May ‘23 Newsletter
A Letter from Dr. Phillips
The body has the power to heal itself. That’s the central tenet of chiropractic philosophy.
Yet how can that be true? Illness, conditions, and syndromes abound. Anyone living in a body knows the body’s failures to heal itself. Assuming the body can heal itself, why doesn’t it do so? And where does chiropractic fit in?
The process of chiropractic can be explained by comparing the body-brain relationship to a safety pin. A safety pin can be open or closed. When open, it can’t pin anything into place. It’s just a sharp misshapen needle. When closed, it forms an unbroken loop.
Ideally, the brain and body form a closed loop as well in which information from our senses flows from body to brain, the brain interprets that information, and then sends instructions out to the body. It’s through this loop that the brain perceives and responds to challenges the body faces. This “safety pin cycle” is how a person adapts to stressors.
In the same way that a safety pin can be opened, the cycle of info between brain and body can break when the amount of stress peaks. Suddenly there’s a disconnect that challenges the body’s ability to receive accurate information about stressors moment-to-moment. The brain must try to guide the body the best it can with faulty input. The output that results may lead to misuse of the body, putting additional stress on joints and viscera. Then the body has to work even harder to sustain day-to-day function.
Chiropractic aims to repair the disconnect, closing the loop that restores the brain-body information cycle so that a person can finally adapt to the stressors they face.
If you’re one of my patients, you know that restoring the cycle rarely happens in a single visit from the chiropractor. If that cycle has been broken for a while, your body has been doing its best to adapt with suboptimal conditions, and the bad habits that were learned have to be unlearned. Just like when you are learning a new skill, your brain-body loop needs repetition and practice to rehabilitate.
That’s why I offer packages of chiropractic visits at a discount for patients who need consistent care. But ultimately, the goal is for you to need me less and less as your nervous system builds up the resilience to handle any stress you may encounter. So long as your brain and body can listen to one another, that power resides in you. If you need help tapping into that power, I’m here for you.
In health,
Announcements
Sequoia Chiropractic offers family discounts for two or more people during the same home visit. Get the whole family healing better!
Sequoia Chiropractic also offers adjustment packages at a discounted price: buy 4 adjustments and save $40.
All new patients through the end of May receive $15 off the exam, bringing the cost of the first home visit complete with exam and adjustment to $190.
Through the end of May Sequoia Chiropractic is pledging funds to the Food Bank of Southern California: $10 for every new patient and $5 for every new subscriber to the newsletter. Every little bit counts, so please share the newsletter with a friend or two! I will announce the amount donated in the next newsletter.
I will be out of town from May 29th through June 2rd. Call or text 626-346-0977 to get on the schedule before then.
Sequoia Chiropractic’s home visit hours are MTWF 9am-2pm through May 26th. These hours will be expanding starting June 4th to include some afternoons and evenings. Keep on the lookout for an announcement of new hours on social media and www.sequoiachiro.com.
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.
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 to Sequoia Chiropractic’s bookshop.org storefront, where every purchase supports the local bookstore of your choice.
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
James Nestor
In Breath, journalist James Nestor explains the significance of breath to health, and describes strategies that can be employed to improve your breath to improve your health. He incorporates interviews, first-person experiences, occasional snark, and scientific information translated into lay terminology.
Let me be honest: I don’t love Nestor’s writing style. Each chapter reads like the transcript of a podcast, with dramatic flair and analogies that remove scientific specifics. Keep alert to distinguish his own opinions from the observations he reports–he conveys both in the same journalistic tone.
That said, this book taught me plenty. Nestor is well-researched and organized, with a summary of breath-work strategies and clear directions for how to use them. I can’t help but recommend this book.
Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy
Angela Garbes
May is the month of Mother’s Day, so of course I had to share a book to honor all the moms out there!
In this book I love that Garbes centers women in the story of birth: “There are no babies without us” (46). Each chapter covers a topic of pregnancy and the postpartum phase from a feminist perspective. Ways to improve systems around pregnancy are presented chapter by chapter as well, rather than saving all of the solutions for the end. If you’re familiar with the science of pregnancy and birth, you may find Garbes a bit superficial, but the feminist lens is strong throughout.
Health Affirmation
Last month I attended a concert by the Urban Voices Project, a nonprofit organization that works with individuals marginalized by homelessness to heal through music. Prior to each participant’s solo performance, the music therapist introduced the event with a phrase that struck me:
When in doubt, breathe out
We often hear that we ought to take a deep breath. In times of stress the intake of breath may be shallow, but that’s not where the problem lies–we breathe in, but forget to breathe out. And only once you’ve breathed out can you take a nice deep breath in. So when in doubt, breathe out.
Nutrition Spotlight
With allergy season upon us, Allqlear may be the thing you need for fast-acting symptom relief that can be taken daily. I haven’t found any other supplement that mimics this formula which uses a compound found in quail eggs, hence the goofy spelling of its name. (If you happen to be allergic to eggs, steer clear!) It’s chewable, thus kid-friendly, and tastes kind of like a Flintstones vitamin.
I only recommend products that I’m confident are safe and effective from companies I trust. While in the United States nutritional supplements are not regulated by the FDA, other countries DO regulate supplements. Integrative Therapeutics products, including Allqlear, are regulated by the FDA-equivalent in Germany, which assures you that what is listed on the bottle is exactly what you find in the bottle.
One final thing about Integrative Therapeutics: they play nice with online selling platforms. So if you want to purchase from Amazon, you can. Their sales department has a good relationship with Amazon and has worked to ensure that only their legitimate products are sold there. Of course, you can also opt to order them from Sequoia Chiropractic’s Fullscript webpage, where all orders are discounted 10%.
If you ever have a nutrition question, please reach out! You can call or text 626-346-0977, email drphillips@sequoiachiro.com, or fill out the inquiry form on the website.
One More Thing
Yoga with Adriene Pranayama Potion
Yoga with Adriene is my favorite yoga resource, and I keep returning to this twenty minute breathing exercise minus the tricky poses yoga is known for. If breath work is new to you, this is a great place to start!
Keep your eyes peeled for the next newsletter in July. Until then, Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there, good luck on finals to all the students out there, and to all of you: be well!
