Tuesday, November 18, 2014

How Does Healing Work?

Mollie and I wrote an article together for the November edition of the Natural Triad Magazine.  As not all of you are in a position to read it, we thought we would reprint it here for you as this month's e-newsletter, as its message is powerful.  Thinking good things for all of you!


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!!!