Archive for the ‘Personal Development’ Category

Have you ever repeated a story so much you believed it as fact– only later to realize that the story was not true?  Remember how shocked you were?

It’s disturbing because you start to become aware that you may have other beliefs that are complete bullshit.  Imagine the surprise when we realized the earth wasn’t flat.  I don’t know the story—but I bet you they thought the guy who proved it was a sphere was labeled a heretic.

When I was in school, we were taught to ask our patients about Family History.  I’m sure you’ve been to the doctor and have been asked about the history of illness of your family.  Reason being—if your parents have an illness—then it’s in your genes and your probability will be high as well.

Because of these beliefs, some people have gone so far as to have surgeries without any illness—just as a precaution—like removing their breasts because breast cancer “runs in the family”.

What if I told you we’re discovering these old-school beliefs about cancer and other chronic illnesses caused by “faulty genes” are today’s version of “flat earth”?

The truth is—we are now discovering this paradigm is not true.  Your genes are not your destiny.  Read time magazine’s article “Why your DNA is not your Destiny”. (Jan 2010).

The “Central Dogma Theory” taught in medical schools.

The “Central Dogma” – that is taught in schools (simply stated) is that your DNA gets transcribed to create proteins, which are the foundation of all the physiological functions of your life– and this process is irreversible.   In other words, your DNA controls your life, and there is little to nothing you can do to change that.

The funny thing is that it’s actually called “The Central Dogma” of Biology.  Funny that in a paradigm that prides itself on being scientific, we have a “Dogma” which can be defined as “a religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without proof.”

I have some earth shattering news for you.  New research is now challenging the belief of “it runs in the family so I have a higher chance of getting it”.

I’m also going to explain why this old belief is not only outdated—but it can be hazardous to your health to believe it to be true– in 2 parts.

3 paradigm-changing studies that have been published about Genetics and susceptibility to illness.

1)  The first study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, was from Denmark, a country where they for some reason keep an extremely detailed register of genetic origin for their citizens.  Researchers looked at 960 families—more than a thousand children who were adopted—meaning they had NO GENETIC CONNECTION between parent and child, and they evaluated causes of death.

What they found was that when one of those adoptive parents died of cancer before the age of 50, the risk of the child of these parents dying of cancer increased by 500 percent.

But how can that be? You might ask.  There’s no genetic connection!

I’m glad you asked—because the answer is that family environment plays a huge role in your health, regardless of your “strong” or “weak” genes.  The authors conclude

…death from cancer, and possibly also from vascular causes, appears to be influenced by the family environment. (N Engl J Med 1988; 318:727–32.)”

My brother (left) and me (right) on November 22nd, 1975. Not genetically identical-- but we're still twins.

2)  The Second study, again from the New England Journal of Medicine, conducted at a prestigious institute in Sweden where they select Nobel Prize candidates looked at (genetically) identical twins.  They studied whether or not these twins got the same illnesses because they shared IDENTICAL GENES.

Can you take a wild guess what the results were?

The authors state

Inherited genetic factors make a minor contribution to susceptibility to most types of neoplasms (cancers)….We conclude that the overwhelming contributor to the causation of cancer in the populations of twins that we studied was the environment”.

Then they put these cancer-ridden mice in different groups with different environments and in a nutshell–found that the groups in healthier environments (mice that got nurturing, socialization, opportunity for normal exercise, mental stimulation) actually SHRUNK THE CANCER TUMORS.

I says PARDON?

“Dr. Nima, you mean to tell me that even if I have cancer, I can shrink cancer by changing my lifestyle?”

You tell me.  This is what the researchers say:

“We show here that an enriched environment leads to a remarkable suppression of cancer proliferation in all three models tested, even when delayed until the tumor was well established”. (Cao et al. Environmental and Genetic Activation of a brain-Adipocyte BDNF/Leptin Axis Causes Cancer Remission and Inhibition.  Cell 2010 July 9, 142(1):52-64.

Even though it’s controversial for me to say— THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I’M SAYING.  Chronic illness is multi-factoral.  Reductionistic Medicine is concerned with isolating the genes and coming up with an outside-in “cure”.  Unfortunately most clinicians are too busy to keep up with the latest research.  Just because your doctor doesn’t know doesn’t mean it’s not true.

There are many campaigns, runs, walks, fundraisers that we all get behind for this noble purpose of getting healthier.

I’m not saying that those are bad things.

I’m saying we’re spending our energy and money in the wrong place.  I’m saying that the runs, walks, support, being part of a team with a mission, sense of family, community, and placing a high value on yourself IS the cure—not the stuff we are spending our time researching.  I’m saying we can avoid most cancer and disease if we had all those elements in there in the first place.

And maybe I might be so bold as to say that the disease can then be looked at as a gift, a wake-up call, or all of the above to get you to put yourself in the right environment.  And by “environment” I mean proper food intake, sufficient exercise, and sufficient gratitude, self esteem and social interaction in your life.  Oh, and a spine that can move properly.

At least that is what the research is starting to point out.

On my next post, we will discuss what these research findings actually mean in terms of your life and your health.  If you really get what I’m saying and am about to share with you—it’s really a game changer.  We can’t approach our life in the same manner, and not only that—it’s dangerous to think otherwise.

I have an insulin-dependent type-2 diabetic patient who came in for a visit and told me of his problems with blood sugar the night before, and how he had to eat French fries and coke to bring up his sugar after he took too much insulin.

I asked him “ever considered changing your lifestyle?  Ever considered exercise and eating raw, whole foods?”

“No, it doesn’t matter—the doc says it’s genetic.”

Sigh.

And so I continue to write and teach.  For my own sanity.  It might take some work… but the world is starting to catch on.  Are you still worried about your family history of disease now?  Next post we’ll discuss what we TRULY inherit from our parents.

I’ve been frustrated at work lately.

“Doc, it hurts, please fix my________ and make it go away.” (enter Pain, Anxiety, Depression, Cancer, Diabetes, or whatever symptom or disease).

Old Model: Doc assesses with expensive tests, gives diagnosis, and provides some sort of medical therapy (drugs or surgery or “nothing cuz we don’t know what to do for you”).

New Model: I’m not concerned only with your pain/condition. I’m concerned with teaching you first what you need in order to be healthy in the body and mind, and fulfilled in life.
Now I admit, I’ve been beating my head against a wall lately. Imagine trying to practice this “new model” method in an “old model” world.

Imagine people are so used to McDonalds cheeseburgers, it’s no longer satisfying anymore— and it’s making them sick…. So they come to a steakhouse… asking for the same cheeseburger bullshit and expecting a different result. Welcome to my life lately.

I used to call myself a Chiropractor, but the negative connotation associated with it can be a challenge.  I don’t label myself anything anymore. I’m a Wellness/Lifestyle Doctor (becoming an expert). If you’re in any state of less than 100% well-being, REGARDLESS OF YOUR DIAGNOSIS and whatever toxins they are having you take…. You can’t live at 100% if you don’t follow these simple rules:

1) Innate Body—Sufficient Movement, Sufficient Nutrition and Spinal Balance and 100% function. Any imbalances, toxicities or deficiencies with the body must be corrected if the person’s goal is to get healthier.

My biggest challenge? Knowing that patients are coming in to see me for physical complaints, and they happen to be on anti-depressant or anxiety meds not knowing the truth: That in order to start to bring the mind/mental/emotional aspect into balance, you’re wasting your time and energy, effort, money, and compromising your health in a very serious manner— if you haven’t started with #1 described above. They’ve been fed lies about why they need meds.  Without a healthy functioning body, spine and nervous system, sufficiencies in movement and nutrition, and removing the toxicities— your mind will not function in a normal, healthy manner. PERIOD.

2)Innate Mind—Once the body has been sufficiently nurtured (through lifestyle and chiropractic care), most mental/emotional conditions tend to become lessened. You start feeling better emotionally. You handle stress more resiliently. But if there are still “incomplete stories” from the past or present—it makes sense to start working on them now that your body is moving towards balance. Getting help with your social or family network, classes, books, seminars, coaching, or guidance from a therapist or counselor who doesn’t promote your story of victimhood is the way to go. I happen to love this aspect of my job. I’m noticing that I have been looking more and more forward to the classes and workshops I teach at my office more than seeing new patients walk in off the street.

Why is this critical? Because nowhere in school do we learn how to properly deal with adversity. Nowhere in school do we learn how to have a healthy relationship with ourselves and our money, or proper expectations in a relationship. Nowhere in our school do we learn the importance of having a healthy level of self esteem and connection with a community. It’s mentioned, but never really taught. Where did YOU learn these things? Who are YOUR role models?

Wayne Dyer: One of the teachers I would recommend learning from on how to deal with adversity and "emotional subluxation".

WHAT IS AN “EMOTIONAL SUBLUXATION?”

One of my biggest Aha moments was that an emotional subluxation can exist. It is any thought or perception you may have that creates a state of ingratitude. Emotional subluxations are epidemic. I get them every day.  I’m actually going through a big one right now as we speak.  They need adjusting exactly the same way that spinal subluxations do.

An adjustment of an emotional subluxation is as simple as looking at your situation in a completely different way.
Yesterday a patient of mine came in for her regular adjustment. Mind and body she is 180 degrees from where she was 6 months ago… but she came to me with an emotional crisis. After her spinal adjustment (nurturing body)… I started adjusting her emotional subluxations (Mind).  It’s way easier than you think.

Gratitude Deficiency and your emotional well-being.

Over the past year, she has been battling a long term disability claim from some work incidents that created a state of “Post Traumatic Stress” in her life. She was off work, tumbled into worsening anxiety attacks and depression and it was impacting her life enjoyment and her marriage. She was looking for compensation, and naturally, the company she was working for was covering their ass by telling their own version of the story.
After reading their reports this past week, she was almost in a fit of rage inside, which we know creates all sorts of chemical changes that produce states of dis-ease in the mind and body. We had been working diligently with her over the past few months to the point that she was almost pain free, and her anxiety and depression had completely vanished. This last letter she received with those reports were almost enough to bring her back to that state after the main incident.

Emotional subluxations are not cleared by doing something magical or waving some wand or taking some pills.  They are cleared by asking a different set of questions.

The questions I asked her:
How has this incident at work helped you heal emotionally and physically? Were things just perfect with your life, health and marriage, and social network before it all happened? How has this helped your all of those things?

She responded with no—things were definitely not perfect before. Then she started telling me about how this incident made her see who her TRUE friends are, had got her introduced to chiropractic care (she met me at a community screening) which has her neck moving normally and pain free for the first time in ages, and by coming to my classes she has learned more about herself, her mind/body health and the way we respond to stress, how to cope with anxiety and depression, and in her marriage, she saw how her husband was sitting by her side until 2 in the morning to help type out the legal stuff despite being tired from work.

Because she is of Christian Faith, I asked her if she’s aware that God has truly given her everything she has ever wanted, but done it in “mysterious ways”—working the way He is infamous for?

Pause.

She never really thought of it that way.

I believe that gratitude is the ultimate healer, accessible to all of us if we ask the right questions. I was lucky enough to be taught the right questions to clear out an emotional subluxation (disconnection). It only took a matter of minutes for the subluxation to clear. How do you know it’s clear? Tears of gratitude were streaming down her face.

And mine.

And when the body is alignment innately, the lifestyle is in alignment innately, and you’re in a state of gratitude for things just as they are…. Your life starts moving in a flow which can be best described by watching an expert surfer stand effortlessly riding a wave.  That’s the starting point many never reach and they go looking for the perfect doctor to give it to them from the outside-in……When it’s been inside the whole time.

It’s true. My adjustments are changing. My vision is expanding. I’m riding one massive wave here. Where it will go—I really couldn’t give a flying hoot. I’m deeply connected and finding that time stands still when I help people see and feel their truth in their lives.

Thank you for reading and being a part of my journey.

The only way to overcome fear is to face it.  I’ve always had a burning desire to go Bungee jumping, but I chickened out.  Not this time.  hope you enjoy this video as much as I did in experiencing it.  In this week’s Mind/Body Wellness tip, I decide the best way to teach you about facing what you fear is to show you the possible reactions and emotional discomfort you’ll have to work through in order to live the life of your dreams.  Are you willing to learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable?

As a Chiropractor in Maple Ridge, I adjust subluxations in the spine to help bring balance to the body—which helps to balance the mind.

As a speaker/consultant and coach, I adjust subluxations in thoughts and perceptions to help bring balance to the mind—which helps to balance the body and life.  I’ve been fascinated lately with what happens to the body/mind when you are in a state of anxiety.

Apparently I’ve stumbled onto something that is way more common than you might think it is.

From my research, the body, when treated appropriately, fed innately, moved innately, with a healthy alignment, and connected to some greater purpose will organize itself into a healthy state quite magnificently.  It’s truly inspiring to see.   I’ve had the opportunity to witness people go off their anxiety and anti-depressant medications simply by making the right “adjustments” (sorry had to throw that in).  So why do some people then, stay stuck in their cycle of frustration?

The allopathic/medical (disease) model takes an illness or dis-eased state and asks the question: “What’s the diagnosis?”  first.  This way, when there is a label, there is a “scientific” course of action that is prescribed, most often pharmaceutical.  And how do they come up with this diagnosis?  By tests, scans, x-rays.  Test after test to come up with a number to see if it falls within certain guidelines of acceptability.

Examples:

Blood sugars too high = “Diabetes”.

Blood pressure too high =  “Hypertension”

Thyroid levels too high = “Hyperthyroidism”

In each of these cases, the body is responding to it’s environment, often appropriately.  Modify the behavior and the body starts coming back into balance.  Problem: There’s not a lot of time to talk about that in the visit and doctors aren’t trained to.  Solution:  There’s a pill for it.

And not to bash doctors, but when you look at the big picture you see how the industry is set up to profit on the illness, not the healing of it.  It’s a terrific business model:  Manage the disease, and you have created a lifelong customer.

The problem with anxiety and depression is that there are no tests or objective findings, and when you look at the diagnostic manual doctors rely on, you’ll be surprised to know that at any given time of the day/week/month/year, you will be able to identify with a great deal of the symptoms they describe.  Tell me if you can relate to this:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

A. Excessive anxiety and worry (apprehensive expectation), occurring more-days-than-not for at least 6 months, about a number of events or activities (such as work or school performance).

B. The person finds it difficult to control the worry.

C. The anxiety and worry are associated with three (or more) of the following six symptoms (with at least some symptoms present for more-days-than-not for the past 6 months).

1. restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge
2. being easily fatigued
3. difficulty concentrating or mind going blank
4. irritability
5. muscle tension
6. sleep disturbance (difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless unsatisfying sleep)

Ya, that pretty much describes everyone, and maybe 50% of people at any given time.  Can you see why anti-anxiety/depressant meds are a multi-billion dollar industry?

The unfortunate “Mental Illness Trap”

Picture this:

You’re feeling run down with all these symptoms because you’ve just gone through a tremendous loss, or are feeling a lot of pressure from work, or family issues have come up.  You go to your GP.  According to your symptoms, you fit the criteria.  You are now told that the sensations you are feeling are because you have a disorder.  You’re given a prescription for Zoloft or Paxil.  How does that make you feel?  From my experience working with patients and going through their case history, when they tell me they have anxiety disorder, they have 2 reactions simultaneously:

1)   A sense of disempowerment. They see themselves as separate from the illness, as though it has taken over their lives and are fighting against it with the help of medical care. (“I am a sick and weak individual who is mentally ill who requires medication.  Side note–My mother has it too—it runs in the family.  Nothing I can do about it.”)

2)   A sense of relief. Even though the symptoms are uncomfortable, deep down inside, a lot of people take comfort in the fact that they can attribute their horrible symptoms to something outside of their own thoughts and perceptions, and the disorder is to blame.  (“Finally, I know what’s wrong with me.  I have anxiety disorder.  I knew there was a reason I was so miserable. Thank God there are medications for that.  Side note, my mother has it too—it runs in the family.”)

Can you see the problem with that?

It puts you in a situation where you are seeing anxiety as an illness to treat rather than feedback your body is giving you.  You then start on a mission to conquer anxiety rather than looking at it as a necessary result of the thoughts and perceptions about the events that have happened in our lives.  Rather than working on transcending it—we then start to fear the symptoms themselves.  “Oh no!  My anxiety again!  When will this uncomfortable thing go away!  Give me my meds!”

My intention is to first make you aware of this, and to show you how to empower yourself and take action to transcend it. I have to say, as with all challenges, it won’t be easy.  God knows, I have my moments too.  But it’s possible.

This just in:  There’s nothing wrong with you.

If you are struggling with any of those symptoms, I’m going to tell you something that you probably haven’t been told by anyone.  YOU ARE NORMAL.  That’s right.  Unless there is a tumor in your brain that has caused your dopamine/serotonin production to completely SHUT DOWN (which is quite unlikely—don’t go request a brain scan now), those sensations you are feeling are THE NORMAL RESULT of the fight or flight mechanism in your body.  Your heart rate goes up, your digestion shuts down, adrenaline in your body won’t let you sleep, your adrenals will start to shut down and you will feel fatigued from being in this state all the time.  You won’t have any desire for sex, and because you’re in survival mode—being a loving mother/wife/husband and a productive person at work become difficult to impossible—you’re too busy running from a tiger to pay attention to those things.  You become emotional.  Reactive.  Paranoid.  Everyone’s out to get you.  Every comment is a complaint.  Every well-meaning criticism becomes an attack at your character.  Your own mental state can destroy your relationships.

I’ve been through it all—so you’re not alone.

There is nothing wrong with you—it’s the result of the accumulation of thoughts that have been programmed unconsciously.  The good news is that if you want to work at it and take responsibility and empower yourself, you can get back on track.

First step to Transcendence: Appreciation.

I will leave you with this.  First step to emotional freedom is to recognize your symptoms for what they are:  Symptoms and sensations related to anxiety.  Today, whenever you feel the anxious thoughts and symptoms show up—just sit with them for a moment.  Observe how you want to reach for that cigarette/drink/drugs/junk food/sex/work/video games/avoidance behavior in order to quiet the symptoms down.  Observe them from a curious standpoint.  “Wow… isn’t that interesting.  I really want a Big Mac right now.”

And sit with the pain.  Sit in the fire.  Feel the symptoms on the inside and remind yourself that the sensations aren’t the real you—they’re just a normal reaction to the “fight or flight” mechanism.  That’s your body working normally in response to the thoughts you are having or carrying around with you.  The real you is the observer to those feelings, and is an amazing individual with the potential to make a huge difference in the world when they are in that higher level of consciousness.

Step 2:  Stop giving a shit.

Then you have to do something you have never done before:  Stop giving a shit about the symptoms.  Smile at the sensations.  Approach them with an attitude of “who cares—they’re just symptoms and they are temporary.” Like you just broke your ankle and rather than whine about the pain of it—you’re finally letting go and allowing the ankle to heal and you know it’s going to take time– but it will heal. Just allow it to hurt.  You won’t die from it. And you simply go on with your day with a “who cares” attitude about them.

Sounds crazy doesn’t it?  I’m telling you—it works.

This is just the beginning—recognizing the sensations and sitting presently with them.  Don’t try to get rid of them.  Walk with them, dance with them, smile at them, watch them with curiosity.  When you do, you enter a different state of consciousness—you are in the present moment as an observer.  Pretty soon you will realize that you are starting to have power over them.  It’s like weight loss or working out.  You will have ups and downs.  But do it.  And stick to it.  Start today—let me know how you do.  Can’t wait to share more steps with you.

Please retweet/share or pass this along to someone who’s been a jerk lately.  Chances are, they’re in an unconscious “fight or flight” state.

I’ve always been a fun-loving guy.  Always cracking jokes, acting a fool.  My mother would always tell me to try to be more serious.  For the most part, I’m still the same, but since a few years ago, I had noticed a sharp decline in my enjoyment for life.

What I’m about to share is not easy for me.

Hypocrisy at its finest

People come to me for a variety of reasons—namely they are experiencing headaches, neck pain, back pain, and aren’t living to their potential physically.  Going through my emotional ups and downs caused me to reflect and study a variety of personal development and “self-help” books and attend seminars.  I have also grown into a consultant/life coach and I help those who are going through anxious, depressed states, or people who are doing good and want to take it to the next level.  I’m also a speaker on Stress and produce videos that are (supposed to be) fun and entertaining.  Most of the feedback from the videos has been quite good—but you can’t please everyone.  My favorite comment was “now you wonder why doctors don’t take you guys seriously?”

I get random emails from Chiropractors around the world saying that I inspire them to take things to the next level and they want to someday reach the level that I’m at.

I’m here to tell you that when I get those emails, my psyche splits into two separate reactions.

The first one feels proud, honored, blessed and elated at the response.

The other voice says “are you kidding me?”

Confession: I feel like this sometimes too. Despite what my videos show.

The confession I wanted to make is that the reason why I teach about stress/anxiety/depressed states is because despite the fact that I have more to be grateful for than most people—I catch myself suffering from anxiety on occasion.  I get depressed on occasion.  I get down on myself, look at the glass half empty, feel unworthy, purposeless, and empty on occasion.  Ironic that the song for my last video was “put on a happy face”.  That’s right.  My videos are bullshit sometimes.

Anxiety is more common than you think.  There are millions of people suffering.  Some have gone to the doctor and have been labeled or “diagnosed”.  Millions are put on medication just to run away from the uncomfortable feelings and feel they can’t function without them.  Even more who aren’t diagnosed will self-medicate.

Going through my struggle with it, I have made some amazing realizations:

1)   Most times it’s not what you’re worried about that bothers you—it’s the actual feelings of anxiety you begin to fear.  You then start to fear the anxiety itself.  This creates a downward spiral that creates even more anxiety and hopelessness.
2)   Anxiety/Depression usually comes with a trigger—usually a stressful/traumatic event or loss that you don’t quite recover from, and the stress response from it follows you to create a state of alertness (anxiety) that keeps you from enjoying your life.
3)   Most human behavior is governed by your desire to run away from the uncomfortable feelings of anxiety.
4)   Anxiety exists in a spectrum, from general unease to full-blown panic attacks, and are a normal part of everyone’s life to a degree.

In my attempts to manage my anxiety, I mostly practice what I preach.  A proper diet makes a huge difference.  Exercise is a must—personally I don’t know how anyone can live through stress without it.

I’ve been doing some research on it and have made some breakthrough discoveries as of late.  This breakthrough discovery has the potential to change lives.  I now want to dedicate a great deal of time in helping my patients and community, and world (thanks to technology the world has gotten smaller) in dissolving anxiety, since stress is a huge part of it.

So what is the magical cure?

The cure is this:  Understanding and appreciating why it’s there.  You understand what anxiety is (a normal part of alertness that results from the stress response).  You study what happens to the brain when a stressful thought enters, and when you understand this, you realize that your symptoms are NORMAL.  You appreciate your body is working for you and giving you feedback… and you DANCE WITH IT.  You stop fighting it.

What’s abnormal is your constant resistance to them.  You then begin to beat yourself up.  Tell me if you can relate to some of the thoughts I found that I was saying to myself:

“Why do I feel this way?”

“Is this normal?

“Will this feeling ever go away?  Will I have to live with it for the rest of my life”

“How can I get rid of this feeling RIGHT AWAY?”  (These thoughts are the source of all addictions, by the way—“aha” moment for me).

And my personal number one thought process that has driven me almost to insanity a couple times:

“I hate how I feel!  I’m supposed to be happy!  Now the world will know I’m a complete fraud!”

Then it dawned on me.  Ever since I bought the Westgate clinic 3 and a half years ago, my responsibilities, as well as stress levels have quadrupled.

The VERY FIRST DAY of me taking over the company as the owner, my top 2 staff came in, cornered me and demanded raises (I had no idea if we could afford to do it) and it seemed like everyone was coming to me with their hands out. I had to manage not only my patients, but the complaints of every patient that walked in (we have 12-14 practitioners at a time).

Anyone who has ever run a business before will understand—a business carries overhead—expenses that are unexpected but are seemingly endless—broken equipment, renovations, computer upgrades, insurance, etc. etc.  Huge stressor!  These experiences were huge growth processes for me– my anxieties alienated me from some staff and associates and created major tension in my work relationships.

I got engaged and married within 6 months of buying Westgate Wellness Centre, and bought a house within the same year.  Anyone who has done those things will understand the process is not always a picnic.

Holy crap, talk about a mountain of responsibility to put on an inexperienced 31 year old.

The crazy thing about how the anxiety can destroy relationships– you feel so awful all the time and you try to make someone responsible for them– your co-workers or family members, and you unconsciously start to blame them and make them responsible for your happiness.  Pretty crazy stuff– huge growth lessons for me.

Slowly over the years, I noticed my stress levels climbing.  Why do you think I became an “expert” on stress and the body?  I decided to study the hell out of it—just to understand and get some peace of mind for my own sake.  I felt like I was drowning.  In fact “Stressbusters” was created in my lowest state—when I was in an emotional valley.  It was what I needed to pull me out.

Making my “Mess” my message

We all know the best way to learn is to teach–I decided to make my “mess” my message:  That your mental and physical health is entirely in your hands.  You are responsible for changing your environment (in how you eat, move, and think).  You have to be willing to become a student of life, of your judgments, of your values, and be willing to dig deep to find out what drives you, so you can take your biggest challenges of life to make the world better and to serve those that might be going through the same.

So I’m doing it.  The very act of writing this to YOU is an example of becoming present with it.  I suggest you start journalling your thoughts and do the same.

I’m documenting my story and the story of my clients who I’m helping who are going through the same stressful states.   I want to create educational materials to those that are struggling with stress, anxiety, and depression, and who want some guidance and mentoring to pull themselves out.  The way out is not easy, but it has a few essentials:

1)   Have a Clearly Functioning Nervous System. There have been times when my spine has been so stuck and I haven’t been aware because I wasn’t in pain.  After my adjustment, I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders and mind.  This is because the nerve interference in your spine (subluxations) will trigger the stress response in the brain and body.

2) Move it or Lose it. You need to move and burn off that excess adrenaline that is coursing through your arteries and veins.  The fight or flight state most of us are in because of life challenges creates anxiety arousal in the brain (THIS IS NORMAL).  Exercise burns it off.  Plus it makes my butt and gut look good.

3) Eat Well! You need to stop putting toxins and non-foods and anti-nutrients in the body.  If you are going through any anxiety whatsoever, it’s critical you switch to whole foods without chemicals.  Go back to basics.  Stock up on raw veggies, limit sugar and processed foods.

4)   You need to start becoming comfortable being uncomfortable. Start to recognize your uncomfortable feelings and attribute them to the anxiety, not that something bad will happen.  Nobody ever died from the sensations of anxiety, even though sometimes it may feel that way.  If you learn to “sit in the fire” of the symptoms, and observe them without judging them and with a knowing they will go away—they will.  Once they resurface, you repeat the same process.  Sit through them, and don’t resist them and wish them away.  Smile at them.  They’re just sensations.  No real threat to life.  Dance with them and gain control.

I know this may come as a shock to many of you because you watch my videos or you have attended my seminars or seen me speak, or even met me and said “how the heck could this dude have anxiety—he can dance in front of people, act a fool, and speak in front of hundreds to thousands of people—how could he be stressed and anxious?”

Well I’m here to tell you that although I can shine in THOSE kinds of stressful environments, it’s only a public persona and not always the way it is.  But I’ve been working on it and it’s paying off dividends.

These tools have literally saved my life.  I don’t know if I would be able to move forward without them.

I will be writing more about this in the next post.

Please pass this along to someone you know who worries too much, who has been labeled as anxious or depressed (the two go hand in hand).

Looking forward to your feedback.

Another confession:  After I graduated from Chiropractic School, I went through a huge depressive and anxious period.  I discovered something that helped pull me out and bring me to where I am today.  Now, I share it with the world.

In dealing with stress, it’s important to exercise, eat healthy, count your blessings, remove nerve interference from the body with regular adjustments…. But what about the stuff from your past– your “story” of suffering?  What about the constant day to day stuff that you go through that you just can’t seem to get away from– at work and at home?

I never had any intention of being a speaker or teacher, or Life Coach, or consultant– whatever you want to call it.  Over 6 years ago, I attended a seminar that absolutely changed my life.  I was introduced to a method that basically took all the challenges, emotional charges, and ingratitudes I was going through and brought them all into a perfect state of order.  I was worried that I was going to be introduced to a religion or cult– far from it!  The Demartini Method is a tool with a thousand practical applications– from understanding your relationship with money to your relationships, to finding your life’s purpose.  Whatever your religion or belief system is, the Method is a series of questions/exercises that takes any stressful event in your past or present and completely gets you liberated from it emotionally– so that it doesn’t run you, so you can be clear on the direction of your “inner voice” rather than worry about outside voices that seem to criticize, challenge, or hold you back.  It basically erases your story and brings you to a present state of love and gratitude.  The Demartini method can’t be explained in words– it can only be experienced.  People who’ve suffered tremendous trauma, abuse, neglect, worry, fear, guilt, remorse, shame, blame, anger, depression, conflict– all the amazing things that make life interesting can dissolve those feelings in a matter of minutes to hours.  Yes, it’s that simple (yet difficult).

After that amazing experience, I dedicated my life to mastering it in my own life, and I found myself in situations with my patients who were telling me about the challenges at home or work– so I started giving them advice using the tools I had just learned.

All the questions do, is to shift your perceptions about an event– and suddenly the event that’s so miserable turns into something you can be grateful about.  My patients would come back with such amazing stories of emotional freedom from using the technique, that I naturally progressed in creating classes and setting aside “coaching” and consulting times to help more people with it.  It’s become the most fulfilling part of my career as of late.  This last Stressbuster’s video is all about our monthly Stressbuster’s classes that allow people to bring their stresses each month and learn tools on how to dissolve them– and move on to bigger and better things.  Find out when the next Stressbusters Class is by clicking here.  This video is done at the office and taken from a recent Stressbusters class.  They’ve only just begun and are getting more and more popular as time goes on– and we’re now needing a new home as my office is too small, and we’re outgrowing the community college classrooms I’ve been renting out.  You’ll also notice some salsa steps being taught– every Stressbusters class is unique in that we do a small salsa break to keep our brains and bodies active.  It’s a helluva lotta fun!

Many thanks to Nina for being such a genius videographer.  Thanks for the feedback! You can find out more about her at Oh Just Peachy Studios.

photo by www.photobinphotograpy.com

It’s not Rocket Science. If you are under a great deal of stress (which most people are), then being under the care of a chiropractor has been shown to remove tension from your nervous system.

Nobel Prize recipient Dr. Roger Sperry says that the spine is the motor that drives the brain. According to his research “90% of the stimulation and nutrition to the brain is generated by the movement of the spine.” Only 10% of our brain’s energy into thinking, metabolism, immunity, and healing. Sperry demonstrated that 90% of brain energy goes into processing and maintaining the body’s relationship with gravity.

Why this relates to you.

It means that every day your body not only has to cope with the stresses of your hectic day and family and work issues, but it now has to deal with the arduous task of having to adapt to the postural habits of sitting improperly and being out of alignment.  This makes your body have to adapt to EVEN MORE stress.  It makes you miserable. It gives you headaches, back pain, stomach issues, problems with balancing hormones, anxiety, depression, and anything else that is a dis-ease.

So here’s the strategy with my patients and students in my workshops:

1) Teach ‘em what stress does to the body

2) Keep their nervous system functioning at maximal levels to cope with physical and emotional  and chemical stress through chiropractic care.

3) Give them lifestyle tools on proper exercise and how to gain control of their eating habits and food addictions

4) Teach them how to change their thoughts and perceptions about their life stories and situations so they can let go of their past, and overcome fears about the future and have lives filled with purpose, gratitude and unconditional love.

It’s a strategy that’s changing lives.  It gets people connected to their purpose.  It’s making our community healthier.  It’s taking people’s reliance off of medication.

Stay tuned for episode 3!  As always, we welcome feedback, suggestions, as well as re-tweets and facebook recommendations.  Feel free to drop a comment about your experience as well.

It’s finally over.  This is the first time I’ve ever participated in a competition like this.  Originally, it was Paul’s idea to get off his derriere because it seems that if he didn’t tie in his lifestyle change to his highest priority—his internet blogging business—then he would continue his downward spiral towards obesity and poor health.  I was up for the challenge—I mean—who couldn’t afford to lose a few pounds and lean up?  I got on board so that I could experience first hand the challenges that people face when trying to change their destructive habits and lose weight and get healthier.  Boy did I ever get more learning that I bargained for.  I will share and summarize with you some of  those strategies.  In fact I’m now going to dedicate my life to teaching them.

Who won?

Here are the gruesome before and after pics, as well as the final weigh in shown above .  I started at over 172 pounds, and I ended up with 161.2.  I realized that I could have even done better if we had a bigger “why” and a tougher goal to reach.  Anyone can lose 10 pounds (or 6% of their body weight) if they really wanted to.

As you can see… 10 pounds doesn’t look significantly different.  But it did account for my clothes fitting much looser, especially my pants.  It’s nice to not feel as self conscious about my gut anymore.  Still there is work to be done.

We went to visit Peter at bodycomp.ca for our “progress report” scan.  Since we did our first body fat scan 2 weeks into our competition, I had already lost half the weight—it would have been great to see the difference if we got the scan before it started.

The results were quite revealing.  It showed that even though I lost around 5 pounds since the scan 6 weeks ago, I also lost .7% body fat– around 2.5 pounds of fat off my mid section.  This picture underneath shows what that looks like approximately. I promise you I wasn’t sucking in my gut!

BUT….I also lost around that much muscle!  BUSTED!

So the revealing fact is—IT REALLY DOESN’T MATTER HOW MUCH YOU WEIGH.  It’s all about body composition.  These scans tell more the truth of the story.

Taken from Paulymath.com-- the fat I had lost around my mid section was the equivalent to 5 of these sticks of butter!

Here’s the truth:  I didn’t go crazy with the muscle building, as surprised as you may be from seeing the pictures  I didn’t increase my workout routine. In fact due to some trips– the workouts decreased.  I was finding that the early morning workouts didn’t work for me, so I did what I did before—worked them into my schedule and didn’t really change that—except because of my schedule they lessened.  So this competition was mainly a dietary shift for me to get over my carb addiction. My exercise regimen was simply to get my body moving, heart rate pumping, and get a healthy dose (minimally) of resistance exercise.  Plus, I wasn’t packing in the protein like you should if you want to increase muscle mass.  From the results of the scans, my muscle mass even decreased around my legs– as a result of me reducing my resistance workouts.

The scan reveals to me that if I want to trim down and put on muscle, I can do so easily (if I have a big enough “why”)— i.e. If Calvin Klein wanted me for their spring underwear catalogue (and pay me big bucks to do so), here’s what I would do:

1)Increase my protein intake with protein shakes.

2) Start doing more heavy duty interval sprints

3) Add in a day or two extra days of resistance exercises for entire body

And then the fun part is to do a scan six weeks later to see the change.  The most empowering part of doing the scans is that it gives you ongoing feedback so that you can see how your daily choices impact your overall results.  Plus, if you’re lucky enough to get a great guy like Peter—he’s a wealth of knowledge about diet and exercise to maximize the results you are looking for.  He works with some elite people who make it their business to look the part.

Your body is a dynamic process that is still unfolding

In other words, if you look in the mirror RIGHT NOW, then what’s staring at you is your history.  From your body weight, to muscle mass, to your financial situation, to your relationship status, even your overall health—everything staring back at you right now is a result of the choices you’ve been making up until now.

“Should I eat the salad or the french fries?”

“Should I spend my money or invest it in myself?”

“Should I be in this relationship because I want to—or is it because I’m afraid of being alone?”

“Should I watch TV tonight or exercise?”

“Should I take these pills or actually try to SOLVE the problem I’m taking the pills for?”

We live in a society where we love to blame our current life situation on others– our parents, our employers, or on the government, and give external influences all our power to hold us back.

The body scan was an “aha” moment for me—To know that I have choices in how my body heals, grows, and re-creates itself.  It’s happening to you right now.  You lose 10 million cells every second, and every second you regain 10 million more, but as they grow, they are gathering information from the environment, and that will dictate if the cells grow towards strength, balance, and health, or towards imbalance, illness, and disease.  I ask my patients this all the time:  Right now, which direction are you heading towards?  (FYI—the stressful thoughts we have actually cause the cells to move towards illness and disease).

So are you going to go crazy on carbs again, Nima?

I think we’re all working towards finding a healthy balance of eating mostly the “right” foods.  I estimated that over the past 8 weeks, without an increase in my exercise, I ate 95% perfectly as a paleolithic hunter gatherer would, with a couple of trips I took where I wasn’t a very good boy, and I still managed to lose weight.

I’m going to stick to my plan:  Eat 90% of foods that are REAL, start with the real stuff (salads, proteins, chicken, meats preferably from organic sources), and then portion control the carbs.  Instead of binging on cookies once a week, and then punishing yourself, why not just stop at 3 bites and stick to that?  Repressing your desires leads to some ugly manifestations.

What’s most impressive to me is that Paul seems to have really caught on and has become inspired to make a permanent healthy change in his life.  I’m going to publicly challenge him to keep it up.  He admitted that before the competition, he was drinking 4 cans of coke per day.  PER DAY!  That’s around 32 teaspoons of sugar.  That’s just in his drinks.  Never mind the other habits.  He cut that down dramatically, but admits he didn’t cut it out.

What’s been inspiring to me is to hear your stories.  I’ve had many chiropractic patients in Maple Ridge and beyond and readers of my blog tell me that this competition I’m participating in has inspired them to take action to lead healthier lives.  Many have lost weight and started exercising themselves.  That’s huge for me.  I guess Michael Jackson was right:

“If you want to make the world a better place

take a look at yourself and then make the change.” -MJ

Dr. Nima’s tips to get you started on losing weight and changing unhealthy habits:

1)   Start by ADDING.  If you are ready for the suffering involved in the first few weeks of cutting carbs and junk cold turkey, and your why is big enough, then be my guest.  Otherwise you will fail.  So start by adding salads, veggies and some fruits BEFORE you reach for the junk.

2)   Plan your meals.  If you don’t plan what you’re going to be eating that day—and when, then you when your blood sugar gets too low, your will power is GONE.  You hear me?  GONE.  And what’s readily available to you when the cravings come?  You guessed it… starbucks and McDonalds.  There goes your whole day.

3)   Research “Paleolithic” diet.  You can pretty much paleolithically all day and you won’t be suffering any cravings.

4)   Start moving, and increase your motion.  If you want to really burn the fat, then do your research in “Burst” or “Surge” or “Interval” training.  It’s all the same thing.

5)   Observe your stress and learn tools to overcome it that don’t involve medicating or self medicating.  Be healthy for a cause that’s greater than for yourself.  Otherwise your unhealthy habits and addictions will take you over.

This is exactly why I’m now expanding my reach to inform the world in a very simple and fun way about the devastating effects of stress on the body, and strategies we can use every day to overcome it.  Stress is at the underlying root cause of most food addictions and weight gain as well as every other health problem… so why not learn to attack it from it’s root cause?  I present to you in the next couple of days….the beginning of my 5 part series called “Stressbusters”.  Please feel free to retweet, comment, like, and share.  And let me know what else you would like some guidance and information on!

Holy cow.  Just look back on this year.  All the stuff you went through.  The ups, the downs, the highs and the lows.  If you were like me, you had some pretty high highs…. And some low-low’s.

For me, 2010 represented a huge growth cycle for me.  Things are always transforming around the office, new staff, some amazing transformative breakthroughs in healing with some patients, and some pretty bitter disappointments (just like in your life as well as mine).

We just had our staff Christmas party.  I sat down with each of the people I work with and asked them all the same question.  I’m going to ask you the same.

“What did you learn from your experiences in 2010?”

The answers were all different, but profound, and they are universally true, so I would like for you to gain wisdom from the wisdom gained by my team this past year.

“I learned not to take my health for granted”.

This was from someone who spent a great deal of the early part of the year injured, so she couldn’t work.  She started taking better care of herself, put her own health as a priority, made some better choices which supported that, and saw the transformation.  Notice how it was through this challenge that she learned her lesson.

“I learned that life is short, and to let go of needing to control every part of my life”.

This was shared by my assistant Bobbi, who’s little baby (who happened to be the cutest old dog) Hyde suffered a rapid decline of health.  She was by his side every single day for the last few months of his life and came back with her usual amazing spirit after he passed away— only to realize that when one baby was gone—another was on the way.  She’s used to being in control of all areas of her life and this was something that her and her partner didn’t have in the immediate plans.  Big lesson.  Notice how this learning can only occur through a challenge of this magnitude.

There were some other lessons that were drawn from the challenges my team was facing in their lives:

“Our family’s struggles brought us closer”.

This one team member’s family dug themselves out of an unexpected debt by sticking together and planning and strategizing.

“I need to maintain a good sense of balance”

This was something that one of my team said she realized after trying to do too much of one thing. 

“Also, instead of putting off things, I’m now taking action.”

“I learned to stay present”

This last one was what one of my team said after going through some health and well-being challenges with her daughter.

After seeing the effects of Parkinson’s disease gradually take over his ability to move, one of our team member’s husband said that he is

“letting go of my need for control”

and he’s learning to

“Allow”.

Pat, after digging deep to find herself in a theatrical role she had to play this year as a hobby, said what she learned from that challenging role was to

“Be authentic to myself.”

One of our team’s wives faced some health challenges that rendered her to be unsafe to drive a vehicle.  Her lesson for this year was

“I can be who I am and not have to follow society’s ideas of who I should be.”

So now I present you with Westgate Wellness Centre’s Secrets to fullfillment that has been learned from 2010.  Let’s have some fun and call it “Westgate’s 9 commandments to abundant wisdom.”  Remember, these people, special as we all are, don’t possess anything different than you possess within yourself.

Westgate’s 9 Commandments to Abundant Wisdom gathered from 2010:

1)   Do Not Taketh Thy Health For Granted

2)   Thou Shalt be aware that life is Shorteth rather than Longeth.  We will all be deadeth some day.

3)   Thou can’t possibly be in controleth of every aspect of lifeth.  So Alloweth.

4)   Thou Shalt Maketh thine struggles an opportunity to bringeth thine family togethered. (?)

5)   Thou Shalt Maintaineth a sense of balance in thine lifeth.

6)   Thou Shalt raise yourself off thine asseth and taketh some action.

7)   Thou Shalt stay present.  Good lucketh with that one!

8)   Thou Shalt be authentic to thineself

9)   While Thou art being thine authentic self, be not overly concernedeth for the opinions and expectations of others.

The 10^th commandment I saved special for you.  It came from my grandfather, who’s almost 91 years old.  I asked him the same question: “Grandpa, what did you learn in 2010?”

His response had me in stitches with laughter.  He said “There’s no more lessons to learn.  The challenge is trying not to forget what I’ve already learned.”

It’s actually funnier in Farsi.  But I’m sure you get it.  His body is weakening but his mind is still sharp as a tack.

Stay tuned… on my next posting I’ll update my transformation challenge and share the lessons I’ve learned in this pivotal year of my life.  Some of my lessons will help you too, I’m sure.

I’m asking for your input:  What lessons did 2010 give you?  What challenges did you go through to learn them?  Please post a comment below.  You never know how your lesson will help someone else.

This is what I could potentially look like if Paul hadn't suggested we do a challenge.

So, here we are, pretty much at the halfway point in our little body fat loss challenge.  Both Paul and I seemed to have plateaued at around 10 pounds lost.  On his blog, he brags about doing Carb Night’s where he gets to binge on carbs.  Aside from a few days of weakness, I’ve been pretty damn good sticking to my food plan.  This has been a huge growth and learning process for me.  In a nutshell, here’s what I’ve learned:

Nima’s Weight loss commandments:

1)That the process of “weight loss” is a lot tougher than I thought.  If you don’t have a meaningful reason WHY, then hear me now and believe me later:  YOU WILL NOT LOSE WEIGHT.

That these fad diets will work easily for the short term.  EVERYTHING works in the short term.  Dr. Bernstein, Weight Watchers, Starvation diets, Atkins… all of them WORK if your goal is to lose weight fast.  In fact, its normal for your weight to fluctuate + or – 5 pounds in a week depending on a weekend of binging.  I experienced it myself.

I’m talking about the 10, 20, 50 pound gains and losses.  In order to stay off, a self-directed, internal change in thinking is required.  You can even have your stomach reduced in size with staples or a lap band.  YOU WILL GAIN THE WEIGHT BACK EVENTUALLY if you don’t change the underlying reason why you are covering up your pain with food.

2) That food addictions (sugar, caffeine, carbs) afflict 99% of people.  That means probably you.  I define an addiction as something you can’t stop doing, something you do to cover up pain or feelings of emptiness.  Most of us aren’t even consciously aware of it.  We have a craving– and we simply fill it.  And year by year, we rob ourselves of our God given right to health and self-esteem.  My exploration of my food addictions has opened up a whole new series of doors of awareness for me.  Stuff I didn’t even realize.  I don’t know exactly how, but this realization is something I want to share that will help many people take control of their lives.

3) You can’t escape pain, whether you succumb to your addictions or you overcome them.  Any time you look outside yourself for fulfillment, be it a chocolate bar, slice of pizza, a line of coke, or even a relationship—the result is always emptiness.  The most successful people in life are the ones who become comfortable with pain and discomfort.

Uncomfortable with Pain and Lacking General Purpose:  A recipe for fatness.

I’ve learned a lot.  I’ve had to sit and observe my pain, and humbly admit to myself that I am not present most of the time.  I’ve observed that my fears and pains each and every day cause me to seek external things to help me run away from them.  As I have become aware of this, and observed, I have become more comfortable with pain.  I’ve had some amazing moments of clarity, and bitter moments of sadness.

It’s made me a more conscious person.  I can now look at other people, and instead of judging them, I see them as people doing what they can to cover up their own pain.

I’ve also observed when I am totally present, and not covering up anything, seeking any pleasure or avoiding any pain.  It’s when I’m writing, when I’m speaking, or when I’m delivering an adjustment and talking to a client and helping them resolve their physical or emotional issue.

What do YOU do to cover up your pain?  Conversely, when do YOU feel the most present?  What activities do you perform that cause time to stand still?  To know what that is, and to dedicate your life to the advancement and refinement of that activity is to truly live and succeed.  I’m one of the lucky ones, I guess—I know what that is.  The seeds have been planted, and things are well on their way.

I just have to remind myself that I’m never going to get “there”.  It’s the doing… being present the entire time and appreciating the process—that’s where the magic is.  The more time I spend in that space, the more fulfilled I become.  When I step out of that “mission mode” as a buddy of mine calls it… then my addictions take over.

And so do yours.

Looking better and liking what I see

So far, it’s been an up and down climb.  I don’t count body fat % any more.  You’ll notice from my last blog as to why.  My friends and family have taken notice and told me that my face has slimmed down as well.  I’m toning up, feeling pretty good when I look in the mirror, and I’m loving the way my clothes are fitting on me.  My wife has even been taking notice and complimenting my sexy derriere.  Still room for improvement, but I’m liking what I’ve seen so far.  I’m not ashamed of my gut anymore… there’s hardly one there now.

It’s my 35^th birthday next week, and I’m proud to say at this point that I’m looking better than I ever have in my life, and I’m now in the best shape I’ve ever been in.  I only say this not because I’m bragging…. But because I want you to know that anything is possible for you if you 1) have a reason WHY, 2) make the decision to work at it, 3) Become aware that your addictions are simply a “scratch” for a mostly unconscious “itch”.  When you work at coming to terms with the discomfort of the itch, the urge to scratch goes away.

I’m opening the door for discussion here:  What challenges do YOU face with your eating?  When do you crave the most?  What have you tried?  What has worked for you?  What has been your biggest challenge with your weight loss plan?  Drop a line and we can cover it on the next blog.

In the meantime, try this for the next 12 hours:  Observe when you have an “itch” (craving for a cigarette/drink/coffee/sweet) and watch how painful it is to not scratch it.