customer service, there's always a seemingly never-ending stream of customers with an abundance of problems that need to be handled yesterday. If we work in an office, office politics adds an unnecessary layer of stress to the normal daily stress of the work we're supposed to be doing. If we work for ourselves, there's the ongoing stress of lining up the next contract, even while we're dealing with the pressures involved in fulfilling the demands of the current project. And on and on.

If we work at a computer there are additional physiological stresses. Our bodies were not designed for prolonged sitting, nor were they designed for staring a computer screen for hours at a time. The highly complex and highly delicate structures of our forearms, wrists, and hands were not meant to be used for typing on a keyboard. Anyone can type for 15 minutes - that's not a problem. But typing for most of the day, day after day, week after week - that's definitely a problem.

These few work scenarios are common. We can recognize ourselves in the descriptions. No one would describe such circumstances as relaxing. But this is how we live. How can we turn what might be thought of as "lemons" into lemonade? Are there tactics we can employ in an overall strategy of causing our lives to be healthy, satisfying, and meaningful, as well as fun and relaxing?

The answer is a resounding "yes". But there is effort involved. We need to be creative and willing to take action on our own behalf. First, it's important to acknowledge the conundrum each of us faces every day. We are required to work to obtain food, shelter, and clothing for ourselves and our families. But the work that we're doing may not be our first choice. Or the second choice. Or sometimes even the third. Still, there it is. We need to work. This is where the creativity comes in.

Our work environment and/or our work itself may never be relaxing. However, we can actively choose to be relaxed. This is an ongoing process and occurs in the moment. For example, you can affirm "I am relaxed. My work is fulfilling and satisfying." And then, pretty soon, something happens to which you respond with tension. As soon as you come back to yourself and remember that you want to be creating a relaxing environment, you reaffirm your intention. This is very much like Zen or other practices which focus on centering. In Zen, the student is reminded to pay attention, to believe nothing, and that nothing is personal.

These powerful reminders can help us greatly in our intention to have our work be relaxing.^1,2,3 The key is to take on the concept of practice. We are practicing centering. We are practicing self-awareness. We are practicing relaxing. And as we practice these things, our overall experience is one of being centered, relaxed, and self-aware, regardless of all the things that are going on around us.

¹Chiesa A, Malinowski P: Mindfulness-based approaches: are they all the same? J Clin Psychol 67(4):404:424, 2011

²Zeidan F, et al: Brain mechanisms supporting the modulation of pain by mindfulness meditation. J Neurosci 31(14):5540-5548, 2011

³Ledesma D, Kumano H: Mindfulness-based stress reduction and cancer: a meta-analysis. Psychooncology 18(6):571-579, 2009

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Chiropractic Care and the Possibility of Flourishing

Posted on 2011-11-21 06:11:15

Health issues often interfere with the ability to participate fully in life. For example, ongoing lower back pain can make a person irritable and anxious. Lower back pain reduces a person's activities, wastes valuable metabolic resources, and saps energy. The affected person's emotional range becomes restricted as she is continually compelled to be aware of her body's limitations

Chiropractic care may provide substantial benefit in the case of lower back pain and many other physical ailments. Gentle chiropractic care helps reduce pain by restoring mobility and reducing inflammation of affected muscles, ligaments, and tendons. As the person's pain resolves her interest in daily activities begins to grow. Reducing pain is associated with increasing involvement in life. As good health is restored, the person's ability to thrive and flourish is restored as well.

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