Hello, this is Dr. Simon Dove with today’s video blog. Today’s health tip: Pay attention! Specifically, pay attention to your body.

The birth of a child is one of the most important moments in life. It’s magical and amazing. But it’s also a challenging time for the mom, the child and the family. As the fetus develops, and the mother’s body, mind and emotions change to support this process, it is important for her spine to be as free of tension as possible. The spine protects a main communication link in the entire birth process, and as her center of gravity changes, so does the way her spine moves and functions. It’s vital during this process to listen to her changing needs. All the love and support given here comes back a hundredfold!

After the holiday season ends, people often feel the urge to get back on track with multiple goals — especially regarding their health. The real key to success with new health goals is not about specific resolutions. More important are your mental attitude —  your willingness to welcome change and your desire to make it happen.

Simple tips that get results

If you’ve decided that now is the time to get back on track with an exercise routine, create health goals that are realistic physically, but also include a built-in level of compassion. That means making sure goals are a bit of a challenge, but not so hard or beyond your current capabilities that you torture yourself to reach them.

As you plan your goals, it’s also important to check in with how you feel about your current body image. Men and women choose to “up the game” with their health because of the emotional response they have to their bodies’ physical appearance. Disappointment in their physical appearance too often leads to making hasty, forced goals — based on negative thinking, rather than the inspiration for better overall health.

Be willing to accept yourself as you are as a statement of fact. Then develop goals and strategies which move you forward with an honest and realistic frame of mind.

Remember not to judge yourself, beat yourself up or proclaim yourself wrong. Take time and patience to build a new way of living day by day that is not only achievable but enjoyable! If you make things too hard, you’ll just give up or injure yourself before you really get started.

Where to start? Consider the cornerstones of successful health strategies:

• Is what you are doing measurable?
• Are the strategies and goals something you can act on immediately?
• Do your goals and strategies include things you can realistically accomplish (leaving specific time frames out of the equation)?
• Is it possible to scale things down or modify if challenges arise?
• Are you committed to making health changes part of your life routine?

Starting with these core areas, creating clear and simple goals which match your specific needs and are sustainable for the long term. Remember, pushing hard from Day 1 does not bring desired results faster and often can lead to injury.

Check out our next post on injury and pain management, and how to be mindful of your spine as part of your overall health plan.

You hold the greatest gifts within yourself!

As we begin our new year and use our own commitment and will power or endurance, we are strengthening our life resources and getting closer to the goals in our hearts.

Every time you follow through and complete even the littlest thing, you are getting stronger, healthier, and closer to your goals. (If at night you tell yourself you are going to start getting up early, then make sure you get up early.) Every time you listen to those inner clues that guide you to your goals, you get stronger. By listening to yourself and following through, you create trust in yourself.

Did you know there are 12 easy-to-learn exercises that increase the perception in your body? Somato Respiratory Integration (SRI) is one of the things I’ll teach you here at the Chiropractic Wellness Center. We’ve put together a short video which explains how SRI works and its benefits for you.

When you are in pain, recovering from an injury or struggling to maintain your health, you are focused on just feeling better. But how often do you think of the best way to approach healing?

The current medical model in the United States is restorative, treating disease in a way that returns people to their prior level of health. The idea behind restorative healing is pain relief: “fixing” and restoring the body to a place of functionality as close as possible to where it was before an injury or illness. This is a very necessary step for broken bones, accidents or times when it’s needed to save a life. It has its value and its place. However …

This approach doesn’t do much for expanding the body’s ability to grow into a new dimension of long-term health and well-being. Focusing solely on a restorative approach just doesn’t work anymore.

Of the annual U.S. medical budget ($2.4 trillion in 2008), the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the overwhelming majority goes toward treatment of ill patients and less than 5 percent goes toward keeping Americans healthy. That’s according to a recent editorial written by Robert H.I. Blanks, Ph.D., called “Regoranizational Healing: A Health Model Whose Time Has Come.”

It’s time to provide people with the knowledge and tools to put their health back into their own hands.

People need to be aware of and open to a new health paradigm. Reorganizational healing is a more expanded vision for health care, picking up where restorative healing leaves off. A holistic approach to health and prevention, it empowers a person to seek meaning in an injury and use it as a tool for growth. It’s vastly different from a restorative model that often places blame around long-term sickness and injury — an approach  detrimental to the overall healing process.

The reorganizational model is also based on the connections between medical issues, symptoms and causes, and is focused on prevention. This approach to healing is more comprehensive because it includes the mind and body in the healing process, and acknowledges the ways outdated thought patterns and beliefs can create physical roadblocks. It’s especially helpful when faced with recurring symptoms which don’t seem to subside after consistent treatment.

A reorganizational approach to healing invites us to look at our everyday living habits and examine whether we are giving ourselves the level of self-care we need – without feeling guilty about it. The power gets shifted away from focusing on what’s wrong, and steers it towards changing our behavior to make healthy preventive choices we can feel good about.

Are you ready to embrace reorganizational healing?

Post your thoughts below in the comments or on our Facebook Page. We’d love to hear from you!

Network Spinal Analysis (NSA) is among the best of the more than 100 chiropractic techniques. The way we remove tension in a body helps the nervous system learn how to do it itself. It doesn’t mean do-it-yourself chiropractic care — but it does mean we’ll help certain parts of your brain become more aware of how and where you hold tension. Your brain then will start to take over and manage that tension, so you’re able to release it yourself.

It reminds me of that old adage, “You can teach a man to fish and feed them for their life, or you can give a man a fish but only feed them once.”

A skill develops in the nervous system which enables a person to identify and feel physical, emotional, or mental tension — any time it invades his or her body. The brain begins to identify with it and learns what to do with it: Release it, change it — whatever it needs to do.

That’s the real benefit of Network Spinal Analysis. If you have any questions, feel free to call me at (970) 224-5006, and join me on Facebook.

Without good health, would these things be nearly as amazing? If you’re really honest with yourself, you know the answer is no.

That’s why nurturing your body in a consistent, healthy way is the most important commitment you will ever make. It’s how you are able to show up as the best and healthiest version of yourself, and be present for others to share your joy, talents and awesomeness.

Dedication to nourishing yourself contributes to disease prevention and a longer, higher quality of life, no matter the current state of your health. With focus and consistency, you can bring your body from a defensive stance into a place of balance and safety, and then to a stage of growth and improved health.

If you’re ready to commit to yourself through better health, here are simple ways to get started:

Drink more water. Throughout the day, drink 2.2 to 3 liters of water to flush out the system and stay hydrated, especially in a normal climate. Cells need water to operate efficiently, and keeping them happy leads to a healthy body. The exact amount perfect for you will be based on the weather and your age, health and activity level.

Start doing things which support you in your committed new direction. Start adding or changing small things, whether it’s a behavior, thought process or an activity which can support your drive to reach your better-health goal. For example, if you want to relieve the cycle of chronic pain, one of your “small things” might be to drink more water every day, since there is a strong correlation between pain and dehydration.

Invite your brain to join in and listen. Feeling guilty, frustrated and overwhelmed can happen while trying to get back on track with your health. Take notice. The most critical piece in committing to better health is to find ways to get your brain on board and feel what’s behind those roadblocks. A simple way to work through a block is by taking deep breaths as you “listen” and tune into what your brain is noticing.

Set yourself up to win. Have health check-in buddies and dedicated health practitioners in place to help with problem areas and overall momentum. Leave room for a bit of celebration when you’ve reached a goal.

Begin a regular exercise routine. Start one today. It could be as simple as walking daily. The trick is not how much you do at one time, but how consistently you follow through.

Remember: No symptoms does not equal good health. Give yourself the most valuable gift possible by finding a way to be the best, healthiest version of you, starting with these simple steps.

This video blog series from the Chiropractic Wellness Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, is designed to offer tips to help you live and stay healthy. You may learn something new, and we’ll have fun along the way.

If there’s anything you particularly want me to address or talk about — anything you feel you or our community need — contact me at info@myfortcollinschiropractor.com, and I’ll see if I can work that into the series itself.

Here’s one of my favorite tips when I’m coaching someone on creating change: Start something new! It’s much better to start something new than to stop or get rid of something. For example, if someone were going to change his or her diet, I would not say, “Stop eating potato chips.” Rather, I would say, “Increase your water intake.” As people start something new and begin to feel the positive effects, they get excited and keep going with it.

===

Chiropractic Wellness Center of Fort Collins is led by Dr. Simon Dove, a chiropractor with more than a decade of professional experience performing Network Spinal Analysis, a gentle form of chiropractic used to treat people with back pain, neck pain, and other ailments. NSA is designed to advance spinal and neural integrity by developing new strategies and self-organization; it is about living life from the inside out. Through a series of light touches along the spine, patients experience a deeper awareness of their own spinal structures and a release of spinal tensions.

Learn more about Chiropractic Wellness Center of Fort Collins by visiting myfortcollinschiropractor.com.

Video production and social media by ramblinjackson.com

Runtime

2:15

Description

http://www.myfortcollinschiropractor.com Chiropractic Wellness Center is a chiropractic clinic located at 1302 S. Shields St, A1-3 Fort Collins, CO 80521. Dr. Simon Dove treats chronic back pain and other health issues through network chiropractic. Chiropractic Wellness Center is different from most Fort Collins chiropractors. Dr. Simon Dove offers Network Spinal Analysis, creating optimal health and wellness. . Network Spinal Analysis is a system based within the Wellness Paradigm.  The Wellness Paradigm puts the individual into an active role for maximizing expression of his or her own innate potential.  Unlike a common Health-Illness approach based in fear and dominance, the Wellness approach is based in empowerment and partnership with the practitioner. For more info visit http://myfortcollinschiropractor.com/fort-collins-chiropractors/

Regular physical activity can help keep your thinking, learning, and judgment skills sharp as you age. It can also reduce your risk of depression and may help you sleep better. Research has shown that doing aerobic or a mix of aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities 3 to 5 times a week for 30 to 60 minutes can give you these mental health benefits. Some scientific evidence has also shown that even lower levels of physical activity can be beneficial. CDCwebsite.

With proper sleep and basic good nutrition our body is supported to rejuvenate. As stress is removed from our body and mind the immune system is able to operate in a more optimal state. This freedom and improved function extends to the cardiovascular, digestive and musculoskeletal systems. When one removes this stress, according to the National Health Information Center, they will experience the ability to maintain high energy levels, a positive outlook, and avoid sickness and injury.  Those interested in deepening their stress reduction levels can find greater success by incorporating  meditation, physical activity, massage, and social interactions.