Published September 29, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTIT7FPWwDY Hey everyone! Today I bring to you a very special interview, featuring my chiropractors Dr. Lori & Michael Smatt who were just awarded the Crystal Heart Award by Dr. Oz. They have impacted my health in incredibly and unexpected ways since meeting them only two months ago (during one of the most painful times of my life!) You see, during an eventful night this summer, I decided to practice headstands… …(the sirsasana yoga pose) with some friends. Unfortunately, this resulted in me tumbling down, introducing my lower back to my hardwood floors. Turns out they are not the best of friends.I could not believe the level of pain I felt over the course of the next few days. It was unreal. My entire lower back felt an intense pinching/shooting sensation whenever I would pivot even an inch. I was basically immobile due to the excruciating pain of getting up, and I felt helpless for the first time in my life. I wondered what would happen when I was 50 if I felt this way at 22? Then, the worst happened. I ended up getting my period the day after injuring my back, and I experienced extremely painful cramps, which never happens to me. I take herbs such as traditional Chinese formula Xiao Yao Wan and I eat particular food items daily (ginger tea, a morning sweet potato and raw carrots) which usually do a wonderful job at minimizing or completely relieving PMS.|I had to see what was going on with my spine. I walked into the Smatt’s family chiropractic office and had my first x-ray, thinking my spine would be normal with a small shift at the bottom where I was feeling pain.What I saw next blew my mind.Woah. I had a lot more going on than I ever imagined. Why didn’t medical doctors pick up on this when I was young? This doesn’t happen overnight. Plus, the spine controls your entire nervous system! Surely this curve couldn’t be good for me.It turns out that my spine had been subluxated for a long time — this was simply the first time I ever felt serious pain from it. Only 18% of nerve fibers in the human body are designed to produce pain when being pinched, and the rest won’t give you a pain signal whatsoever. All this time I had been walking around with pinched nerves and didn’t even know it!My boyfriend Nick was next up for his x-ray. Dr. Smatt told him that he has a “textbook perfect neck” and that he only sees this in 1/300 of his patients. Have a look at Nick’s neck x-ray (on the left) compared to mine (on the right):The vertebrae in your neck are supposed to curve outward to support your head, just like Nick’s. Mine are so tense and straight, and it turns out this has been a huge contributor to my life-long health issues!Dr. Smatt circled of my misaligned vertebrae on a handy chart that shows you exactly what organ functions each vertebrae will affect. The chart also shows you the symptoms you can expect from each misalignment:See those vertebrae at the bottom, especially 3L? (with the symptom “menstrual troubles such as painful or irregular periods”). That’s exactly where I injured myself during the headstand, which is the reason I had such terrible cramps. It all made sense! Did you know that the pressure of a dime on a spinal nerve reduces its function by 60%? That means at best, the organ it’s connected to is functioning at 40%. After 1 month of adjustments 3x per week, my back pain (and cramps) are totally gone. I believe that taking care of our spine’s alignment is a major part of our holistic health puzzle – and it’s just as important as eating healthy or working out. Holistic health takes into account treating the whole person; the spine, mental and emotional factors, diet, exercise, environmental toxins, and so much more. Chiropractic is now a regular part of my health routine and I’m working on slowly but surely correcting all those misalignments you saw in my x-ray. I knew I had to interview my chiropractors and hopefully help spread the word about this incredible healing modality. Press play below to check out our full interview! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTIT7FPWwDY Are you eating healthy, exercising, and doing all the right things, but still feel like something is missing? This video is for you. Taking care of your spine is such a simple concept with very real results. After learning that your spinal nerves control your nervous system, immune system, and organ function, I am shocked that chiropractic adjustments aren’t mandated for every patient around the world. I believe every physician should learn how to perform spinal adjustments no matter what system of medicine they’re learning!In the interview above, we discuss:* What does chiropractic care consist of and WHY?* How was chiropractic discovered?* Sample adjustment on me* WHY did you become chiropractors? (Hear their amazing stories of healing)* How young can a child be adjusted?* Can pregnant mothers be adjusted?* What are the 3 main causes of subluxations?* Why do people eat healthy but the weight just won’t budge?* Can chiropractic help ailments such as depression & menstrual cramps?* Have you dealt with addiction before and why would chiropractic help?* What are the dangers of texting (“text neck”) and sitting all day?* What exercises can we do at home?I hope you learn a lot from my incredible doctors just like I have. Please let me know if you have any follow up questions for a future interview, and thank you so very much for reading!
4 min read # S3E26 – HOW TO EMBRACE OUR GRIEF TO ACCESS JOY — Dr. Neeta Bhushan on the importance of emotional resilience through life’s relentless hardships
4 min read # S3ES25 – NEURONS THAT FIRE TOGETHER WIRE TOGETHER — Neurophysiologist & coach Louisa Nicola on rewiring your brain to achieve peak physical & mental performance
3 min read # S3E24 – GETTING COMFORTABLE WITH DEATH — Death Doula Caroline Lee dives into the uncomfortable conversation around death and how we can ease the process for us and others