Posts Tagged ‘Spinal Decompression Maple Ridge’

Warning.  This may offend some.  Those that have no sense of humor, no charm, wit, sense of playfulness (or good looks)– please do not watch this video.  Those that have problems watching others promote to the world in a fun way what they love to do should avoid my website, facebook, twitter posts with every fiber of their being.

I’ve been criticized by some in the profession for not being professional or too “self-promoting”.  Good.  I’m glad I’ve pissed a few people off.  I’ve watched dozens of my peers do their best to put up videos promoting their practices– first off– Good for you, I applaud you for your courage.  You can’t do or say anything without your critics.  I know– because I too, am a critic of the way we are approaching our health.  I just want to put out videos that make people smile, laugh, and like you will see in this case… cringe.  Please stay tuned for Part 2.

Please enjoy.  Thanks for watching.  And thank you to Tobin for his creative genius and Maria for her great work.

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.

In working closely with people, I found a common theme in those that think their lives are crappy:  Feeling disconnected with their higher purpose. I know because that’s when I feel crappiest.

The mission of my mind-body wellness blog and vlog is to help my community and the world :

- dissolve stress,

- overcome anxiety and depression,

- transform physical and emotional pain

- reduce or eliminate use of medications

- lose weight and live healthy, fulfilling, and prosperous lives

Since this is my mission both in my Maple Ridge office and recently throughout the Globe—I found it fitting to use my first Mind-body Wellness Tip as an encouragement to you to find one for yourself, if you don’t already have one.  And if and when you do, to pour all your heart and soul into it.

If you don’t already have a mission—now is the time to start asking yourself what kind of meaning you want to give to your life.  The truth is, you DO have a purpose for being here, and often times it’s by using what you’ve struggled with for the benefit of others.  Most people use their “stories” as something they are ashamed of and want to hide from.  I often joke that I make my struggles with stress and worry (my mess) as the core foundation of my message.

There are 3 characteristics of a good soul purpose, calling, mission or cause that you will dedicate to.

1)It benefits both YOU and OTHERS simultaneously

2)It involves the removal of suffering and bringing on of fulfillment to others as well as yourself

3)It requires you to engage in an area that you find interesting, have mastery over, and is meaningful to YOU.

Notice how it doesn’t involve you simply being altruistic, either.  Be keenly aware and clear of what you’re getting in exchange for what you want to put out to the universe.  A fulfilling relationship can only occur if both parties are aware of what they are getting in return for what they are giving.

I love to debate this point with people who believe its all about giving and not receiving.

Atlas Adjustment

Last year I went to the Dominican Republic for Chiromission and blogged about it (with video footage).  We were touched by the cause of a Pastor and his wife who adopted 25 children in a small little shack.  Our group rounded up donations to help him build a bigger orphanage to help house 50 more kids—a total of 75!

Here’s the blog from last year called “A trip that changed my life”.  There’s a video at the end.

Since we’ll be returning in a couple weeks to see the progress of our efforts, I thought this would be a great place to start.

Here’s your mind-body wellness tip #1.  Looking forward to sharing with you tools to live at your best—both in mind and body.  Enter your email at the top right hand corner if you want them sent directly into your inbox as they come up.  As always, feel free to comment and share with those that you think could use it.

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.

I’m not ashamed to admit it– I love being theatrical and acting.  I’m a repressed actor.  So every time an opportunity comes up for me to explore that kind of fun creativity, I jump on the chance.

I’m constantly re-defining myself.  I get bored way too easily.  At work, if I only have to be seeing those with Low Back Pain, Neck Pain, and Headaches all day– I’d shoot myself out of boredom.

Lately the thing that’s been inspiring me the most is teaching about changing lifestyle, particularly in terms of stress and overcoming “stories of suffering”.  I’ve been helping more and more people change their thoughts and perceptions about their own current life and showing them the magnificence that’s already there, if they can only learn to ask themselves the right questions.

The toughest, most stressful part of my job is having patients come to see me with physical ailments, and from the look on their faces they are in a state of crisis about the challenges going on in their lives, and when we start talking about it– they tell me that their GP is sending them to a Psychiatrist, and they are already on 2-4 different psychotropic medications, along with a slew of others that are given for stress-related stuff… and they are looking for “what’s wrong with them” and trying to come up with a “diagnosis”.  Most people have NO CLUE they already have everything within them to be healthy and emotionally balanced.  If they only took the time to empower themselves and take responsibility, and to ONLY USE MEDICINE FOR EMERGENCY CASES, and not rely on their doctor to rescue them.  This may sound cocky, but I know that there is a better way.  My goal is to reach those people who are willing to take their health in their own hands and to learn the tools to help THEMSELVES get there– mentally, emotionally, and physically.

So we’ve come back with a fresh look and a new fun video to show the world that what we do is unique and different.

I want to thank Tobin at http://www.photobinphotography.com for his great work and guidance, Eric Lee Harper for his musical talents, and all the dancers and volunteers involved in making this.  I had a blast with the process.

So here it is.  Feel free to share, retweet, and enjoy!

Hey gang…. a couple of years ago, my buddy Tobin from phoTobin Photography came to my office and with the help of another buddy, one of Vancouver’s top hip hop instructors, performers, and choreographers– Richard O’Sullivan, we threw together a cute little commercial on “The Power of An Adjustment” that is on my website’s home page.  Little did I know that little day at the office would get such feedback.  I still get emails and calls from chiropractors around the world commending me for the fun portrayal of what we do.  Since I’m a bit of a ham, and I love to dance, we just took an idea, threw it together, and it seemed to work. I’m pretty surprised to see that it’s now climbed to over 47,000 hits! I now go to chiropractic seminars throughout the world and still get a kick out of people coming up to me and asking me if I’m the guy from the commercial.
Well… after being stumped on how to top this… we’ve come up with a new “adjustment” video we’re launching this week.  I’m pretty excited about it.  For those of you who haven’t seen our last one yet– please enjoy and share!

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.

Make sure you catch the “outtakes” at the end.  Enjoy– may this video help guide you to balancing out your blood sugar and insulin levels and move you in the direction of a healthy diet.

Getting physically active actually SHUTS DOWN the stress response.  If you don’t make physical activity a part of your life, then there is no excuse for you if you start to fall ill and get sick.  Your physiology, in order to function at 100% requires exercise of some sort.  You can’t blame genes if you are ill.  But exercise doesn’t have to be boring.  Check this out!

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.