Dr. Joel Dayton, chiropractic physician, shows how to do at-home tests to further clarify what movements can help or aggravate back pain. He also demonstrates gentle low back chiropractic adjustments that can help as a natural alternative when back pain is more intense. Proper ways of rising from lying down and from sitting as well as helpful biomechanics while walking to help stabilize the back are also demonstrated by Dr. Dayton. With the winter months causing Water Element imbalances that often show up in the form of back pain, Dr. Crystal Nix, chiropractic physician and certified acupuncturist, invited her husband, Dr. Dayton to provide these demonstrations so you can maintain your Water Element through the winter. If you'd like to learn more about your Element, take the free quiz that Dr. Nix developed: http://www.clearroutehealth.com/elements-quiz
Natural Remedies for Allergies and Headaches
Hello Clear Route family and fellow health partners!
Many of you have asked about natural options for headaches and allergies that you can do at home. Well here you go! I made a couple videos for you so you can have some ways to take care of yourselves naturally. I explain how you can use specific essential oils, herbs, and acupressure points to alleviate allergies and headaches. If you find that your symptoms still persist, feel free to come in where we can bring in chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture, and personalized nutritional supplementation to help you feel better. Hope you enjoy the videos!
Allergy video:
Headache video:
When You're Feeling Yanked Around...
Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash
There are some days (let’s be honest, some seasons) where I just feel yanked to the next thing from the moment I arise ‘til the time I hit the hay. Do you know that feeling? During these days, we may even get our mindfulness practice in still, but it feels like we’re robbed of the day-long calmness we were told we’d have. I must admit though, during those days my practice is more on the rushed side than the truly mindful.
Because I’ve been going through a season of these pulled, yanked, and rushed episodes, I decided to take some inspired advice I’d read on Sunday—to retire early and arise early “that body and mind may be invigorated” (Doctrine and Covenants 88: 124).
Have you ever thought to yourself during your yanked-days, “I think earliness is the answer”? Well, the promise of an invigorated body and mind was too sweet to pass up so I went for it. If this feels impossible, I actually found that it wasn’t as hard as I thought to get in an extra 15 minutes of earliness going to bed and getting up. It’s worth trying.
What I got today during those extra 15 minutes of mindfulness and prayer this morning was an unexpected lesson on my limited concept of time. It became a re-training of my mind in regards to the scarcity of time, and actually to the concept of scarcity at large. Here are some things I learned that I thought you may enjoy as well:
Photo by Samantha Sophia on Unsplash
- There is not a scarcity of time, energy, health, wealth or ability. There is only a learning curb that blocks us from understanding how to have plenty.
- Rather than straining to get more of these items or that there’s just not enough of them to go around, we can have a sense of peace towards them as we shift our intent to use them as tools rather than as our pursuit.
- It’s easier to see how this is the case if we think of them in the context of a game, like Mario for example. Time, wealth, and health are tools in the game, but not the end pursuit. We collect stars to speed us up in time, coins to unlock opportunities, and mushrooms to give us health. All the while, we’re moving forward not with the intent to just collect the tools, but to use those tools to accomplish our pursuit—reconnecting with our loved one, Princess Peach in this case.
- When we live to collect the tools of time, energy, health, wealth, or ability, we’re not living out our purpose and thus we’ll always be met with scarcity and that yanked feeling. If instead we seek them as tools and live life using them as tools to fulfill our purpose, then we’re able to live more freely. Our attitudes can shift, for example, from thinking our family members drain our time, energy, or finances, to appreciating the connection we have with them and the unique perspectives family adds to life.
Photo by Ana Tavares on Unsplash
If you’ve been going through a yanked season lately, I hope this shift in perspective of using the tools of time, health, and wealth frees you from the constricted feeling scarcity can create. Use the 15 minutes of earliness to allow you space so you can have more creative energy to think of opportunities to collect more tools if you’d like, and reconnect with your purpose.
If you're looking for more uplifting content similar to this, you can visit our sister site: https://wholewomenlink.com. I post here along with other wonderful authors, mental health counselors, and coaches to bring helpful self-care tips to light.
-Dr. Crystal Nix
Chiropractic Physician
Certified Acupuncturist
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment Without Surgery - Orlando Practitioner Explains
Back Pain? American College of Physicians picks Acupuncture & Yoga over Pain Killers
While perhaps surprising at first glance, the American College of Physicians is recommending before you jump into using opiods or injections to treat your non-radicular back pain, your first line of treatment should be less invasive approaches such as acupuncture or yoga. These suggestions were published in the February 2017 Annals of Internal Medicine and clearly identify the importance of opting for therapies that have less side effects and fewer long term consequences.
With these new suggestions it seems the days of treating pain with pharmaceutical drugs, followed shortly after with back surgery, are a thing of the past. Although the Eastern world has been using acupuncture and meditative practices like yoga for thousands of years, science is just beginning to verify its effectiveness. Recent positive study results have brought about a change in mindset in the way we approach medicine as a whole in our country.
So, next time you have a flair up of your back or you just aren’t able to move like you used to because of your pain, take your doctor’s advice and see an acupuncturist or check out your local yoga studio. Who knows, you might just get addicted to something natural!
Citation: Qaseem A, Wilt TJ, McLean RM, Forciea MA, for the Clinical Guidelines Committee of the American College of Physicians. Noninvasive Treatments for Acute, Subacute, and Chronic Low Back Pain: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. [Epub ahead of print 14 February 2017] doi: 10.7326/M16-2367
6 Reasons Aquaponic is better than Organic
If you don't need an explanation of aquaponics and just want to see why it's better than organic, feel free to skip on down to the bottom of this post. If you're new to aquaponics and want to learn more about it, read on...
Our friend Todd recently started aquaponic farming and invited us to take a first hand look at his incredible floating grow bed greenhouse. I have to say, getting to see this mini ecosystem at work was pretty incredible. If you're new to the idea of aquaponics, here's how it works: Fish are placed in large retention pond or tank. These fish produce nutrient-rich droppings which are circulated through water pipes into plant beds full of water. These plant beds have floating boards with holes in which seeds and soil sit. The roots grow into the water and the plants use the nutrients that are toxic to the fish to grow, effectively cleaning it to be returned to the retention pond holding the fish. It's a pretty incredible undertaking with delicious results!
Fresh kale sprouting up!
Todd has over 1000 fish in his talapia pond.
After taking a tour of the greenhouse, we decided to team up with Todd to bring this delicious food to the Winter Park and Orlando community. We're happy to announce that we will be offering to our patients and their friends aquaponic vegetables. Here's how it will work. Todd will forward us a list of available produce at the beginning of the week. We'll post this on our facebook page. You can call our office (407-286-5926) by Thursday and we'll get him your orders. You can then pick up your orders from us the following Monday. We're excited to help our community try something new that's healthy for you too. Here's to your health!
Our delicious goody bag we took home with us. It was packed full of Kale, Bok Choy and Celery!
6 reasons Aguaponics is better than Organic
1) Insecticides are guaranteed to never be used because it's poisonous to the fish. Basically if you want food that is 100% guaranteed insecticide free, aquaponics is the way to go!
2) The veggies are grown in a greenhouse, so you'll never get cross-contamination blown over from insecticides from a neighboring farm.
3) The fish that produce fertilizer for the aquaponic ponds are fed vegetable diets that are grown on the water they live in, making it an incredibly sustainable ecosystem.
4) Aquaponic farms require 90% less water than regular farms because the water can be recycled rather than being absorbed in the ground or evaporating.
5) Plants Grows Twice As Fast! This is due to the naturally fortified water from the fish and because the root systems of the plant don't have to reach as deeply into the ground.
And last but especially not least...
6) It tastes delicious! If you've never experienced the rich flavors of aquaponic greens, you're in for a treat. They have an incredibly full flavor and taste so much lighter than your regular kale or lettuce.