Blog – Chiroplus By Paul Lawrence | Chiro Plus Marion

23 Sep, 2015

Right conditions for health. Relationships and love.

By chiroplus23 September, 2015Blog - ChiroPlus by Paul Lawrence

Chiropractic is about creating the right conditions in the body, but right conditions are important in every area of life for health to flourish. O.K. I’m lucky, I know that. I have a wife who is a beautiful person through and through. When we were married (in 1981) I knew it was forever. I told friends that too. They said ‘you can’t say that because you just don’t know what the future holds’, but I knew. Some of the things that make me love her are things like the fact that she took my children to see my grandparents. It was great for my grandparents and great for my children to have met their great grandparents. She is a brilliant daughter in law to my parents too. She is everyone favourite aunty. As a daughter she is amazing. When her father was sick recently and in hospital, she visited and spent time with him almost every day for 9 weeks. It tired her but she kept going. People occasionally ask what our secret is. I can’t answer that because there are a thousand things that make a relationship work. A big thing is to grow together not apart. The direction you grow is a choice. Having healthy relationships is so important to health and critical to your quality of life.

Its healthy to forgive, its healthy to only keep score of the good things the people you love do for you, it’s healthy to focus on the positive, see past the faults of those you love and remember you have the same or worse so don’t judge. Don’t be critical, even playful criticism is destructive, its vital to not only permit but to encourage the people you love be their authentic selves.

17 Sep, 2015

Paleo V’s Junk Food

By chiroplus17 September, 2015Blog - ChiroPlus by Paul Lawrence

Paleo

As a Chiropractor let me say right up front, while Paleo isn’t perfect, the people that eat Paleo are miles ahead of 99% of people passing through the supermarket checkout (Hopefully Foodland) and they know it.

Paleo diet is based on eating like humans presumably did during the Palaeolithic era. It is high on meats including offal, healthy fat, vegetables, nuts, seeds, berries and fruits. They discourage all processed foods including grains and dairy foods. You would typically eat a muesli made of mixed nuts and seeds (subscribe to our newsletter for my favourite Paleo muesli recipe) Have a large salad daily and you eat unlimited veges and meats. Eating this way will certainly encourage lean body mass.

The criticism of Paleo is based on the fact that grains and dairy aren’t included and there is too much meat. The Paleo defence of these criticisms is that we have only been using grains as a staple of human diet very recently in our history on the planet and on the dairy question they point to the facts that 74% of the worlds population is lactose intolerant, no animal has the milk of another animal in nature except in rare adoption cases and no animal has milk after being weaned. These are strong arguments if we look to nature as our guide on how to look after our bodies.

The first question people always ask about Paleo is what about calcium. Well, bone broth is encouraged and greens are an excellent source of calcium, as are sesame seeds. Tahini (sesame)paste with lemon juice and cold pressed virgin olive oil makes a great salad dressing and boosts calcium considerably because sesame seeds are actually much higher in calcium than cows’ milk. My question to people is if you are concerned about calcium why aren’t you equally concerned about magnesium which is easily as important to bone strength and you will get that and more calcium by increasing your intake of green vegetables.

10 Sep, 2015

Yoga; Why I’m a fan.

By chiroplus10 September, 2015Blog - ChiroPlus by Paul Lawrence

The purpose of Yoga is very similar to the purpose of Chiropractic. To strengthen the body and improve it’s flexibility. The developer of the Chiropractic profession B.J. Palmer toured the world extensively and was impressed with some of the philosophical similarities between Chiropractic and Yoga. I think it is the perfect adjunct to Chiropractic. It increases strength and function but in different ways to how an adjustment achieves the same outcome.

Studies have shown numerous benefits. One study showed significant improvement in osteoarthritis sufferers whereby both pain and stiffness were significantly reduced. The Indian Heart Journal published a study showing it slashed heart issues and another article in the same journal showed it helped sleep problems. Yoga has been shown to give greater pain relief than regular exercise and resulted in less drug use for its practitioners. Other areas to show improvement are balance, flexibility, strength, stress levels, anxiety and fatigue.

There are a number of different styles but my favourite is hot yoga. I should warn however that’s not for everyone. Look for a style that suits you. I was concerned that one yoga instructor encouraged people to continue to work through their injuries. There is a significant risk of making problems worse if you do this so always keep in mind the limited scope of education required to be an instructor and always ask me if you are having issues with injuries or flare ups from any exercise. It’s usually better to limit or suspend exercise until the body can heal.

Some people express concern about the spiritual side of yoga practice. Some styles express the spiritual side no more than using the traditional Indian greeting Namaste. Others are almost totally meditation and visualisation. I feel disappointed if I do a yoga class that doesn’t focus on the exercise. Again, find one that suits you.

03 Sep, 2015

Seeds give life

By chiroplus03 September, 2015Blog - ChiroPlus by Paul Lawrence

The life of a plant is in the seed. Everything it needs to reproduce, a powerhouse of nutrients. A pioneer and great of the Chiropractic profession Dr.Bernard Jensen talked a lot about seeds. He said they had specific health benefits, for example he claimed that rockmelon seeds benefitted the adrenal glands, watermelon seeds the Kidneys, and of course Pumpkin seeds are famous for their ability to help the prostate and are an excellent source of Zinc. Have you ever noticed how a bird always goes for the seed inside fruit? Many seeds are said to have anti cancer properties. Oleic acid is a vital nutrient. It helps with ALD (Adrenoleukodystrophy), remember the movie Lorenzo’s Oil? Its similar to Multiple Sclerosis. Grape seed is an excellent source. But when did you last get seeds in your grapes, unless of course you have some vines?

This is why we encourage growing your own food as much as possible. I am a great fan of Diggers which is more of a gardening community than a business. They specialise in dissemination of non- hybridised vegetable seeds i.e. seeds that produce their own seeds. Want some seeds? Next time you are in the clinic let me know. Want to share some seeds? Bring them in and I will pass them on.

Why not check out diggers online? https://www.diggers.com.au/ Multinational corporations are encouraging the removal of seeds. There are only a few seed companies now where there were dozens a couple of decades ago. Recently I bought apples from one of the big two supermarkets. The seeds were shrivelled and unviable. What possible reason could there be to benefit you by breeding apples with unviable seeds? I refused to eat them and composted them instead.

31 Aug, 2015

Massage mmmmm!

By chiroplus31 August, 2015Blog - ChiroPlus by Paul Lawrence

I’m often asked about massage. I’m a great fan. Various types of massage will offer various benefits. One of the biggest benefits is removing some of the stress of gravity from your body. Gravity will tend to affect any part of the body that is structurally not ideal. The muscles will splint and brace to hold you upright against gravity and therefore fatigue much more easily than someone who is sound in their bio-structure.

Obviously if you can improve your structure through Chiropractic you will build up less stress in the musculoskeletal system, have less back and neck pain and need less massage. That doesn’t mean you have to have less massage though, if you enjoy the relaxation and pleasure aspect there are other benefits to be had. Never have a massage after Chiropractic adjustment. You need to be lightly mobile.

Aside from having the benefit of relaxing you it may also stimulate blood and lymph circulation especially Swedish style and initiate the release of trigger points, remedial and sports massage. For some people it may be the only form of physical contact they have with others and may provide benefit in that regard too.

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