As the holiday season approaches, we have noticed two patterns emerge over the last 19 years of chiropractic practice. The first is that we see our highest rate of missed visits and people falling off from care as the perceived stress of the season builds through late November and into December. The second pattern is that we see more ‘emergencies’ with people in crisis during the month of December than at any other time of the year.

     It is not a coincidence that these two phenomenon happen together and it gives us some insight as to why so many people end up spending the holidays overwhelmed, sick, and in pain when it really should be one of the most cherished times of the year.

     So, how do you not only survive, but actually thrive this holiday season? There is a simple formula to help you to make it happen.

     The first step is to acknowledge and accept that there WILL be greater stresses on you. When I talk about stresses, I am referring to not only mental/emotional stress, but also chemical stress (food and drink), and physical stress (shoveling, lack of sleep).

     We know going in that we are going to have some late nights, eat some cookies, drink some bubbly and have to deal with dear aunt Sue’s passive aggressive insults. We know we will have the ‘normal’ time and money stress inherent of the season. Acknowledging this will allow us to create a plan to mitigate this stress. By doing this we can enjoy the fun without losing our health or our minds.

     The common denominator amongst these stresses is that they consume our energy and leave us depleted. If we become too depleted, we move into what is called an ‘energy poor’ state and that is when we get sick, have our back ‘go out,’ develop headaches and experience complete overwhelm.

     The solution to an energy poor state is very simple – add energy to the system! How do we do that? We do things to build up our energy reserves before we reach a crisis. Because we know that we are heading into a season of energy depleting stress, we can actually plan practices in advance that will keep us out of an energy poor state.

     Here are some ideas to build your energy reserves both leading up to and during the holidays.

     Knowing you will be eating some not-so-good for you food – make sure you continue to eat plenty of healthy food too. If you are going to eat those butter tarts, make sure you are loading up on high quality meats and produce as well. During the holidays I really focus on eating a healthy breakfast as a way to build up energy.

     Supplements can also be an advantage at this time of year. Vitamin D, high quality fish oil, magnesium, zinc, and a greens supplement are a great idea.

     Daily exercise is an excellent shield against stress. It is easy to fall out of a routine – especially while traveling – but it doesn’t take much to get massive benefit. Some push-ups, burpees, and air squats can get you what you need in less than 15 minutes. I keep a kettlebell in my car at all times!

Even a brisk walk (bonus points for getting fresh air) can keep you on the right track.

     Meditation or even just some quiet time set aside each day is crucial for dealing with the mental stress and chaos of the season.

     Those familiar with the Neurospinal Optimization care we provide at Nexus Chiropractic know that what we do works by allowing the nervous system (and thus the spine and body) to move from a fight or flight state to a normal relaxed state that is required for healing and restoration. Staying on track with your visits and at the very least doing your SRI exercises is a great weapon to have in your arsenal against the stress of the season.

     The take home message is to make sure you continue to do the things that fill up your fuel reserves so that you can get the absolute most out of what can be a magical time.

     Because we understand this, Nexus will have office hours over the holidays. We will be open on Monday the 23^rd and 30^th and then will be back to normal starting Thursday, Jan. 2^nd.

Happy Holidays!

Hi All,

Just a reminder of our hours over the holidays. I recognize the importance of sticking to things that add to your health over the holidays and for that reason we have minimal changes to our hours over the next few weeks.

This week we are open our regular hours from Monday to Thursday.

Next week we will be open both morning and afternoon/evening shifts on Thursday, Dec. 28th.

We will be back to regular hours on Tuesday Jan. 2.

We would love to see you during that time, and if not – have a wonderful holiday!

One of the ways I know that the holiday season is upon us is that we begin to see a much higher percentage of ‘emergency’ cases in my chiropractic office. Almost magically, the number of both new and existing patients experiencing crisis goes through the roof at this time of year.

The typical presentation is something like, “I don’t know what I did, but I woke up this morning and my back/neck/head really hurt, and my spine was all locked up.”

Interestingly, this is also the time of year that we have the largest number of missed regular visits because of colds, flu and other types of health crises.

So, what is the deal with this time of year? Our bodies and lives have many unique demands placed upon us as the holiday season approaches. We are primed by Halloween and the consumption of not so good food that taxes our immune system (come on, you can admit it!). The time change is another hurdle for our body to get used to. This is also the time of year that we drastically reduce how much fresh air and direct sun exposure we receive.

On top of this, there are more parties, late nights and social events to attend. The time and financial stress of shopping, decorating, and travel. Family stress (enuf said). Loss of routine and eating and drinking things beyond our normal consumption top off the mountain of stressors that typify this time of year. It is no wonder that many people end up in pain, sick, and stressed during the holidays – often to a point that they cannot enjoy what is meant to be a time of joy.

There is another wrinkle to this story that is often overlooked and is perhaps the most important of all. In addition to the ‘negative’ stressors that can put people under, many people stop doing the GOOD STUFF that keeps them healthy the rest of the year.

Not only do they eat BAD stuff, they stop eating GOOD stuff. The gyms get quieter this time of year because people blow off their workouts for shopping and parties. It is not uncommon for us to see regular patients fall off their schedule in December because they feel they are too busy.

I have written an article on staying healthy during holidays most of the 17 years I have been in chiropractic practice. I have seen what works and what doesn’t. Trying to avoid food, drink, stress and parties does NOT WORK for most. The absolute best way to stay healthy over the holidays is to focus on doing GOOD STUFF. At minimum, do as much GOOD STUFF as usual. Ideally, use your extra time off (if you have it) to do more GOOD STUFF.

It is okay to indulge in some food and drink but be sure to focus on eating lots of GOOD STUFF. Commit to eating a nutritious fuelling breakfast to start things right. Do not allow your vegetable and healthy protein and fat consumption to drop, even if you are going to have some cookies.

It is great to enjoy some parties (I highly recommend it)! Do not allow parties to get in the way of regular exercise. Even if you are away from your gym, class or sport, use it as an opportunity to do something different. Get outside if you can. Be creative. I have done many great workouts on the floor of hotel rooms with zero equipment.

Even if you spend some nights out late, meditation is a great way to get ‘virtual rest’ in a very time efficient way. Sitting for 20 minutes (or even 10) can have a huge impact on restfulness and energy levels.

As much as possible, stay on track with activities that add to your health. I try to see my chiropractor MORE during the holidays because a healthy nervous system leads to a healthy person. I see it as my invisible shield at this time of year.

What I have learned over the years – and was reminded of recently while reading Jocko Willink’s great new book Discipline Equals Freedom – Field Manual – is that when you do the GOOD STUFF, you will feel good and then you naturally won’t want to do the BAD STUFF. The GOOD STUFF actually protects you from getting too much of a good (BAD) thing.

Enjoy yourself this holiday. Eat some cookies, enjoy your family and friends. Focus on the GOOD STUFF and not only will you have a better time, you will hit the ground running in 2018!

In over 14 years of chiropractic practice you begin to notice trends, or patterns at certain times of year. When it comes to the weeks leading up to the holiday season we have noticed two distinct and very much related patterns.

The first is that people who are otherwise regular and routine with their care tend to miss visits as their schedule and stress levels become more chaotic. There is nothing like the holidays to shake up our healthy routines.

The second pattern we tend to see are lots of people with acute crises of back pain, headaches, illnesses and other secondary conditions that sometimes require some intense care in our office to ensure they don’t spend Christmas on their backs.

These trends are certainly not only seen in our office. When people have more to do, more things to spend money on and extra stress, they also tend to eat less healthy food, exercise less, and stay up later at night – neglecting the things that keep them healthy during the rest of the year.

When you add these factors to the fact that many people experience their greatest levels of stress during the holiday season (ain’t family wonderful?) it is no surprise that it is common for people to spend what should be the most wonderful time of the year sick, in pain and unable to enjoy themselves or their families.

The fact of the matter is that it is very easy to become overwhelmed this time of year. I also know that by approaching your health correctly during the holidays will allow you to both have fun (this is very important) and stay healthy. I actually believe that the change of routine, having more time off of work, spending time with loved ones and YES, even indulging in some treats provides an opportunity to boost your health if you do it right!

The first step to a healthy holiday is to acknowledge that you are going to indulge a bit. If you wait all year to eat some of grandma’s famous cookies go ahead and enjoy them. When we make things a ‘treat’ we don’t stress about our indulgence and it actually prevents us from completely going full gluttonous. In addition when we really ‘treat’ ourselves it becomes much easier to get back to our routine when the holidays come to an end.

The second step is the most important and is really quite easy – yet is most often missed. While we treat ourselves to some not so healthy things, it is essential that we continue to do the healthy stuff, too. We need to make sure we get lots of veggies and clean meats while in addition to plum pudding. Meditate and get regular exercise while staying out late. Take our vitamins especially while dealing with our in laws!

As I have applied this over the years I have found a formula to actually improve my health over the holidays even though I love to indulge as much as the next person. I use the extra time off from work to exercise a bit more and meditate regularly. In spite of changing schedules I try to see my chiropractor even more often leading up to and during the holidays. I also increase my supplementation with fish oil, probiotics and vitamin D where appropriate to counteract the increased stresses faced at this time of year.

My wish for you all this holiday is to be able to fully celebrate and participate in whatever way makes you happy, NOT sick, in pain and frustrated. A little time and effort spent doing the good things will allow you to enjoy what we don’t typically enjoy the other 11 months of the year. There is nothing I would love to see more than a reversal of that pattern I have seen over the past 14 years. It is up to you.

Having been in practice for over 13 years, I have discovered certain patterns that show up at different times of the year. One of those patterns is that we see a lot of patients (especially patients that we haven’t seen in awhile), come in with a spinal or health related crisis right around the holidays. This makes sense, when you think about it because there are many lifestyle factors at this time of year that can exacerbate a Neural Shift, leading to a variety of not so pleasant secondary conditions that we call crises.

Slipping on the ice, shoveling too much, being stressed about time, money and in-laws, not getting enough sleep, and eating and drinking thing in quantities that they were NOT meant to be consumed can all bring on crisis by contributing to Neural Shift.

So, knowing this we decided to keep Nexus Chiropractic open during the holidays so that you can either get help with a crisis or prevent one.

We are open regular hours the week of Dec. 16-19th.

We are open Monday, Dec. 23rd from 9:30-12:30 and 3-6:30

We are open Monday, Dec. 30th and Thursday Jan. 2nd from 9:30-12:30 and 3-6:30.

Gifts!!!

For those looking for healthy gifts we have a few options.

We carry high quality Fish Oil (capsules and liquid) and Vit. D drops.

We also have a variety of Q-link pendants and bracelets, as well as Chirobase Adjustable Water Pillows.

Copies of Dr. Epstein’s The 12 Stages of Healing and SRI Workbook are also available.

All products that we sell are personally used by myself and family. We carry them to make the high quality products we use available to others.

Have a great holiday!

DON’T THROW OUT THE BABY WITH THE BATHWATER

In the last article we looked at specific actions to ensure that you stay healthy during what can be an extremely hectic and stressful time of year. This is important because the season can get the best of people and the last thing you want is to spend it sick, miserable and unable to participate in all it has to offer.

This week we will be looking more at the mindset required to be certain that you and your family stay healthy and happy. Mindset is where most people go wrong and despite all of the great (and not so great) advice out there, when we become overwhelmed, everything can fall apart if we don’t have the right perception.

In my experience even people with the best intentions can end up throwing the baby out with the bathwater when faced with overwhelm. What this means is that in addition to indulging over the holidays, STOP doing the things that keep them healthy the other 11 months of the year. Then, when they get sick, they blame the indulging, not the fact that they neglected health building activities.

What has worked best for me and many of the people I have coached over the years is to first acknowledge that you WILL indulge over the holidays! Get that out of the way. Make the decision to treat yourself and don’t feel guilty about it – guilt can lead to overwhelm. If you love grandma’s Christmas cookies, give yourself permission to eat some, if you have cut grains from your diet and miss bread, go ahead and have a roll at dinner. Make it a treat!

Now that you have decided to treat yourself, you must also commit to sticking with those activities that keep you healthy. I am usually successful at doing even more of these activities during the holiday and it is one of the reasons that I typically start the New Year with energy and momentum. They kept you healthy all year, why would you stop doing them now?

The focus here is proactive steps that PROMOTE health. That means activities that make you healthy whether you have a health challenge or not.

If you follow an exercise program – stick to it! If you don’t have access to your particular facility or program due to travel or schedule use that as an opportunity to try something new and fun. Get outside if you can. Life is movement, so make sure you MOVE over the holidays.

Food is probably the biggest challenge for most – and it doesn’t have to be. Even while you are indulging in some not-so-good for you treats, there is absolutely no reason to stop eating all the good stuff. A cookie doesn’t mean NOT eating your vegetables. Make sure that the meals you eat are full of healthy stuff. Get your vegetables, fruit, and clean meats like you do all year round. If you do, a few chocolates will not be able to take you out.

The same strategies hold for anything in your routine that improves your health. I personally meditate 20 minutes per day. During the holidays I shoot for 40 minutes because it helps me to deal with my relatives (just kidding). My own Neurospinal Optimization care with my chiropractor is in the centre of my year round health care, so I make whatever arrangements necessary to keep that over the holidays. Why? Being free of Neural Shift promotes health, healing and makes me more adaptable to stress of all kinds.

Take control of your health this holiday and you will be able to have fun, treat yourself, and still be healthy and full of energy. Go ahead and indulge but be sure to continue doing the things that keep you healthy and functioning great all year long.

See Adele or Cindy for our holiday hours, as we will be in the office for those of you who use our services as part of your health care routine as well as for those crises that frequently arise at this time of year.

As told in the Book of Ecclesiastes and later made popular by The Byrds’ version of the song Turn, Turn, Turn!, there really is a time for everything. One of the great lessons I have learned as I have become older – and hopefully a bit wiser – is that life is not about pushing all of the time.

With the seasons come different actions, different routines, and a changing focus. For most people, summer is a time of rest, relaxation, indulgence, socializing, and fun. This is great because it actually prepares us for the next season of autumn – which surprise – starts today!

September marks the beginning of transform time. Transform means taking massive action, making progress, getting results, and following a plan or routine. The transformation we make over the next several months will be what we celebrate at Christmas and the New Year.

So, starting today, how can you maximize the results you will achieve this season? Here are some tips to make sure you transform to the fullest this autumn.

The first step is to Decide what you want. In what areas of your life must you make progress in? Perhaps your career, finances, relationship, or hobby require some transformation? Certainly health is a huge area for most people after a summer of beer and burgers. Make a list of 3-7 areas of your life that need an upgrade.

Now, for each area write down what your progress will look like. Here is the key: make sure that what you write down is in the positive. So, instead of focusing on ‘losing’ weight, phrase it as ‘gaining’ leanness, vitality, health or the ability to fit into size x jeans. Write these down now.

The next step is to come up with a Plan to achieve the results you have committed to. One of the best ways to do this is to model someone who is already getting those results. If you want to be healthy, find the healthiest people you know and model their behaviour, focus and structure. Once you decide what changes you will make, it is essential that you write your plan down and schedule it. In my experience, weekly planning is the best way to incorporate any changes into your life.

The last step is the one that most often causes failure. The final and most important step is Action. It doesn’t matter how inspiring your goals are, or how well laid out your plans are, without massive and consistent action you will never get there. You must act and you must do so with pig headed determination (thank you Chet Holmes)! The practice members who get the greatest results in my office who become more healthy and adaptable every year are those who commit and follow through. Likewise, the chiropractors I coach who get the greatest results in their practice commit and take massive action. If you are not going to take action, save yourself the disappointment and don’t even start this process.

Do yourself a favour and make the most out of the season of fall by really creating some transformation in your life. Think about good it will feel to celebrate all of your progress in a few short months. When it comes to transforming both your health and life, I know of no better support than Network care. Our office will be holding several workshops over the next few months to help people take the next step. If you are reading this in another community, feel free to contact me for a practitioner close to you.

To close, a quote from peak performance and transform master Tony Robbins.

“Network Spinal Analysis and Somato Respiratory Integration, Donny Epstein’s revolutionary methodologies, are amongst the most powerful sources of personal transformation I have ever experienced or seen. They produce embodied and empowered strategies that are both sustainable and enjoyable for enhanced human resourcefulness and wellness.” I am stronger, more inspired, creative and healthy because of this work. It has personally and professionally helped me to maximize my ability to contribute to others.”Anthony Robbins

In Last week’s article we discussed how you can stay healthy and still have fun during the holidays. The message was essentially to keep doing what makes you healthy all year round – eat good stuff, exercise, relax and get entrained regularly. I have had feedback from some of you looking for more specific practical tips to survive and thrive during such a hectic and stressful time of year.

So, here are some easy and time efficient ways you can WIN this holiday.

Make Treats, Treats. If you want to eat goodies, do so but make them treats. At mealtime, eat good nutritious food. I try to do this with my kids all year round. We start every day with a nutritious smoothie, pack them a good lunch and then meat and veggies for dinner. Through the holidays minimize sugar, grains and anything processed during meals. Then savour the cookies and plum pudding(my fave).

Optimize Vitamin D Levels. This is an easy and inexpensive way to boost your health – especially during Northern winters. Most northerners are vit. D deficient and need to supplement during the winter. Get a good quality supplement and if you are concerned with your levels ask your G.P. or Naturopathic Doctor to be tested.

Get Intense Exercise. Sometimes during holidays time can be of the essence. This is no excuse to not exercise. With high intensity training you can make a huge impact on your energy levels, metabolism, and immune system in just a few minutes per day. This is easy to do in a gym by lifting weights. If you are travelling and don’t have any access to equipment you can do 20 seconds on/10 seconds off intervals of air squats, pushups, planks, jumping jacks, stair climbing, burpees or even walking. Be creative. Only 5 minutes of this a day will make a world of difference. Remember intensity is different for everyone, so be aware.

Alone Time, Daily. If you keep a daily schedule put this in first! This could mean meditation, affirmations, a warm bath, reading, prayer or personal reflection. It could take an hour or 5 minutes but do it every day. It is amazing what a few minutes with yourself while everything is turned off can do for your mindset and health. See this as a daily pressing of your “reset” button.

Get Entrained or Do SRI. Not only is NSA great for releasing physical, emotional and mental stress it actually makes you more adaptable to it by connecting you to your internal resources. If you are out of town or your NSA office is closed, commit even more to your Somatorespiratory Integration exercises. I will personally getting 2 entrainments on Dec. 21^st and arranging a visit to an NSA friend the week between Christmas and the New Year.

I hope these simple tips are helpful. Taking action starting NOW! will help you to not only survive this holiday, but THRIVE!

Thank you for reading this far. Click HERE for a classic and funny Christmas movie moment.

« There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness. »
Dalai Lama

« One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds. »
Gandhi

I love giving gifts at this time of year but I must admit that it can be stressful choosing the right gift for people who seem to have everything (a high quality problem).

Every year for the past 8 years Gault Family Chiropractic has given the gift of health to the friends, family and loved ones of its patients and practice members by providing Christmas cards with a certificate for a consultation, full examination and report of findings with me. In other words, our practice members give us the contact information of people they think would benefit from NSA care and we send them the card from their loved one. This is called a win-win-win!

I am happy to say that we no longer need to run this yearly event as a promotion. We don’t need to go out and find more people to be busy and successful. We continue to provide this service because we know that there are so many people in our community who desperately need sustainable ways to get healthy, learn to adapt to stress, develop success strategies and relieve suffering. As long as this is true, our job will never be finished.

With the birth of this blog the community of Gault Family Chiropractic has grown immensely and I am so grateful for everyone who follows me online. It is for that reason I would like to extend our offer to the readers of this blog. So, if someone you care about could benefit from NSA you can either phone our office (613-932-8111) with their contact info (name and address) and your name and we will get their gift off to them by Christmas. You can also email us at thordc@on.aibn.com with the same information. We will be booking these appointments through Dec. and January. If your loved ones live outside of the Cornwall area, I know many of my colleagues offer similar programs in their offices. Feel free to email me with the area you are looking for and if possible I will connect you with a participating office.

Thank you all for reading this year! We will finish strong and get ready to make 2012 the best, healthiest and most successful year of your life!

More Gift Ideas

We have also recommitted to providing high quality and hard to find health products in the office. You can read why at this link Product Lines. We currently carry the following products.

Q Link Products – Pendants, bracelets, and buttons to minimize the effects of damaging environmental frequencies such as EMF. I have been using Q Link personally for 10 years and have purchased them for all of my staff and family. These products have been extensively researched and are endorsed by the likes of Ken Wilder and Dr. Robert Young. These products are not to be confused with certain rubber bracelets that have dubiously been in the news recently. Click HERE for more info

Innate Choice Products – High quality Fish Oil, probiotics and Vitamin D. This is the brand that my family uses every day. We currently also have a package of all 3 together at a significant discount. Click HERE for their website.

Dr. Epstein’s Books – The 12 Stages of Healing,and The Somato Respiratory Workbook which are great for anyone under NSA care or not.

You can phone the office for our hours to purchase or view the products.

or How to Have Fun and NOT Get Sick and Burned Out

Even though it is still November, it is time to have this conversation. As you read this, the holidays are upon us. Shopping, parties and Chevy Chase on every channel. I must admit that as a civilian, this is my favourite time of the year. As a health professional, the holiday season is a complete disaster for many people and leaves them either unable to enjoy the festivities or worse gets them off on the wrong foot in the new year.

George Bailey, or Scrooge?

How will you end up at the end of this holiday season? Will you be rested and refreshed after having some time off, celebrating a great year and connecting with loved ones, ready to really make things happen in 2012? Or, will you be tired, fat, sick, stressed and burned out leaving you a step behind before January even rolls around? Believe it or not it is pretty simple to make sure you are the former instead of the latter!

Live a Little

You will be relieved to know that I am not going to tell you abstain from all of the goodies (and even excess) that come with the holidays. This time of the year is a celebration so I recommend that you let loose and have some fun. Most people get into trouble however when they throw the baby out with the bathwater. It is not the celebrating that leads to stress and sickness – it is more about what we are NOT doing that creates problems.

Keep Doing What Works!

Many people STOP doing the things that keep them healthy during the holiday season. It is absolutely essential that you do not do this! Go ahead and eat the cookie, but keep eating your clean meat and veggies too. Have a couple of drinks but use the opportunity to some extra time off to get your workouts in. Yes, your inlaws will stress you out, but don’t stop meditating, praying, reading or whatever else you do to connect and relax.

In other words, just keep doing whatever it is that makes you healthy the rest of the year. I actually commit to getting entrained more often in the month of December and I would suggest you do the same. It breaks my heart to see practice members who have made such great progress in their health only to take a break over the holidays and come back in January a mess. It doesn’t have to be this way – I know because I have personally tried both ways.

The holidays provide an amazing opportunity to not only have a great time, but to set the stage for making 2012 the absolute best year of your life. It is my sincere wish that you are able to take full advantage of this opportunity. Keep doing what works!

We will be having our final Discover – The Truth About Back Pain Revealed workshop of the year on Dec. 5^th at 7pm. Contact the office to reserve a seat.

To turbo charge your new year I highly recommend attending our Making 2012 the Best Year of Your Life workshop in January at Gault Family Chiropractic. All are welcome.

Thanks for reading this far. Click HERE for a 30 sec clip of the holiday movie I will be watching on Dec. 1st