The Respiratory Wave

When a newborn baby breaths, even it's toes wiggle.  Every cell of its body is relaxed and in a state of healing and tremendous growth. You can see a rocking motion from the tip of the tailbone up to the skull.  This is the respiratory wave.  

As life's stresses wear on us, we fail to shrug off the repetitive tensions and our bodies begin to hold a physiology that prepares us more for fight or flight than growth and healing. The hallmark  of this important survival system is a subconscious holding of our breath, tightening of our muscles, and locking of our posture.  This system is storing and building energy.  Additionally, our focus is narrowed onto the apparent threat.  The big picture is now a low priority, given our need for survival in the moment. This restricted state consumes our bodies resources and limits us in moving forward.

This restricted state can be a factor in our escalating healthcare needs as some of our bodies personal healing resources are tied up and consumed by managing our stresses. 

A network chiropractor can stimulate the nervous system to pause, giving the body a moment to reset.  One of the first observations most clients make is an ease in their breathing.  This is the re-emergence of the respiratory wave.  This is a natural function of the spine, nervous, muscular, and respiratory
systems which allows for self-regulation of stresses.  Quite often after the respiratory wave returns to the spine, clients have a jump in awareness of their spine and body, as well as a view of the bigger picture.

Contact
Dr. Cindy to schedule having your spine checked.

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Stress and Anxiety: Don't look away!

Stress and Anxiety walk hand in hand in the modern world. Our stress responses are the same as when we were primitive hunter gatherers.  Our bodies act like a tiger is chasing us when the bills are due or the boss at work is being unreasonable. This is not to say the stress of modern life is not real or the anxiety we feel is not justified. On the contrary, it is slow and persistent.  We feel we cannot escape. The physical threats our ancestors felt passed relatively quickly.  Today's stresses linger and our body never gets to rest unless we choose to do something different. Listening to our bodies, gives us the chance to reset from present "threats" and the past experiences that still reside in our tissues and our emotional core.  Modern life tends to teach us to shut out what we are feeling. Yet the wisdom of our bodies is what we feel.  

When you are suffering from anxiety you may feel tremendous agitation in your chest or your belly.  You may feel shortness of breath.  Your arms and legs may feel weak and that you are going to collapse.  You may find yourself walking in circles, no longer able to do simple tasks like dressing, eating, or caring for others.  There is an overwhelming feeling that you cannot go on like this.

There are tons of good tips about meditating, eating well, sleeping well, and thinking good thoughts.  Many of these strategies are great for changing the channel.

But, is looking in the other direction a good long term strategy?

Instead these dyer signals of your body are meant to make us stop, drop, and roll.  Listen now, your body says!  I'm not going to let you continue on in this way!  Too often our anxiety has developed from us not listening and acknowledging a very important inner voice.     

At this point, the amount of energy our body has built up in an attempt to get our attention can be overwhelming.  Place your hands on your body where the sensation is the most intense.  Notice the presence or absence of breath or movement under your hands.  Say out loud, "I am overwhelmed".  Then take one breath in and out and remove your hands and place them at your sides.  

In these moments, it is most important to recognize the extreme urgency of the message your body is bringing to your attention.  Only after acknowledging the guard at the door, will you gain access to the wisdom within.  In this light you may be surprised how quickly your inner voice emerges.   

How often do we use even healthy habits to tune out when really what is required is to listen to the message?  

At Le Couer we offer resources that help you to find peace in whatever your body is experiencing. We help you make the mind body connection and the past present connection. When you have the ability to receive the energy and medicine of what is going on inside of you, you can grow and move forward. We would love for you to come in and experience the peace these tools can provide.  In the mean time our caring encouragement is with you. 

"Don't Kill the Messenger"

Pain is simply a message: 

Centuries ago, during the Middle Ages, when a messenger would be sent to deliver a message to the king or queen, they would be killed if the king or queen did not like the message, usually by beheading. Hence the phrase, "Don't kill the messenger".  

Similarly, when our bodies try to tell us something through pain or discomfort or a symptom often we reach for pain killers. We don't like the message, so we in effect "kill the messenger" by fooling our bodies and ourselves into taking the pain away.  Here at Le Coeur we believe the body's messages are vitally important and we should listen.

It is difficult to truly heal without the information your body is giving you. Your body knows what's wrong and knows what to do.  But it is hard to listen when your body may be telling you to stop and rest or to let go of an old habit.  Pain is debilitating. It is supposed to be.  Sirens are going off that something is wrong.  It is as if your body is shouting "Pay attention to what is going on over here!!!"

Our brains say, "I am too busy to feel this now!" or "This hurts too much."  What if we take the time to ask, "what is going on?"   Think of taking your car to a mechanic and saying, "The engine is making a rattling sound."  He answers, "Have you tried turning on the radio really loud or wearing earplugs." We think we are fixing the problem but we are finding better ways to ignore it by treating the symptom and not listening to the cause.  

The goal of our work at Le Coeur is to tap into the bodies messages and learn to listen and listen to learn.  Becoming in sync with the rhythm of your body helps you to decode the messages you are receiving.  In doing so, perception changes, pain and discomfort become meaningful and dissipate more easily. The body's wisdom and recovery process results in true freedom.