The Age of Brain Based Wellness

There are many forms of stress – physical stress, chemical stress and emotional stress. We even have stress subdivisions like relationship stress, money stress, time stress and work stress to name a few.

Stress is everywhere and no one is immune. When we are stressed, the sympathetic part of our brain goes into a natural and normal “fight or flight” mode necessary for our survival. What is equally normal and natural is for the sympathetic brain to reset and calm down after the stressful episode and recalibrate itself to achieve homeostasis and balance once again.

Unfortunately, when we are stressed all day, every day and over a long span of time without a normal relaxation response afterwards, we begin to create a significant and severe turn of events that ultimately produces brain imbalance, body imbalance and poor health.
According to the National Institute of Health, “Up to 90% of all illness is related to stress.” We currently live in a fast paced, high tech and high stressed world. Our stress levels today are much worse than just ten or twenty years ago, which is an indicator that we are entering the early stages of the worst epidemic of all time: The Neurologic Epidemic.

Ever growing lists of people are now suffering from Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Autism, insomnia, Lupus, MS, acid reflux, IBS, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, anxiety, migraines, depression and the list goes on and on. Traditional medicine unfortunately does not have answers for these problems because you cannot offer a drug correction to a lifestyle problem.

All forms of stress are in reality Brain Stress. Prolonged brain stress causes a sympathetic-parasympathetic imbalance creating a neurological cascade of events putting us in a Sympathetic Survival Syndrome. When we are in survival, our ability to heal, grow, learn and flourish is greatly reduced. It is estimated that more than 2 billion people worldwide are now suffering from brain based health challenges.
Here is what you need to know…When the brain is out of balance; the body will unfortunately follow and go out of balance as well. However, when the brain is once again balanced, the body will fortunately follow and rebalance. This is why understanding what brain based wellness is and learning effective ways to rebalance our brain is so important to all of us.

Prolonged stress, without the appropriate relaxation response, will cause a weakening of the heart, shrinkage of the brain and inflammation which prevents the formation of new nerve cells. We must come to realize that all sickness, disease and behavioral problems begin with brain imbalance as a result of chronic stress.

So how does one rebalance their brain? How do we reboot and re-harmonize brain function? Here are some of the more effective answers:

1. Deep and regular meditation
2. Proper rhythmic breathing where our expiration lasts for twice as long as our inspiration
3. Being in nature, outdoors and relaxed
4. Belly laughter
5. Some forms of exercise like walking
6. Some forms of light and sound technology designed to balance brain function
7. Effective chiropractic care

Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Roger Sperry stated that the spine is the motor that drives the brain. According to his research, “90% of the stimulation and nutrition to the brain is generated by the movement of the spine.”
The new story of chiropractic, backed up with research and new technology, tells us that the chiropractic adjustment does far more than relieve nerve pressure; it actually normalizes and maximizes brain function.

New research can now document for the doctor of chiropractic where to adjust, when to adjust, how often to adjust and even how gentle to adjust the patient to reboot, rewire, reset, rebalance and restore equilibrium in brain and then body function.
It is important to recognize that chiropractic is a neuro-musculoskeletal science and has been for well over 100 years and that today’s chiropractic doctor sees themselves as a functional neurologist – fully understanding how a patient’s lifestyle decisions impact neurologic and brain function and how to naturally and effectively restore balance and help that patient achieve health, wellness and vitality so that they age gracefully instead of growing old.

It is so important to align the brain and the body. Your brain is the control system of the body. Brain balance and harmony is essential to overall well-being and optimal cognitive, emotional and physical performance. Once the brain is balanced, the body always follows. This condition of harmony is known as homeostasis. One you achieve homeostasis, you will enjoy new states of self regulation and relaxation, allowing you to think more clearly, perform more successfully and experience a higher degree of hope and happiness.