Breathe Through the Wave

If you want to be great at anything… it takes practice! There is the well known “10,000 hour rule “that says in order to become an expert you must practice that thing for 10,000 hours! Earlier this week I was thinking about my writing and realized that if I want to be a writer I have to publish more than one article and blog per month! My new goal is to write five blogs per week and have several articles published per month! This is the only way that I can not only become a better writer but truly explore that creativity! IT is easy to write when you have something to say, it is much more difficult to work through writer’s block and create  something powerful!

One of my favorite sayings, that came out of the Transcendentalist movement, is “Live the life you have imagined”(HDT).  I often wear this quote on a pendent around my neck to remind myself of the importance of this quote. In its spirit and honor I am doing just that! Yesterday, I woke up early and biked, then started my cundelini meditation practice which I have not done in about nine months, followed by an amazing yoga session / private instruction on the beach! The ocean was beautiful with dolphins playing in the surf and fairly large waves crashing into the beach. We discussed breathing technique and related it to the waves. I felt connected with the earth, safe in her warmth, and felt my soul open to the possibilities of the day. Later I went into the office to take care of patients, which is my favorite thing to do! Following a wonderful afternoon at the practice, I went to Santa Barbara Dance Tribe for the first time. It was a special event that was led by an international speaker on dance movement, breathing, and life! She discussed the five rhythms of dance and how it is like a wave and how we must breathe through the entire wave and let our body keep moving. It was amazing having my day bookended by this concept of not only waves but the importance of breath.

Often we are in such a sympathetic state, fight or flight, that our breathing is fast and shallow. I regularly  see this with my patients, when I tell them to take a deep breath and it is like nothing is happening! Likewise, with my patients who practice yoga, they take the most beautiful deep breaths that are controlled and prolonged. There is a clear difference and I believe teaching breath work can have profound differences on one’s health and wellness. A shorter breath in is controlled by the sympathetic, but the exhale being longer is controlled by the parasympathetic’s bringing us to a state of rest and digest. Yes breath is automatic but the lesson of yesterday , that I will continue to work on, is to learn how to control this breathing and bring it back into balance. Look to mother nature for important cues on balance and vitality and you will live a healthier life.

Listen to your Body

Pain may hurt, but stress can kill you! Our society enjoys and relies on instant gratification.  If you want to know the latest news you can click a few buttons on your  smart phone. If you want “food” you can pop it in the microwave. If you are in pain, you can take a pill. This is all symptom control and never addresses the root of the issue It limits us from experiencing other cultures for ourselves, eating real food, and from listening to the intuition that the body is constantly offering but we more frequently ignore.

Similar to taking pain killers, just receiving chiropractic adjustments when you are experiencing pain is not an equation for lifelong health. Yes, you will most likely feel better and have little to no pain however, if you do not address your lifestyle, you will continue along the path of crisis intervention instead of achieving health independence. Regular chiropractic care is part of the path to independence, because health is a process not an event!

It is time to look at pain and other symptoms as warning signals from the body, not something to be covered up. These signals should be listened to, they begin in whispers but if ignored long enough the body will scream at you by manifesting disease states. Since we cannot selectively numb feelings, emotions, or symptoms when we take pills we are turning down that important inner voice. This is dangerous because we need to listen to the body and make changes, get adjusted, in order to truly heal.

I encourage you to think of symptoms in a new way, not as something negative, but as your body having an important conversation with you regarding your own state of health. The body is very intelligent and it is time we quiet the mind, and spend time thinking about what our body is communicating. Chiropractic adjustments allow for proper nervous system communication because the brain and body which allows us to really listen in on the conversation our body is constantly trying to communicate. Get your  spine checked regularly and listen when the body whispers to you!

ADIO Love,

Dr. Elizabeth

Intuition

This morning I was in a conversation about how people, especially women who are wives and mothers, have a difficult time articulating what makes them happy. Society wants them to be defined by their titles, wife and mother. They believe that if they do not say this is what makes them happy then they are in fact a bad wife and mother. Women want to be equal in the work place and respected at home but they are so far removed from their essence that they have lost touch with themselves and what brings them genuine happiness.

As a female doctor, I want to have a perfect home where I cook every night and be just as good of a doctor as my male counter parts. Fortunately, because I have amazing mentors in the profession I am realizing my strengths as a woman of wellness and calling on my past to bring pleasure and joy into my daily life. I have come to realize that it is not that I want to be “equal” it is that I deserve respect and the right to create a nurturing space that supports my gifts as a female chiropractor.

This self exploration, has led me to write more frequently because it is a tremendous way for me to exercise self expression. I went horseback riding for the first  time since losing my sight several months ago and it really reconnected me with a hidden part of my past and this is something I know I must keep on doing.  I am coming up with creative solutions so that I can still participate fully and actively in my own life! I spoke with my father that it is my goal to have an infinite pool so that I can swim again. Water is where I feel at home, having been a competitive swimmer for twelve years and a rower for four years. I grew up on the Great Lakes and inland lakes of Michigan and long to reconnect my spirit .  I am very committed to the practice and eventually want to get a PhD in Environmental Health so that I can connect all of the dots of my life and package it in a very unique way to not only share with my patients but with the world.  I am lucky to live in an age where technology allows me to read books with ease, write articles on my computer, and use all sorts of apps designed for visually impaired people. It is truly amazing that I can put my iPhone camera in front of a shirt and it tells me the color of that shirt! The key to employ your technology, not exploit it. When you embrace it as an aid to your life and not your entire life, then you can flourish!

My hope is that all people, particularly women,  can take their challenges and turn into an asset. I will not allow for my sight to impair my life expression! I have worked too hard to let it stop me now. I am slowly finding inner peace with this experience and learning how to adapt so that I can live the life I have imagined with joy, gratitude, and an open heart.

Women: You have a beautiful , innate capacity for love and sacrifice. This is wonderful however do not sacrifice yourself and your own happiness. Give for the sake of giving but do this from an open-heart space that knows when to take a break and self regulate. Tune into your intuition, foster an authentic relationship with it, and trust that it will tell you when to take a deep breath, when to rest, when to play, when to cry, and how to express love to all in your life.

ADIO Love,

Dr. Elizabeth

Ecstatic Life Expression!

Following one of my intense dance sessions, I have had several people come up to me only to be totally shocked that I cannot see! It is beyond their comprehension that a sightless person can dance, twirl, spin, and follow a partner without being able to see subtle visual cues .  This is somewhat comical to me because I do not think of it as being strange or out of the realm of possibility but to others it is amazing. As I reflect upon it I realize several things:

1 When you let innate guide you , you are less likely to trip, fall, hurt yourself and miss a beat!

2 You must create a certain amount of vulnerability to allow another person to be your eyes so that you do not hit anyone dancing around you. This vulnerability is imbedded within a sacred bond that must be seeded in both trust in that individual and the universe.

3 There are no limitations to what you can accomplish in life! You absolutely do not need vision to hear music, feel the rhythm, and move your body.

4When you nervous system has no interference due to spinal subluxations, you are able to fully embrace and immerse yourself in the music and connect with it on a purely energetic level.

5 Finally, every person deserves to have fun and express that genetic potential through the arts. Whether you enjoy dancing, playing music, painting, drawing, writing, or cooking. These are all manifestations of your potential so allow them to flow through your body and guide you in the right direction.

Recently,, I have started going to Ecstatic Dance a couple of times a week. It is my new favorite activity! The rules are simple, come from a place of love, no shoes, and no talking! It is a beautiful, spiritual, and sacred experience that connects your body, mind, and spirit. It is greatly enhanced when the body is free from nervous system interference and you are able to fully connect with your authentic self. 

I love Ecstatic Dance because it is a great workout, I can practice some meditation on the sideline when my body needs a break but my spirit needs to be even more connected. The music is intense, spiritual, and creates an energy in the room that resonates with all the cells of the body. Increasing their vibration, one by one, until all seventy trillion plus cells of the  body are vibrating on a higher level and raising the vibration of the planet. It is powerful and an experience that I treasure in my own genuine heart space.

Joyful creative expression is always enhanced when innate is flowing freely. Trust innate, feel the vital energy of every cell of the body, and pour that love and light out into the universe. Find pleasure in your painful challenges and live the life you have imagined.



ADIO Love,
Dr. Elizabeth

 

Vulnerability Requires Effort

Vulnerability is often associated with “negative” emotions like shame however, Brene Brown in Texas found in her work that it is also the birthplace of joy and other positively associated emotions. She also found that we cannot selectively numb one emotion, when we try to do that we simply numb all emotions. It is in these times that we shut down, have break downs, feel depressed, anxious, and lack confidence. This vicious cycle leads to further feelings of shame and the cycle continues until we make the decision to shift into a new space. This means: new thoughts, new feelings, thawing all emotions in order to sort through them, and opening the heart space.

I find this research fascinating and listen to her TED talks over and over again, each time learning something new! The part that is exciting to me is that I know we can go through a critical transition into allowing vulnerability to be a positive experience leading to more joy, happiness, love, and abundance. My interest is in assisting others to identify their greatest challenge and turn it into an asset.  This desire developed along my own journey of acceptance of my eyes / vision and learning how to make this an asset.  Journeying into your core, your genuine self, is extremely challenging and requires patience and persistence. We live in a society that demands instant gratification so patience and persistence are becoming lost arts. IT requires creativity to foster their development as life skills and instead of exploiting your technology by living each second of your day based around it, employ it. There are so many health apps available, you can set reminders with your positive affirmations, and create a mindfulness in your day that is aided by technology not a parasitic relationship with that piece of technology.

My personal  journey is slowly revealing my authentic self and as I connect the dots I am realizing my full potential. It is all centered around chiropractic philosophy and assisted by life experiences and passions. My passions are social and environmental justice, organic cooking, embracing all of the senses , teaching others, reading, writing, and  expressing my innate creativity. In order to be creative, I have realized I must create an environment that supports my senses. This means all my basic needs must be met, healthy food, clean water, good music, scent, natural light, and comfortable furniture. It is in this environment that I thrive, having my external environment support my inside-out creative process.   As a child, I had a dedicated art room. It had every supply I could  imagine and I spent hours in that room painting, drawing, making jewelry, and other projects.  I thought I had lost that part of my heart when my vision was ripped away but I am now realizing it is part of my essence and I must get it back. Just like when I finally went horseback riding for the first time after losing my vision, several months ago, I feel myself connecting to my genuine self through being creative.  This includes things in my practice being congruent, genuine, and fostering collaborative creativity. This includes me stepping out of my comfort zone and writing  vulnerable pieces because that is part of my heart.  Embracing large audiences and telling them my story within the context of the chiropractic story only helps me get closer to my truth. I have decided to learn how to throw pots so that I can sculpt with my extra sensitive palpation skills and to take a poetry writing class. I love learning and will continue to learn about  chiropractic and work on those skills. I believe  that allowing myself creativity time will only enhance my adjusting and communication skills in practice. I will be more connected with my own innate intelligence, which will allow me to make specific adjustments with the most pure intent.

Regular, lifestyle care, chiropractic adjustments remove the interference in my nervous system and allow my fullest potential to be expressed. I encourage this style of care for all people so that each one of us can live a life of purpose, love, and express our inborn potential!

Here I am, learning how to be vulnerable, in a society that increasingly discourages it or makes it into a weakness. I have finally realized my strengths! I am strong for going to graduate school and becoming a doctor without being able to see! I am expressing my innate potential by writing vulnerable articles and communicating the chiropractic story! I am courageous for meeting with over fifty other doctors and health care providers in my community in the past six months and for sharing my own truth and the story with them! I am living my purpose, I am creating a collaborative community that is congruent with my purpose and all along creating  positive vulnerability in all aspects of my life. Taking mini breaks to see where you have been and where you are going , will help this process. Keeping a journal is a way to keep track of your process while supporting your creativity through the art of writing.

 Vulnerability allows the heart space to open in new ways, streaming in light and pouring out love. Chiropractic is head, heart, and hands so I know that I must continue to work on all three aspects. I invite you to join me in this journey of self exploration to tap into yoru own innate intelligence so that you may live a life of purpose and of the fullest expression.

ADIO Love,

Dr. Elizabeth