Stand up for Yourself!

Stand up For Yourself!

How one "holds oneself" in the world is of primary importance. How you consider or maintain your position with respect to your self image; physically, emotionally, spiritually and energetically has a profound affect on what your life turns out to be like. The idea that where your attention goes is where energy flows, speaks to the idea that how we act and think and live in a moment to moment basis has a direct result on how things become. This is especially true of our bodies.

Our "posturing" in life reflects our physical and emotional development from all the way back to our early childhood. Our feelings of shyness, introversion, athletic prowess, habitual slouching patterns, etc have a profound effect on what shape our body and spine, becomes. Ones posture has a significant effect on multiple aspects of your health. For example, authors of a large study revealed that a greater than 1 inch height loss was associated with a 64% increased risk of death and a 43% increased risk of coronary events such as heart attack. The authors conjectured that slumping postures caused physical restriction of breathing which increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and respiratory conditions resulting in increased mortality risks.

A strong posture is a coordinated working of the muscles and skeletal system to balance the body for optimal performance and Strong Posture requires strong Balance, Alignment and Motion.

The following quote is from research by Norman Shealy, MD, a renowned physician in the world of integrative health care:

"Posture affects and moderates every physiologic function from breathing to hormonal production. Spinal pain, headaches, mood, blood pressure, and lung capacity are among the functions most easily influenced by posture. The corollary of these observations is that many symptoms, including pain, may be moderated or eliminated by improved posture."

Chiropractic with a focus on postural re-education is an effective way to work with making improvements in posture that can offer you a path to creating improved posture and its enhanced improvement in your health and well being.

May You be Well,
"Dr. Craig"

<!-- <p style="font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;color:#003366;font-family:arial;line-height:110%;">Featured Wellness Study:</p> <p>Placebos and Medications, Does What We Think Really Matter? Placebos are a topic that I love to discuss. They are simply the best deal in the world. After all, what other single (sugar) pill can affect 30-50% of all diseases and conditions known to mankind? I have always felt that the scientific research community was missing the boat on not studying this phenomena as a much higher priority. What has been dismissed as an annoying research-spoiler for big drug companies, actually points to the greatest insight of all that what we think about and what we put in or do to our bodies really matters!<br><br> A recent 2008 study performed at M.I.T. and published in the Journal of the A.M.A., proved the point in a rather expensive manner. Volunteers were given two pills; one group received a placebo said to cost $2.50 per pill and described as "a potent opioid-agonist that provides fast-acting, long lasting pain relief." The other group received a discounted 10 cent version of the same pill. The group receiving the higher priced version of the placebo accounted for a 30% increased reduction in pain compared to the discounted version, in other words, expectations are a key determiner to success. The average cost of a prescription of a brand medication these days is $111 compared to $32 for a generic drug.<br><br> According to Ted Kaptchuk, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, "How you package the experience…leads people to expect different outcomes, and those outcomes become embedded in human biology…This is just more evidence that the experience of illness is not only a biological event. Our beliefs, our imagination, our expectations, the environmental cues we receive all contribute to how we experience illness and death."</p> <p align="right">Acknowledgment given to Roni Caryn Rabin and MSNBC</p> -->

Recommended Book of the Month:

Stand Taller-Live Longer; An Anti-Aging Strategy 10 Minutes a Day to Keep Your Body Active and Pain-Free

by Dr. Steven Weineger

This is an excellent test/workbook that covers many aspects of posture and improved health. Dr Weineger is a chiropractor that I have personally studied with, and he has successfully arranged chapters that are easy to follow methods for improving balance, strength and motion in a 7 week exercise program designed to help you to adopt an important anti-aging program. Gym ball exercises, standing, sitting and sleeping instructions are thoroughly discussed. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in exploring this topic further. For additional information you can go to www.standtallerlivelonger.com.