"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well neither does bathing. That's why we recommend it daily." -Zig Ziglar. In life different things motivate us to do things. I really like this quote because just like exercising our muscles so that they do not waste away we need constant motivation to keep us going in an upward direction. What are some ways that we can be motivated?
External motivation is a common motivation in our lives. In the example of children, if you motivate them with candy to do a task then they are more likely to accomplish this. Also in adults, you see all these different types of life coaches, whether it is a career coach, personal trainer, a "self help" book, or even clever phrases on Pinterest.com, etc. Although these are great ways to get started with our personal development they are still rather temporary. Back to the example of giving the child candy to do something, if the candy is no longer a reward the child is not likely to do the task. So how do we stay motivated each day like Ziglar suggests?
I propose that it is internally that we must look for daily long lasting motivation. If the child in the previous example learned to enjoy doing the task for the sake of being apart of the helpers for the greater good of himself and everyone else, he would be more likely to continue doing it. Even if he does not get the reward each time, he does the task simply because it needs to get done. Like the child, we always have to find the greater reason why we need to do things. When we have the "why" then we will not drag our feet as much when we work on a task. Another thing we need, along with the "why," is a view of the bigger picture. When we understand how each task relates to a bigger picture it makes each seemingly miniscule task worthwhile. Although these understandings are vital for us to develop internal motivation, we are still missing the key that holds everything together. In order for us to be continually self-motivated we need to build ourselves up. Build our self-esteem. Simply put, We Must Love Ourselves. As soon as we awaken to the incredible being that we individually are, the easier it is to do the things that will help us live to our full potential. Yes these are great principles, but you may be asking yourself how do we apply and develop them?
Here are the keys to master inner self-motivation:
1) You have to want something. (my example: I want to help others realize and live to their full potential through NSA chiropractic care.)
2) Next you need a plan on how to get there. This is where some of the external motivators can help. They can help set goals and plan the steps of achieving the goals. (I need to complete chiropractic school, and receive all training necessary to perfect my craft. Each day I study and work hard in my classes to achieve this overall goal.)
3) You need to come with grips that you will not be able to do everything at once. You will fail along the path. That knowledge should help to empower you to continue on. You are not perfect but the potential inside you is. (I have failed tests but still pushed through and prevailed in my classes.)
4) Track your accomplishments along the way. In the process we can lose sight of the progress that we have made but if we have a record to look back on we can see that in reality we have accomplished so much. This fuels us to continue on. (I keep a list of all my classes that I need to graduate and after each quarter I check off all the classes I have completed. This helps me track my progress.)
5) Finally you need to love yourself. Every morning you need to look yourself in the mirror and say this phrase: "I love myself for who I am right now." Even if you do not believe it at first, through daily repetition and hearing yourself say the words, you will come to believe it. So get some sticky notes and put this phrase on your bathroom mirror and have it scrolling by on your screensaver. The more you see and say it, the more you will come to love yourself and be motivated to live to your full potential.
I hope that through reading this I have helped motivate you to become more self-motivated. The choice is ultimately yours, my motivation to you is temporary. I cannot force you to do these things to better your life. I can simply share my experiences and knowledge and hope that you will take the next step.
-Mike E
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Tension
Have you ever felt like your whole body is locked up? I am sure we have all felt this way at some point or another. We have that project deadline looming over our heads, we have that financial burden occupying our minds, the pressures of everyday living in this chaotic world we live in is overwhelming us, etc. What it boils down to is we have let ourselves become reactionary to our environment rather than becoming proactive towards it. This causes all the stresses to be absorbed by our body in a defensive manner causing us to tense up. Tension is what I will be discussing today.
What are the effects of tension? When we are tense, we take a defensive posture which makes us very ridged. This posture does not allow for much range of motion in our joints. Although this seems like a good defensive mechanism, and in some cases it is just what we need, it makes us more susceptible to greater trauma when our body is not free to move through its full range of motion. This is why you are more likely to sustain less injury in a car accident if you did not see it coming, rather than see it coming and tense up. In chiropractic we have a term called Adverse Mechanical Cord Tension, which is referring to the tension placed on the spinal cord. There are certain places in your spine where the cord attaches to the bones. If the bones at these attachments are out of proper alignment (usually due to a defensive posture taken by the individual), unwanted tension is placed on the cord increasing its tone and energy state. This in turn decreases the spinal cord's ability to communicate with the rest of the body. When the spinal cord is unable to communicate with or link the body and brain, all types of dysfunction can happen in the body. This is why it is very important to find strategies to overcome the things in our lives that cause tension on our bodies.
Here are some ways that I have found to cope and release tension in my body. First is through chiropractic care. When my body has a properly aligned spine, the extra stress of having a dysfunctional nervous system is removed causing greater function of all my body systems. Another way of removing tension in my body is to take that tension and focus it in physical activity. I have found that taking a walk, riding my bike, and running have helped me cope with most of the tension causers as I have traveled through my education and life. Also, when exercising, your body releases chemical hormones that trigger the happy centers of your brain so that you enjoy life more. Who does not want to have a more enjoyable life. Another great help for me has been deep breathing. This can be done anywhere, in a meeting, right before sleep, in traffic, etc. The key is to breathe deep in through the nose and out through the mouth. Network Chiropractors have developed a whole program incorporating deep breathing exercises (called somatorespiratory integration SRI) to help with the relaxation and removal of spinal and body tension. These deep breathing strategies have helped me especially as I have battled my way through midterms and my preparations for national board exams.
I hope that I have been helpful in explaining how we can all cope with tension and hopefully have a much more relaxing, enjoyable, and full life.
-Mike E
What are the effects of tension? When we are tense, we take a defensive posture which makes us very ridged. This posture does not allow for much range of motion in our joints. Although this seems like a good defensive mechanism, and in some cases it is just what we need, it makes us more susceptible to greater trauma when our body is not free to move through its full range of motion. This is why you are more likely to sustain less injury in a car accident if you did not see it coming, rather than see it coming and tense up. In chiropractic we have a term called Adverse Mechanical Cord Tension, which is referring to the tension placed on the spinal cord. There are certain places in your spine where the cord attaches to the bones. If the bones at these attachments are out of proper alignment (usually due to a defensive posture taken by the individual), unwanted tension is placed on the cord increasing its tone and energy state. This in turn decreases the spinal cord's ability to communicate with the rest of the body. When the spinal cord is unable to communicate with or link the body and brain, all types of dysfunction can happen in the body. This is why it is very important to find strategies to overcome the things in our lives that cause tension on our bodies.
Here are some ways that I have found to cope and release tension in my body. First is through chiropractic care. When my body has a properly aligned spine, the extra stress of having a dysfunctional nervous system is removed causing greater function of all my body systems. Another way of removing tension in my body is to take that tension and focus it in physical activity. I have found that taking a walk, riding my bike, and running have helped me cope with most of the tension causers as I have traveled through my education and life. Also, when exercising, your body releases chemical hormones that trigger the happy centers of your brain so that you enjoy life more. Who does not want to have a more enjoyable life. Another great help for me has been deep breathing. This can be done anywhere, in a meeting, right before sleep, in traffic, etc. The key is to breathe deep in through the nose and out through the mouth. Network Chiropractors have developed a whole program incorporating deep breathing exercises (called somatorespiratory integration SRI) to help with the relaxation and removal of spinal and body tension. These deep breathing strategies have helped me especially as I have battled my way through midterms and my preparations for national board exams.
I hope that I have been helpful in explaining how we can all cope with tension and hopefully have a much more relaxing, enjoyable, and full life.
-Mike E
Monday, February 24, 2014
Suffering
No one enjoys going through pain. We don't choose to go through times of trial but they are inevitable. One thing that is important to understand is that suffering is a necessary aspect of healing. In all reality, if we did not suffer we would not truly appreciate the good times that we experience. We cannot appreciate the brightness of the day if we did not go through the night before.
In the healing process your body is going through changes and rebuilding. For it to be able to do this effectively, your body needs to motivate us to leave that area alone. An example of this is: if you bang your little toe on the edge of a table. If you have ever experienced this, you know that it is a unique type of pain and anguish. Why do you need to have the pain? Well for starters, there has been trauma to the soft tissue as well as trauma to the bones. So in order for the inflammation and rebuilding processes to take place, no more stress and trauma should be placed on the area. In order for your body to convince you to stop putting stress on the little toe, it sends a pain signal to your brain to get you to stop using the area and let it rest. We can be very stubborn so our bodies need to go to drastic methods to get us to listen. Another example is when our body is fighting a foreign invader, like a virus or bacterium. When your immune response is in full fight mode, it requires a lot of energy which causes metabolic drain to your body. So you get a signal to your brain that says you are tired and go lay down. This is so that your body can focus on fighting to invader instead of walking, working, studying, etc... We have to rest when our body tells us to. We may think that we are suffering because our body is not working correctly or that we feel we are broken, but it is the exact opposite, your body is functioning properly if you get the signal of pain or weakness. It is communicating its needs to you.
Although it is not fun, we need to suffer to be able to heal. We can get through it and most of the time if we leave the effected area alone it will heal on its own. I am not talking about emergency situations (if you have a major problem go see the appropriate professional for help), but even in emergencies, what do ER doctors do? They patch you up so that you can heal properly on your own. We can find strength to overcome our suffering, but we need to acknowledge it as a necessary part of life and health.
-Mike E
In the healing process your body is going through changes and rebuilding. For it to be able to do this effectively, your body needs to motivate us to leave that area alone. An example of this is: if you bang your little toe on the edge of a table. If you have ever experienced this, you know that it is a unique type of pain and anguish. Why do you need to have the pain? Well for starters, there has been trauma to the soft tissue as well as trauma to the bones. So in order for the inflammation and rebuilding processes to take place, no more stress and trauma should be placed on the area. In order for your body to convince you to stop putting stress on the little toe, it sends a pain signal to your brain to get you to stop using the area and let it rest. We can be very stubborn so our bodies need to go to drastic methods to get us to listen. Another example is when our body is fighting a foreign invader, like a virus or bacterium. When your immune response is in full fight mode, it requires a lot of energy which causes metabolic drain to your body. So you get a signal to your brain that says you are tired and go lay down. This is so that your body can focus on fighting to invader instead of walking, working, studying, etc... We have to rest when our body tells us to. We may think that we are suffering because our body is not working correctly or that we feel we are broken, but it is the exact opposite, your body is functioning properly if you get the signal of pain or weakness. It is communicating its needs to you.
Although it is not fun, we need to suffer to be able to heal. We can get through it and most of the time if we leave the effected area alone it will heal on its own. I am not talking about emergency situations (if you have a major problem go see the appropriate professional for help), but even in emergencies, what do ER doctors do? They patch you up so that you can heal properly on your own. We can find strength to overcome our suffering, but we need to acknowledge it as a necessary part of life and health.
-Mike E
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Take Control of Your Life
Music is a powerful thing. It can muster up a lot of emotion inside of us and it can spark memories of times gone past. Some songs can evoke such strong emotions that it even becomes a personal anthem that we live by each day. One such personal anthem that I have adopted is the song The First of Me by the band Hoobastank.
Here are the lyrics:
Here are the lyrics:
I must make a choice
A tough decision
Listen to my voice
Should I give in
To temptation, admiration
One leads to myself
The other some one else
Just an empty shell
Just an empty shell
It's harder than it seems
When you're told that
All your hopes and dreams
Are yours to hold if
You just give them
What's expected
Something they can sell
Put upon a shelf
But I am not for sale
I am not for sale
[Chorus:]
I hear a voice inside
It's grown into a scream
I'm not the next of them
I am the first of me
'cause I can't live the lie
I am just what you see
I'm not the next of them
I am the first of me
If I can't refuse
The price they offer
I am sure to lose
And I will suffer
Sell my soul to make a profit
All I have to do
Is make believe it's true
That something I can't do
That something I can't do
[Chorus]
So when the waiting's done
It's time to face the truth
You know you're good enough
Deep down inside of you
You've finally woken up
If only just to prove
You were born to lead the way
And be the first of you
A tough decision
Listen to my voice
Should I give in
To temptation, admiration
One leads to myself
The other some one else
Just an empty shell
Just an empty shell
It's harder than it seems
When you're told that
All your hopes and dreams
Are yours to hold if
You just give them
What's expected
Something they can sell
Put upon a shelf
But I am not for sale
I am not for sale
[Chorus:]
I hear a voice inside
It's grown into a scream
I'm not the next of them
I am the first of me
'cause I can't live the lie
I am just what you see
I'm not the next of them
I am the first of me
If I can't refuse
The price they offer
I am sure to lose
And I will suffer
Sell my soul to make a profit
All I have to do
Is make believe it's true
That something I can't do
That something I can't do
[Chorus]
So when the waiting's done
It's time to face the truth
You know you're good enough
Deep down inside of you
You've finally woken up
If only just to prove
You were born to lead the way
And be the first of you
I have gone through and darkened in some of the more powerful lines of the song that touch me the most. I know that the original intention of the lyricist was to talk about selling out to give a message that you may not believe in, but I want to use it to talk about your health.
In my previous post Power Within, I discussed the power your body has to heal itself. Since our body is screaming out to be healthier we need to take that step to take control of our lives. That is why I like this song so much. The lyricist talks about selling yourself to make a dollar, how often do we give into eating that extra slice of chocolate cake or drink that extra soda or even do that drug etc. We all have our own guilty pleasure. I call these examples selling out your body. We know these things are bad for us but we still give into them for the instant gratification. What I am saying, along with the lyricist of this song, is that we do not have to give in to these addictions that hold us from our full potential. We do not have to sell ourselves short. We have the inborn potential to overcome any temptation and addiction that will compromise our health and/or values. It is time for us to say "I am not going to take it anymore." It is time for us to seek out the help that we need to overcome these things that bind us down. In the words of the Hoobastank song, "I am the first of me 'cause I can't live the lie I am just what you see I'm not the next of them I am the first of me... You were born to lead the way and be the first of you." It all starts with you, there is no one else to blame, take control of Your life!
-Mike E
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Time, Nobody Seems to Have Enough
Everybody wants everything and they want it right now. Most people seem to always be looking for a quick fix. The problem with this is the quick fix is usually always temporary and very rarely addresses the underlying cause. One example comes to mind, say you twist your ankle and now it hurts to walk. The first thing that most people would do is take an ibuprofen to stop the pain. Yes you may feel better from taking the pain medicine but you will probably keep walking on it and just prolong the healing process. On the other hand, if you had just would have stopped putting pressure on the ankle it probably would not feel as bad and would heal faster. Now do not get me wrong, I take a pain killer every once in a while because I am a student and I still have to endure classes and get sleep and so forth. The important thing to take from this is to think about why you are hurting. If your hand hurts let it rest. If your head hurts, maybe you should stop looking at your computer, phone, tv, etc. for a few minutes and let your eyes rest, but I digress...
Healing takes time. No one likes to suffer but with all processes in life it takes time to heal. This is something that gets forgotten a lot. In our fast pace world, no one seems to have time to let their bodies heal. We work ourselves too hard too late in the day that we have to take something to help us sleep. Then when we have to get up the next morning we have to take or drink something to wake us up, but if we just would have listened to our body in the first place by going to bed when we were tired then we probably would have woken up on our own more refreshed with out any aids. I know what you are thinking, "aint nobody have time for that." You can either take the time to work on being healthy now or you can pay for it later on. Think of your health as an investment in a up and coming start-up business. I am sure looking back some of us would have loved to have invested more money in Apple co when it was starting out. You would be rich now, but instead you are struggling to find that extra buck to maybe have something when you get old so that you might actually be able to retire, because heaven knows there will not be any social security around when we get to that age. Think of your health as Apple co when Steve Jobs was just a young unknown hippie. Invest all that you have in it so that you can look back when you are old and say I lived a full life and now I can still enjoy my body because I listened to it and invested the time needed to maintain it. Just like Apple co seemed like a long shot, it definitely payed off for those who had the foresight in the long term.
We need to slow down and smell the roses every once in a while and take the time to make sure our bodies are functioning at a hundred percent. We go to the dentist to make sure our teeth are clean and functioning properly. Like we take care of our teeth, we should also make sure our nervous system is functioning at a hundred percent. We can do that by getting our spines checked by a chiropractor. With that maintenance we can heal more efficiently because communication is intact. But just like everything else, even functioning at a hundred percent, it will still take time to heal. Be patient and your body will thank you in the long run. So turn "aint nobody have time for that", into I have time for my health.
-Mike E
Healing takes time. No one likes to suffer but with all processes in life it takes time to heal. This is something that gets forgotten a lot. In our fast pace world, no one seems to have time to let their bodies heal. We work ourselves too hard too late in the day that we have to take something to help us sleep. Then when we have to get up the next morning we have to take or drink something to wake us up, but if we just would have listened to our body in the first place by going to bed when we were tired then we probably would have woken up on our own more refreshed with out any aids. I know what you are thinking, "aint nobody have time for that." You can either take the time to work on being healthy now or you can pay for it later on. Think of your health as an investment in a up and coming start-up business. I am sure looking back some of us would have loved to have invested more money in Apple co when it was starting out. You would be rich now, but instead you are struggling to find that extra buck to maybe have something when you get old so that you might actually be able to retire, because heaven knows there will not be any social security around when we get to that age. Think of your health as Apple co when Steve Jobs was just a young unknown hippie. Invest all that you have in it so that you can look back when you are old and say I lived a full life and now I can still enjoy my body because I listened to it and invested the time needed to maintain it. Just like Apple co seemed like a long shot, it definitely payed off for those who had the foresight in the long term.
We need to slow down and smell the roses every once in a while and take the time to make sure our bodies are functioning at a hundred percent. We go to the dentist to make sure our teeth are clean and functioning properly. Like we take care of our teeth, we should also make sure our nervous system is functioning at a hundred percent. We can do that by getting our spines checked by a chiropractor. With that maintenance we can heal more efficiently because communication is intact. But just like everything else, even functioning at a hundred percent, it will still take time to heal. Be patient and your body will thank you in the long run. So turn "aint nobody have time for that", into I have time for my health.
-Mike E
Energy and Tone
There are many ways energy can express itself. You can have energy from heat, movement, or stored as potential. Energy is one of the universal ways that we can explain the properties of our physical world. Here I would like to explain how energy effects us everyday in our bodies and in our environment.
Let us first look at some of the smallest particles in the world, atoms. Everything is made up of a combination of about 118 unique atoms known as the elements. In these atoms we have three distinct particles, protons, neutrons, and electrons. The protons and neutrons stay in the center body and the electrons move at close to the speed of light around the center. With these little electrons zooming around a center body and with the center body being attracted to the speeding electrons, you could see that the protons (and neutrons) get pulled around. This happens so fast that it looks like a blur and simply appears to vibrate. I like to think of it as someone getting a new tire but they forget to put weights on it to balance it. So you drive along and the faster that wheel turns the more vibration gets created by the unbalanced wheel until you are pretty sure every bolt in the car is going to shake loose. This type of vibration happens in every atom and since different atoms or elements weigh different amounts they all have unique frequencies that they vibrate. Frequency is just a measurement of how many times something completes a cycle every second. Also since every atom vibrates and everything in the universe is made up of atoms, then we can rightfully take the next step in deductive reasoning to say everything bigger than atoms vibrates, even our bodies. Just like the different elements, each of the pieces of our bodies have their own unique frequency that they vibrate. Here is a one of my favorite YouTube videos on the subject : Symphony of Science - the Quantum World
OK, so we have established that we all vibrate, now I want to talk about talk about energy states. Looking back at our atom example, electrons like to be as close to the protons as possible without touching, but if we introduce more energy into the atom the electrons will get excited and jump to a higher energy state. All that electron wants to do is lower its energy and get closer to those protons. It can only accomplish this is by releasing the energy that excited it. Our bodies work in the same way. We store adverse external energy from our environment, like when we get all worked up after that person cut us off on the highway. Also like the electrons all we want to do is relax and release that energy so that we can get back down to the lowest energy state.
Now lets talk about how energy works through waves (tone). I was at a short seminar recently and the speaker (Dr Holder, the founder of the chiropractic Torque Release Technique) made a rather bold statement: "everything in three dimensional space communicates through tone." I agree with that statement. In order for energy to travel through any material it must do so as a wave. We talked about how everything vibrates and we can measure its frequency. Well if you take something vibrating and throw it all you will see is that object moving up and down as it moves forward like a wave.
In this figure you can get an idea of the type of wave I am talking about. Tone is basically a wave with a known frequency. Our nervous system communicates through different tones. When we are at a high energy state, based on the stresses we have been put under, our tone gets higher or the wave that we produce looks like the high frequency wave at the bottom of the picture. Ideally we want to be in a low frequency state. Our body is more efficient and our nervous system communicates better when it is not so "noisy" at the lower frequency or energy state.
Using waves to help lower our energy states. In a body of water you can throw a pebble and make little high energy ripples (or waves). Now what would happen to those little high energy waves if they get hit by the larger wave, lets say a wave caused by the wake of a large boat? The little waves get overcome and assimilated into (or entrained by) the larger lower energy wave. this brings the water into a lower energy state. In Network Chiropractic we can use lower energy respiratory and somatopsychic waves to entrain or assimilate the higher energy waves in the body so that the whole system can have greater ease and your body can work more efficiently.
I have introduced and hopefully explained quite a few principles in this post. The purpose was to get a broad overview down so that later I can elaborate on each of these great principles later. I hope that I did not go to far over your heads.
-Mike E
Let us first look at some of the smallest particles in the world, atoms. Everything is made up of a combination of about 118 unique atoms known as the elements. In these atoms we have three distinct particles, protons, neutrons, and electrons. The protons and neutrons stay in the center body and the electrons move at close to the speed of light around the center. With these little electrons zooming around a center body and with the center body being attracted to the speeding electrons, you could see that the protons (and neutrons) get pulled around. This happens so fast that it looks like a blur and simply appears to vibrate. I like to think of it as someone getting a new tire but they forget to put weights on it to balance it. So you drive along and the faster that wheel turns the more vibration gets created by the unbalanced wheel until you are pretty sure every bolt in the car is going to shake loose. This type of vibration happens in every atom and since different atoms or elements weigh different amounts they all have unique frequencies that they vibrate. Frequency is just a measurement of how many times something completes a cycle every second. Also since every atom vibrates and everything in the universe is made up of atoms, then we can rightfully take the next step in deductive reasoning to say everything bigger than atoms vibrates, even our bodies. Just like the different elements, each of the pieces of our bodies have their own unique frequency that they vibrate. Here is a one of my favorite YouTube videos on the subject : Symphony of Science - the Quantum World
OK, so we have established that we all vibrate, now I want to talk about talk about energy states. Looking back at our atom example, electrons like to be as close to the protons as possible without touching, but if we introduce more energy into the atom the electrons will get excited and jump to a higher energy state. All that electron wants to do is lower its energy and get closer to those protons. It can only accomplish this is by releasing the energy that excited it. Our bodies work in the same way. We store adverse external energy from our environment, like when we get all worked up after that person cut us off on the highway. Also like the electrons all we want to do is relax and release that energy so that we can get back down to the lowest energy state.
Now lets talk about how energy works through waves (tone). I was at a short seminar recently and the speaker (Dr Holder, the founder of the chiropractic Torque Release Technique) made a rather bold statement: "everything in three dimensional space communicates through tone." I agree with that statement. In order for energy to travel through any material it must do so as a wave. We talked about how everything vibrates and we can measure its frequency. Well if you take something vibrating and throw it all you will see is that object moving up and down as it moves forward like a wave.
 |
| http://images.tutorvista.com/cms/images/83/frequency1.PNG |
In this figure you can get an idea of the type of wave I am talking about. Tone is basically a wave with a known frequency. Our nervous system communicates through different tones. When we are at a high energy state, based on the stresses we have been put under, our tone gets higher or the wave that we produce looks like the high frequency wave at the bottom of the picture. Ideally we want to be in a low frequency state. Our body is more efficient and our nervous system communicates better when it is not so "noisy" at the lower frequency or energy state.
Using waves to help lower our energy states. In a body of water you can throw a pebble and make little high energy ripples (or waves). Now what would happen to those little high energy waves if they get hit by the larger wave, lets say a wave caused by the wake of a large boat? The little waves get overcome and assimilated into (or entrained by) the larger lower energy wave. this brings the water into a lower energy state. In Network Chiropractic we can use lower energy respiratory and somatopsychic waves to entrain or assimilate the higher energy waves in the body so that the whole system can have greater ease and your body can work more efficiently.
I have introduced and hopefully explained quite a few principles in this post. The purpose was to get a broad overview down so that later I can elaborate on each of these great principles later. I hope that I did not go to far over your heads.
-Mike E
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