I have a patient who first came to our clinic with a short list of fairly mild complaints. She’d been working in another healthcare office for the past several years and was planning to retire soon. When I consult with a patient, I like to get a short list of their main issues along with the ways their life would be better if they didn’t have those issues, or if their health improved overall. I’ll never forget her answer. She said her main goal was “to be more connected.”
As a chiropractor, I love it when patients describe something using their own vocabulary. They often surprise me with their beautiful descriptions. When this patient told me her goal, she also perfectly described the treatment.
One of the original principles of chiropractic philosophy is to acknowledge the internal power of the body to heal and maintain itself. It is the expression of this inner wisdom that makes change possible in our bodies. The quality of this connection between the internal power and your physical body determines the quality of your overall health. With chiropractic care, we are checking for anything that interferes with the expression of your full potential. Since this information is transferred along the network of nerves, we work to make sure those nerves are at their best, usually adjusting a vertebra in the spine to restore motion and remove stress from the system.
When I first heard about this chiropractic principle, it made sense on a superficial level, but I didn’t really appreciate it. That is, until I saw it in action. With this new patient, I once again got to see this principle become a reality. With treatment, along with our Nutrition Response Testing program, this woman began to visibly shed her stress over the course of the next few months. Each new week she felt lighter and happier. We witnessed a beautiful transformation, even though she didn’t have any major concerns to begin with.
When it comes time for a progress examination, we give the patient a short list of possible improvements they may have noticed since beginning care. They can also write in any other successes they experienced. (We find that most people completely forget their complaint once it’s gone!) At her recent progress examination, this woman checked nearly every box of improvements, shrugging her shoulders and smiling shyly as I marveled at her report. For someone who didn’t acknowledge any of these as problems to begin with, we could now see them for what they were and contrast them with a body that was working better. I told her a phrase we love to say: “Most people don’t realize just how good their bodies are designed to feel.”
She definitely reached her goal of becoming more connected, allowing her body to heal and function in ways that she didn’t even know were possible. It is inspiring to know that this was not some altered sensation caused by a pharmaceutical drug, but actual signs of true internal regenerative healing. I want to share this story, and many others, as a call to arms, to help people far and wide by arming them with the concept that their body already has what it needs to be healthy—it just needs a better connection!
Imagine the change in this country, and what this world could be, if more people were better connected—not only by seeing a chiropractor but also by being cognizant of the concept that our bodies are innately intelligent. We should live in a way that supports this wisdom instead of challenging it with unhealthy lifestyle choices.
This is why I wrote The Night Before Wellness. I wanted to give people the same ideas that were so novel and yet so profound when I first learned them. I squeezed in as much chiropractic and nutritional philosophy as I could while still keeping it a children’s book. Similar to my own introduction, I’m giving you just a peek under the surface. The rest is up to you to explore. With so many other great resources from Selene River Press—including the SRP Historical Archives—you can’t go wrong as you learn more about these foundational tenets of health.
My little booklet can help open the door to a lifetime of improved health when you give it to the right person. It may be a child, or the mom who needs someone to tell her that health doesn’t come from a bottle, or the grandparent who just needs a reminder to do their daily exercises.
Whether you’re exploring natural healthcare for the first time or you’re a practitioner passing this booklet out to your patients, I’m confident that it will put a smile on your face and empowering thoughts in your mind.
Images from iStock/magicmine (main), magicmine (main), humonia (post).
Dr. David Kolowski is a chiropractor, speaker, and author in Loveland, Colorado. His booklet The Night Before Wellness gives the Big Idea of natural healthcare to readers young and old. Dr. Kolowski describes his mission as helping people ask better questions while seeing the bigger picture. You can find him at Inside Health.
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