Why would I make such a seemingly negative statement to start the new year? The simple answer is that it is true. The vast majority of normal, everyday people become less healthy and have a diminishing quality of life over time – sad but true.

      I also understand that anyone reading this article is likely not a normal, everyday person and you are therefore much less likely to suffer the same fate.  In fact, the reason I am writing this article to help to ensure that you do not.

     When it comes to health and well-being this is the time of year that people make resolutions. I have seen dozens of articles about New Year resolution pop up on social media. I have written many articles on resolutions over the years. The problem with resolutions is that they almost never stick and not only do we not follow through they can actually harm us by chipping away at our resolve and self esteem. So, instead of leading us to our best self we just get one year sicker and more miserable.

     It doesn’t have to be that way but in order to get a different result, we must take a different approach.

     One of the main issues I see with resolutions (through personal experience btw) is that they are GOAL FOCUSED. It could be ‘lose 20 pounds,’ or ‘squat 500lbs,’ or ‘run a marathon,’ or other goals regarding our career or finances. Don’t get me wrong, I think having clearly written goals is a good thing. However placing most of our focus on the endgame can be a recipe for disappointment and disaster.

     The problem with focusing on the end goal is that it can distract us from what is  most important which are the habits and systems that move us in the right direction. Habits and systems that we implement daily are a lot less sexy than victory at the end yet they are absolutely necessary. As James Clear points out in his book Atomic Habits, ‘You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.’

     Why is it advantageous to focus on habits and systems over goals? The first is that there are many ways to achieve a goal, but is it healthy in both the short and long-term? Is achieving it in that manner sustainable? You can lose 20lbs with a crash diet or diet pills but for how long can you keep that up? What other costs will you have to pay for that approach (health, well-being)? Focusing on eating a good breakfast each morning is not as exciting and may require more time but the long-term outcome will be far superior.

     Another problem with being goal focused is that you can do a lot of great work (habits) before there is any obvious pay off. Does that mean you are failing? It can take a fair bit of time before healthy breakfasts and exercising show up on the scale. Perhaps your weight remains the same but you are gaining muscle and losing fat. Does that mean you should stop? Don’t let the goal distract you from what is best for you.

     The other question is what happens after you reach your goal (on the small chance you do)? Most people slide right back into old habits and end up worse than when they started. The super ambitious then up their goals to a higher standard. This is great, but what if they systems they used are not sustainable?

     This year, I give you permission to put the resolutions on the back burner. Focus on habits. Once your new habit becomes ingrained in your life (systematized), add another one. Instead of focusing on the outcome, place your attention on getting just 1% better every day. That is the only way to become healthier and happier in 2020.

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!

As we get settled in to the new year, there are lots of exciting things happening both inside and outside Nexus Chiropractic. We have some new programs to announce and I will be attending some seminars and training that will continue the never ending evolution of the care we provide you. Due to travel, the office will be closed some days and we have the amazing Dr. Amanda Chan from Ottawa covering on some others.

I will be heading to New Orleans on Feb. 1^st where I will be arm candy for my wife at the International Neuropsychology Conference. While I am kind of just tagging along, I do attend the program which is not only interesting but surprisingly applicable to Neurospinal Optimization chiropractic.

Nexus will be closed on Wednesday the first and Dr. Amanda will be here for regular office hours on Thursday, the second.

The following weekend I will be off to Denver for the final live seminar of the Master-E plus program I have been a part of for the past 2 years. This program is the latest and most advanced approach being taught by my long time mentor, Donny Epstein.

Dr. Amanda will be covering our hours on Monday, Feb. 13^th and the office will be closed on Tuesday, Feb. 14^th. I will be back and ready to roll on Wednesday.

On the weekend of Feb. 17^th we are travelling to Philadelphia where my sons are playing in a lacrosse tournament. The tournament finishes on family day, so we will be driving on Tuesday the 21^st and the office will be closed. Back to regular hours on Wednesday.

We have also previously posted about our commitment to providing more extensive workshops to our patients and practice members this year. Our next Head to Toe, Neurospinal Show will be held on Monday, Feb. 27^th at 7pm. At this presentation we explain a bit about what we do at Nexus and then teach you habits and tricks that will help you to keep your spine and nervous system strong and healthy.

On March 14^th we will be presenting Neurospinal Optimization Demystified, which is a rare peak behind the curtain of what I do. This will include a demo with explanation and a chance to ask me anything. You will get so much out of this workshop that you will only need 8 more years of school and hundreds of hours of practice to become an NSO chiropractor yourself!

You can see the entire 2017 workshop schedule HERE.

Last but not least, we will soon be announcing the dates for our first ever SEASONS OF HEALING intensive series. This will be 4 workshops – each diving deep into a season and the exercises that will put you on the road to mastery. There will be a small fee for this series and it will be strictly limited to a small number of participants, so keep your eyes peeled.

Please take advantage of all Nexus Chiropractic has to offer. We invest a tremendous amount of time, energy and resources to bring you incredible resources for health and healing and nothing makes us happier than seeing those resources put to good use.

At Nexus Chiropractic one of the things we are most proud of – and our most fun challenge – is that many of the people we work with have already been to a number of other health care practitioners, without the success they are looking for. In many ways we are a last resort after a series of perceived failures.

It is for this reason that most of the patients we meet at an introductory presentation or one-on-one consultation are excited by the prospect that we have a different focus and therefore do things a bit different from both other chiropractors and other types of health care offices.

Once in a while we encounter someone surprised by our approach and wonder why we don’t run our office and make recommendations the same way their last office did. The simple answer is that we focus on and expect DIFFERENT results…and DIFFERENT results require a DIFFERENT approach.

This is an important concept to consider not only in choosing a chiropractor or health care provider, but in life in general. If you are not happy with your current results in any aspect of your life, you MUST employ a different approach in order to get what you want. More of the same will get you more of the same.

The New Year is a great time to examine this. If your weight is not where you want it, how can you change your approach this year? If your finances are below your expectations, how can you do things differently starting in 2017? How about your relationships? How about your career?

When it comes to most people who seek our care, the approach they have taken to their secondary conditions (pain and symptoms) is to focus solely on treating that. While this can be effective in the short term, it is akin to chopping the heads off of the dandelions on your lawn. If you are prepared for the problem to be back in a few days, this approach is fantastic. If you really want a green lawn that will stay that way you will have a little more work to do.

At Nexus, instead of focusing on pain and other secondary conditions, we want to know what is underlying those problems. This is why we conduct an objective neurospinal evaluation on all of our patients and follow it up with a reevaluation after the Initial Phase of Care.

The value of addressing the primary condition underlying the symptoms goes beyond just achieving a more sustainable result. When there is abnormal function and structure of the spine and nervous system and you get that handled, a variety of other secondary conditions often resolve as a result.

Often when we ask people in our office what they are happiest about with their care, it is an unexpected result that they did not even come to us for.

Again, I invite you to employ this concept to your life this New Year. How can you take a different approach that will not only solve the surface problem, but the deeper ones as well.

Do this, and 2017 can truly be the best year of your life!

Also, to help you get the most out of 2017, we have put together a series of complimentary workshops throughout the year. Keep an eye out for the full schedule which will be posted here.

In January, we will be both a Head to Toe, Neurospinal Show, and 12 Stages of Healing presentations. Phone 613-932-8111 to reserve a seat.

I am writing this article sitting in my home having missed my second day of work in a row due to being sick. This is a big deal because since opening my practice in 2000 (that is 16 years ago) I had only missed one half of a day sick prior to this week.

Save for a couple of serious illnesses as a child this is the ‘sickest’ I can ever remember being. Up until a few hours ago there would have been no way I could have written this article because I could neither drag myself off of the couch nor think straight. The strange thing about this experience is that while I am annoyed about missing work and disappointed that I allowed myself to become vulnerable to the illness, I am actually grateful and know it will have a lasting positive impact on my life and health.

Why would anybody feel gratitude towards being so sick they thought they were going to die (not really, but it sure felt like it)?

The first reason is that this sickness has me completely motivated to make some positive changes in my lifestyle. This requires the individual to not see themselves as the victim for being sick. This is rare in our society and that is too bad. I recently wrote an article about how to stay healthy over the holidays and while I generally followed my own advice (continued doing the good, healthy stuff) I went a bit too far with late nights and unhealthy food and drink. I tempted fate and I got burned.

The positive spin on this was that I was planning on changing some things regarding my health in the New Year. After the experience of the last few days there is now no way I will not make it happen. On the other hand, had I perceived this illness as bad luck caused by germ A or virus B there would be less impetus to change. Pain is a wonderful motivator and if you are going to experience it you might as well use it.

The second thing I am grateful for is that it gave me the opportunity to do absolutely NOTHING. In fact it forced me to do nothing as I could barely read, let alone move.

I live a lifestyle that moves pretty fast – work, seminars, coaching, and two kids in multiple sports. We take vacations but even then we are either doing activities or I am plowing through books I don’t have time to read the rest of the year.

The last couple of days I spent most of my time doing nothing. Just lying in my bed or on the couch. While it isn’t fun to feel like crap you learn a lot when you literally cannot do anything. Without actively pursuing that line of thinking I became much clearer on what I wanted my life to look and feel like and I am much more motivated to get going on that life.

It was also kind of nice to sit on the couch with my family watching a crappy movie without thinking about all the stuff I have to do – and that NEVER happens in my normal life.

Being sick is not fun but it can provide you with value when it occurs. If you don’t see yourself as a victim you can take the experience and turn it into something great. This idea of taking the experience of pain and turning it into progress can be the greatest concept to embrace in making 2016 the best year of your life. I will be expanding on that idea in the next article.

Happy New Year!

Whether we like it or not, the holiday season has begun. The lights and trees are starting to go up and soon it will be time for parties, treats, libations and visiting with family.

As all of this fun is happening one of the biggest challenges many people face is that they tend to get sick and cannot fully enjoy all that the season has to offer. It is not a coincidence that flu/cold season tends to start now and I know that chiropractors also see more back and neck pain ‘emergencies’ at this time of year than any other.

When you combine more junk food (which starts with Halloween), a decrease in sun exposure and fresh air, staying out late, more alcohol than usual, and increased financial and family stress you have a recipe for failings in our health that often show up as illness and pain.

So, how do you enjoy the holidays and not end up out of commission? Can you indulge and still stay healthy? The answer is yes if you are smart about it.

The key to staying healthy over the holidays is to continue to do the good things while you indulge in the ‘treats.’ What that means is that while you indulge a little, be sure to continue to keep the habits that make you healthy all year round. Unfortunately many people let it all slide this time of year and end up paying for it.

So, if you know you are going to eat some junk, make sure you are loading up on fresh produce and high quality meat as well. Drink lots of water. If you know you will be out late, schedule some naps and a few quiet nights to minimize the effects. Don’t drop your exercise program. Schedule walks or mediation sessions to be sure your stress levels are handled.

Personally, as the holidays approach I pay even more attention to doing the good things so that I can have lots of fun, stay healthy and go into the new year floor running. Here are some of the steps I take.

Diet is crucial to staying healthy and while I am a self professed sugar addict and love baked goods, I make absolute certain I am eating lots of healthy food each day. Breakfast is a great way to start. I also make sure I load up on green veggies (as well as a green drink supplement) and meat at meal times.

While obviously it is better to get our nutrients from food, supplements really are essential to maximize our health – especially during the winter months. Everyone can benefit from high quality vitamin D, fish oil, and probiotic supplementation at this time of year. I also supplement vitamin C, magnesium and zinc and have seen wonderful results since doing so.

Physical exercise is a great way to stay healthy over the holidays, yet so many people let this slide. I use the extra time off of work to make sure I am physically active on a daily basis over the holidays (it is now a tradition in my house to do a squat session on Christmas day). It does not have to be complicated or elaborate, especially if you are travelling. Go for a hike, do some bodyweight exercises, visit a gym in the town you are in. It doesn’t matter, just move! It will keep you healthy.

Despite my Nordic appearance I really don’t like being outside in the cold and this is a challenge because fresh air is very important to our health. Shovel some snow, go skating, build a snow man, walk to the coffee shop. Get out and breathe the air.

Because it is impossible to eliminate or ‘fight’ stress at this time of year it is important to make sure the effects of that stress are not physically accumulating towards a crisis. I meditate daily which helps with this and my biggest weapon is the Neurospinal Optimization chiropractic care I receive for myself. I much prefer to stay on top of things instead of waiting until I have an emergency on my hands.

Start now to ensure you have a fun AND healthy and happy holiday season. Commit to the good so that you can indulge in some ‘bad.’

If you are looking for high quality supplements, Nexus Chiropractic does carry the fish oil and vitamin D that my family uses. Feel free to contact me to find out where I purchase the rest of the supplements I use.

Happy Holidays!

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.

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.

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

Your Personal Success Formula

In the last article you learned how to tap into your ultimate vision for your life in order to ensure congruency in your actions and to prevent the self sabotage that commonly interrupts your efforts for transformation. Now that your ultimate vision is clearly defined, it is time to get to work discovering your personal success formula that can be applied to absolutely any area of your life.

The Triad of Change/Progress

The simplest and most profound way to discover and define your personal success formula is The Triad of Change model developed by Dr. Donny Epstein – also the developer of NSA and SRI. The Triad breaks down all of our experiences into three components: Structure, Behaviour, and Perception. Each of us have different combinations of aptitudes and challenges with these components and recognizing them allows us to apply our personal success formula.

Structures include physical structures such as how a room or workspace is set up. Structures can be organizational set-ups as well, such as a time schedule or political structure. If we use an example of someone who successfully loses weight some structures could be their home gym, where they buy groceries, and their meal and workout schedule.

Behaviour is simply the actions we do or don’t take. Exercising, eating well and avoiding sugar are all behaviours that support our example of weight loss.

Perception is what we focus on, what we are aware of and how we see the world. Focusing on playing with our yet unborn great grand children, fitting into our high school jeans and feeling healthy and full of energy are all positive perceptions that support weight loss. Feeling the pain of a loved one having a heart attack, acknowledging that early death or disability will leave your children uncared for or watching a video about clogged arteries are negative perceptions you can also use to drive your transformation.

Now comes the tricky (and fun) part! Everyone uses the Triad a bit differently and it is up to you to figure out how it works (and doesn’t work) for you. Once you know this it is easy to apply your formula to be successful at anything!

Some Homework

So, here is your homework for this week: first think of something you are really good at. Something that comes naturally to you or a change you successfully made in the past. Perhaps it is a sport, hobby or skill that you are a natural at. Maybe it is cooking. Maybe you kicked a bad habit like smoking. Now look at your Triad in relation to that talent or change. What are the structures, behaviours and perceptions that surround and support this? How do they fit together? Which one do you address first, second and third? Write this down on a sheet of paper.

Next, choose something that is a struggle for you. Perhaps a bad habit you have not been able to quit, a history of bad relationships or something as simple as a messy desk? Now look at your Triad for this part of your life. What are the structures, behaviours, and perceptions like here? How are they different from when you are successful? How do they fit together differently?

This exercise will set the stage for everything we will be doing in the next few weeks to ensure 2012 will be the best year of your life! Make sure you do your homework and next week we will determine which side of your Triad of Change is your Keystone, Prime and Drain.

Remember, I will be presenting 2 free workshops putting all of this together in one shot: Tues. Jan. 17^th at Gault Family Chiropractic and Wed. Jan. 25^th at Caveman Strong. Register now to reserve a seat.