All You Need To Know

 

Pretend that you know absolutely nothing about Chiropractic. If I were to ask you how important your brain and nervous system are in running the day-to-day operations of your body, what would you say? My guess is you would say “Very important.” Some of you may even understand that their function is vital to both the quality and quantity of your life.

To appreciate the extent of the nervous system, just look at Christopher Reeves, the actor who played Superman. He fell from a horse and injured his spinal cord. The result? His brain could no longer talk to his body. The function of EVERYTHING diminished and he eventually lost his life to an infection that most would have resisted.

He didn’t break his legs …but he could no longer walk. He didn’t break his lungs …but he often needed a respirator to breathe. He didn’t break his digestive tract …but required special enzymes to help digest food. What he damaged was his Brain – Body Connection and, as such, he interfered with his POWER SUPPLY!

The fact is you live your entire life through your nervous system. It is the coordinating system whereby countless billions of body cells interact in harmony to express mind, body, spirit, emotion, artistic talent, speed, stamina, coordination, health, every level of performance and even the actualization of one’s potential.

Innately people recognize that the connection between the brain and the body plays a key role in living an extraordinary life.  But they fail to realize it needs to be cared for and safeguarded.

Insert properly applied Chiropractic here.

Most people believe Chiropractors are back doctors, bone doctors or spine doctors, yet Chiropractic is none of the above. Chiropractors in a Life By Design office have one objective-- to optimize and maintain the integrity of the nervous system. Period. The only reason we even look at the spine is because this is where the spinal cord is. If your spinal cord were in your hand, you’d know Chiropractors as hand doctors.

All you really need to know is that we all are designed to function, heal and re-create from the inside out. No matter what other steps you add, without a proper nerve supply, you can never be at your full potential.

 

Dr. Michael Gibson is a Kanata chiropractor and the clinic director of The Wellness Group, a multidisciplinary health facility.  He currently practices chiropractic in Kanata full time with a focus on educating and empowering his practice members to live the best life possible through the principles of Life by Design.

Slave To Your Genes Or Master Of Your Destiny?

When Watson and Crick discovered the DNA molecule in 1953 they proclaimed, “We’ve found the secret of life!” It sparked over six decades dedicated to the pursuit of uncovering the genetic cause of disease.

We were told The Human Genome Project would map our DNA and tell us of the grave future that lay ahead. Thankfully, Big Pharma had plenty of chemical solutions to keep us alive and ticking.

The results? Well, let’s just say they’ve fallen quite short of the hundreds of billions invested. In 2009, 27 prominent geneticists published a paper in the journal Nature acknowledging they had discovered no more than a fractional genetic basis for disease.

It’s not that genes don’t matter; it’s that they don’t predetermine your life. Only a small percentage of disease is “purely” genetic. Bruce Lipton, a former Stanford cell biologist and author of The Biology of Belief, suggests less than 5% of our known diseases are genetic.

Genes play a role in all body function, as they are the blueprint for creating proteins, the basic building blocks for hormones and other important molecules. It is estimated one gene makes up to 30,000 different proteins. This means, for the vast majority, having a certain gene does not necessarily default them to having a particular disease condition.

How those genes are expressed are a result of our lifestyle choices and stressors. It is our environment that is the primary determinate in the way our genes are expressed. How we live, eat, move, think, the quality of our neurological function and the toxicity of the world around us form the basis of our quality and quantity of life.

It’s why twins with identical genetics can have different health levels, so much so that one can develop disease once thought purely genetic and the other live well and vital. As Dr. James Chestnut says: “You are the genetic expression of your lifestyle choices.”

New research in the field of Epigenetics shows that even our grandparents’ food choices may affect not just the health of their children but that of their grandchildren! Amazing.

What can be controlled is your choices.

The limiting factors for healing and attaining optimal health are time and how much damage has been done with genes turned on in an unhealthy way.  And only time will tell what the body is truly capable of.

This is the foundation of Life By Design. Identify what the body needs and then create a lifestyle around fulfilling all those requirements for a period of time, preferably a lifetime.

Dr. Michael Gibson is a Kanata chiropractor and the clinic director of The Wellness Group, a multidisciplinary health facility.  He currently practices chiropractic in Kanata full time with a focus on educating and empowering his practice members to live the best life possible through the principles of Life by Design.

30-Day Eat By Design Challenge

We will be launching our transformational Eat By Design 30-Day Challenge again on Monday, February 13th. It was created to help you take all of the knowledge you gained from the Eat By Design Seminar and put it into action.

Be sure to visit the My Life By Design Facebook Fanpage and "like" it so that you will have access to it all. The bulk of the 30- Day Challenge will be hosted from that page in order to bring the entire Life By Design community worldwide together into one central hub. Throughout the challenge we will be posting recipes, tips, resources, articles, as well as what we ate that day to help you implement all that you've learned.

To participate simply write "I'm in!" on the My Life By Design Facebook Fanpage to let everyone you know you are challenging yourself for 30 days to live as close to "By Design" as possible - accountability is powerful!

Follow the steps: Brain Body Connection - Eat By Design - Move By Design- Rest, Play, Love - Clearly Define Your Purpose -the more you follow the bigger the impact.

This is not simply about "losing weight", there is enough of that mentality to go around, it is about being well, fulfilling the requirements for a full expression of life and watching what happens, not just to your physique but your well-being.

Participate - share your goals, recipes, your meals, pics (take pre/post for yourself and even post them if you're courageous!), take a few measurements (waist, thighs, arms, chest - there will be millions of physiological changes but it's nice to measure a few) ask questions, encourage others.

Looking forward to hearing of your successes!

Dr. Michael Gibson is a Kanata chiropractor and the clinic director of The Wellness Group, a multidisciplinary health facility.  He currently practices chiropractic in Kanata full time with a focus on educating and empowering his practice members to live the best life possible through the principles of Life by Design.

Kanata Chiropractor

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]“One day I felt fine, and then the next day I was just. . ..” How often have you heard this? Probably enough that you do not even recognize the absolute absurdity of that statement. Except for severe traumas, such as car accidents, major falls, poisoning, etc., people do not suddenly become ill. Disease does not occur spontaneously.

Small traumas, long-term abuse and negligence, though unnoticeable at first, take their toll on the body over a period of time. When the first symptoms appear, the body has already been malfunctioning for some period of time — often years.

Studies have shown that a significant percentage of children undergo trauma during the birthing process. Wellness Chiropractors are trained to identify aspects of this damage called the Vertebral Subluxation Process. Not only will this spinal and neurological imbalance become part of a child’s structure as they develop, but many of them will go 30 or 40 years – and possibly the rest of their lives — with the effects of that initial damage to the spine and nerve system affecting both their health and quality of life.

Any interference in the body’s master control system results in a lessening in every aspect of that child’s function. An impaired nerve system could reduce immune function, concentration, recovery from illness and injury; it could lessen athletic performance and digestive function.  It could even alter behaviour.

While it is true that people often see a chiropractor to help them recover from physical health problems, that is not the purpose of chiropractic care. Chiropractic adjustments are aimed at correcting misalignments that compromise neurological integrity. This is vital for everyone to reach their full health potential.

Some may be concerned about the forcefulness of an adjustment for a growing child. That would be a legitimate concern if all people received the same adjustment. Thankfully, they do not. Each person is adjusted according to their age and size. No two adjustments on the same person are even the same, let alone on two different people.

If we understand that health means 100% function, not merely being symptom-free, then the function of the nerve and spinal system needs to addressed.

Who has more potential to fulfill and more to gain from chiropractic care than our kids?

Dr. Michael Gibson is a Kanata chiropractor and the clinic director of The Wellness Group, a multidisciplinary health facility.  He currently practices chiropractic in Kanata full time with a focus on educating and empowering his practice members to live the best life possible through the principles of Life by Design.

Turning Resolutions Into Results

 

Every year millions of people worldwide attempt to erase memories of shortcomings past by making resolutions at the beginning of January. Fast forward 365 days, and most are doing it all over again with very little having changed in the gap. What stops all of those well-meaning resolutions from becoming actual results that improve the quality and quantity of people's lives?

Inaction seems to be the obvious answer.  Not doing that which you say you will makes it pretty difficult to achieve much of anything. But I suggest inaction is just another symptom -- a symptom of the core problem that robs so many of the extraordinary lives they deserve. The real culprit is "The Limiting Belief," the deeply held conviction that something is true when it just simply is not.

One of the strongest beliefs limiting the masses (and there are many) is "not having enough time." Last I checked we all had the same number of hours in a day and the same number of days in a week.  In five years (260 weeks, 1825 days, or over 2 million minutes) Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel.  And Shakespeare wrote "Hamlet," "Othello," "King Lear," "Macbeth" and five other immortal plays. Even Life By Design was created in less than one year! You may never have enough time for everything, but you’ll ALWAYS have time for the most important things. Time is not the issue.  Priorities are.

The solution is to start by asking two very simple questions: "What do I want?” And  “Why?"

Do you want fat loss, health, money, more vacation, travel? Wonderful! Dream big.  Don't be held back by what you simply THINK you can have. What do you REALLY want?  But the more important question is “Why?” Does losing some weight, adding health, gaining more money or time really excite you? Of course not. But what they each mean to you does! More energy, more freedom, more time with family, feeling better, gaining confidence, helping others.... When you begin to get clear on your "Why's?" the "How's?" naturally fall into place. Those nagging and limiting beliefs (“I’m not good enough, I don’t have enough money, and I don’t have enough time"),  become less defining factors and it is your purpose that drives you.

Spend more time and energy this January understanding and defining your “Why.” Having a well-designed plan such as Life By Design can transform your life, but only when you have the strength of purpose to make it worth following.

Dr. Michael Gibson is a Kanata chiropractor and the clinic director of The Wellness Group, a multidisciplinary health facility.  He currently practices chiropractic in Kanata full time with a focus on educating and empowering his practice members to live the best life possible through the principles of Life by Design.

Does Flu Season Really Exist?

 

Soon it will be that time of year again. You'll see it and hear it everywhere you go. Maybe you are thinking this message is early as we haven't even made it through the holidays yet.  You say you still don't know what I am talking about. Well, think about it. After all the shopping and worrying-- about what to get who, will it fit, do they have one already, can we afford it, and all the visiting--your friends, your family, your in-laws, your kids, all the partying--cookies and milk, nuts and beer, chips and pretzels, dips, vegetables, wine, cheese and crackers (all, of course, before you sit down to a big meal). And after all the last minute rushing around, lost sleep, and "I've got a million things to do"...  What on earth could possibly (and only naturally) follow all this? That’s right--the fever, chills, ache-all-over feeling, coughing, sneezing and complaining of the flu season!

Maybe you have never put these two together before but it seems to me to be more than just coincidence that “flu season” happens to occur  after we’ve basically stuffed ourselves for weeks, stressed ourselves out, probably destroyed any semblance of what might have been regular sleeping and exercise routines and, in general, completely abused our bodies. After all, we are too busy seeing people, going places (mostly Christmas parties... more eat, drink and be merry) and getting things done to consider our health!

Now we are not suggesting that we all forgo the preparation, partying or even the panic of the holiday season, but don't let the world con us into thinking that a flu season really exists. They say it just makes sense that at this time of year with the cold weather, and what is in nature a time of lean nutrition, that an overabundance of germs would exist and cause many people to become ill. In fact, the opposite is true. The cold weather kills many germs.  The flu season is more a function of a society that has let its resistance be significantly lowered and consequently become weakened and vulnerable to everything and anything.  Why do you think more heart attacks occur during Christmas Holidays than any other time of the year?  Bad luck or unhealthy body?

If you want to be well, you simply must make your health a priority. Do as many of the things that contribute to attaining and maintaining your health as you can.  The simple solution is keep living "By Design".

Happy Holidays!

 

Dr. Michael Gibson is a Kanata chiropractor and the clinic director of The Wellness Group, a multidisciplinary health facility.  He currently practices chiropractic in Kanata full time with a focus on educating and empowering his practice members to live the best life possible through the principles of Life by Design.

Eat By Design Choices Now Available At Kelsey's

We are excited to announce that 3 Kelsey’s locations in London, Ontario now have a Life By Design Approved Menu.  This is only the beginning…we hope to bring the Life By Design Approved menu to restaurants in Ottawa in the new year..we’ll keep you posted!

Dr. Michael Gibson is a Kanata chiropractor and the clinic director of The Wellness Group, a multidisciplinary health facility.  He currently practices chiropractic in Kanata full time with a focus on educating and empowering his practice members to live the best life possible through the principles of Life by Design.