We have all heard the Einstein quote, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when creating them.” Not surprisingly, there is a lot of wisdom in that quote, and it has powerful applications to our health.

Just as we cannot solve life’s problems with the same thinking that created them, we can’t solve our health problems with the same approaches that created THEM.

I am a competitive Masters (old timer) weightlifter. For the first 4 years of my competitive career, I made consistent and rapid progress in the results I was achieving, which culminated in winning the Pan Am Masters championship in 2016. Everything was great. Then, I plateaued. Then I noticed that my numbers were dropping. This continued for almost a year and I didn’t know why. It definitely was a big PROBLEM!

Because I am not that smart, my first approach to the problem was to just do the same thing (in training and preparation), but more of it. I trained more often and harder. What was the outcome? You guessed it, the problem got worse.

People told me that I was just getting old and I should just accept it, but I was not quite willing to go down without a fight. I knew that I had to change my approach to training (thinking).

So, I studied books and articles looking for answers. I changed my approach to recovery between workouts. From the new insight I gained, I came up with a new plan with a significantly different approach and it has started to work. My trajectory is now upwards again, and I am excited for what will come as opposed to being scared and frustrated regarding to future.

I see a similar narrative play out with many individuals regarding their health. Everything is fine and then one day a health problem shows up. Back pain, headaches, anxiety, digestive problems.

Most people focus on the elimination of the symptom. What is rarely considered is what the symptom (more accurately termed a secondary condition) means. A secondary condition means that your body is no longer able to effectively adapt to the stressors being placed upon it.

A symptom or disease means you have an adaptability deficiency. So, you can eliminate the stressors in your life (such as work, your kids, physical activity), or you can upgrade your adaptability and re-enter life functioning at a higher level.

Most of the time when we treat a symptom, we are really just decreasing our awareness, which leads to even less adaptability. That is what I was doing by training harder. I was ignoring what both my body and the scoreboard were telling me. Had I continued on this path, my results would have continued to decline, and I likely would have either burned out my system or had a serious injury that would have taken me out of the game.

What if instead of making the secondary condition the enemy, your asked yourself, ‘how can I rise above this? How can I take my thinking, approach, and awareness to a whole new level?’

There are many ways to do this that will provide you with an entirely different trajectory in both your health and life.

One of the reasons we get the results we get at Nexus Chiropractic is that we don’t chase symptoms – we upgrade the body’s software (nervous system) to help it become more aware, more efficient, and more adaptable. Instead of fighting your body, we help it rise above the problem.

Why go back into life the same – only a little older and more fragile – when you can rise above and play the game of life at a whole new level?

Thorin Gault, D.C.

March 27, 2018

In the third article in this series we will focus on the fact that if you approach health challenges (or any challenge) by attacking the surface problem YOU WILL BE DOOMED!

I know that this sounds harsh and I choose my language to consciously grab your attention. The reality is that I have worked with thousands of people in my office over the past 13 years and one of the most heart breaking(for me) and frustrating(for the patient) things is this never ending cycle of treating secondary conditions that leaves them in the same place, only years older and more broken down.

So, while some of you may find this post ‘negative,’ we will focus on why YOU ARE DOOMED if you approach your life and health the way most of the population goes about it.

For the sake of simplicity I am going to refer all pain and symptoms as SECONDARY CONDITIONS. This term could also apply to problems we encounter in other areas of life such as the debt example we used in a past article.

This first reason we are doomed if we merely attack the secondary conditions is that they are SECONDARY. There is something more PRIMARY that is behind the secondary condition or pain. Most treatments only address the secondary issue, so that we are made more comfortable for the time being. Because the PRIMARY cause that lies deeper has not been handled, what do you think will happen? That’s right, very often our pain or challenge will come back – sometimes after a short time, sometimes after a longer period.

I know many people who have been through so many doctors and treatments, yet still deal with the same problems for years. Is this frustrating? You bet! Without a change in approach they are doomed to a lifetime of the same experience.

It is bad enough to revisit the same challenges again and again over the years (kinda like the movie Groundhog Day), but it gets WORSE. The reason it gets worse is that if a primary condition is not taken care of, what can you expect to happen over time? Yep, it will become more severe. A more severe primary condition will typically lead to more severe secondary conditions as well and people will wonder why after so many treatments things are getting worse. This is so common that we have a name for it. People call their worsening condition AGING, and actually come to expect it as inevitable.

I am going to get all of my negativity out in this article so I will share with you that it gets even worse. Not only will focusing on superficial secondary conditions such as back pain doom you to chronic and worsening problems over time, it will also lead to MORE different kinds of problems!

Because an underlying PRIMARY condition can result in a variety of SECONDARY conditions, it stands to reason that a persistent primary condition will eventually lead to other problems. This is why it is common for people who initially only have back pain will later develop headaches, extremity problems and even end up with trouble sleeping and low levels of energy. Again, we chalk this up to aging.

In our office we focus on detecting and addressing a primary condition known as Neural Resistance which can lead to a myriad of secondary conditions such as neck pain, back pain, anxiety and others.

In the next article, we will wrap up the series with a more ‘positive’ theme. I will share some steps to help you to ‘Go Deeper to Get Better,’ whether you have a health practitioner or not. After all, I don’t wish for any of you to be DOOMED.

Let’s be honest – the public has a lot of distrust when it comes to chiropractors and their recommendations for care. I hate to admit it, but some people have a perception that chiropractors try to ‘get you’ to come in more (or more often) than you really need to so that they can make more money. In fact, I have spoken to people in other cities who raved about how pleased they were to find such an honest chiropractor who just told them to come back whenever they were in pain. To some, chiropractors are right up there with used car sales-people when it comes to trust.

While I have no doubt believing that a few chiropractors are less than scrupulous – like any other profession – people need to understand that a chiropractor’s recommendations will differ based upon their objectives and focus.

Most chiropractors are of the ‘traditional’ variety. They focus mostly on reducing muscle spasm, increasing range of motion and reducing pain and are typically pretty good at achieving those objectives. So, a doctor focused on getting you out of pain will make recommendations based on what they find and then when the pain is gone you are done. When the pain comes back, so do you.

At Nexus/Gault Family Chiropractic, we focus on something different. Our focus is Neurospinal Optimization which has the objective of detecting and correcting Neural Resistance (NR). Neural Resistance is when your nervous system is literally strung too tight or too loose like a poorly tuned piano.

We are usually unaware of NR, especially at the beginning. Over time, if it is not addressed a variety of SECONDARY Conditions may result. Some of these secondary conditions are back pain, headaches, poor posture, muscle spasms, and – because the nervous system coordinates  our organs – even anxiety and digestive problems.

Now, because we are focusing – and measuring and monitoring – what is underlying or PRIMARY to the secondary conditions we recommend a plan of care designed to correct the Neural Resistance – not just the secondary conditions that often take care of themselves when their cause is cleared up.

While everyone is different, there are certain minimum requirements that we have found necessary to take care of moderate NR. We have different objectives for our patients and therefore different recommendations and results.

Is this care for everyone? Nope, some people only care about having their secondary conditions handled and for them, working with a good traditional chiropractor, physiotherapist or massage therapist will be a better fit.

On the other hand, someone who wants to have their Neural Resistance handled, yet wants to follow the recommendations designed to only address secondary conditions will be disappointed. It just doesn’t work and in fact we prefer not to work with these people for obvious reasons.

Once a patient has successfully completed an initial phase of care and reduced their NR to an acceptable level, we OFFER optional PROTECTION plans that allow them to protect the investment they made during their initial care, and OPTIMIZATION plans that will allow them to continue to progress in their care.

I hope this article sheds some light on why chiropractors make the recommendations they do and why they are sometimes drastically different. I also hope it explains the purpose behind the recommendations we make at Nexus/Gault Family Chiropractic and why we get the results we get.

Clear Day is less than 2 weeks away (April 20, 2013) at the Martintown Community Centre. There are still some spots available, so let Adele or Cindy know if you would like to participate in this transformational event.

Let’s say you wake up one morning, stagger into the bathroom, look in the mirror, and are shocked by what you see. You wonder how you got so fat (whatever that means to you), tired, old and unhealthy looking! This is completely unacceptable to you and you make a decision in that very moment that you are going to do something about it.

Now, what happened on that particular morning? Was there some event that occurred that suddenly made you fat and unhealthy? Of course not – there was a process of behaviours, perceptions and structures over a period of time that led to the current situation. THAT morning a threshold was reached that brought it to your conscious mind. The same thing could be said for a crisis in your finances, relationship or really, any other area of your life.

So, if it was a process that created your undesirable reality, what is the solution? Is there a magic pill that you can take or a magic procedure you can have that will make it all better? Obviously that is ridiculous – you must reverse the process!

When it comes to many health problems people have learned to see them as events instead of processes and therefore search for events to fix their problems.

Take back pain for example. Most people search so hard for the event that ‘caused’ their pain. “I must have slept wrong last night.” “I bent over to tie my shoe and that caused my back to go out.””I gardened yesterday, that’s my problem.” You get the idea. The fact of the matter is that in most cases of injury (with the exception of something like being hit by a truck), there has been a process going on for some time that ultimately led to the straw that broke the camel’s back and led to the end secondary condition of pain or some other symptom.

The ultimate solution, therefore is not some event (and adjustment, pill, massage, surgery) to get rid of the secondary condition (misalignment, inflammation, muscle spasm, scar tissue) but to actually address and remedy the underlying process.

Granted, there are many effective ways of treating muscle spasm, pain and inflammation yet those treatments are not designed to correct the underlying process and thus do not truly correct the problem. The unhealthy and overweight individual in the first paragraph could put on some make-up and wear body enhancing underclothes – but to truly take care of the problem they will have to undergo a process of changing their lifestyle.

At Nexus Chiropractic, we focus on addressing Neural Resistance which is like your car revving it’s engine at 25,000 rpm even when driving casually. Eventually, this will lead to a poor fuel efficiency, parts wearing out quickly, and ultimately – breakdown.

Neural Resistance may lead to a variety of secondary conditions down the line such as back pain, neck pain, headaches, poor posture and because the nervous system coordinates our organ systems even digestive troubles, a weak immune system, and anxiety.

Because we know that the development of NR is a process, addressing it is a process as well which is why we recommend an initial intensive period of care. While nobody is perfect, once the NR is significantly reduced some people choose a reduced plan of protection to make sure that their investment is well taken care of into the future.

Start seeing your current circumstances as the end result of processes in your life. If you see something you would like to change, come up with a process to get it handled.

They say that the joy is in the journey. I agree – and the journey IS the process.

8.33 percent is 1/12^th and is approximately how much of the year is made up by December. It is also a number that is very important to your health and wellbeing.

Why is the month of December so crucial to your health? Because December is the month that many people slack off on the practices that keep them healthy and happy exactly at the time they need them the most.

When we get busy with shopping and cleaning and going to parties and concerts I know that it can seem more difficult to get to the gym, prepare high quality meals, go to yoga class or make your regular chiropractic appointment. This is why many people let those things slide, telling themselves they are just too busy. While this makes sense on some levels, it can be a big mistake.

In our office, we detect and work to correct neural resistance, which is when you’re nervous system becomes like a piano whose strings are tuned too tight. None of the notes sound quite right. Because our nervous system coordinates the function of our bodies, when neural resistance is present it can result in secondary conditions such as pain, stiffness, poor posture, and even anxiety and a lack of ability to handle stress.

What contributes to the development of neural resistance? In addition to physical trauma and repetitive motion, neural resistance can be increased by mental and chemical stress. When do we face more of that? That’s right….holiday time.

At this time of year we many of us are more stressed about getting everything done, about finances, about travel, and about all of the lovely drama that can accompany spending time with loved ones. On top of that, we tend to eat more crap, drink more booze and sugar, and stay up late more often – all of which add to neural resistance and the secondary conditions that result from it.

That being said, I am not suggesting that you forgo your holiday plans this year to avoid neural resistance. What I AM suggesting is that while you are partying and stressing you continue to actively take steps to minimize the neural resistance you are creating.

If you are going to treat yourself by indulging in things that may be good for the soul but are not so good for your body (and nervous system)  then it is even MORE important that you continue to eat lots of good stuff too! If you are going to be tired and stressed, that is fine but make sure you continue to bust that stress with exercise, meditation or visits to a chiropractor who can address neural resistance.

What happens if you don’t? For one, you may end up sick and out of commission for all of the fun. Or, you may find yourself spending all of January catching up for your lack of attention in December. December + January = 16.66%!

So, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater this Christmas. Have fun and do it in a way that won’t have long term consequences for your health.

We are committed to helping you stay healthy this holiday and will be open from 10am-3pm on Christmas Eve and from 3-6:30pm on Dec. 27^th.

Healthy Christmas Gifts?

If you need Christmas gift ideas we have some healthy options. We have high quality Omega-3 Fish Oil, Vitamin D3 Drops, and Probiotics available for sale. We also have great water pillows (the kind I personally use), a full line of Q-link products to minimize EMF exposure, and copies of Dr. Epstein’s books on healing in stock. Stop in to pick some up.

We are all successful at some things in life. If you can’t think of anything – think a little harder. Everyone has at least something they have created or accomplished that they can be proud of. On the other side of the coin, we all have things we have failed at or at least not had success in. I know that in my case, my failures far outnumber my successes, which is why I feel qualified to write about this topic.

In order to be truly successful at anything, you have to follow through. I believe that there are NO exceptions to this. NO short-cuts. If you want success as an athlete, a business person, in your health or as a parent, YOU MUST FOLLOW THROUGH.

What does following through mean? First, it means being committed to an outcome. Like almost all parents I am fully committed to providing my children with unconditional love, high quality food to eat, and a safe, stimulating home to live in. Guess what? That is exactly what they have. We succeed as parents because the moment our children arrive in our lives something magical happens that make us fully committed.

Being fully committed also means staying committed even when it is hard, not so much fun, and even a bit painful. If you ask any uber successful business person what makes them great, most will tell stories about sticking it out when things were at their worst. This is when our commitment is most tested, yet also most rewarded.

The other aspect of following through is having a plan or strategy. Without a strategy we have no direction. Without a direction we have no progress, and without progress success can only be fleeting at best. Success requires we have a plan and stick to it.

Obviously, I have a huge interest in the field of health. Without a doubt, the people (regardless of their history) who  are to committed to a plan and follow through are the healthiest people I interact with. Those who don’t…not so much.

A common issue is that many ARE committed to their health, yet their plan (or the plan they have been given) focuses only on secondary conditions such as pain, muscle spasms, inflammation, high blood pressure and many others. While there is nothing wrong with this, it usually only leads to short lived change without a significant increase in overall health.

Truly healthy people know they have to dig a bit deeper. In our office, we focus on Spinal Restructuring with the goal of detecting and correcting Neural Resistance, which is basically like having the strings of your piano strung too tight. With a nervous system wound too tight, this can lead to a variety of secondary conditions such as back and neck pain, poor posture, headaches, anxiety and even cause your internal organs to act as if your were being attacked by a bear.

This approach is not for everyone because we do not focus on the secondary conditions, we focus on what is behind them. Taking care of Neural Resistance requires follow through and the rewards are sustainable, overall health.

We have already followed through with travel, training, and an office equipped to deliver services that address Neural Resistance. Question is, do you want it?

Most people truly want health. If you are one of them, commit to a plan and follow through. You are worth it.

Our next complimentary Introductory workshop will be held on Tues. Dec. 4^th at 7pm. Phone the office to reserve a seat.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge a couple of great achievements by Gault Family Chiropractic practice members. First, Marcel Leroux recently published another novel. I cannot give it a review because it is written in French. If you would like to purchase a copy, let Adele know and we will obtain one for you.

Next, Renate True and Joseph Ianni, recently had incredible performances with the Chorus Novus presentation of In Flanders Fields. I did get to experience this first hand and it was an amazing show, with Joseph sharing the solos with 2 professional singers.

It is my belief that deep down, everyone wants to be healthy. On top of that a tremendous amount of time, energy, money, and resources are spent on health related endeavours. Just pick up a newspaper, turn-on a TV, eaves-drop on conversations in Tim Horton’s, or take a good look at your last tax bill. We are a society obsessed with health!

Clearly, whatever we are doing is NOT working. People are sick, in pain, lacking energy and vitality and are medicated to the gills. They are also frustrated. The situation of our children is even worse. Why is this happening? There are some very simple, yet all pervasive societal mistakes that have led us to our current situation.

1. We are not clear on what we want. I have worked with thousands of people in my office over the past 12 years. When I ask new patients what they want from care, most will tell me they want some sort of relief – from pain, symptoms, disease, anxiety, depression – whatever. This is almost NEVER true! After a few questions it becomes clear that they don’t care that much about the pain or symptom – they care greatly about the impact it is having, or may have on the future on their lives.

What they really want is to be able to participate fully in life. To work, to play, to have fun, to love, to support their families, to interact with people, to grow, to contribute. They want to be healthy and happy! Fortunately, NSA care works to help the person become more adaptable and resourceful as an objective – pain and symptoms often improve as a side effect. Sometimes the patient or practice member’s quality of life improves so much that they don’t care about their symptom because they are too busy living life!

It is important to know what we want before making decisions in any endeavour. Marketers have done a great job in convincing us that relief equals health. I am here to tell you that is bull$#%. Know the outcome you want. This brings us to our next reason most people are not healthy.

2. We sacrifice health for relief. Following reason #1 this is no surprise. Assuming that a pain, symptom or disease is a sign that something is off with your health, wouldn’t it make sense that your next step would be to focus on your health and not the symptom? How many common, accepted treatments focus on your health? If you have a headache and take a pain killer are you getting healthier or sicker? If you have your gall bladder removed, are you healthier after?

Studies show that the more “treatments” you receive, the faster your quality of life will decline – even if the procedures are successful.

The next time you seek treatment for anything, ask yourself if it will add or detract from your overall health. Obviously there are times when we may choose a health harming treatment in order to save our lives – this makes perfect sense and I recommend it. For most people however, these are emergencies that may occur a couple of times in our lives. Otherwise seek out interventions that ADD to your health on a regular basis. Better yet, focus on building health and vitality whether you have a problem or not. This leads to our final reason.

3. We don’t take action. Being healthy requires healthy action. Being wealthy requires actions of the wealthy. Great relationships require great relationship action. Most people do not consistently take healthy action and therefore most of the population is unhealthy.

It is my belief that one of the most deadly ideas in our country is that health care is free. Subconsciously this is often processed as health is free. This single idea has ruined millions of lives. YOU are responsible for the health of yourself and your family regardless of what challenges may be present. You must have a plan and you must carry it out.

Where you focus your time, money and energy will determine your health and quality of life. Trying to get healthy by avoiding disease is like trying to get rich by avoiding bankruptcy. Focus on your health.You are worth it and so are your loved ones.

If you are one of the many people frustrated with your health and happiness, it is never too late. First, get clear on the highest outcome you hope to achieve. Then seek out ways you can get there. Finally, take massive and consistent action. You will be there before you know it.

« Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people. »
Spencer Johnson

Most people think that they go to see chiropractors (and many other health professionals) because of pain. In my experience this almost NEVER the case. After asking a couple of simple questions it becomes obvious that it is not the pain ITSELF that is the concern, but how that pain or symptom is – or may in the future – impact their lives.

Unfortunately, because people think that the pain is the actual problem, they will often undergo treatments that may be successful in relieving their symptoms, yet actually negatively impact their quality of life in the short or long-term.

This is evidenced by the high rates of death and injury caused by “healthcare” interventions that are overtaking the rates of almost all diseases! Beyond death and injury, this approach has left many individuals and families frustrated that their health has actually become their greatest obstacle to a fulfilling and joyous life.

So, the question I have for you is, “Are you winning the game of life?” This series of articles will help you to answer this question, learn to keys to winning the game, and give you some tools to make it happen.

There have been 6 Keys the winning the game of life identified. These keys are:

1. Living Old and Vibrantly Healthy

2. Being Able to Do What We Enjoy

3. Feeling Energized and Passionate

4. Nurturing Fulfilling Relationships

5. Raising Great, Thriving Kids

6. Live a Life Contributing To Others

Don’t all of those things sound great? Over the next several articles we will help you to make all 6 keys a reality. While very few people truly achieve a great life, some have and by observing and learning how they did it allows us the opportunity to do the same.

Key #1 – Living Old and Vibrantly Healthy. The great news is that we are living older. From 1960 to 2005 the Canadian life expectancy increased from 71 to 80 years. That was good enough to rank us 11^th out of over 220 countries. The problem is that while we live longer, we do not live better. Our healthy years end before we turn 70! That means a person retiring at 65 can expect less than 5 years of healthy retirement. We all know that as health declines, so does our quality of life.

Consistent with this, we know that our elder’s health is on the decline. The average senior takes 2.9 prescription drugs each day and more than 20% take more than 5 daily. People over 75 take an average of 7.9 drugs per day!

In spite of all these drugs (or perhaps due to) chronic pain affects over 25% of Canadian seniors living at home. Half state the pain interferes with MOST of their activities. In institutions it is even worse: 40% have chronic pain with 64% stating it interferes with activities.

If you still have some years before becoming a senior and wonder how this has anything to do with you, the top 6 diagnoses in Canada mostly affect those UNDER 65. Hypertension, diabetes, depression, anxiety, respiratory trouble and high cholesterol are all seen mostly in non-seniors. As you probably know, these problems start before we get old and simply worsen with age.

While it sounds nice that we are living longer as a country, the reality is that our health and quality of life is declining.  This is clearly not winning the game of life.

The next article will continue with the keys to winning which will set the stage for the solutions to creating an outstanding life!