For Christmas, I received gifts pertaining to creative pursuits: macrame supplies, scratchboards, piano books, fancy artist markers, a sewing reference book with all the information I would need for any sewing technique or project, and two packs of quality gel pens that do not smear, even if you’re a lefty like me.

Having these supplies allows me to incorporate more creativity into my day-to-day life. For example, I’ve placed a few gel pens on my nightstand. This way, when I’m journaling at night I’ll draw something on the page instead of writing words. I subdue the analytical part of my brain and reflect on the day in a different way when I doodle that I find especially calming. I tweaked my day in this small way so that it’s better.

This idea of making small changes with profound results goes along with the words we use in chiropractic. Adjustment is the name for what I do. In the mainstream biomedical world, the term is spinal manipulation. I remember that in my first technique class at Palmer, we talked about the difference between the words adjustment and manipulation. Manipulation sounds intense, forceful, and a little dishonest. If you manipulate someone in a personal relationship, it’s not good! Adjustment, in contrast, is a gentler word, and it refers to making small changes that produce a big impact. To me, adjustment is the more fitting word of the two.

Your brain is the boss of your body. It receives messages from the nerves throughout your body, integrates the information, and directs what the body needs to do in response. The spine is the messaging highway between brain and body. When I adjust the spine, what I am doing is changing the input that goes into the brain about what’s going on in the body. In other words, I put an impulse of force into that vertebra in a specific direction. The brain receives this impulse as calibrated, accurate information that allows it to better regulate what the muscles around that joint are doing. There’s also evidence that the adjustment may even help the brain regulate other nerves at that spinal level, not just nerves to muscles, so that the nerves headed to your organs have better output to promote healing.

While I make fine-tuned adjustments to your spine, your body does the work of healing in response. The adjustment is just a small change that guides the body to do what it knows how to do, what it has inherent capabilities to do, which is to heal. This is the core of chiropractic: it helps you heal better.

With the new year we take up resolutions, grandiose plans to make us amazing, sparkly, fantastic versions of who we are. I would encourage you to think about your goals for the new year in terms of adjustment versus manipulation. Are you trying to manipulate yourself into doing something that’s unnatural? That doesn’t work for you, that isn’t true to you? Or can you make small adjustments that give you the opportunity to heal, to grow, to live the life that you want to live?

I have gel pens by my bedside. What’s going to be your adjustment?

Yours in health,

Book Recommendations

One of my favorite things to do is read, and in each newsletter I like to recommend a book (or few) pertaining to health. You can often find them at your local library which means you don’t have to spend a cent to enjoy them! However, if you want to purchase a copy, the links below will take you tp Sequoia Chiropractic’s bookshop.org storefront, where every purchase supports the local bookstore of your choice.

The Power of Ritual by Casper Ter Kuile

This is an easy but worthwhile read from a graduate of Harvard Divinity School who formerly hosted the podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. Ter Kuile first defines rituals, repeated actions imbued with meaning, and then offers suggestions for what kinds of rituals to incorporate into one’s own life. He breaks it down into categories such as rituals for an individual, for groups, for connecting with nature or God (it has some religious undertones, but Ter Kuile is neither judgmental nor prescriptive). When you feel like life is a never-ending hamster wheel, and you want to bring meaning back into your days, this is the book for you.

How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price

The title sounds intimidating, but the goal is to remake the relationship with your phone rather than to dump the device altogether. The first half explains how smartphones got to be so addictive, which supplies the motivation to do the second half, which is to alter the way you use your phone. Mindfulness is the first step: become aware of how much you use your phone and what you use your phone for. Then, think: is the way you use your phone the way you want to use your phone? Are you paying attention to what you want to pay attention to in life? To use the analogy from earlier, this is a book entirely about adjusting how you relate to your phone instead of manipulating that relationship into something so aspirational that it’s unattainable.

Health Affirmation

I can adjust my day in a small way

to make a big impact.

Think of one thing that you can do to make your life just a little bit better. Then replace the underlined words with that thing. Mine is meditating for ten minutes or less, so my version is: I can meditate for ten minutes or less to make a big impact. If you prefer more freedom, keep the affirmation as is and it will prompt you to consider a small change based on the day you have ahead of you.

Nutrition Spotlight

I’ve been super stressed out lately to the point where I’m having a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep. My head hits the pillow, my thoughts whir into action, and my heart rate goes up. Trouble sleeping begets more trouble sleeping, as life-anxiety turns into sleep-anxiety.

Enter Cortisol Manager, the superhero that saved my sleep. Better than a xanax (in my experience), this supplement contains magnesium and herbs that help lower circulating levels of cortisol, the chronic stress hormone. And it works fast. Take it within an hour of bedtime. It’s also powerful–I don’t need it every night. Even the next day I feel calmer because the compounding stress from one day to the next was successfully interrupted.

Want to give it a try? I bring samples with me to every home visit. Just ask! Or, you can order a bottle of your own at Sequoia Chiropractic’s Fullscript storefront. All orders through my storefront automatically receive a 10% discount and ship directly to you.

Announcements

Sequoia Chiropractic’s home visit hours are MTWF 9am-2pm. Need a weekend or evening visit? Don’t fret, just give me a call! Home visits allow for a flexible schedule, and I’m happy to find a time that works for both of us. Call or text 626-346-0977.

Need a health and wellness speaker for your local event? How about a guest article or blog post? Let me know! You can email me at drphillips@sequoiachiro.com.

Did you know Sequoia Chiropractic has Facebook and Instagram? Follow one (or both) to stay up to date.

One More Thing

Walnut Butter is my household’s new obsession. Walnuts contain essential omega-3 fatty acids that support brain and heart health. This recipe uses just a teeny amount of sugar along with vanilla and cinnamon to make a lethally good snack butter that tastes great on sourdough, overnight oats, or with a banana.

See you in March!

The next newsletter will come out at the beginning of March. Thank you for being one of Sequoia Chiropractic's wonderful readers! Who else in your life would enjoy this newsletter? Please share this link so they can subscribe. The back issues are posted there, too. Until next time, friends, peace out!

January ‘23 Newsletter