Archive for the ‘Health & Wellness’ Category

Brolin played George Bush in the movie "W". To me, for more reasons than one, this picture represents pain and suffering.

Have you ever been in such physical pain that you were suffering?  Perhaps you still are.  The same goes with your emotional pain as well.  

Wanna know what the difference between pain and suffering is?  It’s just as simple as a shift in perception.  Allow me to explain.

A patient of mine came in to see me 2 hours after she was involved in a car accident whereby she was rear ended by another car.  She was clearly in pain and suffering because of it.  She was extremely anxious about it.  Her pain was so intense that she felt that something was wrong with her.  She had a bottle of pills in her hand that she just got and she wanted my opinion on taking the anti-inflammatories her doctor gave her previously.  She wanted my opinion.

I explained to her that her body was simply responding to a stressor.  There was an alarm (shock of the accident causing the tissues in the neck to be stretched), then as a result, there was an adaptation whereby the injured tissues start to pool blood to the area so that healing factors can start to work their magic.  As a result, there is swelling, heat, and because nerves are involved, there is pain.

So then where does the suffering come in?  The answer lies in your perception.  

Pain is a part of life.  Throughout your life, you and I have, and will in the future, experience both pleasure and pain.  Suffering doesn’t come from the pain.  It comes with the EXPECTATION that you are only to be having pleasure, and no pain.

Think about that.  I mean REALLY think about it.  

When I explained to her that she is responding in a normal and healthy way,and that her pain is absolutely normal given what she just went through… immediately I could feel her shift.  I asked her how she felt.  She said she felt much better.

Her suffering was upgraded to just plain and simple pain.  How Interesting. 

I adjusted her spine right after I adjusted her perception first.  That made her a heck of a lot easier to work with over the next few weeks, because instead of resisting to what what happening to her, she embraced it and appreciated it.  

You can do the same in your life too.  Release the expectation that you are supposed to be happy all the time.  Surrender to the fact that your parents, children, or significant other isn’t always going to be nice and supportive to them, and neither are you.  Get over it.

I’ve suffered enough to now be able to recognize the thinking and expectations that created my suffering.  I would like to share it with you.  Since I love “how-to” guides, here’s a “How-to suffer throughout your entire life” guide.  Keep it as your bible.  I guarantee that it will work (or your money back):

•   Refuse to look at the world from any other perspective other than your own. 
•   Guard your beliefs, rules and principles, expectations and your side of the story with your life, and make sure everyone else is aware of them. 
•  Constantly seek out the support of groups, friends, other family members, organizations, doctors, and counselors that keep you stuck in your perspective and NEVER challenge it. 
•  If someone disagrees or challenges your belief, hold onto your story even tighter, with more determination.  They must be wrong.
•  Refuse to elevate your consciousness to a higher level, especially to the view that looks at the world as one small part of a bigger picture. 
• Don’t even entertain the notion of surrendering to the moment and become grateful for what is.  God must have surely made a mistake.  Pray constantly that He may correct it.

Every time I feel like I am suffering, I realize I’ve been thinking along these terms.  As Eckhart Tolle describes, The “end of suffering” is only a thought away.  Even though we all die sooner or later anyway, it is our thoughts and beliefs that will determine the quality and length of our life.

To end your suffering, you gotta switch your level of thinking to a higher level.  By doing this, you’ll get over your pain quicker, too.  You’ll shift your perceptions and your suffering will follow.  The road to recovery and fulfillment is much shorter this way.  I guarantee it.

This cute little kid is getting one of his first lessons about suffering, as taught by his evil little brother charlie.  

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Have you ever been so pissed off that you wanted to become angry and violent?  I admit, I’m human and feel the same way sometimes.  Lately I’ve been turning my feelings towards my patients, of all people!  Here we are in society, thinking that the Doctor is a gentle, loving, caring human being that has no real “negative” emotions whatsoever. 

The reason behind the diseases of civilization: We've stopped moving, we watch advertisements for products that we don't need and that make us even sicker, and we feel incomplete and depressed when we compare our reality to "the american dream" that isn't real, and happens to be an illusion.

News flash:  Nothing can be further from the truth.  We’re just as judgmental.  We like a lot of the people we work with… we even love some of them.   We also hate the people we work with too.  I live in a family of doctors of all varieties, from dentists to cardiologists, to neuro-radiologists, to General Practitioners, and then there’s the black sheep—me.  Every time we get together we swap stories (of course leaving names out) of interesting cases. 

Most of the time we sit back in awe of the thought process and belief systems of our patients.  Lately, as I research to find tools and lifestyle changes to make people well, rather than just cover up their symptoms, my frustration and anger has been steadily on the rise. 

I feel that I have been lying to people.  Not exactly LYING, per se, but not telling them the full story about why they’re even there in the first place.  Every time I have an opportunity to tell the truth about someone’s health even when it’s as plain and simple as the light of day, the fear of a reprimand due to a board regulation, or the “morals and ethics” of my colleagues stops me.

I’m working on resolving that one.  This blog entry is also about me facing that fear, as it is about you getting healthier.

Please watch this video.  It is actually NOT A JOKE, but a true story.  Special thanks to my colleague, Dr. Stephanie Galanis for introducing this to me.

I’m willing to bet money that some of you I bet actually marked down the name and location of this place because it’s somewhere you would like to visit.  I’m not going to lie.  I do too.  But it’s not to go for a meal.  It’s to shake the hand of the creator of the concept.  He’s a genius.  He understands human nature, the same way drug companies and cigarette companies do.  People will go for the short term gain of the “high” created by using products and won’t worry about the long-term cost to their health. 

When we take a pill, we KNOW it’s not dealing with the cause—it just makes us more comfortable in our illusion that everything will be fine as long as I don’t feel any pain RIGHT NOW.

When we smoke a cigarette, we KNOW it’s going to kill us, but satisfying our nicotine pang is more important NOW.

When we watch that video, we look at the condition of the people who dine at restaurants like that but we need our sugar and fat fix NOW.

We’re all the same, and that’s why he created this burger joint.  And news cameras and “angry” bloggers like me will only make them more successful.  I’m of the opinion that if you can create, communicate, and deliver a perceived value, then you deserve success.  From one entrepeneur to another, that’s genius.  I want to take the owner out for lunch (at an establishment that serves real food) and shake his hand and learn from him, because I believe I have something of value as well that will save people’s lives—simply my understanding of what the body requires for health, in movement, in food choices, and in our thoughts.  Even though we are at opposing ends of the game, we can still respect how each other plays.

Want to know how to get heart disease, diabetes and cancer?  Go to places like that 2-3 times a week for 30 years.  Drink soda pop instead of water.  The only vegetables you ingest should be in the form of French fries, and the only fruits you get should come in flavors for ice cream (ex.mango, strawberry, and raspberry flavors).  We instinctively know this to be true, ya ya ya, but… there’s another factor that we don’t really consider– a factor that has just as much to play as the way you eat and move.  More on this later.  

I saw a patient last week who came in for me to “fix” his upper back pain.  He was diabetic, and on “metformin”, a wonder drug that helps stabilize blood sugar levels.  GREAT SUCCESS!

He was obese, didn’t exercise, obviously didn’t look like he got any raw whole foods in his diet, and his job was particularly stressful.  Now he wants me to fix a back problem that was caused by a lack of proper movement, exercise, and a lack of proper function in his spine (his last adjustment was 7 years ago and he gets the pain on and off).

When I asked him about his diabetes, he had the nerve to tell me that his “disease” he caught was genetic.  I was sympathetic to him up to that point. 

Hidden belief system:  It runs in my family, there’s nothing I can do about it.  My choices don’t matter.

I’m here to tell you that you’ve been lied to.  I’m going to go out on a limb here, and risk ridicule and criticism and tell you that your GENES ARE UNDER YOUR CONTROL.  The genes to produce diabetes might exist, as they exist within all of us if we keep going to eat in places like the Heart Attack Grill… but our LIFESTYLE is what switches those genes on or off to produce the results.  If you don’t believe me, just watch the show “Super Size Me” where a guy goes and eats nothing but McDonalds for 30 days and does all the blood work before and after to prove that a healthy individual can develop pathology just by what he puts into his body and by stopping moving.  His mood, depression and anxiety levels were also affected by his lifestyle.  Try proving to HIM that his mind and body are separate.  His lifestyle switched on his “illness physiology” genes.  He was healthy prior to that experiment!  Guess what… after it was done, he switched his lifestyle back, and his genes expressed health again.  Your body’s natural state is that of health.  It’s CRAVING healthy lifestyle habits to switch the healthy genes back on.  It craves it so much that it keeps producing illness so we can go back to the right way of living like our hunter/gather ancestors did.

If you don’t believe me and think I’m nuts for saying our genes are under our control, watch THIS video by Dr. Bruce Lipton, Phd. He’s a highly respected researcher from Stanford School of Medicine who has scientifically proven that our genes are entirely under our own control, simply by switching our perceptions.  I don’t want you to take it from me.  Take it from someone who is way smarter than me and you combined.  I encourage you to take the time to watch it.  He explains it in a way for the lay person to understand.  The implications of what he is saying will revolutionize how we look at our health, and the information he is sharing is the irrefutable proof that hasn’t yet made it into medical textbooks, but will be there within the next few years.  He is the catalyst for me to take my career to the next level and spread the truth about why we get sick in the first place:  OUR PERCEPTIONS AND BELIEFS. (3 part series– watch it when you have time and it will blow you away)

Almost my entire family on my father’s side is on cholesterol medication.  It’s “runs in my family”.  Can I tell you what else runs in my family?  Completely stopping exercise during adult life.  Eating an abundance of sweets and rice. (even though Persian food does have a lot of healthy components to it when you lower the amount of rice).

The most important one of all:  The “Rahmany trait” that all the cousins get together and laugh and joke about at family get-togethers:  Fear.  An insane amount of fear.  Fear of “what will other people think about me”.  Fear of what will the rest of the family think.  Fear of not getting enough appreciation or recognition from the family.  The “what ifs” that rule our lives.  Any middle eastern or asian family who has the same value system will be able to relate to mine.  Apparently my family is not alone.  The more we hold onto our fears that take up time and space in our minds, the sicker we get.  I have the research to back that one up too.  A lot of doctors would say I am a high risk to get a stroke simply because my grandfather died of one, and my family has high cholesterol.  I disagree with that one whole heartedly.  I think the greatest risk factor for my “inevitable” heart disease is because I adopted the “what if’s” from them.

I guess I have been acting on that trait by not telling people the truth of all this before when I first discovered it 5 years ago—how our beliefs are the root cause of all chronic illness.  I’ve been holding onto it that long, and in my own way, I’m slowly developing heart disease myself.  After all, what is fear but an illusion and misperception?  If you don’t accept me for what I say, and think that I’m a quack for saying this, is my life in any real danger?  The question is WHAT’S THE THING THAT’S CAUSING ME TO REALLY CARE?

That’s what I mean when I say I’m working on it.  The truth of this is more important to me than your opinion after I say it. When I say that when we are treating these disorders with medications rather than getting to the real cause, we are committing medical malpractice, I can say that with certainty now, thanks to solid MEDICAL research.  I’m saying we should be looking deeper than that.

“But Dr. Nima, if I get cancer, are you saying its because of my negative thinking?” This is the question I often get in my stress and health seminars.  I like this question, because it means I’ve struck a nerve and got people thinking.

It’s a bit more complicated than that, but in a nutshell, the rules and beliefs that you hold onto with all your might are the source of your greatest stresses when this neutral universe we live in goes by its own laws and breaks your rules.  What happens to you then?

Imagine I hold a belief that everyone should be prioritize the things I think are important (like prioritizing your health and eating right, exercising, getting your adjustments and dealing with your resentment buttons as they come up).  When met with people who do the opposite of all these things (as I do every single day), depending on how hard I hold onto these beliefs, I will emotionally react.  Amplify this by 20-30 years of holding onto this belief and I could easily run into heart disease.  I’m not talking about “new age” stuff here.  This is science.  Argue with me all you want.  I have been feeling resentful every single day in my practice lately because I’m met with people with belief systems incongruent with health.  My own beliefs that they should be living the same beliefs as me have been stressing the hell out of me.  My patients are not the cause!  I am!  (Aha moment there for me) 

As soon as I recognized that the stress created by my expectations of other people are slowly killing me (my wife even recognized it), that’s when I started doing more teaching and writing.  I hold seminars about this truth every month, and I even started a “Life skills for a stressful world” course that helps people overcome the fears and belief systems that are making them sick, keeping them from attracting wealth, and destroying their relationships.  The course is saving my life, too.

So this blog is just as much for me, as it is for you.  If I don’t make the entire world aware of the truth about health, then I probably will end up like my patients with chronic problems.  Those with chronic degenerative diseases are the ones who hold onto their beliefs and fears the strongest, and it runs their life so much that it affects their choices in how they eat, move, and think.   You try to help someone who comes to you for help, but refuses to change the belief system that caused it.  Imagine what that’s like.  It’s maddening.  That’s why I’m here writing.   You can consider this blog a big part of my “Cancer Prevention Strategy”.

Please understand:

What I’m saying is that if you get cancer, other than taking a good look at your diet and increasing the raw fruits and vegetable content, supplements, increasing your exercise,

This is ONE way of dealing with it....

 and putting all sorts of chemicals in your body, I would take a good look at what guilts, fears, and resentments you are holding on to, because they have contributed just as much, if not MORE to your dis-order than anything else.

And if we look at the major killers of civilized countries– heart disease, diabetes and cancer as unwanted, evil horrible things that we need to eliminate, we’re not getting the message that the body is giving us—and the disease will NEVER leave our bodies, no matter how many pills you throw at it… If you cut it out of your body, it grows back.  Scrape the plaque off the walls of the arteries– it grows back.  The lesson it’s giving us is to take a good look at how we eat, move, and think and make the changes to living a life that we KNOW a healthy organism needs.  What better way to tell you that you’re off track with your life than by making you extremely uncomfortable?

Or if we really want to be crazy—how about start living that lifestyle NOW rather than wait for a message from the body?  Like brushing the teeth BEFORE the cavity sets in?  Exercising BEFORE you start getting heart attacks?  Get your adjustments BEFORE the degeneration sets in?  Crazy concept, I know.  Controversial as hell.

The most revolutionary idea in today, one that I’m putting out there, that will no doubt get me in trouble, after my “Jerry McGuire Memo Moment” is that your health is entirely under your control, with how you eat and move, and those two aspects are controlled by how you think and what you believe.  I’m up against a system that wants to convince you that it’s all in your genetics and all about evil germs that are running rampant in our world.  I share my research with you because I know in my heart that if I don’t get over my fear of sharing the research with you, my heart will not be able to handle it.

Bring it on. 

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When people inquire about my Maple Ridge Salsa Classes and they are trying to find out details, I chuckle when I hear them confess their fears.  I’ve heard every excuse in the book:

“I have two left feet”

“I’m too white to dance”

“I don’t have a partner”

“My wife/husband doesn’t want to come”

“I’ve never taken any dance classes before”

“I’m too fat”

“I’m too old”

“I’m uncoordinated”.

All these statements are purely B-S. 

These are simply excuses.  The only way we can get anywhere in life is by walking right into our fears.  I had those same fears 4 years ago when I started my salsa classes.  The voices in my head started to whisper “But you’re just a chiropractor!  You have no formal dance training!  Your colleagues will laugh at you!  People are going to say you’re just trying to drum up business!  The elite dance instructors in town will say ‘who the heck are you to be teaching???”

I heard them all inside my head and I even heard it on the outside, and I did it anyway.  That was 4 years ago.

While running a busy Maple Ridge Chiropractic practice and a wellness centre, I took the step up and started to share my passion for this mesmerizing, infectious music and dance with my patients and the rest of the community, and boy, has the response been rewarding.

Each and every time, when people become aware of the classes that have come up, I’m met with the same challenges and resistance.  I hear those excuses every time.  I also see people who are going through stressful times, transitional times, people who want to spice things up in their relationships, they want to get fit, meet new people, and grow and expand their consciousness by simply stepping (or should I say dancing) out of their comfort zones.  I see their stresses vanish their confidence in themselves skyrocket.

The best part is when those same people transform before my very eyes from shy, introverted, self-conscious, nervous people, to people who gradually release all their tensions, forget their troubles, move their bodies, appreciate some new music, and  overlook their own “inadequacies”.  

At the end of the course, they are different people.  They’re better people for it, because they thought they couldn’t, but they realize they CAN.  And this confidence transforms into other areas of life– their relationships and careers and I watch them start to take more pride in how they look and feel.  Amazing changes, from an observer’s standpoint.

Men learn to “take the lead” and be more certain in their choices, and women learn to “let go and trust.”  

I’ve discovered that these are not just salsa classes I am teaching.  I’m teaching my students and myself about trust and empowerment in their own lives.  

So you think you can’t dance?  

“Whether you think you can or you can’t, your right.”

-  Henry Ford

Howerver, here’s something to ponder:

“People who dance lead more fulfilling lives than people who don’t.”

           - Dr. Nima

Only someone who has danced would understand what I mean by that one.

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According to the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (2006), the likelihood of you getting prescribed a medication during a physician visit is 71%.  The average number of prescriptions in a visit is 2.1.

This is an alarming statistic.  

In my health classes and seminars, I often ask “when a plant is withering, what’s the first thing we think about doing?”

Invariably, the response is “feed it water”.

Interesting that when a human is “withering” or expressing a state of dis-ease, we turn to medications 71% of the time.  I know every single case is an individual… but logically speaking… is that such a great idea?

What has been your experience with medications?

How long have you been taking them?  Is there any plan of going off?  What are you taking them for?

Working primarily as a Chiropractor in Maple Ridge, I often get asked about medications.  While it’s not in my scope of my Chiropractic practice to tell people to take or stop taking meds, I am happy to answer any question on natural alternatives to participate in while you are under medical care.

Have you ever had any adverse reactions?  How many meds are your parents taking?  Is there anything you have noticed helps to prevent the need for meds?

Even positive experiences on meds… please feel free to share!  Share your frustrations or any stories of you have about how you got off pills.

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The King of the Smith's household- Oliver, who despite his pleasant disposition has been getting ear infections quite regularly. Here he's pictured hamming it up with Dr. Nima as he gets his lumbar spine checked for movement.

A healthy mother and father to care for it… to love and appreciate it.

Have you ever noticed that the health of the entire family often rests on the shoulders of the cornerstone of the family: Mom?

When she is in a great mood, the family follows. When she’s in a bad mood, the entire family feels the energy. 

I often see when a child gets sick quite often– I start looking at the mother and asking her questions about her health and her life. 9 times out of 10, she’s been undergoing massive stress trying to keep a balance on everything– her expectations of being a good mom, her own desires of what she needs, being a support to her husband in his daily grind…. and too often she ends up neglecting herself in the process. 

Then the child gets sick. Over and over again. 

Does this story sound familiar to you?

The truth is, when a mother honors herself and her health FIRST AND FOREMOST, there is more of her to give to her husband and child. She does whatever they need, and she’s able to provide her family with the essentials that they need: A well balanced, healthy, vibrant, energetic and appreciative mother. 

This is most difficult when she hasn’t had a moment to herself, hasn’t been eating right, exercising and stressed to the max. She feels like she’s serving everyone by putting herself last. Then when stress hormone levels rise, anxiety and frustration builds– she reacts with resentment because she’s totally lost herself in the process. 
When the family follows her lead by getting sick as well– this creates even greater stress, and then feelings of guilt for being “selfish” and wanting more for herself, and the cycle gets worse.

The good news: 
When mom starts honoring her own needs, desires, time, and health, a shift happens. There’s more of her to give. 

How do we ensure that the health of the entire family is preserved? Easy. Just look after mom. "Happy mom, happy wife, happy life."

Please take a moment to check out the blog of photographer Tobin Smith as he joins the entire family (especially the King of the household– Oliver) as they journey back to health, starting with spinal health, nutrition and daily planned walks together. Watch as both baby and mother, as well as dad make a few simple changes that aren’t available in pill form to move towards health and balance and wholeness rather than try to chase the dis-eases away.http://web.me.com/tabobo/adjustment/Blog/Blog.html

Have you had any experiences like this?  Please feel free to share, as this might help others in the same situation.

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The warning light in my car just went on for “Inspection”.  I know that if I take it in, it will cost me about a thousand bucks to get it inspected.  

Do I really want to do that?  It seems fine.  It’s all working pretty well.  ”I’ve been busy lately….”  ”Money has been kinda tight, you know, with the recession and all….”

The truth is, I could make the time, and well, there’s a lot more I would like to do with my thousand dollars.  That’s the truth.  It’s the truth I hear every single day with people when they are making the same choices about their health.

We get little “signals” from our body.  A headache, heartburn, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, indigestion, back pain, numbness and tingling in our extremities, frequent colds and infections, depression, anxiety, etc.  There’s a million other ways our bodies speak to us to let us know we’re off track with our lives, our diets, our perceptions of the world around us.

The most difficult part for me as a wellness expert to witness is how people assume that by going to the doctor, they will be able to go somewhere to see “what’s wrong” and “get medicine to make it all better”.  I hear this all the time.  It’s tougher when I hear it said to children.  Childproof bottles aren’t childproof forever– and now we know why.

When a person who is connected with themselves and their bodies gets a message like that, then they know exactly what to do.  They know their body is trying to tell them something, and the message is clear:  Change your diet.  Stop eating food that really isn’t food.  Take more walks.  Get out and move your body.  Get your spine check and adjusted.  Take a class that stimulates your mind.  Spend time with people that really matter.  Understand who you are and why you are on this earth.  

This is what these “signals” are trying to tell you.  Unfortunately, doctors that you go and see really want to tell you this, but don’t have the time to counsel you, and know you won’t listen when they say these things.  So they give you what they think you are there for:  The “outside-in” path toward symptom relief.  They know that you don’t really want to hear about the inside-out solution.  (Maybe they do, but aren’t doing it themselves).  We pay a heavy price for the “quick fix”.  One of my patients told me that if she knew she was going to live this long, she would have taken better care of herself throughout her life.  She’s 50 now, and she has almost every chronic lifestyle illness in the book:  High Blood pressure, High Cholesterol, Diabetes.  She’s at the hospital every week for something.  She is taking every medication in the book (all the best sellers for North American lifestyle illnesses) and year after year, she gets sicker.  Its tough when I try to get her into my “What your doctor won’t tell you about your symptoms” seminar and she’s “too busy” to make it in.

I am currently seeing a family of 3 under my care.  It seems they are all getting sick and have been this way for a long time.  Coincidentally there is a lot of stress happening in their lives, with a move, with a toddler, with hectic lifestyles… I asked them about their lifestyle, about exercise.

The mother responded “there was a time when we were walking every day, exercise was a regular outing for all of us.”

I asked her if she noticed the family getting sick during those times.

“Actually, no.  We were all quite healthy then!”

It was a bit of an “aha” moment.  They got it.  They’re on their way back to health and I’m excited to join in their journey.

What if we were all open to the possibility that the reason why we get sick in the first place is because we are NOT DOING those things that we know scientifically the body needs as a requirement for health?  Sounds like common sense, but we’re not marketed to live this way.  When there’s a problem, “talk to your doctor about _______”  (fill in the blanks of the next magic pill on the market).

If you were doing things in the certain way that the healthiest people in the world were doing, you wouldn’t need to be talking to your doctor about anything.

I guess I better take my car in for a checkup.

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Why is it that people are never interested in learning how to prevent health problems?  I think I got it all figured out:  Prevention isn’t sexy.  It’s like perfect golf.  Boring.  It’s a lot more fun and exciting when you’re all over the place. Keeps you on your toes.  

Daily, prioritized healthy action steps like eating plenty of fresh, fruits and vegetables in a primarily raw, whole food diet, taking supplements, getting to the gym or yoga/pilates studio, taking dance classes, keeping your spine moving in healthy ways and free from nerve interference, being part of a community or social group that enhances your ability to grow and learn from others who resonate similar values to you, doing activities that enhance your time and  feelings of appreciation and presence with those who are dearest to you… it’s all pretty normal, safe… and unsexy, isn’t it?

I don’t blame people who aren’t into healthy lifestyle habits.  I’m not too crazy about the word prevention, because I’d rather my patients come to see me for keeping a healthy balance in their nerve system connection rather than to prevent dis-ease.  When you focus on the pain and dis-ease, what do you keep running into?  

That’s actually my understanding of why Prevention isn’t sexy.  Who wants to focus on those illnesses anyway? Coming to get your adjustment is a reminder of what the body can do when it’s healthy, rather than what you “should be doing”  in a fearful state. Once again, I can’t judge people for their health choices (even though I catch myself doing it all the time)… After all… How many of us have skipped out on our dental checkups/cleanings or our car maintenance, or even checking on the furnace, clearing the lint filter from the dryer vents, or even cleaning out the eaves troughs around the house?  We are all guilty in some form.  We continue living our lives, chasing after our dreams, not making ourselves and our health a priority.  

Prevention might not be sexy, but a deliberate focus and action step each day toward strengthening our bodies, our relationship with our selves, and how we connect with the entire universe around us definitely can be.  These dreams we chase after– golfing or fishing all day, traveling the world, spending time with your grandchildren and loved ones– can any of them be possible without your health there first?  Prevention may not be sexy, but a healthy body and mind DEFINITELY is.

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One of the things that some patients are most resentful about chiropractic care is their perception that chiropractic care can get repetitive, and expensive.  They feel that a “good” chiropractor will be able to fix all their problems in 3 -5 visits… any more than that, and he’s creating more work for himself and running up the bill and lining his pockets.  

After taking my car to the dealership for repairs, or having someone come in to repair something in my office, I’ll admit that I understand that feeling.  That feeling of being taken for a ride is a tough pill to swallow.  

Here’s a confession:  We chiropractors are aware of this.  We are so fearful and afraid of being perceived as crooks, that it consumes us.  We talk about it in our meetings together.  ”How can we communicate the need for their intensive schedule of care, while at the same time not appearing to be just in it for the money, and be able to fit it into their budget?”

When someone comes in with a chronic problem that’s been developing for more than 2 years that they are popping pills for every single week, the truth is, there is no quick fix.  Their lifestyle (posture, work postition, previous injuries, lack of exercise) is partly to blame, and to expect a successful resolution within 5-10 treatments becomes highly improbable.  

Here’s where the confusion comes in:  Many people look at chiropractic care as an “alternative” to taking pills.  When you look at the goal of a pill (to mask a symptom), the problem always comes back, so you need more pills.  If you are using chiropractic care as an alternative to pills, then you are forever chasing your pain away with an adjustment.  Although it works, that is not and never has been the goal of true, pure chiropractic care, and the REAL cause ends up getting worse as you age.  Have you noticed how your aches and pains sometimes feel worse as you get older?  That’s because of the decay process that is the same as the decay process that occurs with your teeth.  Imagine what happens when you treat tooth pain with pills all your life.

The question is… WHAT THE HECK CAUSED THE SYMPTOMS IN THE FIRST PLACE?  Answer:  Traumas from birth, childhood falls, chronic sitting in school, sports injuries, car accidents, emotional stresses and conflicts that accumulate and manifest in the body, crappy diets high in processed fatty foods and sugars that cause your levels to rise and crash (along with your emotions), and not enough exercise.

These toxicities and deficiencies over a lifetime are what cause you to be sick, tired, and sore (dis-ease).  After being taught that you can solve each and every one of those problems with a different pill, when that fails, you look into an “alternative” solution. 

So you come to “get an adjustment” hoping it will solve all of that.  

Here’s where things break down:  Chiropractors are humans too, with feelings, and a need to be appreciated and liked.  So, knowing this, we have to balance your NEEDS, with our need to be liked and not thought of as a crook.

Next confession:

You know what I used to do about it?  I’d tell a patient they only needed to see me the exact amount of times their plan would cover, so they didn’t have to pay out of pocket and resent me and think I was a crook.  Even though I knew they needed more care, I would “sell them short” of their required healing time and care.  Their opinion of me mattered more than their health.  Guess what the result was?

They would feel good for a while, it wouldn’t last because their lifestyle didn’t change, they didn’t follow the exercises, they didn’t come in to get to the deeper layers of healing their chronic problem, they left my practice and said “chiropractic didn’t work for me, Nima’s just in it for the money anyway.”  

They were absolutely right.  I was in it for their acceptance, and I was judging them based on my own fears about money and where I was spending it.  I didn’t value my own health to spend my own money on it. So why should my patients?

When the switch went on, I realized that no matter what care plan I recommended, someone was going to judge me.  Since then, I’m more aware of being truthful with my patients about what they require, and I am able to have them make the choice.  If it’s going to take 40 visits over the next 6 months, then I will let you know that it’s going to take that amount of care to bring you back to health, and I will support you with classes on stress management, diet, and postural exercises to help you learn more (if you really care).  Have some patients followed the recommendations?  Absolutely… They’re the ones that are feeling more energized, less sore, more fulfilled, and more responsible for their own healing journey.  

Have some patients not complied?  Absolutely.  They are the ones that come in 2-3 times a year in excruciating pain (after 3 weeks of popping pills didn’t work) and getting worse as the years go on and resenting me and blaming me for their pain.  It happens all the time, and it’s the reason why I’ve noticed my desire to  teach and write grow.  I have to stop myself every day from jumping out and screaming and yelling at them for not sharing my value of a having a healthy body and mind.  Good indication that it’s time for me to start making a bigger impact.  

I’ve chased a lot of people away by judging them in this way.  I apologize for that.  I’m workin on it.

My patients who are still looking for a band-aid have left my care and went to other chiropractors who will give them just that– getting “their back cracked”.   

I’ve now attracted a whole new variety of patients: Those that are making their overall health (physical and emotional) as their main goal, and that lifestyle factors of diet and stress management, discovering who they are and what they want to manifest in their lives, and learn proper ways to move… They WANT TO BECOME STUDENTS OF WELLNESS.  Proper spinal movement and function is one big piece of that puzzle, but we can’t just stop there.  To be healthy, we have to learn how to eat, move and think like the healthiest people in the planet do.  It’s just that simple (but never easy).

Am I liked by some of my patients?  Absolutely.  Are there people walking around that resent me because of the nature of our interactions and my schedule of care and maintenance and the fact that they have to actually spend their money on their health?  Sadly, yes (sigh).  I’m in the same boat as you:  Some people at work like me, and some don’t.  

I confess, I want to be liked and accepted by everyone all the time (Good luck with that one, Nima).  It actually used to consume me to the point of misery.  But lately, my desire for my patient’s well being is becoming much stronger than my desire to be liked.  I observe how this transformation in me is causing a transformation for my patients.  Some leave to find a different doctor, and others leave their doctor to find me.  I’m working on the judgement part.  Now sit up straight, will you?  Do you REALLY NEED that chocolate chip cookie?

(Darn.  Can’t help it.)

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