The Gonstead Excellence

As a student going to Chiropractic College to be a Chiropractor, I got chiropractic care from adjusting each other and from instructors. Of course there were a diversity of techniques and so many tools and therapies to learn as we spend many hours in class. For some students that was enough. My spine was adjusted by so many different ways without proper standards and understanding of what was going on with my spine.  Eventually I was having more spinal problems then getting better. So I started to search a Chiropractor that would help my condition.

 

I came across Gonstead Technique and I got adjusted by someone that was practicing the technique then I noticed the difference. My spinal problems went away, I was seeing better results, then my posture got better, and the radiological films showed that the proper curvature of my spine was restored.

Then I learned the history of Dr. Clarence Gonstead. Dr. Gonstead adjusted 7 million people in his career, built a huge clinic that can hold over 100 people at the waiting room, built a hotel for people to stay overnight, and an airstrip for airplanes can fly people from other states or other countries. Dr. Gonstead had Rheumatoid Arthritis in his past and was cured with Chiropractic. His hands and joints were not able to use brute muscle force to do Chiropractic, as many people have so he developed a chiropractic adjusting technique that was precise, specific, and finesse, which resulted to softer and less forceful adjustments with results.

 As a Japanese this was something that I enjoyed about perfecting the skills and continual practice that would surpass what was taught to me in Chiropractic College. I have been practicing Gonstead Technique ever since 2005.

Our Chiropractic Technique and Philosophy is DIFFERENT.

 

This is a Gonstead Clinic and that means: You are treated as an individual. The Doctor only adjusts the specific vertebrae in question, not ALL of them. There is a scientific method to determine exactly how we treat your spine. With the Gonstead Technique, there is never over powering your neck muscles to over-twist your neck or back. Our Doctors have had extensive training and education to specialize as Gonstead Chiropractors that goes above-and-beyond the standard Doctor of Chiropractic degree.

Operating a Gonstead practice requires doctors with more education hours, more seminar hours, more practice hours, the overhead expenses are high, you need advanced radiology equipment and advanced diagnostic equipment - so, why do we do it? - Because our clients don’t argue with results.

Gonstead Chiropractic in Dr. Zen's Own Words

Gonstead Chiropractic has a single definition of purpose; locating and correcting vertebral subluxations for the improvement of nerve function. The brain and the nervous system control every muscle and organ in the body. In fact every single cell in your body is controlled and monitored by your nervous system and the slightest interference to this communication can cause health problems and pain. The Gonstead Chiropractor utilizes a unique and refined art of skeletal analysis to detect any harmful misalignments and then specifically corrects the misalignment, thereby restoring proper nerve function and health.

If areas of abnormal function (subluxations) are identified in your spine, the Doctor will recommend a course of treatment. The Gonstead Chiropractic technique involves a complete and thorough spinal analysis used to detect the presence of vertebral subluxations. The Gonstead adjustment is given with great specificity and care. Only the problem areas of the spine are addressed.

Our office is doing a special for the month of April 22 to May 22nd of 2013 for one on one consultation with Dr. Zen, Computerized Neurological Examination with X-ray for $80. Please contact our office at 952-500-8733 for any questions.

New Location, Concept, and Staff

Zen Chiropractic Inc has a New Location, Concept, and Staff

Zen Chiropractic Inc has been located in Southdale Mall for a couple of years now and our practice has reached its capacity at the location. So we moved our location near by business complex. Our new address is now 4570 West 77th Street, Suite 140, Edina, MN, 55435. Our phone number is 612-886-7763 and fax number is 763-592-8142. We have added a "DBA," which is another name for the business. The office will be called Zen Healing Center our new concept.

What is Zen Healing Center?

Zen Healing Center is a place where people will find healing through a fusion of diverse services such as massage therapy, acupuncture, yoga, chiropractic, and nutrition.  Our philosophy is to integrate natural healing arts into a harmonious whole new form of life. In ancient times, bonsai trees were taken with great care of giving the right light, nutrients, and moisture and created longevity and wellness that would out last normal growing trees. Our focus is to do the same with our clients helping them to fully receive the longevity and wellness by caring, teaching, and guiding with the harmony and integration of our services.

The Wellness Approach

The wellness approach allows an individual to make positive choices in creating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Wellness is an active process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a more successful existence. We never arrive at a point where there is no room for improvement.

Integrating various systems of healing modalities including nutritional counseling, therapeutic massage, chiropractic care, and education maximizes each individual's potential to achieve full potential and capacity of yourself. These methods integrate the mind, body, and spirit, which are all vital roles in the healing process to get your full capacity of performance in your body.

The Longevity Approach

Longevity is an ancient topic for many people from all over the world. You only get one body that will last your life time so you better take care of it! You are expected to make improvements and maintenance on a regular basis. You may like it or hate it, but it is your choice.

How do we manage our age well, how we can we live longer, and what can we do to keep my body from falling apart? There are many ancient practices in the eastern medicine philosophies that have given us many ideas from diet, exercises, therapies, and meditation for long lasting body. Each of our services will maintain a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle and mental state to achieve youthful, long lasting, and energized state.

 

Our New Staff Members at Zen Healing Center

 

Massage Therapist :Anthoney Zupke

Since graduating from the Massage Therapy program at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington, I’ve worked in a variety of settings … hospital, spa and clinical chiropractic offices.  From those experiences, I have a created a style of massage that incorporates active isolation releases, trigger point therapy, and relaxation.  I am certified in pre/post natal massage.  I’ve received additional training in knee, ankle, and hip injury rehabilitation.  To enhance your healing experience, I have also been trained in Reiki and completed my Master level certification.  I am passionate about teaching my clients to be aware of their body mechanics and the importance of maintaining a healthy body

 

Acupuncturist: Aaron Schindler
Aaron Schindler is licensed in acupuncture by National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine(NCCAOM) and certified by the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice. He earned his Master's of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine from Minnesota College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine at Northwestern Health Sciences University. He received his Bachelor's of Science in Biology at the University of Minnesota at Mankato.

Aaron has practiced yoga, meditation and martial arts for 18 years and this allows him to help his patients manage stress in their lives. He also specializes in sports injuries involving knees,elbos,ankles and shoulders. He is also trained in acupuncture facial rejuvenation and Korean hand therapy. He has a passion for herbal medicine, in 2007 he interned in Botanical Studies in Oriental Medicine at Highfalls Garden in Philmont NY.

His style of acupuncture is a mixture of Chinese, Japanese but overall is very gentle in nature. He has been trained in Korean Hand Therapy recently at the Integrative Health Practitioner Training for Oriental Medicine Professionals held at The Penny George Institute for Health and Healing. Sports injuries and herbal preparations are his current areas of interests.

Yoga Instructor: Kelly Horgan

As an athlete, I added yoga to balance my running work outs.  I soon found the benefits of yoga went far beyond added flexibility.  While practicing yoga, along with chiropractic care, regular exercise and eating healthy, my neck, lower back and feet began to feel like new.  The pain I had been experiencing was not something I had to live with.  I loved how I felt on and off my mat.  After a couple years, I started the Core Power teacher training program in order to help others discover the wonderful benefits of yoga.  I completed the program, which equipped me to teach power yoga.  My classes are focused on upper body strength, opening hips and chest as well as aligning and cleansing your body for it to function properly.  

 

 

Check out our new website that will be coming soon! www.zenhealingcentermn.com

Or our facebook for special deals!! https://www.facebook.com/zenhealingcentermn

Toxins that causes Headaches, Allergies, Joint Pain, Muscle Pain

“Please…protect yourself from household toxics”

--says author Debra Lynn Dadd—

 

Here’s a Little of What I’ve Learned

There are basically three ways that toxic chemicals can enter the body: by swallowing, by breathing, or by contact with the skin or eyes. When most people hear about a chemical poisoning, they usually think about swallowing (ingestion). Every year, five to ten million household poisonings are reported, the immediate result of accidental ingestion of common cleaning, pesticide, personal care and other common household products. Many of these poisonings are fatal, and most of the victims are children.

The personal care products we put on our skin and hair create possible toxic exposures through skin absorption. These include soaps, lotions, creams, cosmetics, shampoos, deodorants, and other common products.  In 1989, a House subcommittee asked the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to analyses 2,983 chemicals used in personal care products, and 884 were found to be toxic. Of these, 778 can cause acute toxicity, 146 can cause tumors, 218 can cause reproductive complications, 314 can cause biological mutation, and 376 can cause skin and eye irritations. Personal care products should promote hygiene, health and beauty…not make us sick.

Of course, I don’t mean to suggest that everyone will experience health problems the first time they use a product containing toxic ingredients, although many people do. Actually, most poisonings happen slowly, over a long period of time by gradual skin absorption or by daily exposure to toxics we breathe in the air.

When I talk to people about toxics in the air, they are usually surprised to learn that indoor air is generally much worse to breathe than outdoor air. In fact, an EPA Report to Congress on Indoor Air and the subcommittee hearings on the Indoor Air Quality Act of 1989 stated that indoor air pollution is one of the nation’s most important environmental health problems. According to the EPA, most home have airborne concentrations of hazardous chemicals that are two to five times higher indoors than outdoors. In one five-year study, the EPA reported that a number of homes had chemical levels that were seventy times higher inside than outside.

One reason chemical concentrations are so high in some home is that cleaning products, personal care products, and other household goods release toxic vapors into the air when they are used –some even when they are being stored. The next time you walk down the cleaning products aisle in the supermarket, notice how strongly it smells of toxic chemicals, even though all the packages are tightly closed.

A 1985 EPA report concluded that the toxic chemicals in household cleaners are three times more likely to cause cancer than outdoor air pollution. Also a report by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on chemicals commonly found in homes identified 150 that have been linked to allergies, birth defects, cancer and psychological abnormalities. With windows sealed shut in the winter to conserve heat and save energy, and in the summer to hold in cool air-conditioned air, these toxic fumes have nowhere to go and just build up to higher and higher levels.

Household cleaning products are among the most toxic substances we encounter daily. In one study conducted over a 15-year period, women who worked at home had a 54% higher death rate from cancer than women who had jobs away from the home. The study concluded that the increased death rate was due to daily exposure to hazardous chemicals found in ordinary household products. Both my mother and grandmother worked at home, and both died from cancer. My mother was only 51. I often wonder if she would be alive today if she had been aware of the information contained here.

I have one final comment to make about household toxics, because this is dear to my heart. Household toxics don’t just affect us, they create toxic waste in their manufacture and use, which gets disposed of in the environment in the form of air and water pollution and solid toxic waste. Not only does this pollution come back to haunt our own health, but it also harms wildlife.

To cite only one example, my local California Department of Fish and Game tested the toxicity of common chemicals that they found in our waterways. The most toxic substances to aquatic organisms were household bleach, all-purpose cleaner, laundry detergent, and dish detergent. These were more harmful to aquatic life than other household products we think of as being more toxic, such as paint or car wax.

The natural environment makes it possible for us to live on this earth. From it we draw everything that sustains our lives. Without it, we cannot survive.

What You Can Do

The first step is to educate ourselves. That’s why I’ve written five books on this subject, and now this pamphlet –to share what I’ve learned with you so that you can prevent heath problems. Now there are safer products on the market, so maybe I’ve made a difference, but the number of toxic products still being sold and purchased tell me that not everyone has gotten the message.

The next step is to begin to eliminate toxics from your daily life. While cleaning and personal care products are not the only source of toxic chemicals in your home, they are among the most toxic and deadly. Fortunately, they are also the easiest to replace.

There are some good sources for safer cleaning and personal care products.

Be well, and enjoy your health!

More Energy with Chiropractic

Chiropractic: Bringing Out the Best in You

Fatigue is a Warning

Fatigue or low energy is a very common condition. It can range from awakening in the morning with a chronic tired feeling to a severe physical and psychological depression characterized by a total lack of pleasure or sense of fulfillment (anhedonia).

Fatigue is a warning: it is one of the earliest signs that something in our lives, physical or emotional, is not right.

Boredom

No baby is born bored. If anyone should be bored, it’s a baby! All a baby has to do is to eat, excrete and sleep. Babies are full of energy, excitement and vitality; they are full of life. When a child complains that he or she is tired all the time, or bored, we know that something is very wrong.

A Big Mistake

What happens to our natural curiosity, sense of wondrous adventure, and boundless energy as we age? Why have so many adults lost, or rather, lost touch with, life’s excitement? What happens to life’s sparkle?

When adults exhibit chronic tiredness or fatigue, we don’t get nearly as concerned as when a child does—and that’s a big mistake. Life should be filled with energy, no matter what a person’s age—the biographies of many notable people teach us that well into their seventies, eighties and even nineties they are robust—full of lust for life.

The Causes of Chronic Fatigue

There can be many causes of chronic fatigue. They can be organic conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disorders and endocrine disorders; or emotional stress such as depression, anxiety or trauma. Chronic fatigue can be due to sleep deprivation; the adverse effects of prescribed, over-the-counter or illegal drugs; or an unhealthy lifestyle that doesn’t permit you to “catch up” with yourself. Others feel that chronic fatigue may be a nutritional condition that can be corrected with improved diet.1

Spinal Balance & Energy

A common cause of fatigue is an unbalanced spinal column. How? A simple analogy: If you were carrying a bowling ball, how much more difficult would it be to carry it at a distance from your body than at your side? Your head weighs about as much as a bowling ball; if your head is off-center, “carrying” it can exhaust you! Also, your 24 movable vertebrae, sacrum, hips and pelvis also need proper alignment in order to make efficient use of energy. A modest unbalance, for example, a “short” leg, could translate into a considerable amount of wasted energy as the hours, days, weeks and months add up. Have you ever had your spinal muscles examined? At our office, we do a Static EMG scan that will measure the amount of contraction from both sides of the spine for minor to major spasms. You can not feel or see it but if you get it measured, it will be clear of how your body wastes a large amount of energy.

”Nerve Energy”

Energy flows over your brain and spinal cord through your nerves and other tissues, and then flows back to the brain and spinal cord. A healthy spine and nervous system keeps your flow of energy balanced, your immune system strong, and your resistance to disease high. An unhealthy, unbalanced spine can interfere with the natural flow of energy through your body, creating blockages and imbalances that may cause physical and emotional fatigue.

Surprisingly, some people who experience chronic fatigue often have enough energy but the energy is blocked, locked up, unbalanced and not flowing properly. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, we talk about a great energy that runs up and down the spine called the Great Vessel. If that great energy is blocked and causing imbalance in your body, then we have to look at how much heat is coming off your spine. We can measure the heat signature from your back with Spinal Thermography. This will tell you when there is too much, too little, or enough heat is coming out of your spine. This will tell how much energy is being blocked and wasted in one area.

Chiropractic's Unique Place

When chiropractors correct a mechanical distortion in your body with a chiropractic spinal adjustment, nerve system energy is normalized. In effect, chiropractic care heals a broken bridge between your “physical body” and your “energy body” so that they may communicate better with one another and restore harmony to your “body-mind.”

Many chiropractors are aware of the biomechanical distortion in our body is known as subluxation. There is also another aspect of the flow of energy that runs along the spine and when chiropractic restores the biomechanical distortion, chiropractic also restores the flow of energy.

A New Dawn in Healing

In the same way that classical physics was superseded by Einstein’s physics when Newton’s laws could no longer explain newly discovered phenomena, medical science is beginning to accept new worlds of healing.

In my own practice, several cancer patients have recovered completely, after being pronounced incurable and given only a few months to live. I didn’t think they were miracles; I thought they were proof that the mind can go deep enough to change the very pattern that design the body. It can wipe mistakes off the blueprint, so to speak, and destroy any disease—cancer, diabetes, coronary heart disease—that has disturbed the design.2

Anyone who is aware of the recent trends in medicine will realize that modern physicians—like the physicists before them—have begun to deal with finer and finer forms of energy both in the diagnosis and treatment of human illness.3

Vitalism—Life Energy

Today the study of the energy quality of the body is a new frontier of healing. It’s called energy medicine and Robert Becker, M.D. explains it eloquently:

Today…many physicians are re-examining and applying therapeutic techniques that were previously discarded as “unscientific” by academic medicine. The use of foods, herbs, meditation, and acupuncture [represents] only a few examples… The chemistry of life has been revealed to be based upon the underlying forces of electricity and magnetism. Our bodies and brains generate electromagnetic fields within us and around us… Current popular healing practices use an invisible common source: the body’s innate electrical systems. 4

Conclusion

All your body systems run on energy and, when properly working, give you an abundance of the energy and life with which you are naturally endowed. There is abundant energy within you all the time. Unfortunately, it can get blocked, unbalanced and congested. If you are fatigued, bored, tired, depressed or lacking enthusiasm, you should investigate the natural health approach of chiropractic.

 

Hyperactivity; Learning Disorders

"Chiropractic…Bringing out the best in you.

Chiropractors correct abnormalities of the intellect as well as those of the body. "

–D.D Palmer, Discoverer of Chiropractic

Doctors of chiropractic have long noticed chiropractic’s beneficial effects on those with neurological and emotional problems, especially children.

A Modern Epidemic

Learning disorders are just one of many neurological problems that affect children today. They include hyperactivity, attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and minimal brain damage among others. The number of children diagnosed with these conditions is growing at a staggering rate, as medical historian Harris Coulter, Ph.D. has noted:

The American Psychiatric Association (Third Edition, revised 1987) publishes a guide to mental illnesses in this country, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, which devotes seventy pages to “Disorders Usually First Evident in Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence.” The second edition in 1968 dealt with these disorders in only 3-1/2 pages. The first edition, 1952, did not mention them at all.

These disorders have received the appellation “developmental disabilities”. Probably the leading one is “dyslexia,” also called “minimal brain damage.” Another prominent one is “autism”. But there are many others. Probably twenty percent of American children—one youngster in five—suffers from a “developmental disability”. This is a stupefying figure…

Ritalin

The standard medical treatment for hyperactivity in children is amphetamine medications such as Ritalin, Dexedrine and Cylert. Ritalin is classified as a schedule II substance by the FDA along with cocaine, morphine, opium and methadone. Ritalin can have severe side effects, including arrested growth, increased heart rate, insomnia, loss of appetite, social withdrawal, irritability, moodiness and involuntary movements or sounds. In 1988, a half-million children were prescribed stimulant drugs for ADD and ADHD. By 1997 the number was two million and it is expected to reach eight million b 2000. Interestingly, M.D.s in the U.S. prescribe five times the quantity of stimulants for children as M.D.s in other countries. Many parents are concerned about drugging their children for years and possible drug abuse and dependency. “Is there another way,” they ask?

The Cause of Learning Disorders?

Dr. Coulter and a growing number of professionals feel that many of the neurologically damaged are victims of childhood vaccinations:

A large proportion of the millions of U.S. children and adults suffering from autism, seizures, mental retardation, hyperactivity, dyslexia, and other shoots and branches of the hydra-headed entity called “developmental disabilities,” owe their disorders to one or another of the vaccines against childhood diseases.

Other causes of neurologic damage may be trauma to the head, severe burn, infectious diseases, accidents and falls.

What Can Chiropractic Do?

Chiropractors are trained to locate and correct vertebral subluxations—tiny distortions of spinal bones or vertebrae—that can irritate or stress the spine, discs, muscles, ligaments and nervous system.

Although not a treatment for neurological disorders, chiropractic care has given many children suffering from neurological disorders new hope. Chiropractors, parents and school officials have reported on the effectiveness of chiropractic care for children with many kinds of neurological conditions including learning disorders, hyperactivity, inability to concentrate and behavior problems.

For example, the Director of Psychoeducational and Guidance Services of College Station, Texas noted that of the 10,000 students referred to him in the previous decade, those who had received chiropractic care seemed to show the most benefit. He noticed that children failing their subjects and lacking motivation began passing their subjects, became highly motivated, and showed improved coordination and ability to participate in athletics after receiving chiropractic care. Some of the cases from his files included:

1.      High school student; non-motivated, negative, passive, nonverbal and failing in high school work despite placement in special classes. She was put on 20mg Ritalin. After chiropractic adjustments, the student was taken off Ritalin, began talking and expressing herself, and showed improved reading comprehension and reading speed.

2.      Eight-year-old boy who was extremely hyperactive, irritable and with severe behavior problems at home and school; grades were marginal to failing; on 70mg. of Ritalin/day with steadily diminishing results. After chiropractic care, Ritalin was discontinued and coordination was improved to the extent that the student became a Little League ball player. His attitude was excellent, grades were up and average of one letter grade and behavior at home and school was exemplary.

3.      A student with a four-year history of marginal accomplishment in school was nervous, underweight and suffered from insomnia. Medication was briefly tried but the student’s emotional control became poor and he frequently wept. After chiropractic care there was a marked reduction in nervousness and great improvement in emotional stability. His mother reported that his appetite was now normal and he began enjoying school during the last month.

Others have observed chiropractic’s effect on hyperactivity: “The majority of children…did, in fact, improve under specific chiropractic care.” Still others have commented that spinal care may improve I.Q.

In one interesting story, chiropractors had taken care of 244 children in a Kentucky reform school. The teachers were so impressed that they signed a petition asking for a full-time chiropractor on staff: “Not only did [the students] improve in health, but also in their school work as pupils…there has been a marked improvement in their moral life.” However, please remember that not all children respond the same under chiropractic care.

Exactly how subluxation correction affects brain function is not known. Some theorize that chiropractic care improves blood flow to the brain, others feel it lessens anxiety and promotes overall improved well-being or enhances brain function while others feel it interrupts unhealthy nerve reflexes in the spinal cord. Obviously the final word on the mechanism is not yet in.

In Conclusion

Working in concert with nutritionists, homeopaths, CranioSacral therapists, psychologists, medical doctors and other healers, including chiropractors, parents can give their children every chance for optimal life expression.

If seriously afflicted students have been found to benefit from chiropractic care, could not “average” children benefit as well? Perhaps chiropractic care could help “average” students become “above average”? Increase their IQ a few points? Improve their reading skills a little and give them an edge in alertness, coordination and speech? Why not discover the benefits of chiropractic for your own children?

Aging Process Part 1

This begins a 2 part series on the topic of aging. This topic is or will be of interest to all.

Aging can be considered in a number of ways. Each year, we get a little older. This is chronological age. Biological age is a different scale. We all know of someone 50 who looks and acts like they are 70 and at the same time someone who looks and acts like they are in their late 30’s. It is to simple to say that genetics is the answer.

One author stated that as we age we get the 4D’s. These are disability, discomfort, drugs and doctors. In general as we age we see a decrease in muscle and bone mass or density, along with a decrease in water retention and an increase in fat mass.

While years go by steadily, our bodies age at different rates depending on how we have taken care of the different systems or organs of our body.

Most people recognize the signs of aging between 40 and 50, however the seeds of this aging process start decades before.

Let’s talk about what happens to our bodies in these years.

First our brain will shrink slightly with an accompanying loss in cognitive skills. We become a little more forgetful and wonder if we are getting Alzheimer’s.

If we don’t already need glasses, our vision begins to suffer as our eye losses its elasticity as well as its ability to accommodate to lower light and distinguish colors especially yellow and blue.

Our hearing begins a gradual decline with loss of the ability to hear high tones or to listen well when there is a lot of background noise. We also slowly lose our sense of taste and smell which can trick us into wanting way more salt that we should eat to season our food.

Our skin loses its elasticity and becomes thinner. Add to these changes general decrease in functionality to our internal organs like the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and a general decrease in the ability to produce digestive enzymes and you have a rough idea of the aging process.

Enough of what we all know – as we age we degenerate.

Why does this happen?

There are many theories behind the aging process. The first centers on chance and includes the topics of oxidation and free radicals. These produce free electrons that attach themselves to our molecular structure and create most if not all of the degenerative conditions found in the body. Another example of this type of aging process is that caused by excess sugar intake that binds to proteins. This glucose or sugar binding then disrupts the ability of the cell to replicate or repair itself. The ravages of diabetes are an example of this type of aging process.

The other great classification is one best described as evolutionary or part of the grand design of nature. This one was started by a phenomenon known as the Hayflick factor. This experiment showed that cells would reproduce themselves about 50 times and then die off. This gave rise to the concept that we have an aging clock in every cell of our body. However, experiments showed that with proper nutritional support, this self-limiting replication limit was easily surpassed. This theory was replaced by one centered around shortening of telomeres. These are the endings of the chromosomes that give the blueprints that our cells need to replicate themselves.

 

These are just a couple of interesting theories and lot of research in them, but the most improtant fact in aging is imporoper fucntioning nervous system. Even if we have lowered the sugar intake and hav done nutritional support, if the nervous system is not operating at 100% then we will only get limited results. Through Chiropractic, the nervous system and alignment of the spine is 100%, then our results will have no limits. Chiropractic will be restoring function of the body and preventing degenerative joints in the spine to last longer as you age.

What are the signs of premature aging?

You cannot always tell a book by its cover as the saying goes, but you can by its content.

The earliest sign is a lack of vitality. You lose energy quickly and no longer have a sense of well being. In general, you do not enjoy life as much as you used to.

Next to go is your libido. That sex drive of your youth is gone or dramatically reduced.

You start to get muscle aches for no apparent reason and it takes longer to heal from injuries. Along with this, your immune system is weaker and you get more colds and flues and they last longer.

Your figure starts to change; you will either lose or gain over 20 pounds.

Finally, depression and anxiety are on the rise and your whole mental outlook is changed.

While we can’t stop the aging process, it is possible to slow it down and potentially to reverse some effects of our past bad habits and lifestyles.

Zazen, Wabi/Sabi, and then Chiropractic

What does Zazen, Wabi/Sabi, and Chiropractic have in common? It is the spine!! The posture of the spine is a very important component to Zazen. Wabi/Sabi inspires asymmetric structure to be a beauty and harmony. Structure of the spine doesn't have to be straight but instead it needs adaptive structural integrity that is balanced to the natural forces from the environment. Chiropractic has a lot in common with Japanese ideals about the way of life and health. Chiropractor's job is not about making perfect straight spine but finding Subluxation and correction of Subluxation!!

Zazen Meditation

Zazen meditation has specific instructions for posture. The first thing to pay attention to is the position of the body inZazen. The body has a way of communicating outwardly to the world and inwardly to oneself. How you position your body has a lot to do with what happens with your mind and your breath. It's very important to keep the spine straight with the lower part of the back curved. All of the aspects of the posture that are important when seated on the floor are just as important when sitting in a chair. The importance of keeping the back straight is to allow the diaphragm to move freely. The breathing you will be doing in zazen becomes very, very deep. Your abdomen will rise and fall much the same way an infant's belly rises and falls. In general, as we mature, our breathing becomes restricted, and less and less complete. We tend to take shallow breaths in the upper part of the chest. Usually, we've got our belts on very tight or we wear tight clothing around the waist. As a result, deep, complete breathing rarely occurs. In zazen it is important to loosen up anything that is tight around the waist and to wear clothing that is non-binding. For instance, material should not gather behind the knees when you cross the legs, inhibiting circulation. Allow the diaphragm to move freely so that the breathing can be deep, easy, and natural. You don't have to control it. You don't have to make it happen. It will happen by itself if you assume the right posture and position your body properly.

Keeping a good posture has many implications to the spine. Roger Sperry, Ph.D. (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1981) discovered that 90% of thebrain's activity is used to balance your body within the gravitational field of earth. If your bodyis mechanically distorted, it will affect the other 10% of the brain's activity, which controls all the other body functions such as breathing, digestion and cognition. If the body framework (bone structure and spine) is in an off-balanced or misaligned position it can impede or block the electrical and chemical transmissions of the nervous system, which controls all of your body's functions. This interference to the nervous system can cause or contribute to all kinds of symptoms and illnesses (in other words, the feeling that "I am hurting or I am sick"). Published research studies indicate that when body balance is restored, the body enters a healing cycle that alleviates pain and symptoms, elevates the immune system, increases blood and oxygen circulation, normalizes nervous system communication and creates more optimum body performance ("I feel good again"). When head tilt develops (as pictured above) and the body becomes imbalanced, the brain stem is compressed, restricting the flow of communication between the brain and body. Health and healing messages are restricted in the part of the body serviced by these compressed nerves. Diminished and impaired function and pain follows. This can cause pain and suffering and decrease the quality of your life. When the body is balanced, there is no stress or tension on the brain stem. This allows communications between the brain and body to travel back and forth unimpeded, promoting maximum health and healing.

If you feel your posture is off it only means you need to look in further and deeper. When you have distorted posture there can be many problems that will cause pain and disease. How does Chiropractic help? Lets talk about Wabi/Sabi and you will find the profoundness what is healing.

Wabi/Sabi

The two dominant principles of Chinese and Japanese art and culture are wabi and sabi. Wabi refers to a philosophical construct, a sense of space, direction, or path, while sabi is an aesthetic construct rooted in a given object and its features, plus the occupation of time, chronology, and objectivity. Though the terms are and should be referred to distinctly, they are usually combined as wabi-sabi, as both a working description and as a single aesthetic principle.

The term wabi-sabi suggests such qualities as impermanence, humility, asymmetry, and imperfection. These underlying principles are diametrically opposed to those of their Western counterparts, whose values are rooted in the Hellenic worldview that values permanence, grandeur, symmetry, and perfection. The contrast to Western principles of aesthetics is rooted in the contrast to Western philosophical premises of power, authority, dominance, engagement, and control, whether of others or of nature.

The design principles of wabi-sabi fall into several categories; of course fine arts like poetry, drama, and literature, have not physical objects, embody these principles in a different way: type, form, texture, beauty, color, simplicity, space, and balace.

In the philosophy of Wabi/Sabi, the work reflects the physical balances found in the natural world. Hence no preconceived formula for symmetry is tenable because nature defines itself by circumstances: a tree grows tall or short, thin or thick, leafy, crooked, etc., in the context of other trees, rocks, water, soil, hummus, etc. in the forest. This balance as circumstance is a design principle for the artist to infuse into a work. The work, like the tree, is unique. The regularity, uniformity, and prescriptions contrived by the artist are secondary to the requirement to reflect a natural and unforced appearance to the object and its context.

We talked about posture is an important component of Zazen and your health. Now we need to take a closer look at how the actual shape of the spine inside your body. Most people are diagnosed with Scoliosis, Forward Head Tilt, Hunch back postures that are connected to health hazard and Pain. Those diagnosed postures and pain are just a tip of the iceberg. On x-ray films we can see the actual shape of the spine compared to what you can see. There are two things that the healing professionals try to strive for and they are important for a good posture, having a straight spine and having curvature.

Most Chiropractors, Orthopedic Physicians, Physiotherapy, or any other healing professions correct these postural problems tries to make the spine straight and restore the curvature. There are many devices and techniques that tries to straighten the spine and restore curvature of the spine. There are techniques in Chiropractic profession that will answer the publics questions about the posture problem. Although for a Chiropractor having a normal straight spine and curvature is not the answer for everything.

Just like the concept of Wabi/Sabi of Balance, symmetry of the spine is not as crucial as most healing professions advertise. In Wabi/Sabi, they strive for uniqueness in a natural process of growth in a tree. This natural process is the same with how Chiropractic view the spine. The famous Dr. Gonstead who established the Golden Standard for Chiropractic Technique said in his book,

"It is not to be implied that the chiropractor's objective is to straighten the spine. Since every individual has some structural variations, each spine will vary according to those differences. 'What is normal for one may not be normal for others.'"

The Wabi/Sabi and Chiropractic Philosophy has the same contrast with the western ideals of balance and symmetry. In the medical normal of the spine is based upon structural symmetry. Many medical profession will advise children with a sever degree of scoliosis should get surgery/brace to control the body. Other healing profession would take control of the spine by strengthening the muscles and or use manual therapy of manipulation of the spine.

Dr. R.W. Stephenson said in Chiropractic Text Book, " Chiropractic does not pretend to "straighten" curvatures by force, or to force abnormal spine to an "educated ideal."....Neither does Chiropractic adjust with the intention of forcing or driving vertebrae into perfect alignment; for Chiropractic does not treat effects at all. It seeks to remove the cause and the cause is always in the spine. " Dr. Stephenson further says about postures, "Curvatures caused by occupations, as hodcarrying, bookkeeping, locomotive driving are occupational curvatures. They are adaption to the occupation instead of having a disease....the X-ray shows many vertebra "out of alignment," and if he has apparent curatvatures; if he still has practically perfect health, it is a mistake to adjust these vertebra......That the spine is just as she wants to be."

What then? Why do we need a Chiropractor? The job of a Chiropractor is not about aligning the spine to be straight.Chiropractor's job is to find "Subluxation" and correct them. What is Subluxation? Dr. R.W. Stephenson says, "It is the condition of a vertebra that has lost its proper juxtaposition with the one above and one below, or both; to an extent less than a luxation; which impinges nerves and interferes with the transmission of mental impulses." These Subluxation will cause the difficulty to have good postures, deformed shape of the spine, causes pain, and health hazards.

Do you have good posture? Did you see your spine on a X-ray film? When you are meditating or when your doing a Japanese Tea ceremony, you should be asking these questions to your self. At our office we take X-ray films and analyze them and understand the person's condition and give them health care that you need and nothing Extra. We have exercises that will help you condition yourself so that you won't need Chiropractic all the time. You haveHealing From Within!