We cannot avoid pain during our lives because it is embedded in our brain. Pain is a feeling triggered in the nervous system. Pain may be sharp or dull. It may come and go, or it may be constant. You may feel pain in one area of your body, such as your back, abdomen or chest or you may feel pain all over, such as when your muscles ache from the flu. Pain may also have an emotional connection with your past. It can trigger in your mind emotional scares, traumas, or tensions. B. J. Palmer D.C. Ph. C., author of Science of Chiropractic says,  “Pain is the mental interpretation of abnormal physical condition.” Pain can be very subjective, and the science of pain can be very difficult to understand. In chiropractic philosophy, we talk about pain in the following way:

“Pain is uncomfortable sensation resulting from the interpretation of impressions arising from an abnormal condition within the human body, or from an external stimulus, which has a detrimental effect upon the body. For example, take a sprained ankle in which the ligaments are stretched. There are sensory impressions constantly arising from this abnormal and sprained ankle. These impressions reach the brain, are interpreted, and efferent impulses sent out to the point from which the impression originated, transferring the sensation to the periphery as pain. The sensation of pain, however, occurs in the brain. This pain is adaptive, to prevent further use of the injured part until it can be properly and naturally repaired. Or if the skin should be pricked with a needle, an impression is immediately sent to the brain, where it is interpreted as pain, and motor impulses sent back to the muscles, which causes them to contract and withdraw from the injury. In this pain is also adaptive. “

Green Books: Chiropractic Symptomatology by James N. Firth, D.C., Ph. C

As pain is a mental interpretation and it occurs in the brain, it is often used as an alarm system. Your body has the capability to heal and to adapt to its environment,  but when that function is lost due to obstruction of communication of the nervous system it is called subluxation. When something goes wrong, your body uses pain to tell you, therefore, by the time you feel pain damage has already been done Pain is used as an alarm system to prevent the damage from getting worse. Whether it is emotional, physical, or spiritual pain, the pain is a warning that the body is experiencing  disharmony or loss of communication.  Even when feeling pain most people deny its existence.

Most people think pain is important and proportionally significant in the human brain, but scientifically, only ten percent of the nervous system consists of pain!! The rest of the nervous system consists of organ function and muscle control. Pain is very subjective and can be misunderstood in many health conditions. For example my knees can be hurting while there is a disc bulging in my lower back putting pressure on the nerve that gives sensation to my knees. People can get a headache from emotional stress such as verbal argument between husband and wife.  Pain can also be chronic and continue to be bothersome such as in the shoulders or lower neck.

Basically pain acts as an alarm system to warn you of something, but it is not the cause of your condition. Pain is a very poor measure of your health condition and very misleading for identifying what your health condition truly is. Absence of pain doesn’t mean you are completely healthy. When you are physically healthy, your body is interconnected structurally, and energetically you experience optimal adaptation to environmental stress, high resistance to disease, homeostasis, vitality, energy, fulfilling breath, fluid movement, relaxation, and ease.

Chi/Life dwells in us flowing from the heavens into our finite body to create and build the next generation.

That Chi/Life, flows in us  through many channels in our body as energy. There are twelve main channels plus eight reservoir channels and each channel has a specific purpose. The main channels carry energy to wherever energy is needed in the body.  Extra energy in the main channels flows into the reservoir channels where the body draws on energy. This occurs when the main channels prevent energy from getting to parts of the body that need it causing body functioning to slow down or stop and we feel sick.

Imagine these energy channels are like a river. When the river is flowing smoothly everything is fine. Farmers can take water from the river for their crops. Cities can use water from the river for people to drink. You can even have fun floating on an inner tube down the river on a hot day. But if something happens to cause a blockage in the river many problems can occur. Downstream the river can dry up and there will be no water to drink and none for the farmer’s crops, while upstream the river can overflow its banks and cause flooding.

With a river it’s easy to see that a blockage can cause a lot of problems. It is the same with the energy channels in our bodies. If we want to get well and to feel our best we have to keep these energy channels open so the energy flows smoothly and freely. When we have blockages we need to open or remove these blockages and re-balance the energy in our body.

This is where Chiropractic and Chi can help. Out of the many channels of Chi, there is a channel called the Great Vessel that is along the spine. That channel can be greatly influenced by the spines structure and misalignment of the spine can cause blockage of the flow of Chi/life. With Chiropractic adjustments to the spine that have blocked the flow with misalignment of a segment in the spine will be removed so that there is no blockages or anything that limits of the flow of Chi/Life.  Chi Kung can also remove blockages of other channels so that energy can flow through the body in perfect balance.

This balance from structural spine and flow of energy channel  brings healing, peak performance, inner peace, harmony, and happiness.

Benefits  from Chiropractic and Chi Kung:

• Pain-free movement and greater flexibility
• A sense of contentment and peace
• Reduce stress and tension
• Improved metabolism, digestion, and elimination
• Balanced Energy
• A more youthful appearance
• Increase Awareness and mental acuity
• Increased strength and vitality
• Restore organs to their healthy, optimal functioning by giving them an “inner massage” and thus slowing the aging process.

That is why most primal structures such as big bridges and buildings are built with curves and arcs.   Curvature in the spine helps the spine in many ways. First, the curvature helps absorb the impact from walking/running and evenly distributes the weight of the body. Second, the curvature helps the body withstand the constant physical stress that is produced by gravity. Third, loss of curvature will cause abnormal stress to the spine, making it vulnerable to damage and cause loss of function. For us to be ahead of the curve in life is to have good spinal curvature!

Before we dive in to how the curvature is necessary for your spine, we need to make sure which curve we are addressing. We are addressing the curvature that develops from birth to adulthood. In the womb, for a period of time following birth, a baby’s spine is shaped like the letter C. This curve is termed a primary curve, which is called the Kyphotic. During the time the baby is learning to lift his head and eventually walk, muscles develop. As muscular strength and ability is gained, the baby’s activity will shift body weight to the spine. Gradually, secondary curves develop in the cervical and lumbar regions; these curvature are called lordotic curves. These curves will continue to develop until growing stops. The curvature structure can be seen from lateral full spine radiological film, and there is a method of measuring to determine the normality of the curvature.

These curvatures in your spine withstand constant bombardment of stresses that are caused by normal activitiesin your daily life. As your body undergoes physical activities such as: sports, exercise, and recreation there is stress produced to the spine. The infrastructure of the spine upholds the body to withstand stress and keep the organs in place. This is also reflected in cathedrals which have many arcs/curvatures strategically placed to  prevent it from collapsing and withstand the test of time.

Other than applying stress from physical activity, there is another natural force that will constantly cause stress on your spine. That is Gravity!! The only way to counter the effects of gravity is to have proper curvature in your spine. The S shape curvature of the spine counteracts the effects of gravity like a spring, and sustains its structure. Do you see a waiter holding a tray? They hold it to support the weight, but bend the elbow like a curvature for support. It is the same thing with the curvature in your spine in the neck. A 10-15 pound skull needs a structure in the neck that can hold its weight and going against gravity. Most people complain about having tightness in their neck. It is usually due to loss of curvature. (you might need to connect this concept with the spine a little more clearly)

When you lose curvature, the spine then is not able to withstand the stress from gravity on your body’s mass. This will result in structural failure of the spine in the long run. Loss of curvature will cause increased pressure load on the discs, increase muscular strain to support the inefficient skeletal structure, and cause nerve damage from alteration of the spinal structure. When this continues on for a long term, it will make it vulnerable to additional physical stress.  Things such as car accidents, slips, and falls can easily cause damage to the spinal structure.  The disc structure that was giving cushion to the spine can be damaged slowly and wither away from the increased stress due to poor integrity of the spinal structure. When the disc withers away, then the nerves will be compressed, increase pain, and eventually the disk will lose its function.  When time goes by, the degeneration process accelerates and your damaged spinal structure becomes permanent. Your body will be conditioned with that problem all your life.  

When the spinal structure has its curvature, it is able to withstand the physical stresses, the weight of your body, and is less vulnerable to damage to the spine. When your spine has its curves, you are ahead of the curve!! You are able to function 100%, withstand the test of time, and experience life instead of living life. You will be able to play tennis in your later years, play with your grand kids, or simply being able to walk to the bathroom. To be ahead of your curve, you simply need to make sure you have them or keep them!

“The right number and right kind of adjustments can set the stage for nature to heal; too many adjustments in the wrong place can undo any good that was done and slow down the healing mechanism.” – C.S. Gonstead

“ONE of the most important skills a chiropractor needs to develop is the ability to find nerve pressure –to find it exactly, specifically, where it is on each patient. If a chiropractor is not removing nerve pressure, he is not practicing chiropractic. The science and art of removing nerve pressure, and the results obtained, will stand the scrutiny of even the most resolute opponent.”-C.S. Gonstead

“A Gonstead correction of nerve pressure is more than just an adjustment . . . it is a scientific “setting” of the affected vertebra ONTO the disc below. It is of the utmost importance to be specific in the application of philosophy and especially the adjustment.”-C.S.Gonstead

“Reposition the vertebra to take pressure off of the nerve and you will get sick people well.”-C.S. Gonstead

“If there was no nerve pressure to any gland or organ, the body can produce any drug it needs.” – C.S. Gosntead

“Chiropractic without specificity is nothing.” – B.J. Palmer

“Chiropractic is not an alternative to medicine nor is it complementary to medicine. It is a separate and distinct science, art and philosophy of health and healing. Chiropractic is the largest natural healing art in the world. It has based on the premise that th body is a self-healing organism and that the nervous system is the master control system of the body. Minor displacements of the spinal bones knowns as vertebral subluxations can cause endangering stress to the spinal cord which act as the main line of intelligence for the whole body. These displacements, or subluxations, are the cause of many of the unwanted health conditions that people suffer from everyday. Although there have been many valuable techniques that have been developed in the chiropractic profession, the Gonstead System is considered a “Gold Standart” for chiropractic techniques because of its record of safety and effectiveness in correcting vertebral subluxation.” Gonstead Clinical Studies Societies

]]> http://zenchiropractic.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/chiropractic-quotes/feed/ 2 zenchiropractic http://zenchiropractic.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/zazen-wabisabi-and-then-chiropractic/ http://zenchiropractic.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/zazen-wabisabi-and-then-chiropractic/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:04:07 +0000 zenchiropractic http://zenchiropractic.wordpress.com/?p=41 ]]> What does Zazen, Wabi/Sabi, and Chiropractic have in common? It is the spine!! The posture of the spine is a very important component to Zazen. Wabi/Sabi inspires asymmetric structure to be a beauty and harmony. Structure  of the spine doesn’t have to be straight but instead it needs adaptive structural integrity that is balanced to the natural forces from the environment. Chiropractic has a lot in common with Japanese ideals about the way of life and health. Chiropractor’s  job is not about making perfect straight spine but finding Subluxation and correction of Subluxation!!

Zazen Meditation

Zazen meditation has specific instructions for posture.  The first thing to pay attention to is the position of the body in Zazen. The body has a way of communicating outwardly to the world and inwardly to oneself. How you position your body has a lot to do with what happens with your mind and your breath. It’s very important to keep the spine straight with the lower part of the back curved. All of the aspects of the posture that are important when seated on the floor are just as important when sitting in a chair. The importance of keeping the back straight is to allow the diaphragm to move freely. The breathing you will be doing in zazen becomes very, very deep. Your abdomen will rise and fall much the same way an infant’s belly rises and falls. In general, as we mature, our breathing becomes restricted, and less and less complete. We tend to take shallow breaths in the upper part of the chest. Usually, we’ve got our belts on very tight or we wear tight clothing around the waist. As a result, deep, complete breathing rarely occurs. In zazen it is important to loosen up anything that is tight around the waist and to wear clothing that is non-binding. For instance, material should not gather behind the knees when you cross the legs, inhibiting circulation. Allow the diaphragm to move freely so that the breathing can be deep, easy, and natural. You don’t have to control it. You don’t have to make it happen. It will happen by itself if you assume the right posture and position your body properly.

Keeping a good posture has many implications to the spine. Roger Sperry, Ph.D. (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1981) discovered that 90% of thebrain’s activity is used to balance your body within the gravitational field of earth. If your bodyis mechanically distorted, it will affect the other 10% of the brain’s activity, which controls all the other body functions such as breathing, digestion and cognition. If the body framework (bone structure and spine) is in an off-balanced or misaligned position it can impede or block the electrical and chemical transmissions of the nervous system, which controls all of your body’s functions. This interference to the nervous system can cause or contribute to all kinds of symptoms and illnesses (in other words, the feeling that “I am hurting or I am sick”). Published research studies indicate that when body balance is restored, the body enters a healing cycle that alleviates pain and symptoms, elevates the immune system, increases blood and oxygen circulation, normalizes nervous system communication and creates more optimum body performance (“I feel good again”). When head tilt develops (as pictured above) and the body becomes imbalanced, the brain stem is compressed, restricting the flow of communication between the brain and body. Health and healing messages are restricted in the part of the body serviced by these compressed nerves. Diminished and impaired function and pain follows. This can cause pain and suffering and decrease the quality of your life. When the body is balanced, there is no stress or tension on the brain stem. This allows communications between the brain and body to travel back and forth unimpeded, promoting maximum health and healing.

If you feel your posture is off it only means you need to look in further and deeper. When you have distorted posture there can be many problems that will cause pain and disease. How does Chiropractic help? Lets talk about Wabi/Sabi and you will find the profoundness what is healing.

Wabi/Sabi

The two dominant principles of Chinese and Japanese art and culture are wabi and sabi. Wabi refers to a philosophical construct, a sense of space, direction, or path, while sabi is an aesthetic construct rooted in a given object and its features, plus the occupation of time, chronology, and objectivity. Though the terms are and should be referred to distinctly, they are usually combined as wabi-sabi, as both a working description and as a single aesthetic principle.

The term wabi-sabi suggests such qualities as impermanence, humility, asymmetry, and imperfection. These underlying principles are diametrically opposed to those of their Western counterparts, whose values are rooted in the Hellenic worldview that values permanence, grandeur, symmetry, and perfection. The contrast to Western principles of aesthetics is rooted in the contrast to Western philosophical premises of power, authority, dominance, engagement, and control, whether of others or of nature.

The design principles of wabi-sabi fall into several categories; of course fine arts like poetry, drama, and literature, have not physical objects, embody these principles in a different way: type, form, texture, beauty, color, simplicity, space, and balace.

In the philosophy of Wabi/Sabi, the work reflects the physical balances found in the natural world. Hence no preconceived formula for symmetry is tenable because nature defines itself by circumstances: a tree grows tall or short, thin or thick, leafy, crooked, etc., in the context of other trees, rocks, water, soil, hummus, etc. in the forest. This balance as circumstance is a design principle for the artist to infuse into a work. The work, like the tree, is unique. The regularity, uniformity, and prescriptions contrived by the artist are secondary to the requirement to reflect a natural and unforced appearance to the object and its context.

We talked about posture is an important component of Zazen and your health. Now we need to take a closer look at how the actual shape of the spine inside your body. Most people are diagnosed with Scoliosis, Forward Head Tilt, Hunch back postures that are connected to health hazard and Pain. Those diagnosed postures and pain are just a tip of the iceberg. On x-ray films we can see the actual shape of the spine compared to what you can see. There are two things that the healing professionals try to strive for and they are important for a good posture, having a straight spine and having curvature.

Most Chiropractors, Orthopedic Physicians, Physiotherapy, or any other healing professions correct these postural problems tries to make the spine straight and restore the curvature. There are many devices and techniques that tries to straighten the spine and restore curvature of the spine. There are techniques in Chiropractic profession that will answer the publics questions about the posture problem. Although for a Chiropractor having a normal straight spine and curvature is not the answer for everything.

Just like the concept of Wabi/Sabi of Balance, symmetry of the spine is not as crucial as most healing professions advertise. In Wabi/Sabi, they strive for uniqueness in a natural process of growth in a tree. This natural process is the same with how Chiropractic view the spine. The famous Dr. Gonstead who established the Golden Standard for Chiropractic Technique said in his book,

“It is not to be implied that the chiropractor’s objective is to straighten the spine. Since every individual has some structural variations, each spine will vary according to those differences. ‘What is normal for one may not be normal for others.’”

The Wabi/Sabi and Chiropractic Philosophy has the same contrast with the western ideals of balance and symmetry. In the medical normal of the spine is based upon structural symmetry. Many medical profession will advise children with a sever degree of scoliosis should get surgery/brace to control the body.  Other healing profession would take control of the spine by strengthening the muscles and or use manual therapy of manipulation of the spine.

Dr. R.W. Stephenson said in Chiropractic Text Book, ” Chiropractic does not pretend to “straighten” curvatures by force, or to force abnormal spine to an “educated ideal.”….Neither does Chiropractic adjust with the intention of forcing or driving vertebrae into perfect alignment; for Chiropractic does not treat effects at all. It seeks to remove the cause and the cause is always in the spine. “ Dr. Stephenson further says about postures, “Curvatures caused by occupations, as hodcarrying, bookkeeping, locomotive driving are occupational curvatures. They are adaption to the occupation instead of having a disease….the X-ray shows many vertebra “out of alignment,” and if he has apparent curatvatures; if he still has practically perfect health, it is a mistake to adjust these vertebra……That the spine is just as she wants to be.”

What then? Why do we need a Chiropractor? The job of a Chiropractor is not about aligning the spine to be straight. Chiropractor’s job is to find “Subluxation” and correct them. What is Subluxation? Dr. R.W. Stephenson says, “It is the condition of a vertebra that has lost its proper juxtaposition with the one above and one below, or both; to an extent less than a luxation; which impinges nerves and interferes with the transmission of mental impulses.” These Subluxation will cause the difficulty to have good postures, deformed shape of the spine, causes pain, and health hazards.

Do you have good posture? Did you see your spine on a X-ray film? When you are meditating or when your doing a Japanese Tea ceremony, you should be asking these questions to your self. At our office we take X-ray films and analyze them and understand the person’s condition and give them health care that you need and nothing Extra. We have exercises that will help you condition yourself so that you won’t need Chiropractic all the time. You have Healing From Within!

Who is Dr. Zen?

Zen Matsuda was born here in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Science from Northwestern University in Roseville, Minnesota. After graduation, he continued his study for a Doctorate of Chiropractic in Northwestern Health Science University of Bloomington, MN. While studying Chiropractic, Zen discovered Gonstead Chiropractors which changed his idea about Chiropractic. Spending many hours in seminars, internships, and practice, he learned how to analyze the spine bio mechanically and give precise correction to the spine.

In 2010, he opened Zen Chiropractic in Minnesota. Dr. Zen uses his unique name to characterize his approach.  He intended on fusing the eastern and western concepts of healing. Dr. Zen has used the idea of Chi from the east and Chiropractic from the west for inspiring healing from within through adjusting the misalignment of the spine. Zen Chiropractic establishes 100% function and communication of the Brain through the Spinal Cord to the body so that the person will have 100% capacity for mental discipline, and the healing of many physical ailments. Dr. Zen’s patients appreciate the dedication of his work by assisting their mental and physical healing from within.

Dr. Zen met a beautiful Brazilian named Fernanda at The Church of All Nations in 2007, and they were married a year later. Both are active in church, Dr. Zen and Fernanda participates in the Music and Couples Ministry.

Zen Chiropractic Inc.

Zen Chiropractic realizes that pain, whether mental or physical, has a negative impact on our lives and bodies. Zen Chiropractic establishes 100% function and communication of the brain and spinal cord to the body so that the person will be able to function at full mental and physical capacity. Zen Chiropractic gives you healing from within by utilizing of biomechanical concepts of science and energy efficiency of the body.