Healthy Thoughts by Dr. Helena

People are driven to our office for different reasons.  However, one thing remains the same: they are asking for help and they have hope their life is about to change.  And change it will if they dedicate themselves to a healthy lifestyle. At the end of the initial stage of care, we perform another examination so we can compare how far you have come in a relatively short period of time.  At this point, everyone has choices.  Some people are only interested in being pain free and stop care until they hurt again.  Some people are interested in getting their body to heal at a deeper level and want to continue care. 

Short term care = Short term results.

Long term care = Long term results.

Most of the time, pain is just a symptom telling you that your body doesn’t like what you are doing and that it is time you change something.  Some people judge their health on pain.  They believe that if they don’t have pain, they are fine.  In truth, whether you feel good or not, if you aren’t working on your health potential, then you are quite possibly degenerating, or progressing backwards.

I was looking at pictures the other day.  On one vacation, I noticed my arms had muscles lines.  I can go back in my workout journal and see that I was exercising consistently at that time.  In a later picture, I noticed I didn’t have visible muscle lines at all.  I had stopped exercising and it didn’t take long to lose the gains I had made, visible in my picture history.  I was no longer doing the work it takes to keep seeing the benefits of exercise.  And yet with Chiropractic we can have the silly thought that you will maintain benefits from your short 12 weeks of initial care without continued work. . .

The body is impacted by chemical, physical, and emotional stress EVERY day. It would be silly of me to think that after doing an eight week workout program, I would maintain those gains for the rest of my life by doing nothing. The body just doesn’t work that way.  Andy from the movie Shawshank Redemption said it perfectly: “I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.” This quote is both emotional and poignant.  You are either working towards health or working towards death.  Only you can determine what direction you want to take.  The choice is always up to you.

Art by LilyJo

In July, 2001 I had traveled to Kathmandu, Nepal for my Clinic Abroad trip with Palmer College of Chiropractic.  On the morning of 9/11/01, I woke in my apartment in Davenport, Iowa to Bob Seger’s song, “Kathmandu.”  Some of the lyrics are: “I ain’t got nothing against the east coast.  You want some people where they got the most.  And New York City’s like a friendly ghost you seem to pass right through.”

The song was interrupted by the news of the first tower being hit.  I turned on the news and picked up the phone to check on my father.  I knew he was working in NYC but I didn’t know what shift.  I was happy to hear he was home by 6am and was sleeping.  When I was a kid, Dad and I would take trips into the city.  We enjoyed going to the top of the Empire State Building in midtown, and then going downtown to go to the top of the Twin Towers.  The view from up there was absolutely incredible.

I am fortunate to have those memories. 

In December, 2001, my sister and I went into Manhattan while home for Christmas.  It happened to be the day they opened the overlook at Ground Zero.   The city has a silence to it that was unnatural.  It wasn’t a sleepy Sunday morning.  Rather it was a gut-wrenching time of mourning.  People were still missing and unaccounted for.  We slowly walked past burning candles and pictures of loved ones.  I don’t know what I was expecting really or why I was even on that line.  Looking at the destruction, the size of the hole was too much to handle.  The broken windows of the surrounding buildings and American Flag hanging nearby caused me to start shaking and sobbing.  There was a camera crew pulling people aside asking them their thoughts.  I put my hood over my head, turned and walked away.

My sister and I didn’t talk for a long time.  I just cried while I walked.  I was trying to hard to stifle sobs but strange sounds kept coming out of me as we walked.  It is 2019 and I still have the same response when I try to watch the 9/11 videos.

People are harmed around the world every day.  People are killing each other here in the states.  I think everyone should go to the 9/11 Memorial in NYC as well as the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, Detroit or Germany.  It is important to never forget.  People continue to hate each other for political, cultural, religious and philosophical differences.  There is a great big hole in this country and sometimes it is just too much to handle. 

But I believe in love.  I believe in caring for others.  I believe in service and community.  I want to be a part of the solution and I know change starts with each of us.  We aim to create a community in our office where laughter abounds and hugs are plentiful.  Together, healthier people have the power to make a better world.  “Imagine all the people living life in peace.  You may say that I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one.  I hope someday you'll join us and the world will be as one.” Imagine, John Lennon

According to Autumn Calabrese, trainer from Beachbody.com, 70% of people that start an exercise routine, never complete it! I have many BEACHBODY exercise videos in my collection.  I have been guilty of not completing a workout program.  I’ve also been guilty of quitting exercise after I’ve dedicated myself to an 8 week program.  I love exercising but it can be last on the list of priorities when there are a bunch of other things I need to do.

Recently I have decided to make a lifestyle change.  My goal isn’t to just make changes for the next 8 weeks but rather for a lifetime.  I was motivated to purchase Hammer and Chisel from BEACHBODY because I was needing to do something different.  My Chiropractic adjustments wouldn’t hold.  It was getting harder for my mid back to get adjusted and I was living with chronic pain.  Sadly, most of us need pain to be motivated to make necessary changes to our lives.

In Autumn’s BEACHBODY videos, she says many motivational things to keep you going when it gets really hard to continue.  One things Autumn says is, “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.”  Another one of my favorites is, “If you want something you’ve never had, you’ll have to do something you’ve never done.”

We truly need to start looking at healthy habits as a journey, not a destination.  Being out of chronic pain was my motivation, but now that I am 5 weeks into Hammer and Chisel, should I quit since my mid back pain is gone and I’m holding my adjustments better? Being out of pain is great, but what about increasing endurance and strength, having more energy and sleeping better and being a better Mom as a result of the work I’m doing?  There is so much more to life than being pain free.  That just scratches the service of a life worth living.  Concerning yourself with pain only puts you on a rollercoaster you will never get off: Do something different to get you out of pain.  Stop what got you there.  Have a flare-up that motivates you to start taking care of yourself again, but just enough to get you out of pain.  Quit when you’re feeling better. . .  And on and on it goes.  As we age, the flare-ups last longer and the results we want take longer.  We start to think what we are doing is no longer working so we jump to some other modality seeking answers.  But the truth is many people don’t want to keep doing the work that got them the initial results and they often quit too soon before long term change can happen.  Many of us never give ourselves the chance to experience true change to the body. 

According to Lally’s study; “On average, it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic — 66 days to be exact. And how long it takes a new habit to form can vary widely depending on the behavior, the person, and the circumstances. In Lally's study, it took anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a new habit.” (https://jamesclear.com/new-habit)

Let’s put this in perspective.  Muscles regenerate in 4 months.  Bones regenerate in 9 months and the brain and nervous system regenerates every 14 months.  Our care plan is based on how long it takes a (weight baring) sprained joint to heal: 12-16 weeks.  The repetition of 3 times a week is based on science that shows how former muscle patterns pull the bones back out of alignment during the first 12-16 weeks.  To make longer change to the muscles, you need to be exercising and getting adjusted regularly for 4 months.  To make changes to the structure the muscles pull on, you need to be exercising and getting adjusted regularly for 9 months.  Do you want longer lasting change to the neurological system? You need to be getting adjusted regularly for over 14 months. 

If I, Dr. Helena, after 28 year of Chiropractic care, decide to stop getting adjusted and stop exercising, my results will start to reverse in as little as 7-14 days. 

It is truly impossible to work out once and wake up with 6-pack abs.  It is also impossible to get adjusted once and reverse a lifetime of trauma. If you want long lasting change, then you need to do the work for a lifetime.  From my personal experience, you will never get the results you want if you keep quitting on yourself.  Your health is your responsibility.  In truth, doing the work to strive towards health is an amazing journey.  One I’ve been on for many years.  One I’m still seeking to improve!  I’m constantly striving to be a better me; for my practice members, my kids, for my husband and also for me. We all have an opportunity to take care of ourselves every day.  Make your days the best they can be.  Choose wisely.  Choose health!