THE SPINAL COLUMN
ALPHA CHIROPRACTIC NEWSLETTER

FEBRUARY 2011



          Think back to when you first learned to write. You practiced making your letters over and over again. You learned how to make them in a way that soon became second nature to your hand.
          As you learned to read, you learned the sounds of letters and practiced reading the same words again and again. Do you remember your first grade reader? Most of us learned to read from the Dick and Jane series. “See Dick and Jane? See their dog, Spot? Dick and Jane can run. Spot can run, too.” We read that story every day and we did it because we were learning basic sounds that we could use as we grew in our reading skills.
          As we learned our numbers, we learned to count and then we learned to count faster. We learned to count by twos all the way to one hundred. Counting to one hundred by fives was next and then we progressed to counting by tens. All of that was practice to teach us time and again the power of numbers and how they worked.
          I have discovered that listening to information repetitiously helps it become settled in my mind. I can listen to an audio message numerous times and each time I learn something new. As I hear the same message over and over again, it is received into my mind and understood in my spirit.
          Repetition is a valuable tool in learning. Do not be short-sighted or frustrated with someone when they tell you something more than once. My parents would often repeat the same thing over and over to me. I would think to myself, “Why are you telling me this again?” I’ve now lived long enough to understand it is the power of repetition that changes a life.
          We do not need a great deal of information to help us succeed in life. We only need a little bit of information that we repeat everyday.
          However, many people seem to hate to repeat things.  People hate having to repeat things and people hate having things repeated to them.  I am reminded of the story of a wife who after 30 years of marriage complained to her husband that in all that time he never told her he loved her.  His response, “I told you I loved you the day we got married.  When and if I change my mind I’ll let you know.”  Wives need to hear it often.
          Similarly, chiropractors and practice members need to hear chiropractic explained often.  Not because we have an emotional need, but because we forget.  Rebecca West once said, “The trouble with mankind is two-fold, He cannot learn truth that is too complicated and he forgets truth that is too simple.”  Chiropractic falls into the second category.  The simplicity of it slips the average person’s mind, especially when they are constantly exposed to the outside-in thinking of the therapeutic approach.             
          We are bombarded every day with drug advertising, news about diseases and their treatment, and the idea that being sick is normal.  You cannot hear about chiropractic once and expect to grasp the big idea and more important, hold onto it.  In chiropractic we call the need to revisit our principles to make sure we are thinking correctly as “checking our slipping”. 
          A colleague told us a story of how a new practice member came to his office and said he was there with no problem but simply because a friend had told him it was good to have your spine checked regularly and adjusted as needed.  He came weekly and then after a few months he discontinued care.  A few months later, he returned and when asked what had kept him away he said he had been feeling good.  Suddenly, it dawned on my colleague that the man knew more about the office (getting adjusted regularly) before he came in the office than he did after being there for a few months!
          The reason I write a monthly newsletter and send out weekly Monday Morning Motivations is that I need to revisits this information regularly.  But more importantly, YOU need to learn it and make it a part of your thinking as well.
            Let me encourage you to develop a new attitude toward repetition. I find that frequently reviewing the basics causes life to work more smoothly.
Receive the value and power that is in repetition. It will take you to places you never thought possible because good lessons burned into your mind will allow you to stay focused on things that are important.

 
          If you’ve been a part of the office for any length of time, you’ll know that I go over 5 core or fundamental ideas of healing and growth.  These are…
 
          1)       You are more than your body; there is an organizing intelligence inside of you and all living things.  This organizing intelligence is called your innate intelligence.
          2)       Everything in life is always changing, including your body.  In every moment you are either getting STRONGER (healthier) or WEAKER (sicker).
          3)       The strength (health) of your body at any given moment is determined by how fully you are expressing your innate intelligence. 
          4)       3 Things are necessary to MAXIMIZE the expression of your innate intelligence in your body and keep you growing consistently stronger and healthier:
          ·          A Deliberate and Positive Focus.
          ·          A Healthy Lifestyle that supplies your body with everything it needs to function properly, adapt, heal and grow.
          ·          A Clear Neurological CONNECTION between your brain and your body.
          5)       Your SPINE must be correctly aligned and functioning in order to maintain a clear neurological connection and the normal flow of your innate intelligence in your body.
           By now, you are hopefully very clear on how intimately connected your spine and nerve system are, and why it is so important to maintain optimal alignment and function in your spine.  The goal of this article is to help you understand why a Deliberate and Positive Focus and a Healthy Lifestyle are also so crucial.
          Your emotions are the key to understanding why your focus is so important.  Focusing on what’s wrong, what’s missing, or what you don’t want to happen, all create negative emotions; whereas deliberately thinking about what’s right, what you have to be grateful for, and what you do want to happen, all create positive emotions. 
          Negative emotions always create harmful, destructive biochemistry; positive emotions always create helpful, healing biochemistry.  The way you feel is also a huge factor as far as your posture (which affects your spine, your brain-body connection and the expression of your innate intelligence) as well as what kinds of lifestyle choices you make in each moment.  So you see it’s not just that we think it’s a good idea to think positive; it’s actually a necessary component to being your best!
          The reason a healthy lifestyle is so important comes down to one thing… ENERGY!  Energy is produced in each of your cells, and healthy lifestyle choices that maximize nutrients and cellular strength, as well as minimizing poisons and toxins, guarantee your cells are healthfully maximizing their output!  The amount of energy you have also determines in large part your focus and your emotions (we just went though why that’s important), and optimizes your posture, thereby affecting your spine and your brain-body connection, and helping normalize the flow of innate intelligence in your body!
          Finally, you cannot get all of the benefits of your healthy lifestyle choices if your brain and body aren’t communicating optimally, nor is it possible to keep your focus deliberately on the positive things in your life.  Whenever you lose function in any part of your spine, your energy use becomes very inefficient, and you go into survival mode.  This means you think purely from a survival consciousness.  Keeping your spine functioning optimally assures that your brain and body are fully connected, your innate intelligence is expressing normally, you are better able to stay positive, and you can get the most out of your healthy lifestyle choices. 
          Actively following all steps in our program helps you progressively BE your best, so that you can GIVE your best to your family, your friends, your co-workers, your community, and the world!