I was talking with a new practice member yesterday about her on going struggles with back pain. After we chatted and I learned more about her and the challenges she has had, I told her in my experience, the majority of issues that people have stem from poor MOVEMENT PATTERNS.

Everyday, we do things without thinking much about how we do it.

• getting on/off the toilet
• standing/sitting/sleeping
• posture at work or school
• brushing your teeth
• driving your car
• and more!

One of the best ways to move and feel better is to realize the imbalances and poor patterns that you’ve created over time and then work to change those and bring balance to your body.

WHY?

Because you’ll:

• hold your corrective adjustments better
• avoid injuries
• have better longevity
• prevent arthritis
• have more capacity to do more fun things in life!

Who doesn’t want that?

Movement is LIFE!

We all need to move. Our lives depend on it.

Most often, people tell me:

“I don’t have time to exercise”

“My ______ hurts too much to allow me to exercise”

“I hate going to the gym”

There are many reasons why people struggle with staying active.

Last week, Dr. MacPhee and I dove into the reasons why and the ways to get moving by changing how we look at movement.​

In 2001, I made the commitment to train for a heavy maximum one rep squat of 400 lbs. It was just one of those physical goals that was out of reach previously, and I was more curious to see if I could than anything else. I had been close in the past, but never quite got there.

I trained over the course of three months to scale my training and move myself closer to the goal. I had to make changes in how I approached my goal. In the past, I was unsuccessful and I realized that I needed a different strategy if I was going to hit it.

I’ve made so many other commitments in my life, and I bet you have too, dear reader. Marriage, kids, jobs, savings, exercise, eating healthy, climbing mountains, or cutting back on sweets. We all make commitments and when we put our full engagement into them, the sky is the limit.

Engagement

Notice I didn’t say effort? My reasoning is that effort is, in my opinion, a fair bit short of engagement. Engagement is the full commitment to the process with a clear and directed process and outcome with an emotional investment in all of it. I can give my effort (defined as vigorous attempt) but if the goal isn’t clear, I can do ‘stuff’ that moves me towards it, but not directly because it lacks the emotional anchor to get me there.

What are you committing to?

After the Holiday Hangover, you’re probably looking to do more or less of something that led you to make decision to commit to something different.

Good for you!

I believe that since we all make commitments everyday in our lives (like checking facebook, emails, making dinner etc) we can and must commit to ourselves.

Here are a few things to help you make commitments

1. Overt benefit assignment. Want to exercise but can’t seem to get going? Write out 100 reasons WHY you want to. Here’s an example of a conversation I had with a practice member recently:

Me: Why do you want to get fit?
PM So I can have more energy
Me: Why?
PM: So I can play with my kids
Me: Why?
PM: So I’ll feel better as a mom
Me: Why?
PM: Because they need me
Me: Why?
PM: So that I can be there for them and raise them to be strong and confident
Me: Why?

and so on and so on.

You see, if the WHY isn’t BIG ENOUGH, the HOW doesn’t happen.

2. Write out your goals and review daily. As we wrote about last week, we discussed how you can lay out your goals and action steps for each. Next is to pick one of the categories and review a different one daily. This should only take you 3-5 minutes to review. Then pick one or two things to do that day that can move you towards your goal. For example, let’s say that you chose to review the Intellectual category and your goal is to read ten books. Maybe the action step for that day is to research and buy a book that you want to read.

3. Accountability.  Share your goals publicly. Whether with friends, or on social media, or on your fringe for all to see, there is massive benefit by getting support from others. And you just might inspire someone else too!

4. Be realistic.  I’m guilty of ‘biting off more than I can chew’. Trying to hit my goal of 400lbs two days after I made the commitment wasn’t realistic. I needed to give myself a timeline and ‘reverse engineer’ how I was going to get there.

5. Make it FUN!  Choose some cool things to commit to. A couple of years ago, I made the commitment to see 5 different waterfalls that year. I had to research where ones close to me were, and that meant, planning a day trip to get there. It got me out in nature, and I discovered some cool areas I had never been before. Choose some commitments that appeal to your adventurous side as much as your more serious side. Heck, by choosing the adventurous child side, you’ll likely get to your serious goals much faster anyways.

I would love to hear how these commitments are going for you!

Dr C

PS – I did hit my squatting goal – 405lbs on September 23, 2001.  👊 😊

Dr. Craig Hazel’s mission is to help families THRIVE. After graduating from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Physical and Health Education, he went on to earn a Doctor of Chiropractic degree and a Bachelor of Science in Anatomy from Parker College of Chiropractic in Dallas Texas. He is passionate about seeing children and families in his private practice at Synergy Chiropractic in Kanata Ontario. A sought after speaker, he has been featured regularly on TSN Team 1200, CTV and Rogers TV. He is also the Chairman of the Alliance for Chiropractic of Ontario.

August is here and so begins the ‘sneezing season’ for some allergy sufferers.  Ragweed wreaks havoc on many this time of year.  Itchy eyes and ears, sneezing, scratchy throats – it can be crippling.

What many people don’t realize is there is high levels of stress can cause your allergies to become worse. This has been confirmed by research in the field of psychoneuroimmunology.  Mental stress can upset the balance of your nervous system and immune system. If your nervous system is overstimulated with stress, it can affect the response of your immune system to an allergen.

How is that possible?

Our nervous systems have two divisions – the sympathetic (gas pedal) and parasympathetic (brake pedal).  You probably remember the terms ‘high or flight’ (sympathetic) or the ‘rest/digest’ (parasympathetic) from high school health classes.  Both of these systems work simultaneously to keep us constantly adapting to changes in our bodies and outside our bodies every second of the day.  Think of both systems working together like two kids on a teeter totter.  Sometimes the sympathetic system needs to be ‘up’ and at other times, the parasympathetic system takes a turn working harder.  Both offset each other to avoid one system becoming dominant.

So here’s how it affects you as an allergy sufferer.  The sympathetic system is responsible for our response to allergens.  When pollen or dust contacts the membranes of the nose or eyes, the body launches an immune assault to resist it.  This drives up histamine.  If the sympathetic system is overly dominant, then the histamine levels can be greater than necessary.

Schedules, finances, workloads, not enough exercise, poor diets, chemical stress and more can press down on our ‘gas pedal’ causing our system into sympathetic dominance.

So with that understanding, by decreasing mental, physical and chemical stress, your immune system can function better and head off many allergies at the pass.

Why it Matters:

Exciting new research has showcased how stress reduction can reduce the symptoms we associate with seasonal allergies. Meditation and chiropractic adjustments have been shown to reduce stress levels. And with reduced stress levels, your immune system has the potential to function at a higher level. Feeling more relaxed is something all of us could benefit from- and it may even help reduce your seasonal allergies.

– Physical, chemical, and emotional stress can cause your immune system to become hypersensitive.

– A hypersensitive immune system often overreacts to a potential threat resulting in worsening allergies.

– Reduce stress, and allergies, with a stress-reducing activity like exercise, meditation, or even getting chiropractic adjustments!

Next Steps:

Aside from putting you in a bad mood, being over-stressed has far-reaching effects on your body. If you “start to feel your allergies coming on” find stress-reducing activities that you enjoy. It may be reading a book, meditating, getting a massage, or perhaps even getting a chiropractic adjustment. Feeling better mentally and reducing your seasonal allergies are just a few of the benefits you can expect by lowering your stress levels!

Take a moment and think about one thing that you could do to reduce your stress and plan how you intend to do just that.

Science Source: Stress and Allergic Diseases. Immunol Allergy Clin North Am. 2011.

Dr. Craig Hazel’s mission is to help families THRIVE. After graduating from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Physical and Health Education, he went on to earn a Doctor of Chiropractic degree and a Bachelor of Science in Anatomy from Parker College of Chiropractic in Dallas Texas. He is passionate about seeing children and families in his private practice at Synergy Chiropractic in Kanata Ontario. A sought after speaker, he has been featured regularly on TSN Team 1200, CTV and Rogers TV. He is also the Chairman of the Alliance for Chiropractic of Ontario.