Wednesday, January 26, 2011

A Better Way To Live

Sometimes, just when we think we haven’t got a clue as to how things are going to work out, innate provides. Have you ever examined your life as it zigs and zags, wondering, “how did I get here?” I don’t mean physically in the place where you are sitting or standing or sleeping, but here at the place where you are spiritually and emotionally and healthfully. How did you get here?

Innate has been on the job. How did you find your occupation, your mate, your first client, your home? How did all this happen? Some people think life is a series of coincidences, or that they are being pulled around in life by a force called fate. They show up and whatever happen to then just, well, happens.

That’s not the philosophy BJ Palmer, the developer of chiropractic, lived by. He practiced an art of connectedness to source that emanates through his writing, which is affectionately known as the Green Books. BJ recognized the power of becoming one with this source, the fountain of all love, creativity, and abundance that exists in the universe. “Get the big idea..all else follows” was not solely based on the idea of chiropractic as ‘the big idea.’ It was really about reconnecting to innate. He wished us to understand that, if we can free up our innate intelligence and our ability to talk to the ‘wee small voice inside,’ then we will be lead by this intelligence to all the right people, places and things in our life, at the perfect time.

People are coming to my chiropractic office to learn this, to be a part of something bigger than fixing a backache. They are searching us out not for simple pain relief but for another way, a better way to live.

There are thousands of families and individuals in chiropractic practices who have caught the idea that there is a different way to live life altogether, one at which they are at 100% of their potential, all the time, subluxation-free. Women have better pregnancies and quicker labors while under regular chiropractic care, benefiting both them and their newborns. Children live healthier lives with less ear infections, asthma, allergies, and chronic illness than their peers. Adults live more active lives playing sports and running around after their 2.5 kids with chiropractic care on their side. I even watched my father pass away quietly, without fear or pain, in his sleep, because with chiropractic on is side, there’s even a different way out of this earthly plane. There’s a different way into this world, there’s a different way to live, and there’s a different was out.

Innate is on the job. Look around you when spring begins. The flowers will pop up and the buds will sprout on the tress. How did they get there? Yes, you can argue that someone planted them, or that a seed somehow managed to find its way into the soil, but I believe in a divine intervention for everything. There are no coincidences, just lessons, teaching us daily, ever moving us toward the source of all creation. This entire universe was created by what science calls a big bang, in which all the matter of the universe stemmed from. If that is true, and we are created from energy, that means all of ‘this’ came from the nothingness into the somethingness in a millisecond of intention. That would mean, if you want to wax really into philosophy, that all of the energy contained in our bodies dates from the very moment of the creation of the universe (as Dr. Wayne Dyer says)!

The abundance of the universe is ours to connect to, if we so desire. How? Listen to the wee small voice. Get the big idea. Reconnect to the majesty of this grand intelligence. Feel the power of the entire universe in your fingertips. Transfer that power to others, through your thoughts, words and deeds. Live an innate life. Chiropractic can show you how. Email us at rubinchiropractic@gmail.com.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Can you imagine getting your tooth drilled without Novocaine?

I had to go the dentist to check out what to do for 2 cracked fillings. This always makes me nervous, since my teeth and gums are very sensitive, even when merely having my teeth cleaned.

Bad news. Not only were my fillings cracked, but also the dentist informed me that decay had developed underneath. The answer may be appear very simple: get a shot of Novocaine, or use nitrous oxide/laughing gas, and get the teeth fixed. However, over the last ten years, I have not had any drugs in my body of any kind, so what choices do I have now? I began to ask myself, “Can I do this without any anesthetic?” I wasn’t sure. I tried convincing myself that this is an invasive, minor surgical procedure and therefore have the right to use Novocaine IN THIS SITUATION, just to be somewhat comfortable. But my own mind wouldn’t let me get off that easily. I had a homebirth with no drugs and intervention. Surely, I could have 2 little teeth drilled if I could get a 7 pound 6 ounce baby out of my body. The debate in my mind lasted for three months as I investigated what dentist to use, what techniques were important, what substances should be used in the filling, what supplements and herbs should be used before, during and after treatment to help with detoxifying and strengthening my body.

I finally decided to go with my local dentist. Even though he is not really “holistic”, he has always been totally respectful to myself and my family with our alternative choices. No x-rays? OK. No Fluoride? OK. He respects our differences of opinion. The main deciding factor was that my 8-year-old son was totally at ease in his office and loves going to the dentist.

I knew that I could trust this dentist and he had agreed to do the filling with no Novocaine and using a non-mercury based filling without hesitation. The next decision I had to make was what supplementation I should use. I began taking garlic and vitamin C regularly for two weeks before my scheduled appointment. I am not a big user of supplements so I try to stick to the basics only. I went to our local health food store, Natural Marketplace, and spoke to David, the owner, who I also trusted. He told me his wife had also done the same type of procedure and used clove oil on her gums to naturally anesthetize the area, and used Bach’s ‘Rescue Remedy’ cream on the outside of her jaws on her face before and after the drilling. He also gave other suggestions (which I did not need to use), but included arnica cream to rub onto to one’s face to prevent swelling, soreness, and any black and blue marks (none of which I experienced). David also stated that their were homeopathic remedies that could be used if one experienced any toxic side effects due to the release of mercury gases form my old fillings (i.e. fatigue, moodiness, depression, etc.). Luckily, none of those effects came my way.

I began to use specific visualization techniques such as ‘seeing’ how I would look in the dentist chair, while he was drilling my teeth, in a state of calmness and experiencing no pain or discomfort. I then visualized how I would feel after the drilling. I would feel energetic, excited and empowered. I also used repeated positive affirmations (i.e. “Anything is possible, no matter what!). I incorporated these two techniques with my daily workout routine when my energy level was very high and my heartbeat was up. In this way, I anchored the positive thoughts and visualized them over and over again in this intense state. This is one way of outsmarting your brain, which, during both intense exercise and significant fear or pain, raises your heart rate. By creating a raised heart rate and linking to it a positive visual and auditory affirmation, I built something in my mind to turn to that was anchored in there.

On the day of the procedure, I took garlic, vitamin c, and started with Echinacea tincture. I went in feeling a bit nervous, but continually kept repeating positive affirmations and visualizing my end result. I used rescue cream on my face and put clove oil tincture on my gums. The dentist went very slow with the drill and used lots of water to decrease the amount of friction and heat on my teeth. He also used hand tools as much as possible to decrease the use of the drill. He explained exactly what he was doing at each step and gave me a mirror to watch. I also squeezed a pressure point (the skin between my thumb and forefinger) to help reduce pain centers.

I couldn’t believe it only took 30 minutes. The dentist had scheduled in one hour of his time so he would not be rushed. I walked out feeling exhilarated. I accomplished something everyone told me was not possible. Where did the notion in my head start to define pain to a filling when I never experienced it before? As a matter of fact, is the pain we feel after going to the dentist from the Novocaine shot and its after effects? I never even thought of that before.

I believe this is the same for birthing. I was able to have a healthy and happy homebirth because I refused intervention into my innate expression of life. My hope is to help others use these techniques to understand how to live life to the fullest.

Dr. Lisa Rubin, Ph.D. is a holistic counselor who focuses on motivation and transformation. Her private practice is in East Cobb on the corner of Johnson Ferry and Paper Mill. She has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, and is the Director of the Student Success Center at Life University. She also runs educational workshops throughout the community.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Autism, Asperger's, ADHD, Allergies and Asthma: Are they related?

Recently there has been a lot of talk about Autism in the news...how it is NOT linked to vaccinations. While I agree that vaccines are not THE cause of autism, there is no doubt that vaccines can create a situation in a child that can make them more susceptible to a cascade of events that can lead to major problems...not just autism.
Autism is one of the more severe issues that can occur in the mixture of a immature immune system with chemicals that are way too powerful for THAT PARTICULAR CHILD to handle. But other challenges can be a result, ones that may not show up as immediately as Autism. What about the other "A" disorders? Asperger's and ADD/ADHD to start. How about Allergies and Asthma? With the exception of ear infections, those 5 "A" disorders are amongst the most common health issues we are seeing in today's kids.
Do I mean to imply that these 5 "A" disorders are somehow related? Autism, Asperger's, ADD/ADHD, Allergies and Asthma? Yes, and I am not alone in this thinking. Check out this book, my favorite in the league of new information coming out about linking these problems together: Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies: The Groundbreaking Program for the 4-A Disorders. Dr Bock, the author, doesn't include Asperger's which is on the "Autistic spectrum" as it is called. His book does a great job describing the problem and tackling some of the main issues, like diet and supplementation. He omits chiropractic care which I have found to be critically important in getting these kids to the next level, and doesn't include rehabilitative exercises, also a must with children in the 5 "A" category.
Another great book is Disconnected Kids: The Groundbreaking Brain Balance Program for Children with Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Neurological Disorders. Dr Melillo is a chiropractor with a specialty degree in neurology. He talks about how kids with Autism and ADHD have brains and body's that are in a way "disconnected." The left sides and right sides of the brain and hence the body do not communicate very well with each other, and hence the child cannot function at his/her optimum. He calls it "Functional Disconnection Syndrome", and is very big into rehab exercises and dietary modification.
Several months ago an article came out in the AJC, "Settlement Reached in Autism-Vaccine Case." It was the first case in which a child was awarded a monetary settlement due to proof that the child's autism was in part caused by the vaccine. Just so happened that the child's father was an MD who did his own research after all this happened and wrote 2 articles in the Journal of Child Neurology proving his case. Dr. John Shoffner's main thesis was that in certain children who have a genetic disorder that may not have been identified prior to vaccination, the vaccine may trigger an event that he calls "autistic regression with fever." Check out the article at http://jcn.sagepub.com/content/early/2009/09/22/0883073809342128.abstract.
All in all, the issue we are dealing with here is what we would call "Roulette".
You cannot KNOW FOR CERTAIN how a child or adult will react to any given drug or vaccine at any given time, even if they appeared fine during prior exposures. The suggestion is to think twice before everything you do, especially when related to health care. Will whatever suggested course of treatment or even examination have more positive benefits by doing it than negative ones by not doing it? A patient a few years ago told me about his neighbor's child that went in for MINOR ear tube surgery and DIED because of a reaction to the anesthesia. Risk vs. benefit must always be played out. Think twice, and have a happier, healthier New Year!