Yesterday, we talked about how when a state of fear becomes locked in, it has a laundry list of negative effects on our body, mind and spirit. We also gave you a couple of quick ways to break that pattern.

Today, let’s go a bit deeper. Because our mindset and emotional state have a massive impact on our health, we have the opportunity during this crisis to actually train ourselves to focus differently.

When our routines are shaken up (in my case pretty significantly) we can choose to curse the circumstance (which I HAVE done) or take the opportunity to notice what it is we have taken for granted and maybe not appreciated as much as we should.

APPRECIATION and GRATITUDE produce a much healthier state in our bodies than FRUSTRATION, ANGER and FEAR. Healthier structures, healthier nervous system, healthier biochemistry.

2 more exercises:

1. Notice what you DO have right now that you are especially grateful for BECAUSE of the current situation. Make a list. I am personally especially grateful to have our dog to play with, my home gym to train in, the last 2 steaks I found in my chest freezer and the extra time I have to practice playing guitar. That is just off the top of my head. Keep adding to your list over the upcoming days.

2. Notice what you currently DON’T have that you appreciate more because you don’t have access to it and you were certainly enjoy more when you have it back. Again, make a list that you can continue to grow.

Believe it or not, I am really going to appreciate SHOPPING when this is over, because right now I don’t have the freedom to do that. I am going to appreciate my gyms more than ever. I certainly will have an even greater appreciation for freedom to do the work that I do and help the people I see in my office everyday.

The key take home here is that while we may not control our current circumstance, we DO have control over our state and our focus. Exercise these muscles now and not only will it improve your health now, you will have built powerful strategies you will take forward in life.

Talk soon!

In the final article of this series we will shift the focus away from being DOOMED to a lifetime of frustrating secondary conditions and worsening health and onto the HOW of going deeper to get better. While many of you found the last article rather negative, I disagree. Once we are AWARE of what is not working, we now have a choice to do something different in order to obtain a better result. What could be more positive than that?

The first key in Going Deeper to Get Better is to begin changing the questions we ask of ourselves and our doctors when faced with a challenge. This definitely takes some practice as our habitual questions are usually so ingrained that we aren’t even aware of them.

Let’s say you wake up one morning with a nasty headache or backache. What questions do you start asking? Most people would say, “What is wrong with my ___? What is wrong with me? How do I get rid of this pain?” Or some combination of those.

Now, what is the best possible outcome from these questions? The best outcome would be some kind of treatment that would successfully get rid of the pain for the time being. Seems great except….we now know that this will eventually lead us to….DOOM.

What are some different questions we could ask that will start the process of going deeper? The possibilities are endless, but some examples are: “What is going on here? Why is this pain showing up now? What could this condition be related to? What have I been doing that may have contributed to this?”

These questions move us away from ‘fixing’ the secondary condition and towards seeing what is behind it. This is the EXACT purpose of pain and symptoms – to get us to pay attention, look deeper and then make a change!

These questions may lead us to make some lifestyle changes that will not only help the pain, but make us healthier and happier. They may help us to discover and then address a primary condition behind the secondary that will have a profound impact on our well-being. Perhaps we will become aware of a pattern of behaviour or thought that has been having a negative impact on our quality of life.

Can you see that a lifetime of asking these questions will lead to better awareness, better choices and better outcomes?

Naturally, this approach can be used in other area of your life. If your child (or spouse!) are screaming, you can turn up the TV volume or dig deeper to see what is going on. If a student is getting bad grades they can cheat on the next test or develop some new strategies. If you can’t make your rent you can try to find the $ you need, or make whatever changes are necessary to be sure to have it next month and the months after that.

Make going deeper a new habit. Ask better questions and you will get better answers. I promise that it will change your life.

At Nexus Chiropractic we focus on looking deeper and we help our patients to learn how to do so as well. An excellent resource is our complimentary workshop that we present every month at the office. The next one is Sept. 17^th at 7pm. Just phone our office to reserve a seat.