How Does Healing Work?
By M. Chad McIntyre, D.C., and Mollie Gordon, HHC
Do you know how your body heals? Do you know what you
need to heal and be healthy? Much of traditional medicine is symptom-based, and
our society has gotten caught in a "Take a Pill" mentality. But what
about the body? What about the healing process? What about our active role in
our own healing?
There are five primary areas of healing:
• Normal function
• Structural integrity
• Positive attitude
• Nutrition
• Exercise
Normal
function
The body knows how to heal. For example, when your
skin is cut, the body naturally performs functions to clot the blood and repair
the tissues. If normal functions are disrupted or are not working properly, though,
the healing process will be delayed or weakened. What can cause a disruption?
Most commonly, it occurs when the brainstem is impeded or compromised. Since
the brainstem is the control center for the nervous system, which controls each
organ system, any interference disrupts bodily processes. Healing and remaining
in good health are largely dependent upon your brainstem properly regulating basic
functions from digestion to heart rate to immunity.
So what can someone do if they suspect that they are
not healing normally or optimally maintaining their health? Visit an upper cervical practitioner for
analysis of the brainstem. Upper Cervical Care specializes in this specific
area of the body, safely identifying and removing potential interference with
gentle corrections. Through supported health practices, the body can repair
itself and health can be improved.
Structural
integrity
A body that is lacking in structural balance is a
body under constant strain. The body is so smart that if the structural
integrity is compromised through trauma (car accidents, falls, childhood
injuries, etc.), it will compensate. The body’s foundation, located where the
head and neck meet, must be level to maintain equilibrium. If the head is not
level due to a structural imbalance, the body will naturally adjust. For
example, a shoulder will raise, a hip will drop, and a leg will appear to be
longer than the other. If left unchecked and uncorrected, other parts of the
body will also work to compensate for the basic structural imbalance, forcing
the body into a constant state of repair instead of performing daily, routine
maintenance. This will ultimately result in structural breakdown and coinciding
symptoms such as pain, numbness, tingling, etc.
So what can someone do if their structural integrity
is compromised? Visit an upper cervical
practitioner or massage therapist to regain and
maintain structural integrity.
Positive
Attitude
Do you know of anyone who is negative all the time
yet still has an abundance of good things happening to them? A positive mental
attitude has long been considered a key to being a successful, contributing
member of society, but it has also been found to have a profound impact on
healing. People who strongly believe that they will get well despite the
occurrence of a dire circumstance recover faster than their pessimistic
counterparts. Developing a genuinely positive attitude, not just deflecting all
negative thoughts, allows us to move through life with less stress and more
constructive energy. As it is known that stress is the #1 cause of disease, one
of the best ways to decrease stress is to improve how we deal with it in the
first place. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it.
Mental, emotional, and energetic road blocks can decrease your ability to heal.
So how can you improve your attitude, even when
surrounded by negativity? Cultivate positive relationships, including with
yourself. Develop a hobby. Read and watch positive media. Participate in workshops,
seminars, or health coaching programs that help you identify your roadblocks
and provide tangible solutions to overcoming them. Health coaching can really
help you transform longstanding health issues and support your healing process.
Nutrition
Do you know how quickly your body regenerates parts
of your body? Your stomach lining regenerates every 6-8 minutes; your liver
cells regenerate every 4-6 weeks; every 4 months, you have fresh blood; every
12 months, your bones regenerate to a certain extent. In a nutshell, you are
not who you were last year. Each organ, muscle, and tissue in the body is in a
perpetual state of regeneration and healing through the production of new
cells. We make new cells through what we consume. Would you prefer that your
body make new cells for your heart, lungs, intestines, and reproductive organs
with fast food or with quality, nutrient-packed food? The more chemicals that
are in the food you eat, the more difficult it is for your body to properly
process and use that food. You really are what you eat.
So how can you improve your nutrition? Make dietary
changes, learn new recipes, work with a registered dietician or a holistic
health coach. There are a lot of options in the marketplace, so keep looking
until you find what works for you. And if you need help, be sure to seek out a professional
who can help translate all that data into information you can use.
Exercise
Your body is meant to be active and mobile. There are
several hundred muscles in the human body, and they are meant for movement. To
remain sedentary for much of the day is to go against the very nature of the
human frame. A person with a job that involves mostly sitting must find ways to
get their body moving each day. Continued health and healing cannot be achieved
without some degree of physical activity. There are so many ways that you can
get exercise these days, so be sure to choose some and keep moving. Take
advantage of the options that exist. Motion is vital to structural health and
healing.
So how can you improve your body's movement? Walk
around the block and extra time, take the stairs instead of the elevator, or
join the gym. If you need more guidance, work with a personal trainer, purchase
a quality exercise DVD, or take yoga classes with instructors that will help
you learn. There are lots of options, so keep looking until you find what works
for you.
A body that functions properly can take the
constructive foods put into it and create an abundance of normal cells. A workout can be immeasurably more effective
if the body is structurally balanced. A
positive attitude helps us manage stress.
By taking an honest inventory of these five primary areas of healing,
you can identify how you can take an active role in your healing process. Then,
you can expect health. Be well!!!
