Wednesday, May 19, 2010

What Thrive Chiropractic is About

Hi. My name is Molly, and I'm your friend.

I heard Dr. John Maxwell open up a talk to about 5,000 people with that line. "Hi, my name is John, and I'm your friend."

John has published over 36 books, and he is the number one authority on leadership development in the world. Though he has storehouses of information in his brain that Presidents, Generals, and CEOs pay big bucks to hear, he keeps it simple. He's passionate about keeping it simple...because it IS simple. And why not take on the ego out?

I am passionate about communicating the complexities of the human frame and how the body works (diet, movement, sleep, etc.) simply, and re-educating my friends (because most of us have been miseducated...much like the miseducation that Lauren Hill sings about).

So, I'm about simplicity and education.

I'm also about treating your body with respect, and only doing what it can handle at a given time. The body needs to be listened to. You need to be listened to. Not everyone listens. Are you listening? Healing happens in layers. That may sound out there, but come in, and I'll show you what I mean. It's a beautiful thing, and it promotes healing. I work with the body, not against. This yields great results.

And I'm about minimalism. I don't like charging for things people don't need. If you need your arches raises rather than an adjustment every week. Then we'll work to raise your arches. I see it as my job to see my patients as little as possible.

I'm about working you out of my office. Maintenance care is often necessary. But you are the best person to care for your body. The problem is that most of us have habits that are killing us, we work in environments (that could be the ergonomics of your workstation) that are killing, us and we eat food that is killing us. It's my job to reverse these things and get you stable, so that you don't come to see me:)

Lastly, I'm passionate about your spine. My professional certification (beyond my post-graduate degree from Life Chiropractic College) is in chiropractic biophysics - basically an engineer's look at the spine. Corrective care chiropractic (what I practice) is very unique because it works to remold the ideal curves of your spine, rather than just adjust. What if you looked at a person's spine and all the curves were reversed - there'd be a problem, right? That patient would probably be in pain, right? It's like a knee bending forward...it's not supposed to that, it's not made to do that. We'll that's why a lot of people have back and neck pain. Their curves have molded improperly due to injury, sitting, car accidents, whiplash, traumatic birth, whatever. I fix that.

So, that's it. That's what we are about. We work with individualized chiropractic adjustments, molding techniques, diet, specific exercises, cleanses and lifestyle rehabilitation to help friends Thrive.

The Danger in our Food

Wet your appetite on this movie trailer. We will be airing this film in the near future. The website is at wwww.foodmatters.tv. Job well done...

Friday, May 7, 2010

Desk Ergonomics - Boring but HUGELY important

Desk work isn't the coolest thing to talk about. We all probably resent the amount of hours we spend staring at a computer screen, so talking about how to best stare at a computer screen just sounds terrible, doesn't it?

The problem is that we spend 8-12 hours a day sitting in front of some sort of screen, and for some people, it's more like 16 hours.

Sitting is one of the worst positions you can put your body into. Ever notice, when you are watching National Geographic or the History Channel or something, that all the wild men and women, blessed - in a certain way - to not be slaves to the desk and modern civilization, squat rather than sit. Squatting pushes your chest out, and rounds the lower back. But sitting forces the natural curves of your body to reverse. Sitting over time improperly remolds the spine, due to the spines plasticity.

Think about it, the next time you sit down. Your low back collapses, your neck straightens and leans forward, your shoulders sag. No wonder chiropractors are so busy these days!

If you are going to spend 6-8 hours of your day in one spot, shouldn't that spot function with your body rather than against it?

Make sure your monitor is eye level and that you aren't looking down - the top of the monitor should be 2-3" above your eyes. Buy an ergonomic key board so that you can feel your hands again. Make sure your chair can elevate and descend if necessary so that your legs are bent at approximately a 90-degree angle - if you are sitting lower than that you are shortening your hip flexors. By a chair with a head wrist and tilt your chair so that your elbows are at a 100-degree angle, so that your upper body is more relaxed. Use wrist rests. Take breaks every 20-30 minutes, stand and stretch, moan if you need to:) If you can buy a standing desk, do it.

You were made for motion. Energy begets energy, remember? If you sit all day long, do you feel rested at the end of the day or tired. Tired, right? You were made to move.

We must conform to the modern era, but don't be tricked into thinking you were made for it. Make your environment (your work station) mold to you, not you to it.