Nature: the physician of all diseases

When it comes to health and almost everything else I am a huge fan of simplicity. Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough." Getting healthy, mentally and physically doesn't have to be complicated. A patient reported to me the other day, that she gets the deepest most restorative sleep while on camping trips. While at home however it is usually light and restless. She also made me aware of a small study where camping completely normalized circadian rhythms in a group of people in only a week. This is a great example of how simple getting healthy can be.  It’s amazing how being in nature can just make us feel good and it’s weird to think that we now live in white boxes, that are mainly devoid of natural sunlight and fresh air and that our bare feet hardly ever touch the ground. We literally and figuratively almost never connect with the earth.

Hippocrates the father of modern medicine recognized this when he said “Nature is the physician of diseases.” Teddy Roosevelt also knew the power that nature has to heal. On the Valentine’s Day 1884, both his mother and wife died hours apart.  The grieving politician left his political career and headed West to hunt and ranch for two years. Being in untamed country helped heal his mental wounds and he, with John Muir, became a driving force for creating the National Park system. John Muir believed in nature’s healing powers with absolute certainty. In one of his books he advised “Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in a while. Climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”

near Battle Creek, St. Paul, MN

Scientific studies have also documented what Hippocrates, Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir intuited. Earthing or grounding is the practice of purposefully walking or lying barefoot on the ground. Scientists have found that the earth gives off negative ions that can help decrease inflammation in the body and reduce blood pressure. I routinely tell patients to walk or lie in their backyard barefoot for a half hour a day. It sounds too easy but it really does help with a myriad of issues.

I am a city dweller and when I first moved to St. Paul I was surprised to find that there are plenty of places to find nature very close to home. Harriet Island or any of the other great parks in the city are a great place to start. The Mississippi River is also an amazing, uncrowded ecosystem to escape to. Gardening in the backyard is also a good option where you can get on the ground and get dirty without leaving home.

With kids it’s great to see how fast getting them outside can change their mood. Generally with my four year old the first go-to if it’s a rough day is to get outside and move until he’s worn out. The same goes for myself. I strongly believe that movement in nature is a basic requirement for health. If I’m having a depressing or lethargic day, the first thing I do to reset is to go exercise outside. There is a great quote from the classic book Moby Dick that I think about when I’m just blue or irritated for no reason. It goes:

“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.”

High Bridge, St.Paul, MN

I think most of us have felt that “damp, drizzly November in my soul” feeling and getting back into wild and untamed nature is oftentimes the cure. In chiropractic, we call the healing power of nature “innate intelligence.” Innate intelligence is the inborn wisdom of the body to heal itself when there isn’t outside interference. One thing I love about chiropractic is that it can be summed up very simply. When we take away outside interference, be it physical, mental, environmental or nutritional the body will naturally heal using its inborn wisdom. Nature is one way to remove a great deal of interference and should a be a regular part of everyone's daily health routine.

Becoming a Mental Caveman

I once attended a nutrition seminar where the speaker was joking about how one of his colleagues, who was from Italy, was asking him what the healthiest oil for cooking was. He jokingly berated her saying “How could a full-blooded Italian question the merits of olive oil? Clearly, it's been used for thousands of years by Italians and it seems to be working out pretty well for them.”

Looking at the traditional wisdom and applying those lessons to our modern world is something that is very popular now in alternative healthcare. One big idea in eating that really introduced me to this concept was the Paleo Diet. This diet was created by an anthropologist who studied the diets of Paleolithic ancestors of humans. He found that grains didn't exist in any part of these people’s diets and therefore he deduced that they probably shouldn’t be a part of our diets either.

Practices that evolved alongside humans and that were seemingly discovered by a mix of trial and error, evolution, and intuition over thousands of years generally work out to be a safe bet when it comes to health.  Michael Pollan has written about how in America we have only several hundred years of history and a melting pot of so many different cultures. Comparing that with a continuous culture for thousands of years in Europe and Asia, he argues that maybe this is why our diets are so terrible. We jump on every new fad and change our diets every time the news has a report that a certain food is good for something or a certain diet is trending.

In nutrition it is now easy to see and follow what past generations and even cavemen were eating and preparing. In exercise it’s not that hard to see either. We have drastic changes in how modern man now uses his body physically. We sit more than we ever have before and our amount of physical activity is tiny compared to past generations. I like gyms and organized exercise but there’s always a tiny part of me that thinks that lifting a heavy object over and over or running around the block for no reason other than to wear myself out is a little silly.

Cavemen were doing those exercises not by choice but so they could survive each day. Most forward thinking trainers are now moving towards exercises that mimic how our body would move in nature. Basically a "Paleo Workout." Paul Chek, a trainer I love, calls these exercises Primal Pattern Movements. He breaks down exercise into focusing on doing particular movements (squats, lunges, bends, pushes, pulls, twists etc) rather than focusing on specific muscle groups (back, bi’s, chest, tris, legs and abs). As an added note, I am a firm believer that exercise in nature such as surfing, paddling, swimming, hiking, sprinting etc, have a much greater benefit to your health as compared to exercising indoors. Our bodies evolved outside, it’s not too far of a stretch to assume that moving outside is better for us.

The biggest contributor to poor health in my opinion however is not diet or exercise. For the vast majority of people, mental stress is number one. Comparing what we do today versus what our caveman ancestors had to go through, one would think that our lives now should be relatively stress free. The chances of us dying from day to day are very low. We live in ultra comfortable, climate controlled, sterile surroundings. Food is relatively cheap and easily accessible. We never have to worry about going without a meal.  Medical care for traumatic injuries is outstanding. The days of worrying about being eaten by a hungry carnivore, killed by a neighboring tribe, or suffering an injury that will ultimately lead to death are all gone. On the surface it seems that the days of survival of the fittest are over and our stress levels should be relatively low. Why is it then that we are all still stressed out?

The reason is that the days of survival of the fittest never ended. The stress of predators and impending doom that our ancestors had never went away it just evolved. Instead of fearing lions and bears we now have to be vigilant of banks offering easy credit, salesman promising riches and politicians lying to us to gain influence and power. I am a huge fan of having a positive mindset while also having a firm grip on reality. Actually accepting that there are still predators out there can be very motivating to keeping a healthy body and mind.

Our ancestors had to stay mentally sharp, physically strong and rely on their local community to succeed in their world. In our world it’s the same. If you are too physically and mentally tired and you don’t have a community behind you in times of weakness you may get swindled or be influenced by a corporation or person that is only looking to profit at your expense.

I think about this a  great deal when reading to learn, exercising to become stronger and more energized, or meditating and breathing to focus better. You feel like you aren’t such an easy prey for all the predators out there. You feel resistant and defiant to the aspects of society that are looking to take advantage of you. The TV ads, evening news and politicians can't scare you or influence you. You can see through the b.s. and choose not to look at the world the way they want you to see it. You can influence yourself and see the world as you choose to.

 Also on a more positive note it's good to be reminded that our bodies are relatively the same as that which our caveman ancestors had. People have a great fear of their bodies now. For instance, we are afraid that a wrong step getting out of the car or one fall on the pavement can injure us for good. It’s good to be reminded that our bodies are pretty much the same bodies that once slept in caves and killed woolly mammoths with spears. We are much tougher and resilient than we give ourselves credit for and given the right care we heal back as well as ever. It's empowering to feel tough and strong despite all the challenges out there and when you feel that way mental stress radically decreases.

D.D. Palmer, the founder of chiropractic wrote that health sits on a theoretical three-legged stool. The three legs that hold up that stool are your mental, physical, and nutritional needs. We have to address all three. They all support your health and if one falters the other two won’t be able to keep that stool standing. They interrelate in the positive direction as well.  Improvements in one will help strengthen the other two. In this way, when we are suffering from a great deal of mental stress one of the best things that can be done is to focus on your physical and nutritional needs and the body will naturally become more resilient to mental stress. It's the old adage of "focus on the things that you can change and don't worry about the things that you can't". If you can't change what's stressing you out strengthen the areas of your life that you can. When the body get's stronger your mind gets little more bulletproof with it.

It’s still a dog eat dog world out there and the challenges of everyday life have drastically changed over human history. Despite this, when we honor what our body and mind needs to stay healthy and strong we are all very well equipped to handle what the world throws at us.

Change Is Easy, Thinking About Change Is Hard

A big part of what a chiropractor does is coach people on how to make changes to their health.  Making change, whether it be health, job, or any other part of life has some common difficulties.

A well-known chiropractor once said that, “Change is easy, thinking about change is hard.”  As a person that loves sailing I often see aspects of sailing that are great metaphors for life. One such aspect that relates to this is when you are out on the ocean and there are storm clouds looming. The anticipation of that incoming storm is the hard part. Sitting in the calm wondering how bad the waves and wind are going to get and what is going to break on the boat is incredibly nerve-wracking. Once you are in the middle of the storm however it rarely is as bad as you anticipated and you don’t have time to worry because you are busy managing the boat.  It’s the same for making changes to your health. Thinking of how hard it’s going to be and how you’re not going to be able to do it is the hard part. Once you get out of your head and into your body and begin taking real action, things fall into place and it’s easy.

I go to a local shop frequently and occasionally chat with an older guy that works there.  One time he was poking fun at his marriage and said “It’s amazing how comfortable two people can get being uncomfortable with each other.”  It made me laugh but I think it applies to making changes to health.  We’re comfortable being in the ruts were in.  It makes us uncomfortable to think about getting out of those ruts.

Once the change has been initiated there is another roadblock that commonly gets encountered.  The initial excitement of making that change begins to wear off and you start to slog through months of imperceptible shifts from day to day.  An acupuncturist and mentor of mine, Dr. Alan Arnette, says that true healing takes seasons, not days or weeks. This can be frustrating when we all to some degree have that “quick fix” mentality.  We begin to lose momentum.

An author I enjoy reading named Captain Fatty Goodlander, says that “Tenacity trumps knowledge and talent every time.”  In other words, you’ve got to “keep on keepin’ on”.   This helps me to break through this second blockade.  Captain Goodlander offers us more advice that I remind myself of weekly; “If you can’t move forward, move sideways but never give up.  Because a door will eventually open up and if you’re still in the game you’ll be able to step through to the next phase.”

The last roadblock occurs when someone is getting close to reaching their goal.  This is self-sabotage.

In the foreword to the book “The Alchemist” Paulo Coelho says that this is “the fear of realizing the dream...”  He goes on to say that “The mere possibility of getting what we want fills the soul of the ordinary person with guilt.  We look around at all those who have failed to get what they want and feel that we do not deserve to get what we want either.  We forget about all the obstacles we overcame, all the suffering we endured, all the things we had to give up in order to get this far.”  “This is the most dangerous of the obstacles because it has a kind of saintly aura: renouncing joy and conquest.”  

I see this almost every day with parents of young children.  These parents do indeed have this saintly aura because they have neglected their health and passions in order to be more attentive to their kids.  It’s difficult to remind ourselves that more than anything our kids need us healthy and living their lives with passion.  Why do we tell our kids to “Go out and live your dreams; you can do anything and be anything you set your mind to”, but then as soon as they do, we tell them “Shut up and stay in school.” (Captain Fatty) All the while they see us telling ourselves “I’d love to exercise more, eat better, and do what I love but I can’t because I’m just too busy.”

One more time Paulo Coelho gives us a little wisdom, he says “if you believe yourself worthy of the thing you fought so hard to get...then you help the soul of the world”  By making positive changes in your life you are not only bettering yourself but also the lives around you, and ultimately our collective World.

Detoxing the Mind: Doing a Media Cleanse

For the past year I have experimented with drastically cutting out “weapons of mass distraction” (as coined by Bruce Lipton) such as TV, radio, and newsprint from my everyday life.  It started for me when I began to get fed up with the advertising on television and what I felt those ads were telling me. “You’re not good enough, you don’t have enough money, you need drugs and alcohol to feel better, life is hectic, and there are people out in the world that want to kill me” were a few things I was hearing. In fact, just watching one half-hour episode of the evening news with the added bonus of a pharmaceutical ad every commercial break was enough to make me feel depressed and unhealthy.

The founder of Chiropractic, D.D. Palmer, wrote back in 1910 that poor health is a result of “thots, traumas, and toxins.” D.D. Palmer was truly ahead of his time in making this observation.  Today it is fairly common knowledge that there are mental, physical and nutritional causes of ill health but in that day and age it was a stretch. We know now that we have to eat better foods and move our bodies well to be well, but most of us are guilty of disregarding what we put into our minds. D.D. Palmer equated this to a three-legged stool. If you are focusing on your physical and nutritional needs but neglecting your mental well-being, the stool will fall over. 

In response to this I started to “fast” from the media. In essence I wanted to “turn off reality television and tune into reality” (Bruce Lipton again!) We unplugged the TV and stored it in the garage. On my drive to work I turned off the radio and visualized great things happening in my day. On the way home I listened to a great album or stimulating speaker to unwind (TedTalks, Spinal Column Radio). I gave up the newspaper and limited internet use to only when I was in the clinic; none at home.

There were times when I was incredibly bored at home. I had to revert back to reading books daily. When I couldn’t get myself to read I’d rent a movie and watch it on the computer. I figured at least there would be no advertisements in a rented movie. We started playing board games and we began having dinner with friends on the weekdays. My dog enjoyed much more attention and playtime. I played more too! I went to bed earlier. I was able to be more present with my patients and my results with them improved. When I did happen to catch a news piece or ad it was easier for me to read between the lines and see what message they were really trying to convey to my subconscious. In short, I think I was able focus my mind more on the “now” and less on the negative messages and distractions media presents that have no bearing on our day-to-day lives.  

There are negatives to tuning out. I can’t follow politics or sports very well. I feel like an irresponsible citizen. I have no idea who I will vote for or even if I’m informed enough to vote. In my mind, however the positives outweigh the negatives. Mother Teresa was asked one time “What can we do to promote world peace?” She replied simply, “Go home and love your family.” For me it’s more important to feel connected, focused and engaged to the people and events within my day-to-day life rather than be up-to-date every hour on the latest political scandal or natural disaster on the other side of the globe. 

Chiropractic at its core is focused on empowering people to thrive throughout life rather than just survive till death. When we take into account how we treat our bodies, what we eat and what we choose to put into our minds, the body heals all on its own and true wellness happens, no medication necessary. Try it for yourself. Do a one month news fast. Use the extra time you gain to do something fulfilling, engaging, or fun. Share what you discover with others.  It’s enlightening to discover what lies beneath all that mindless chatter.

The Comforts of Being Forgotten

In the last week how much have you thought about your great-grandparents? I would venture to guess that most of us would answer not at all regarding these important family members. It’s a bit scary to think that in more or less three generations you will be forgotten. When my wife first thought of this idea, it immediately summoned up a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. How can the memories of us all but vanish that quickly?  

I think that feeling in my stomach was my ego getting very uncomfortable. Ego or self-importance can create a great deal of unnecessary stress. Most of us think of ourselves as being important, with important things to accomplish. Sometimes when this self-importance gets a little over-grown in our minds we start to exaggerate the things that don’t matter in our lives. A large amount of unnecessary stress can come from “sweating the small stuff.”  Realizing how brief and rather insignificant our life is can put things into perspective.

I like to use this exercise of knowing that I’ll be forgotten as a tool when I’m stressed and I need to manage my thoughts. Dr. Wayne Dyer calls it “being the observer.” In other words, stepping back and realizing that in the grand scheme of things we are but a small piece of something larger and these trivial worries that start to run our lives are so tiny that it is laughable in how much it invades our well-being.

There’s nothing wrong with being forgotten in three generations, in fact it can be very comforting. Who is going to remember my shortcomings, mistakes and failures? Why should I ruin my health and enjoyment of life stressing about everyday problems? Why shouldn’t I take risks and do what I love without fear of failure or what others think? When we see that we aren’t all that high and mighty, our sense of self-importance gets out of the way and allows for what really matters to surface.

Roller Coaster

My first son was born a short time ago. When he was lying in the baby warmer being weighed I was looking at him and thinking about how he had been allotted roughly 100 years of life. When that first 24 hours was over I was thinking how 100 years seemed like such a small amount of time and how already one day was gone. They pass so easily and as I’ve gotten older the weeks and months start passing by faster and faster. I thought of how a quarter or more of my time here on earth is gone.  It scared me that I’m already that far along. Had I wasted my time here so far? Could I have used it in a better way? Do I have regrets?

I’ve heard a great analogy about life as a roller coaster. When we enter into life or a roller-coaster we step onto this ride knowing that we are going to be experiencing a wide range of ups and downs. But we step onto it knowing that it’s just a ride, that it’s only temporary and that we made a choice to be on it. When we experience the thrills or fear of the ride, it feels real through our whole body, but we know that the ride will come to an end and that we’ll be let off safe and sound back where we began.  

It helps me to think of this when times get tough. It’s very easy when life isn’t treating you well to feel like your whole world is crashing down and that this one bad experience will ruin you forever. When I look at life like a ride, it helps me to step back. I remind myself that I chose to experience these emotions and hardships. I know it’s only temporary and I know that in the end I will return back to where I began. In this perspective it seems less serious and grave. I don’t have to worry about “wasting” days or losing time. I don’t have to worry about my success or regrets. I’m just experiencing the ride, and in the end I’ll be getting off none the worse for wear.  

When I look at my boy I hope he doesn't take life too seriously. I hope he enjoys it and realizes that it is only a ride and the ups and downs and thrills and spills of everyday life are just temporary. As long as he's happy and serving others for the majority of it, it's time well spent. It's too short to be spent dwelling on worries and pain. It's just a ride; there are bigger and broader things out there. Eventually in 100 years or so he'll be undoing his lap bar and stepping off of it like all of us do. As long as he's learned a few lessons for what’s next, and as Ralph Waldo Emerson puts it “knows that even one life has breathed easier because he has lived.” He’ll have succeeded in my book; and if not, I'm a believer in do-overs :)