Chiropractic Care:
Nothing Replaces Rest
Nothing replaces rest. From
a holistic perspective, the body is a rejuvenation miracle. Every 5 days we produce
a new layer of skin. Every 3 months we replace our entire skeletal system. By
the end of the year, 99% of the atoms in our body are replaced by new ones. The
cycle of breakdown and renewal is a normal process not just in our bodies, but
in all of nature.
Time is a much over looked ingredient in health, especially when we are sick. Our society's attitudes towards sickness, much of which are derived from propaganda media, is about getting over sickness as quickly as possible at any means necessary so we can get back to our crazy, hectic, stressed out lives.
Take my mother for example. God bless her, she comes from the work hard till you drop generation. No time to sit down and eat, let alone get sick. Most recently my mother came down with a near pneumonia. She had a reoccurring cold, coupled with elbow pain that would only get marginally better. She would do everything from sticking whole chunks of ginger (yes whole) in her mouth and sleep with it for her sore throat. She would strap a tens unit to her arm for hours for her arm pain. She would take up to 5 Advil a day for her fever. And when she would stop to take a breath, I would work on her upper neck area to alleviate spinal cord pressure and stimulate the immune response. But you know the one thing she did not do? REST! So she ends up at the medical doctors office with more pills to beat a dead horse that is running off fumes in the gas tank.
I do not blame my mom. She, like many others today, is worried about the economy, the future, and how to stay afloat in so much seaming chaos. Anxiety is a powerful emotion and a lot of us do what we have always done, which is to keep pushing and pushing with no end in sight. The solution: STOP! Rest!!!
I have held the view point
for some time now that sickness is not always little germies that somehow got
past our bodies defenses, but it is also on opportunity to throw out the
garbage physically, mentally, and spiritually.
To give you an example, I had a patient that was
referred to me from the
The first thing a patient asks that experiences these type of symptoms is, Is this normal? Well, the answer is, YES! Not only that, but desirable, at least from a holistic perspective. See, from a holistic perspective this is what is called a healing crisis, or some old time chiropractors call it Retracing. After the Chiropractic Adjustment, my patients body went to work. With the blockages removed, her body started the process of detoxification, removing what was not needed, processing new information, and restoring balance to the system. Time and Rest are integral parts of the healing process. When viewed in this light, we can see how sickness is not something always to be avoided, but a process to be experienced, integrated, and allowed to run its course.
There will always be times
when emergency intervention is there to allow us to function temporarily in
crisis mode. But, this should be the exception and not the rule. Holistic
healthcare systems, like Chiropractic, can be there for you to help get you
through the process quicker and more whole, as opposed to just turning off the
smoke alarm in the burning building.
Take time, appreciate the lessons that being sick can offer us: slow
down, reflect on what no longer serves us in our lives, and make room for the
new blessing coming our way. Mahalo!
Dr. Alexander R. Concepcion has been a practicing Doctor of
Chiropractic since 1997.
Contact Dr. Alex at
alex@back2healthcenter.com, or call 808-235-0729.
Back 2 Health Center