This month we decided to highlight something that we have been working on hard this year. REST. We as a culture can get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of our ‘busy’ lives that we can lose sight of what is truly important. Hear me when I say that I am preaching to the choir when I talk about this. I have to work so hard at this topic which is why we wanted to dive into it this month.

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“There is nothing else we can do for you, surgery is your next option.” As I tried to shake off the brain fog from the heavy amount of painkillers I was on, I was asking myself “how did I get here?” This was the third doctor this week that had said this same sentence to me. My pain management doctor told me we had done the maximum number of epidurals to my spine in a 6-month period and that I was already at the highest dose of pain medication he could give me; surgery was the next step. The opiate medication from my neurologist, that my body had become addicted to, wasn’t working so he said surgery is the final option. Now sitting in my neurosurgeon’s office, I was hearing the same thing. We have exhausted all our options; the next step is surgery. I guess I should have seen this one coming; a surgeon wanting to do surgery, go figure.

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This past weekend I attended a 4-day symposium where practitioners all over the country came to hear all about functional medicine. The theme for the weekend was Innovative Ways to Heal Naturally. We heard from the leading doctors in chiropractic about the current science and research regarding how to heal our bodies. We live in a quick fix world that tells us that we should all fit into the same box. If your blood work levels do not look like the average population, we put a bandaid on it (whether it be prescriptions or supplementation). But, we are not all the same. We all have different genetics, life experiences and environmental responses that makes us all unique. So, the cookie-cutter protocols that we are used to are enhancing sick care not health care. 

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When I say the word movement, we most likely contribute that word with exercise and working out, but what if I were to ask you where you find movement in your emotional and spiritual health? As we read in Paul’s blog earlier this month, it is important to find variation or play in our movement to help our nervous system adapt to our ever-changing environment. Just as our environment changes for our physical needs, our mindset and seasons change for our emotional health. There is always something new coming at us in different seasons of our life and we need to adapt to those changes. 

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It’s that time of year again.  The time we all set that grandiose goal of getting in shape and say “I’m going to really stick to it this year!”  So, we hit the gym, start putting the miles in on the treadmill, do the spin classes, hire the trainers and use all the machines we aren’t really sure how to use.  The year starts out with good intentions and pure aspirations, but when reality hits, it all goes off the rails. The reality is we are adding a tremendous new load of stress on the body that we are not prepared to handle.  Our tissues have not developed the ability to handle the stress of going to the gym 5 days a week. Our joints haven’t been moved in ranges of motion they are now being stressed in. And our nervous system isn’t connected with moving these tissues and joints in ways that are comfortable, efficient and stable.  This inefficiency of moving our bodies happens because at some point in all our lives we made the choice “to grow up” and stop playing.  

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Humans have never been more divided.  I’m not talking about politics or race, but about what we think we are supposed to eat.  When you look at the comments on any nutrition social media post or blog and you will think the person sharing the message was advocating for cannibalism or something.  When it comes to our thoughts on nutrition we protect it, like it is some kind of religion. Human beings are the only animal on the face of the planet that are confused by what they are supposed to eat.  Imagine two zebras arguing at a watering hole. “We should be eating more grass!” “GRASS? You idiot, we need to eat the leaves off the bushes!” That is just absurd. Zebras would never do that; that must be why they don’t get ulcers.  

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One of the things I get the privilege and honor of working with patients, every day, is talking about their emotional health. In my opinion, there is a triad to having good health. Our mission at Live Free is to treat the physical, chemical and emotional health of the body. Most often, we only get treatment for one or two of those components, but what about the other ones? When you are stressed at work or home, do you get digestive issues or get tightness in your neck and shoulders? Is your physical pain or symptoms not physical at all, but emotional? We all know that stress affects our body, but how many of us actually work through that part of our health? There are so many techniques out there that we can utilize to address this component. I just got back from a training in Colorado and wanted to tell you about it. 

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If we announced that we had a new supplement that had been clinically proven to help you replenish energy storages, regenerate tissues, boost your gut microbiota and immune system, lower inflammatory markers of CRP (C-reactive protein), improve insulin sensitivity, lower blood pressure, improve levels of depression, and basically optimize every bodily function; we would have a line out the door with people saying “take my money…” or “can I buy multiple bottles?”  The truth is, you can have all of this for free and you don’t need to take a supplement to get these benefits and more.

Research has shown that sufficient and optimal sleep provides improvements in awareness, mood, stress management, skin quality, sports performance, ability to learn new things, and help to maintain overall wellbeing. Sleep very well may be the golden goose of our health and the place where everyone should start on their health journey. Matthew Walker, sleep scientist and author of Why We Sleep, states that “sleep is the Swiss Army knife of health, in that no matter what the ailment, it’s more than likely that sleep has a tool within the box that will see you well.” The problem is that for most people, including myself, is that we are fighting on this health journey with a dull and limited Swiss Army knife.  

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In part 2 of Why Movement Matters we want to dive into how movement can be used to benefit your health, no matter what the condition with which we are currently dealing. But first, let’s quickly define what we mean by “movement.” 

Movement consists of moving around throughout our day, such as: going to the gym for a hard workout, doing yoga, or just sitting still and focusing on breathing. These are all forms of movement where we merely adjust our intensity in order to obtain a specific outcome. 

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Why does movement matter? 

• If I eat healthy and go to the gym, every now and again, is that not enough? 

• What does moving have to do with my skin rash, autoimmune disease or my mental and emotional health? 

It is a bit ironic that someone with the word "exercise" in his title, is constantly telling people that working out is not mandatory for good health. A necessary amount of movement, however,  is mandatory for optimal health.

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In April, Paul and I went to Austin, TX to go to an event called Paleo f(x). This expo started in 2011 and was designed to get people from all over the world to come together to talk about all things ancestral health. It was a three-day weekend jammed packed full of vendors, workout classes, educational/motivational speakers and good food. On one of the days, we sat in on a panel of speakers talking about gut health and our gut microbiome. As each of them were speaking on new research coming out about the microbiome and how it can affect our bodies, I kept thinking about how this pertains to almost all of my patients that walk through our office doors. I decided that I wanted to take a deep dive into the gut microbiome and started buying books, listening to podcasts and looking up the research articles that this panel was talking on. Most of us know that our gut health can play a role on every other system in our body, but when you look at all the evidence, it is fascinating what we could achieve just by healing our gut. I decided that I was going to guinea pig myself and do a gut challenge.

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What do you mean the pain in my hips is coming from my emotions? Here at Live Free we look at the physical, chemical, and emotional components to try and get to the root cause of pain and dysfunction.  Any one of these components or a combo of them could be the cause for your pain and dysfunction. Musculoskeletal pain absolutely has a physical component to it; as it is what is in pain. However, have you ever had muscle pain that, no matter how many massages you get or corrective exercises you do, it won’t go away and always comes back? This is where we have to look at what other components could be at the root cause of this pain.  

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“To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, subtract things every day.” -Lao-tzu

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 What is a garden without the soil? You can give a seed all the water and sunshine it could possibly want, but without a nourished soil, it will never thrive.  

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Talk to yourself like you would talk to someone you love!

Write down one thing you love about yourself and then speak it outloud to someone you know. When you hear this statement, what do you feel? Do you immediately know what you love about yourself and can put it down on paper? Or do you feel panicked and not know what to write down?

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