Submitted by synadmin on
Sometimes, things don't have to be that complicated.
We live in a matrix of madness. With E-mails, text messages and cable television delivering hundreds of channels, our senses are inundated day after day. Overstimulation can create an unsettling nervous system leading to tension, stress and anxiety. Distraction is our greatest enemy. But “truth” will set us free.
What is your truth?
Allow me to take this question first and share my vision.
As a healthcare provider, I have studied, witnessed and practiced a variety of protocols to enhance and sustain good health. After 38 years, I have synthesized voluminous amounts of information into a very simple TRIUNE.
“Align the spine”
“Eat from the vine”
“Calm the mind”
Could it be that simple?
Please allow me to expand briefly on these powerful principles.
“Align the spine”
The very first system in the body that is formed after the sperm meets the egg is the primitive nervous system. Why? Because, it is the all-controlling communicator from the brain to every cell of the body. From yoga to Pilates, to chiropractic, the spine is the central theme for sustaining power, grace and the flow of life energy.
Thespine is terribly abused. We sit poorly and sit too long. We have become a sit-down society. We put overly weighted backpacks on our children at the earliest of ages. The list is endless and it gets worse as the years progress. Take just a moment to think about family members, friends and neighbors that suffer from chronic and debilitating back, hip, knee and joint problems. What is their quality of life? What did they do if anything to address their spinal problems earlier in their lives?
Going forward, please consider your level of inactivity and elevate it. Reconsider your Chiropractic care not as a means of “Fixing” a pain or a kink, but rather as a means of sustaining excellent function to this most precious body component. The value of monthly care from a wellness perspective is the Health ASSURANCE plan that even GEICO cannot offer (LOL)
“Eat from the vine”
Our advancing society is doing everything to create foods that have longer shelf lives and the potential for greater profits. The monopolistic stranglehold that big business has on our culture is frightening and is taking away our right to choose the foods we eat. The question remains “who profits and who suffers?”
Food is our sustenance. For thousands of years, the human specie did very well taking its food from the earth. In the last 100 years, big business has eliminated the farmer and has endeavored to use “science” to re-create what we eat. Labels, marketing and salesmanship have taken over what is the most elemental component to life-“to eat what grows from a seed”. Nature, in its magnificent wisdom knows that sunshine; fresh water and man's willingness to do the work (farm) is all we need.
“Caveat Emptor”- let the buyer beware!
Anyone following the movement of genetically modified foods needs to be very concerned over the way our food will be coming to us. Our challenge is to make a conscious effort to, eat “food that grows versus food that has been adulterated, chemicalized, pasteurized, denatured or in any way altered from its original state.”
Food need not be that complicated. Vegetables, fruits, nuts, lean meats, legumes and plenty of fresh water are all the human body needs. Do you eat to live? Or live to eat?
For any of my readers who are challenged with food as an addiction, as well as body image problems, I invite you to read Nourishing Wisdom by Mark David. The author does a masterful job at helping us to understand the mind body approach to nutrition and well-being. The time spent reading this book will be immensely helpful.
I leave you with the following. Remember to honor your inner knowing. Trust in the quiet recess of your own heart. Listen deeply to your innate wisdom. It knows more than any friend, neighbor, family member or author of the latest diet book. Let these whispers guide you to more intelligent foods and more intelligent eating habits.
“Calm the mind”
The most profound observation I have made in my professional career is that most illness correlates to our emotional state. While this may not be a monumental discovery, most doctors and patients often overlook it. Every day, people are diagnosed with high blood pressure, adult onset diabetes, high cholesterol, high triglycerides as well as cardiac disease. Has your doctor, or for that matter, have you asked why you have these conditions? In consultation, I have asked hundreds of patients why they have what they have? And when did your Dr. ask you why you developed these healthcare maladies? In 99% of the cases, their response was negative. No, that question was never asked. I was just given a prescription for medications and in fact have been on them ever since. As you read this, do you not ask yourself the most important question: why did these lifestyle illnesses manifest in the first place?
Crisis: We are living in a time where healthcare has been reduced to a “pill for every ill.” We don't ask the question, what effects will come about from the long-term use of this chemical over time? We believe that our doctors know that these medications are all okay for us. After all, the commercials on television tell you to ask your Dr. I for one, know in advance that nobody knows exactly how your bodies individual chemistry is going to react to any specific medication. If we do not manifest symptoms and or pain, we assume there are no complications. The challenge is that the modifications and alterations that take place in this highly complex and minimally understood body of ours, begins on the cellular level. Therefore, it takes a great deal of time for problems to manifest as a symptom. By the time symptoms begin to demonstrate themselves as overt problems and pain, often times our bodies have already become overwhelmed and secondary and tertiary problems have begun.
It is not the nature of this blog to profess and explain every detail and research paper that was ever written on the subject of mind-body medicine. Rather it is to invite the reader to ask better questions of themselves and their doctors before they agree to a lifetime of medication.
Here is what we know
1. Thoughts are powerful things. Every year hundreds of thousands of people are brought to emergency rooms thinking they are having a heart attack only to find out that it is an “anxiety attack.” Yes, anxiety, which is an emotional reaction to life's events that trigger very real physical reactions, can literally mimic chest pain, palpitations and shortness of breathe. The important point here is to demonstrate how potent our emotions are in creating very real physical changes in our bodies.
2. Stress creates inflammatory reactions throughout our body. Our inability to cope with life's challenges will lead to a cascade of hormonal changes that have very real and negative impacts to our body’s function.
Stress often leads to: Digestive disorders
Skin inflammation
Loose bowels
A suppressed immune system, reducing our body's ability to
fight off bacteria and virus’s that are part of our normal flora.
Mood changes and anxiety
Headache and muscular tension
The list is endless and we have all participated some degree in experiencing what stress can do to our bodies and our overall health.
Going forward
It is my goal to continually work on myself in all 3 of these areas. I invite you to spend a few minutes reviewing this blog. I know your time is precious, but the quality of your life is even more precious. For most of us, we are so busy being busy that we rarely take the time to make this type of self-inquiry.
“Doing the same old thing in the same old way and expecting a different outcome is the definition of INSANITY.”
Awareness, and a willingness to put more time and attention onto yourself is the first step towards a positive transformation to a happier and healthier ME.
Action steps:
Spend the first hour of each day on yourself. I cannot tell you how this one habit, will transform the quality of your life. In the fiscal world, we are taught to pay yourself first before you take care of any other bills. This is the one universal way to guarantee having money at the end of your life. Well, the same holds true with your physical world. Dedicate the first hour of every day on these 3 areas of your life.
Put your body in motion! You determine what your exercise choice will be. Just do it!
Take 20 min. the night before to prepare your food for the next day! When we put conscious effort into the decision, the decision will be a good one!
Commit to reading inspired words that will be the “wind under your wings rather than the weight on your tail.” Go on my site www.awiseguyswisdom.com, go to my blogs and please read them. Not because I wrote them, but because they have content that will make you think and hopefully help move you to live your life in a more inspired and committed way.
Evaluate whom you are “hanging out with”. “We become what we are around. We are what our environment is”. For many of us, it's time to change the people we are clinging to. Learn to say no to those you've always said yes. You need to spend more time with people that can pull you up rather than always reaching down to lift someone else up. Please maintain your compassion and support for others, but look for others who embody a lifestyle and a way of looking at life that is affirming, not depleting. Bad energy from others drains you of your own “life energy.” Spend some time with this and get serious with how you use the hours of a day and whom you spend those hours with.
Your daily behavior broadcasts your truest beliefs. Take an honest assessment of how you live a day. It will be an eye opener if you are honest. We are “creatures of habit”. Many of our habits will not bring us to where we want to go. As I have always stated, live a congruent life-- one where your actions are consistent with your beliefs and therefore, align exquisitely to help you create a beautiful tapestry called your life's work. Life is a kaleidoscope with many quadrants. Put the effort and energy into creating a life of health, prosperity and wonderful relationships. Redefine what success means in YOUR life.
Wishing each of you an outstanding future
Going forward this year, I ask that you please interact with me on these blog posts. My greatest joy is to share what I have learned with others. Give me direction! Let me know what material you would like to receive so that I can endeavor to support your needs.
Finally, always remember that problems come to test each of us on our commitment to our dreams, goals and hopes. Embrace your problems! They serve you!
Live Deliberately,
Dr. Chuck berg