Around the office, we often talk about being ARMED for health… what does that mean, exactly?
Health is an individual journey. There is no cookie cutter method for overall health that applies to all, all of the time. It is, however, a journey – never a destination to be reached. It is a work in progress until we leave the earthly plain. Getting ARMED is the acronym we use to help guide the process of claiming your health – whether gaining what’s been lost or improving upon a solid foundation.
I would like to explore this a little deeper with you all over the next 5 weeks.
Alignment:
When we speak about alignment, first and foremost, we are referring to the structural and postural alignment of your spine. Your spine houses and protects your nervous system, which is the Master Controller and communicator of the body. Everything that we experience on a daily basis is filtered through this system. If there is a misalignment of the spine, many different things can happen; tension in the muscles which is the achy pain and tightness that you may experience through different movements, or if it has progressed, even at rest. Wear and tear on the joints which leads to degeneration and instability. Misalignment also impacts the nervous system directly by creating change in the level of communication from brain to the body and the body back to the brain. The nerve tissue runs message from the brain to the body and back through vibration and tone. Like tightening a string on a guitar, if there is increased tension on the cord, the vibration is higher and the frequency or tone is also higher. When tone is elevated in the body, there can be “static” in the communication resulting in unclear communication. If the tone is lower than ideal, there is delay in communication. Neither are supportive of proper body response in regard to health and healing.
Have you ever thought about the impact of the brain not communicating with the body or the body not communicating with the brain? Most have not...
If you were using your smart phone for directions and you were in an area that only had 1 bar of service, how well is that going to work for you? You are driving along and waiting for the next turn but the app is not updating. You miss the turn, which takes you however many minutes out of the way... you are going to be late to your destination so now you are stressed out and a ripple of after effects are set into motion. Get the idea?? This happens in the body as well; delays, misfired messages, responses that are not efficient. This happening, over time, will lead to a pathological physiology - or simply put, dysfunction and dis-ease.
The other form of alignment that we speak about is alignment in Core Values. This is something that often gets over looked or taken for granted. We do live through our priorities whether or not we are conscious and aware of it. Have you ever thought about what the top 3 – 5 things that are most important to you are? I mean, truly important to you… not what you think should be important, what your spouse wants, your parents, your friends, etc. What is most important to you? What do you admire most in others? How much time and attention are you dedicating to these things? Often, I will hear – God, family, career… but then note that most people spend the majority of their time on career, schedule their family around other commitments and rarely make time for their spirituality. This would be a misalignment of core values. Another example – you really admire those that are punctual – yet, you are always late. Every time that you are late, you will feel bad. That is a misalignment of a value.
There is a negative impact on our health and our quality of life when we are out of alignment.
I invite you all to take some time to give this thought - really look at what is important to you and evaluate for yourself, without blame, shame or drama, how well you are doing with your priorities.
Also, for any of you that are not currently seeing a Chiropractor to address your structural alignment, I encourage you to consider it. Chiropractic is the only profession that focuses on and specializes in the detection and correction of structural misalignments (subluxations) for the purpose of nervous system efficiency. We are the only doctors that work with the specific tone of the nerve tissue to create ease and flow within our neurological systems directly impacting the body's ability to work better and heal faster.
There will always be stress (The 3 T's - Traumas, Toxins and Thoughts) that can minimize communication. Getting your spine checked for proper aligment and adjusted if necessary is the first step toward becoming ARMED for health.
Check back next Monday for part 2 of ARMED for health!