Gainsborough Family Chiropractic

The power of Art

It’s amazing how things happen in life sometimes. By mid-2011 we started realizing that we were not only outgrowing our old space in terms of volume but, more importantly, we realized we were spiritually outgrowing our old space. We had a certain look in mind that would express us. I use “us” as a very loose term at this point, loose because the theme of this blog is going to be “us”. For the time being, though, I know you know what I mean, and everyone who has seen our office knows what I mean.

We had the pleasure of working with the RE-Design group. I could write a whole novel dedicated to Jerry and Lisa and everyone who works @ RE-Design. From their amazing personalities, to the vision of their business, to how hard-working they are…. Let me just simply and powerfully say that by what they are doing they make the world a better place. (Check out the RE-Design Group website by clicking here... of course I linked it to the photo's from GFC)

The most important thing that RE-Design group has done for GFC is translate our values (which are abstract) into something that is real -- our physical office.  In case you do not know, this is the definition of Art.

If you want to be formal, Art (by definition) is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist’s metaphysical value-judgments. Art is the highest level of philosophy, and the complete expression of the artist’s values.

When someone who really knows us, and by “know” I mean someone who could tell you what some of our core beliefs and values are, visits the office the most common response is “This office is so you guys!” or “This office is so GFC.”

So what? Who cares, right?

YOU CARE. You cannot escape the power of Art. Ever look at a painting or a picture and either love it or hate it immediately? Want to know why? Because the artist either captured your values, or contradicted them. If they captured them, you are in love;if contradicted, you hate the work of Art.

Maybe it’s time to start thinking about why you like the “things” that you like. It is not an easy task, but it can lead you to some amazing discoveries about yourself.  And that can make your life a lot more consistent and much better.

As for GFC, I know exactly what it says, and I am proud of it. And I know you love it too!

 

Think By Design

A special thank you to Dr. Jamie Richards of the Cafe of Life and RFC who is this week's guest blogger...

It’s an easy mistake to make - thinking of creating health as involving only physical actions.  Every week you address the brain-body connection through specific chiropractic care, properly fuel your body via Eat By Design foods and receive adequate exercise by following Move By Design protocols.  You experience more energy, better sleep, a stronger immune system and clearer thinking….  The assumption is you’re doing everything you need to live an extraordinary life and the results speak for themselves.

Not so fast! To truly be well, you must do everything, at the same time, for a period of time, preferably a lifetime.

The most overlooked requirement for optimizing our health and maximizing our life is fulfilled by the actions and processes that occur right between your ears.  The mind is the greatest gift humans have, and our ability to think consciously helps define us as a species.  Without deliberate thought regarding the nature of your existence and why you wake up every day, you’re relegated to living the life the world defines for you.  Welcome to the status quo.

Just as there are physiological needs like food, movement, sleep and nerve supply; there are also mental requirements like beliefs, self-esteem and purpose.

1. We are all born into our beliefs.  How we think today is a jumbled mix of ideas passed on to us by our parents, school, media, church and friends.  Little to no conscious thinking goes into their development and yet they form the basis for most of the actions we take that define our lives. 

Example: Every time a child takes a pill to mask a symptom, the message is: “Your body is weak and needs outside help.”  This false belief is a major reason why we live in a quick-fix culture avoiding responsibility for our own health.

Since much of our unhappiness is driven by these false beliefs, it is our ability to identify them and create new more empowering ones that will form the moral compass for our lives.

2.  Few things are more important than the judgment one passes on oneself. Our self-esteem empowers us to take actions that align with our consciously created beliefs.  High self-esteem allows us to accept ourselves, speak our truth, be responsible for our lives and take massive action to create the life we desire.

3.  From here it’s merely a question of “What do you want to see in your life?” and “What is your purpose?”  Many expect it will magically appear but like the rest of your life, it’s yours to create.  

Change your mind. Change your life!  Start with the first things first, and extraordinary really can be that simple. 

 

We must become like Roman...

Ok. I know what you are thinking: “Who is Roman, and why do I care?” Let me escape a little bit into my nerdyness. I love playing chess, and Roman Dzindzichashvili is my favorite chess player and instructor. (Yes, there are such things as chess instructors and chess lectures and even chess courses.) The Soviets were the first group of people to make the game of chess into an institution. Teaching about it, lecturing on it, and making the game more into a science... much like the modern era of sports.

Who are “we”?

“We” are Life By Design doctors, practice members, vendors, and anyone else involved in this amazing movement.

You’re thinking:  “I don’t get the connection….”

During Roman’s lectures on chess, he knows that he knows that he knows. He is so sure of himself that you can hear it through his thick Georgian accent, and you know that it permeates his soul.  When Roman says a move is bad or a position is bad … it is, period! His statement (not his stated opinion) is backed by so much study, investigation and experience that it is stupid to doubt him even for a second. His certainty is contagious. When Roman is unclear about something, he says: “I am unclear about this. I will try to find out.”

The connection is this. ‘We” have to know that we know that we know. We need to begin to address the public like Roman addresses the public-- with absolute certainty and clarity.  And if we don’t know, we simply should say it: “I don’t know.”

The question we must ask is: “How do I attain such certainty?” The answer is simple but not easy. Again we must be like Roman. Roman dedicated his life to chess. To its study, analysis, to asking mentors and to hours upon hours of research. That is what we need to do. The more we pursue knowledge and wisdom of our art with an honest mind, the more certain we will become with ourselves.  And the more our communities will benefit from us.

The world needs what we are doing, more now than ever before. Let’s stand up as a community and make that difference. 

 

Better Service to yourself

I’m often quite confused by practice members and people in general. Often times when people are struggling with their health, they want to know what is wrong with them. They want to go get a diagnosis. Even worse, they choose not to do anything until they have a diagnosis.

If my assumption is correct, you probably read that paragraph and said to yourself, “I don’t find anything weird about people wanting to know what is wrong with them. I would probably do the exact same thing.”

Remember: The quality of your life is determined by the quality of the questions you ask yourself.

The faulty belief is that a diagnosis will tell what is wrong with you and that that will tell you what to do. (For the sake of this blog post, we are going to leave the action steps out of it,) Unfortunately a diagnosis is incapable of giving you a cause. It only (at best, most times not even) confirms what you already know.

A diagnosis is a label and nothing more. The real question you need to ask yourself is how getting diagnosed is going to change what you DO for yourself? What actions is it going to change? If it is not going to change anything … then why do you need one so badly? That was a cue for some soul searching. If your answer is, “I just want to know what is wrong with me,” it won’t be able to tell you that. If you want a label, then you should get a diagnosis.

But don’t you want to know WHY something is happening? If you knew why something was happening, you could quickly make changes to alter the effects. Unfortunately a diagnosis does not tell you why; it only labels you. 

If you are still confused as to what exactly I’m trying to say, let’s apply the same idea to a plant. If you come home from a day at work and your plant has a brown leaf, what is your first thought? Do you label the plant with a fancy name (“brown leafitis”) or do you quickly ask yourself, “I wonder why my plant has a brown leaf” and take appropriate action? Which will bring better results? Why not use the same logic on yourself?

The goal of this blog post is not to dissuade you from going to your doctor or to any other medical provider. It is simply to get you to start asking better questions and learn why you do what you do… so you can start living a better life.

Dr. K

What would you really do?

If you could be paid to do anything at all, what would you be paid to do?

I won’t consider laying on the couch watching TV as a viable answer because I believe that productive work is required for life.  Human life needs achievement.

 

Why aren’t you doing it?

 

As I’m sitting here writing this blog post, I have chatted with many people -- ALL of whom do not like what they are doing. When I asked them the simple question “Why don’t you do something that you like?” they tell me that they can’t.

This is a false belief. Many of us have been sold this false idea of safety or security by getting a “good” job. Or that somehow “you can’t do what you want and make a decent living doing it.”  There are many issues involved in this type of psychology: security, value, respect, family dynamic, social pressure. I can’t possible discuss all of them.

I will briefly discuss one, the issue of security. People believe that real jobs will land them in a secure state. I hate to break the news to you, but there is really no such thing as security in the world. Simply look at the last few years.  If you are going to put your trust in anything, put it into yourself. You have the most control over your own life. Don’t try to hand it over to someone else.

We all have something that we are amazing at, and chances are we love doing it. What if we spent our time developing that skill, created a ton of value for others by doing that, and then got paid for it and made it a career?

Just take a minute and picture what kind of world we would have if people got paid for living their dream.

Fight the fear and limiting beliefs.  Start making it a reality.

Dr. K

 

 

Compromise Compromising

One of the things that I am criticized for is my unwillingness to compromise. “Your ideas are too rigid,” I’m told. “Can’t you be more lenient?” It can and has become much more heated, but I think you understand the basic idea-- especially if you have ever met me.

I think it is important to understand the difference between “mutual concession” and “compromise.” Am I willing to come to a mutual concession with someone? The answer is an easy yes. I don’t always need to get what I want and I care for enough people on the planet that I want to see them happy. However, this is not what people today mean when they speak of compromise. What they mean when they say compromise is this: The betrayal of one’s principles or the unilateral surrender to any groundless claim.

There can be no compromise on moral principles. Are grains bad for me? Yes. Is chiropractic good for me? Yes. I will not accept practice members calling what we do in the office a “treatment,” or – even worse --“crack”. I won’t accept people telling me that living By Design hasn’t improved their health. Accepting these things will be avoiding reality.

I am willing to have conversations with people. I understand change is difficult, and people have a ton of questions. I understand you might be frustrated and upset, so let’s talk about it. But please do not ask me to compromise things that I know are true. That doesn’t do either of us any favours.

Dr. K

For the love of Life

Please understand that life is our most precious value.  Every love and desire that we have is based upon the fact that we live.  When we die, our world -- and everything in our world -- ceases to exist.

If you love anything at all, you must by default, love to live first! Everything else comes second.

Intertwined with this concept of life is the idea of health.  It is a pillar of life.  You cannot be fully alive if you are not fully healthy.  Your level of health is directly proportional to your level of life.  If your health begins to fail, your life begins to become difficult.  You cannot care as much for others, and you cannot accomplish all your own hopes and dreams.

The question becomes "Why?  Why do so many people do such a poor job of taking care of their health?"

The answer is complicated, and many different ideas need to be discussed.  However, for this post, let's keep things simple and talk about a quick "mental shift" that will help.

One of the first "mental shifts" needed is the idea of spending versus investing.  It can be frustrating to listen to people talking about "spending" money on "the food they eat," their chiropractic care," "their gym memberships," and so on.

Nobody likes to spend money (for far too many, it implies "waste"), but people love to "invest" money.  With the term "investment" comes the idea of a return on that investment.  What I've shared with you above shows clearly my stance:  There is no better "investment" than in myself and in my health.  I believe that is true for you as well.

So …?  What if you stop "spending" on health, and simply start "investing" in your health?  How would that change your outlook?

 

Slave to Your Genes or Master of Your Destiny?

When Watson and Crick discovered the DNA molecule in 1953 they proclaimed, “We’ve found the secret of life!” It sparked over six decades dedicated to the pursuit of uncovering the genetic cause of disease.

We were told The Human Genome Project would map our DNA and tell us of the grave future that lay ahead. Thankfully, Big Pharma had plenty of chemical solutions to keep us alive and ticking.

The results? Well, let’s just say they’ve fallen quite short of the hundreds of billions invested. In 2009, 27 prominent geneticists published a paper in the journal Nature acknowledging they had discovered no more than a fractional genetic basis for disease.

It's not that genes don't matter; it's that they don't predetermine your life. Only a small percentage of disease is "purely" genetic. Bruce Lipton, a former Stanford cell biologist and author of The Biology of Belief, suggests less than 5% of our known diseases are genetic.

Genes play a role in all body function, as they are the blueprint for creating proteins, the basic building blocks for hormones and other important molecules. It is estimated one gene makes up to 30,000 different proteins. This means, for the vast majority, having a certain gene does not necessarily default them to having a particular disease condition.

How those genes are expressed are a result of our lifestyle choices and stressors. It is our environment that is the primary determinate in the way our genes are expressed. How we live, eat, move, think, the quality of our neurological function and the toxicity of the world around us form the basis of our quality and quantity of life.

It's why twins with identical genetics can have different health levels, so much so that one can develop disease once thought purely genetic and the other live well and vital. As Dr. James Chestnut says: "You are the genetic expression of your lifestyle choices."

New research in the field of Epigenetics shows that even our grandparents’ food choices may affect not just the health of their children but that of their grandchildren! Amazing.

What can be controlled is your choices.

The limiting factors for healing and attaining optimal health are time and how much damage has been done with genes turned on in an unhealthy way.  And only time will tell what the body is truly capable of.

This is the foundation of Life By Design. Identify what the body needs and then create a lifestyle around fulfilling all those requirements for a period of time, preferably a lifetime.

 

How to make your Pancake Tuesday By Design

COCONUT PANCAKES & BACON 

Drizzle these with honey and berries, sprinkle with shredded coconut, or wrap up some bacon and eggs for a By Design burrito, or just eat them plain. So easy to make.

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch cinnamon
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup coconut milk 

Method:
Mix these ingredients and let them sit for five minutes. Oil or grease up your pan and heat over medium heat. Pour about a 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake, allowing each side to brown before flipping it.

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