Over the past couple weeks we have really enjoyed watching the 2016 Rio Olympics.  We've found ourselves staying up beyond our normal bedtime routine to watch beach volleyball, track, and swimming events...thing we never watch accept every 4 years to be honest.  

One night watching, something else caught my attention.  I found myself recognizing how cool it was that each person doing their particular event could be a champion.  As amazing and inspiring as Michael Phelps is for his all-around performance (who hasn't had their jaw dropped by what that guy does), stepping out of the pool and watching women and men sling a shot-put, swing a hammer throw,  hurl a javelin, jump long distances, cycle up mountains, or flip on a 4-inch wide beam made me see something different: each of us has our own unique talents and abilities.

But you already knew that.  Hopefully you've been told that for years and know it to be true.  Hopefully you know what you're talents are and some of your weaknesses.  But I also want to shift this to conversation to how you keep yourself healthy. There are going to be different ways for each of us in making sure our bodies and minds stay as agile, flexible, strong, and durable as those athletes in Rio.

The unconscious lesson I want you to consciously recognize is that, just like in everything else, there is a method for YOU to find health and wellness that is specific to YOU.  Sure general rules apply (each veggies, exercise, etc.).  But your life and your body might need something slightly different than mine or your spouses to keep it feeling at its best.  The hardest part is finding out what those differences are.

That's where the "unconscious" part comes in.  In order to start noticing how to make these changes, you have to gain some level of awareness.  Pay attention not just to the food you eat but how it makes you feel in the 30 minutes to 2 hours afterwards.  Recognize if your exercise routine is causing more boredom than weight loss.  Notice if your days are spent stressed out agonizing over all the potential bad things that may happen instead of an optimistic outlook.  Each of these plays a role in your overall well-being.   

I first learned this lesson in school during a physiology lab where we were testing the kidneys.  I had been trying to keep up with my roommate who consumed huge amounts of protein that fit his heavy workout style and physique.   Even though I worked out regularly, often with my roommate, I discovered trying to eat that much protein was damaging my kidneys.  For him it was okay.  For me it was dangerous.  I had to learn what worked for me.  And in doing so I discovered how good I could feel. 

I was lucky to have a test show up that let me know something else was brewing under the surface.  I was unaware of the damage I was doing to my kidneys until that test.  But it served as a lesson in how each of us is truly unique.  Just like the variety of talents and skills displayed at the Olympics, we each have our own methods of health that serve us best.  The first step in capturing that awesome potential is becoming conscious of what works best for you.

The number of people regularly trying to lose weight is enormous.  And for most of us, our attempts often end up leaving us disappointed.  Considering that with each new cycle of diet-weight gain-diet-weight gain it makes it harder for us to shed those pesky pounds, having an actual plan that achieves deeper levels of health is really necessary.  So try using the R.I.G.H.T. way to lose weight.  (I'm literally making this up as I go but people love acronyms).

R- Relax:  Stress causes aberrations in your sugar and hormone levels.  The results? Fat deposited around your hips, butt, and gut.  Rest and relaxation are critical for any type of continued success when it comes to losing weight because without them, your body will continue to fight itself.  Of course, worst of all is getting stressed about not losing weight!  Talk about counterproductive.

I- Intentions: You say you want to lose weight.  But it's more likely that you want to have more energy, be able to play with your kids, or just feel sexy...it's okay to admit it!  From my experiences, weight loss as a goal lacks any real motivating power.  It just doesn't have any juice.  Find what means something to you and set that as the intention.  Far more likely to get you going and keep you on track towards your goals.

G - Get Moving: Yes you should eat well.  But you have got to get your butt moving if you want to rid the extra poundage and keep it off.  Walks, yoga, weights, karate, zumba....it doesn't matter what it is.  Just do it! (what can I say...Nike nailed it)

H - Heap on Praise: So much of dieting is based on misery.  No sweets, denied pleasures, strict plans with little wiggle room for things we enjoy.  Flip the script and start patting yourself on the back for the little things you do that are moving you forward.  Even a momentary thought of "I feel better" after a drink of water helps.  Too much pain = No gain.  WTF!?!  Did I really just say that? YES!

T - Taste: When my parents were trying to improve their health we replaced real cookies with SnackWells.  They were TERRIBLE!  Cardboard covered in tempting fake chocolate.  It was misery.  Today, we focus on how our food tastes.  We savor and enjoy it.  Know what we've found?  Bad food tastes bad.  Seriously.  McDonald's and Subway are gross.  When we started paying attention to the real taste of food we found that what we made at home was not only healthier but often tastes way better.  So slow down and enjoy your food.  You just might find that vegetables are enjoyable and the cheap stuff that comes from fast food joints tastes....cheap.

You know exercise is important.  You hear about it all the time.  But the traditional idea of jogging or lifting weights is just boring.  Even though you've tried, maybe it just wasn't enough of something (fun, effective, etc.) to make it stick.  

Yet you know you've got to do something...so what should you do?

Experiment.  Which means that you should try a little bit of everything.  I've written on how in our house we regularly spend time lifting weights, running, doing yoga, kicking metaphorical butt with Muay Thai, and lately (at least for Dr. A) joining some Barre classes.  

My point is simple.  One exercise isn't going to cut it.  And doing one form of workout alone is often so monotonous and draining that loses effectiveness and your attention.  So you quit.  No matter of willpower is good enough to overcome that.  And I'd rather you not be bored to death anyways.  

Then what's the solution?  What exercise is right for you?  Any of them and all of them.  Try them and see what you like and DO that.  Then, try something else.  There's no one way that is THE answer here.  They all work your body differently, which provides a huge benefit by itself keeping your muscles and mind active.  A pro quarterback doesn't just throw passes all day.  He runs, lifts, and does other exercise amidst his regular practice.  It's the combo that gives most benefit.

A good week for me exercising (one where I feel both excited, engaged, and energetic) includes 3 days of lifting, a day of yoga, and at least one day of Muay Thai.  Each one works me in different ways.  And I love it.  If you're struggling to find a routine, workout, or form of exercise that works for you, maybe the answer isn't finding the "right" exercise.  Most likely it's finding the "right" mixture of different forms of exercise.  

If there's one major problem I recognize when I talk to people in practice, teaching, or at conferences, it's that so many of us don't recognize how brilliant the human body is.  At the first sign of breakdown or upset we remark how our body is letting us down.  It doesn't work the way it used to and must be destined for failure.  Not only do I find this somewhat disheartening, I also think it's wrong.

Consider some of these facts about your body:

1. It is made of approximately 50 trillion cells (that's 12 zeros, I liked it up) all working together to make you healthy, happy, and wise.
2. Without you even being aware of it, your muscles, kidneys, intestines, lungs, heart, and countless other tissues provide moment to moment balance that keeps you awake, energetic, attentive, and upright.
3. Every bite of food you take is broken down and recognized by your gut where it is absorbed and turned into skin, eyes, teeth, nails, hair, muscles, and more.
4. A single deep breath relaxes every cell from the ends of your hair to the tips of your toes.
5. The alveoli in your lungs would be the size of a full tennis court if we flattened and spread them out. Your eyes have more molecules and atoms then there are known stars in all the universes and galaxies combined.

See, your body is pretty darn remarkable.  And when I see "pretty" I mean completely and totally!  Which is why viewing it as some bumbling machine is inaccurate and harmful.

If we learn to instead recognize its genius and listen to its messages we access a new world of information and insight into living happy and healthy.  This can take some work since many of us have learned to avoid these messages.  They are often subtle and nuanced.  They also come FROM the body and aren't always contained in our heads.  It may be your stomach quietly urging to avoid the donut, your muscles and joints asking for a 20 minute walk, or your mind telling you to stop working and play with your kids.  

The fact is....your body knows best what you need.  Tune into it and you suddenly have all the information at your disposal to create wellness and vitality.  Sure it takes some time and listening and probably even some mis-steps.  But even mistakes are information.  In fact mistakes are often how we learn best.  So what's your body telling you?

I recently had a discussion with another doctor that went kind of like this:

Him: "I think we outlive the usefulness of our bodies.  Think about prostate cancer or ovarian disease.  We always tell people it's not if, but when.  I don't think that we are supposed to live as long as we make our bodies go today."
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Me: "I pretty much totally disagree.  Do you think it might seem different as we get older and we might not get so-called age-related diseases if we ate right, exercised, had less stress, and took care of ourselves?  I think the body is designed to live even longer.  We just do a poor job giving it what it needs and then proceed to blame it for failing us."

He admittedly said he saw where I was coming from but still wasn't sure.  I, on the other hand, am rather certain about my point.  This incredible body is amazingly capable of doing so much.  But in general, we limit ourselves by false beliefs, poor choices in food, being lazy instead of just getting up and moving, staying way too stressed, and more.  It's unfortunate that when I see people in my office or speak to groups about this topic, the fault always is put on the decaying, not-so-smart body.
Commonly chiropractors label disease as "dis-ease."  My profession identifies dysfunction in the body not as something breaking down because that's just what it does.  We identify as breaking down because it's not being given the right nutrients and information it needs to survive and thrive.  In other words, there is a lack of ease in how the body normally functions.

Consider heart dis-ease, the most common cause of death today.  It is almost completely avoidable.  Diet, exercise, stress, mindset all directly influence whether this disease will even show up in your lifetime.  Sure, we blame genetics.  But the reality is that genetics play an outrageously small role in the development of heart disease.  It's our choices, and actions, that make it happen.  Genes may be the match, but McDonalds and nights in front of the television light the match that turns into a bonfire.

But how do we treat it?  Medication.  Sure, you'll be told you need to exercise and eat better.  But how many really do?  (honestly ask yourself how well you eat and exercise, not always easy to face your own answer.  I know from experience)  Instead we insist that your body is broken, it's function has failed you, and this mortal shell is simply breaking down.

I call BS.  Your body is able to heal, recover, regenerate, and excel unlike anything we understand in this universe.  Your heart isn't designed to suddenly stop working at 65.  It's actions that create and sustain life keep ticking for years beyond when given what it needs to live happy and healthy.  Trying to put an expiration date on you is ridiculous.  Give it what it needs and you'll be amazed at what you get out of it.  Age?  It's a number.  Are we all going to eventually die?  Sure.

But I'd much rather enjoy the ride and go live life than be stuck chasing dis-ease and simply avoiding death.  And whether you believe it or not, you do have a choice.
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I once read that 2014 was called the Year of Mindfulness.  The idea that we are able to find greater levels of health, vitality, peace, and joy by staying mindful of each moment is a popular one.  But it is possible?  No, really.  On a brain level is present time consciousness possible?
At the outset, it's easy to say no.  Consider any number of scenarios where are minds are almost anywhere else but "here."  Sit with your family at the dinner table and see where you thoughts go.  Drive to work and where does your mind wander?  Heck, try meditating (an actual practice in presence and mindfulness) and you'll find that you're even more prone to scattered thoughts about to-do lists and such than you ever imagined.  At least that was my experience.
But our great spiritual teachers all preach present time consciousness(PTC).  Honestly, it can seem beyond elusive and feel more like an impossibility.  My experience has been that the more I try to reach true PTC the further away I seem to get. And that's kind of the trick!
See, the act of trying means you've already put the present into the future.  If you're trying to reach something, you're putting it outside of your current position.  If it's outside of your "current" position than it can NOT be present!  Which is why the harder I tried the more I failed....and became angry, frustrated, confused, upset, sad, and so on.
In the brain, PTC is measured in the form of focus.  What aspects of the here and now are you giving your attention to and to what degree are you able to maintain that attention?  Looking within your neurology this is found in a region called your anterior cingulate gyrus.  When the anterior cingulate is active, it helps to maintain high levels of focus and attention.  Pair that with a region called the Reticular Activating System and the combined effect boosts not only your attention, but motivation as well.
Speaking brain-wise, PTC can be achieved when the anterior cingulate and the RAS system are clicking and firing at their best.  But how do we help them along?  How can we get these 2 regions active within our own brains on a regular basis?  And will that lead to more energy, peace, joy and love?
In my experience, the #1 thing any of us can do for our own PTC is a deep, slow, belly breath.  One breath where you focus on the inhale and exhale for even moments, microseconds, builds the strength and plasticity of those brain regions.  Repeat it 10 times, and they get stronger.  This is why something like meditation can be so hard at first.  You sit thinking you're about to enter into some super awesome spiritual realm and instead 20 minutes of total distraction trudges by.  This process is what Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith calls "putting in your miles on the mat."  Essentially, practice makes perfect...or at least improvement.
My own time putting in miles of meditation sitting in my home or elsewhere has led me to understand more how PTC works.  With regular practice, continued openness, and significant patience, more moments of PTC start flooding in.  And you'll know when they do.
Is Present Time Consciousness Possible? In every moment.  But capturing it requires great attention.  And in my experience great practice and patience.  But I can also assure you that finding it in the smallest moments (my daughter's laugh, kissing my wife, a sip of wine, the feel of sunshine) leads to profound levels of what we all search for: happiness and love.
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We are quickly approaching an important day on the calendar, and you probably don't even know what it is.  But if you've still been following your New Year's Resolutions thus far this day will be critical to you.  This time period is around the 5th - 7th week of year.  Which really means it's starting right now.  Here's why it's so important.

In our society's constant search for the best methods of changing habits, science has apparently found the magic number of days to actually form a new habit to be 66 days(see source below for details).  In total that means you have until the first week of March with consistent practice to form that new, awesome, life-changing workout routine, healthy diet, or meditation program.  That's less than 20% of an entire year to form a good habit.  Hooray!  But there's all those days in between that are the problem.

Why is early February going to be so critical?  Because that's the period of time when we are most prone to falling off the wagon.  The first 2 or 3 weeks are driven by energy, excitement, and a drive to "make this year your best year."  But that outward motivation eventually plummets.  Your routine becomes boring, the rest of life gets in the way, and it's during this time that falling into old habits becomes very easy.

How do you win in the face of this coming challenge?  "Power of Habit" author Charles Duhigg says that right now is the time to be  self-analytical.  Explore the deeper meaning of why you want to change.  What impulse is there pushing you forward and urging you to grow?  Finding this inner drive provides the power to continue moving in the direction of your dreams.  Not having it means falling into the same old patterns.

I refer to this as giving your Intentions Intensity.  This conjures up some subconscious junk that you need to remove or finds inspiration that encourages progress.  Part of the intensity in my intentions is my family.  I not only want to be around for my wife and daughter, I want to be able to fully engage and enjoy life with them.  I also find intensity in how I feel.  When I'm exercising and meditating regularly, I feel calm, joyful, inspired, optimistic, open, loving, grateful, and energetic.  My focus in what I'm gaining and how I feel about my actions instead of on the action itself.

This isn't some magic bullet, though.  It doesn't mean it makes everything "easy."  It just means that when you're bumping up against challenges, you have an inner compulsion that keeps you going.  Finding that intensity and attaching it to positive actions gets you through that crucial middle time period and propels you towards that 66 day mark.
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Source: http://elitedaily.com/life/motivation/need-stop-bad-habit-need-66-days/784244/

Growing up I can remember my mom had a collection of rose bushes on the side of the house. In full bloom they were beautiful and fragrant adding vibrant reds and whites to the landscape. But I also remember when she decided they needed to be pulled up. That meant my brother and I had to deal with the "other" side of the roses....the thorns.

It's a common saying that "every rose has its thorns." My question for you is whether you focus more on the thorns in life than the roses. Do you give attention to all the things that hurt you? Do you see the world working against you, bask in loneliness, and feel constant stress?  Or do you see the beauty and majesty of life, even through the tough times, finding possibility and plenty to be grateful for?

As always, it is a choice. It may seem that we are hard-wired within our daily lives to focus on everything that's going wrong. But it doesn't have to be that way.Shifting our mindset from a negative bias to a positive outlook impacts everything in your life including relationships, business, and health. Here's how to make the switch.

Start by becoming aware of your negative thoughts. Check in numerous times during the day to see if you're anxious, angry, sad, or fearful.   See if you're frustrated and angry on the drive to work or feeling depressed sitting in your home.  Just this one singular act can begin to change everything.
Ask yourself what the outcome of that feeling will be. Vernon Howard calls it "counting the cost." Does anxiety and fear stop you from being open with people? Does anger make you rude and bitter?

​Lastly, make the conscious decision to see the positive outcome. Focus on the rose and not the thorns. Find one thing to be grateful for.... and then another. Repeat this day after day and experience the awesome change a simple shift in focus can provide.

That summer pulling up roses was filled with scraped hands and bloody arms.  I realize today during that time I only focused on the thorns.  But I learned how to work with them and not them distract me from my goal.  Look at the rosebushes in your life and see where your attention is drawn.  Do you see a thicket of harmful thorns or the beauty of colorful roses?

Our minds lean towards identifying separation between everything. It sees the difference between you, me and everyone and everything else. Which helps when we're doing things like driving. But if we only ever see separation, and fail to find connection, something else happens.
Separation naturally leads to judgment. Since we're "different" I can form an opinion about how you do things vs. how I would do them. Making distinctions then lets me label things as good or bad, right or wrong, etc.
Judgment can naturally progress to fear. Seeing separation and forming ideas about how I'm right and you're wrong can turn into me fearing that you getting what you want is dangerous to me. We all want to be liked and we want to be right. If our opinions differ, we fear what the opposite holds for us and our way of living.
This is how we progress from a state of separation to one of fear. Over time, these become pathological (anxiety disorders are an example). You can stop the progress of these patterns by starting to recognize when you're in them. Notice when you sense separation, are judging others, or acting out of fear. Just noticing is the first step to breaking free.

Looking at brain function these two people most likely use different sides of the brain as a general rule.  The Scientist thinks with his left brain searching for logical explanations that fit neatly into organized classifications.  The Artist will be mostly right brain with a focus on creativity, beauty, and the feelings that come from his or her work. 

            In society, they often seem directly opposed.  The “intellectual” left brain finds no legitimate purpose feelings.  It wants to know the “how” of it all.  Having a tendency to focus heavily on left brain function myself, it often revealed itself as thinking that an art show was cool but pointless.  When I heard an artist talk about their inspiration, I rolled my eyes and searched for the nearest exit.

            Flip that and the “creative/emotional” right brain sees no purpose to understanding how something works without knowing what feelings it creates.  It wants to know the “why” of life. As a teacher and chiropractor I see the look in those right brain leaning people’s eyes when I begin my explanation of how our body works.  They might think it’s cool.  But what they really want to know is how the global outcome and purpose.

            Working from a differing point of view it’s easy to cast aside the other as someone who “just doesn’t get it.”  Left brain make decisions and arguments based on rationale, observation, and measurement.  Right brain people are living from gut instinct and intuition.  The Scientist looks at the Artist and says, “it’s the processes of life that make you live.”  The Artist regards the Scientist by responding, “it’s life and living that drive and give purpose to the processes.”  Opposition ensues and so does misunderstanding.

            Obviously I’m making a grand generalization here.  Yet, I’ve been witness to many conversations that have had similar scenarios played out just like the one I described.  Sometimes they’ve taken place in my own head.  Some have resulted in heated arguments and stubborn retreats.  Others have seen a beautiful merging between the ideas and found deeper insight on both sides of the brain. 

            What it takes for that to happen is a personal willingness to almost literally, see the topic from the other side.  Commonly known as seeing someone else’s point of view.  This requires engaging the other side of your brain, whichever that may be for you personally, and sending signals through the corpus callosum to integrate both logical thoughts AND gut feelings. 

            Here’s what I find really fascinating about this.  While we may put scientists and artists in different brain categories (a very left brain practice!), they both use the other functional aspects of their brains more than they probably realize. 

            A scientist has to be extremely creative in the design, implication, and understanding of their experiments.  They have to find ways to study aspects of nature that have never been studied.  If no one’s ever done it, how do you know what to do?  You don’t.  So you have to create it which takes right brain approaches to left brain understanding.     

            Artists usually have the global picture of their art and its end result clearly in their mind before they ever put a brush to canvas.  But now all across the United States people are taking one evening classes where other artists are walking them through a logical sequence of creating the overall masterpiece in three or four hours.  They are breaking down the whole to recognize the progressive steps.  Right brain merging with left brain. 
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            We do this all the time.  Yes, some people are going to be more directed one way or the other.  My friend, Jay Wright, is a brilliant entrepreneur.  He sees the big picture months or years down the road from a single, small project just getting off the ground.  He quickly accesses and moves with his right brain to see the global idea and end result.  Using a deep sense of awareness that he has cultivated through years of reading and self-examination, he has become incredibly efficient at seeing that big picture move through its progressive parts (more left brain).  Now his business has a specific end goal that Jay already knows, plus a blueprint for how it’s going to get there.  He’s followed this path with many businesses and has been incredibly successful.

So how are you going to work both sides of your brain?  Will you find a way to be creative while analyzing something at work?  Perhaps you can find a way to organize some abstract thoughts.  Either way, by connecting and utilizing both sides of your brain, you'll gain more data and insight that will propel you ahead in work and in life.