life lessons – We Only Get One Chance

SPRINGTIME

There is something super magical about SPRINGTIME here in Michigan and I know you are all feeling it!

Best Chiropractor Fenton Michigan - Dr Erica Peabody - Expansion

Being that our office is right downtown, we are all always so happy to be part of the walking culture that the DDA of Fenton created for this community!

I often walk outside after a day of work and take a quick jaunt down the street to the post office and put the outgoing mail in the mailbox. Since I am just half a block from there, I usually just continue on around at least the block. But since I am heading around one block, I usually pick one more block….and then one more…and that is how a 20-30 minute walk is done. It goes along with the Law if Inertia – a body in motion will tend to stay in motion…

And if any of you spend any time downtown Fenton, you realize just how much pride people have put into their homes and businesses and IT IS BEAUTIFUL down here!

Best Chiropractor Fenton Michigan - Dr Erica Peabody Blossoms

Sitting front and center in town for almost 6 solid years already (ALREADY!!!!!), we see lots of people out walking, biking and strolling around. We often see sports teams running by in big groups from Fenton Middle School and Fenton High School. We love all the energy as our community has become a small hub of people taking good care of their bodies and getting their exercise in.

A friend of mine was asking me yesterday how many gyms and fitness centers are in the city of Fenton. I began to list them and it was upwards between 12+ that I could name off the top of my head and I am sure there were some that were skipping my mind. We are fortunate as our city grows, so does our health and wellness culture surrounding it all!

The Peabody Center for Well-Being is the location of Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic office, my chiropractic office and this building is completely occupied with some of the area’s greatest health/wellness/well-being professionals in the area!

Even after 6 years in this location, and many of those years with occupied office spaces, it surprises a lot of people to know that the building houses so many awesome businesses.

About a year ago, we launched a website that serves as a building directory. This is a virtual landing page for all the professionals in the building. I wanted to take a moment and invite you to take a glance through and connect with the businesses that can help you along you and your family’s health and wellness journey!

www.healthyfenton.com

Best Chiropractor Fenton Michigan - 3 Days In - Dr Erica Peabody (810)69-6023 - Grouchy

Take a moment and browse through the site. This is the location that allows you to directly connect and contact each person to set up your appointments! We keep this information up to date to help you!

Enjoy the SPRINGTIME energy of our world right now and make a plan for the healthiest and happiest season ever!

(CLICK LINK BELOW TO ACCESS BUILDING DIRECTORY)

https://www.healthyfenton.com

BE MINDFUL

I am hoping that you are connected with us over Facebook, but if not, HERE IS THE LINK to go straight there. You can also look me up individually and follow that way. I have been doing some live shares over facebook as I drive and think and the last one was a warning to BE MINDFUL!!!

…and here is why that came up.

Last Wednesday I was in my practice and a woman came in that had been under care in the past but had to take some time off to heal from a fall where she fractured a vertebra in her neck. She was carrying a box down a set of stairs and stepped off the side in a bad way and hit the back of her neck on a steel handrail resulting in a fracture. She has healed well and is ready to get back under regular chiropractic care (some of you may be curious at this point that I can even adjust someone with this kind of injury. I want to remind you that I have a lot of tools in my bag of chiropractic techniques that allows me to work with and around all kinds of injuries as each person’s care is tailored for each individual and their needs).

I see a lot of people with injuries which probably goes without saying. Some of the stories make my stomach churn as the phrase that follows is always “WOW! That could have been way worse!!”

The next patient that same day was up north and cleaning up the kitchen and tripped over the dishwasher door that was out of her line of sight. This resulted in yet another conversation that went “Wow! That could have been a whole lot worse!” The final one that day was a slip and fall while getting into the car and sliding right underneath the vehicle…which “Could have been a whole lot worse!”

Our lives are super busy these days. I have to be honest, I am trying to do too much at once, carry too much at once and my brain is filled with all kinds of running thoughts also!!! I am in that same club however when I get to see these kinds of injuries, I take note of the theme. The running theme of all of these injuries…trying to do too much at the same time. Me too!! Me too.

Be mindful. Easier said than done often. What I notice for myself is that if I can slow down my mind to focus on the task at hand, I am so much safer, healthier and happier.

Being mindful wouldn’t necessarily have prevented these injuries however, we can’t know for sure, it may have. It is always hard to say at the time and easier to reflect backwards to see situations retrospectively.

I was getting ready the very next day and listing to a podcast or making a video for a friend AND curling my hair at the same time. Without looking down at my curling iron, I didn’t realize that it had spun around and was facing the other direction. When I reached down and thought I was grabbing the handle, I was actually grabbing the hot barrel, resulting in burning the pads of my thumb and two fingers.

When that happened, my first thought was how easily that would have been avoided by simply being present, looking up and then looking back down. I am notorious for trying to do too many things at once. As I navigate through my days, I notice just how many things I drop and realize that is a strong indication that I am not fully paying attention.

Look around in your life. Where do you find yourself trying to do too many things at once? Have you stumbled as you were trying to do something else? How many different directions do you think the mind can handle going in and still pay attention?

Be mindful.

Being mindful is much easier said than done however I am hoping by just having this brief read and reminder, it is more in the forefront of your mind as you navigate through your days.

I am not minimizing any of the things I mentioned before nor am I saying that they for sure could have been avoided. I just wanted to share this theme of the week so that you can be mindful too.

SPRINGTIME HAPPINESS

When people think of happiness in this time of season shift, it is often with images of thawing snow, warmer temperatures, sunshine and everything coming back to life. That is usual springtime happiness.

For me, springtime happiness includes a trip to the slopes in Colorado! I think it is the very best time of year on the slopes for many reasons: the locals are snow snobs and think the snow conditions are not worthy of the drive up and over the pass so the runs are less crowded, the temperatures are mild to warm which allows for a much more enjoyable experience for someone who doesn’t make a lot of my own heat and SUNSHINE!!!!

I have to admit that the snow is not the greatest and changes consistency as the days warm up. I try to be out for when the chairlifts start first thing at open time but it is all dependent on the crew I am traveling with….and if I am honest, I am more lenient as my trips around the sun add up (as I am getting older if that was too cryptic).

The thought of gathering all the gear, packing all the clothes, getting all the way to the slopes, putting all those clothes and gear on, buying the lift ticket and all the other things that need to happen in order to get out on the slopes seems daunting at times.

Between taking care of patients, running businesses, a household, managing a team, managing real estate and being a dog mom, the weekends are mostly spent resting and resetting to prep for the next week. But inside of life, there really needs to be moments of epic levels of joy to continue to fuel the “other stuff”. Life is not always joyful but we do need to seek out ways to find and follow our joy and pleasure…and I have to admit that sometimes I forget that.

So a few weeks ago, I contacted a couple friends and said “LET’S RIDE!!!!” …and so we did.

In all the daunting tasks and things to do to make it all the way to the moment when I am strapping my boots into my snowboard to get on the first lift, I actually stopped to ask myself “is this worth it? Is this still where I find my joy?”

As busy humans, we all really do need to stop ourselves every so often to be sure that we are assessing what brings us joy, what fills up our cup and what recharges our batteries. If we don’t have moments where we take pause and really look inside for honest answers to these questions, we can find ourselves having gone YEARS in autopilot not even knowing what makes us happy. Our own assumptions and outsider’s projections onto us can keep us walking the same path without much question.

The first chairlift comes up behind me and scoops me up to carry me off towards the top of the mountain. In that moment, with the sun shining down on my face, I remembered IT IS SO WORTH IT!!! The chairlift ride to the top is to the tune of great conversations with an incredible friend about life and love and hope and dreams. Its reviewing the past and projecting greatness into the future. It is talking down tough things and great excitement about what’s ahead. It is all of it and in the middle of it all, I realize I have too many layers on to manage the temperature. And instead of worrying about that, I am just super grateful not to be freezing my 4$$ off, which is often the case on other times during the winter season.

This year, due to all that is happening globally, I didn’t know if I would even make it out on the slopes or not, though I remained hopeful. Last year, due to my heart surgery late 2019, I really laid low to allow the patch time to heal without the risk of falling and potentially jarring it with pressure. (Now, if you are currently asking yourself “Did she really just say HEART SURGERY?!?!?!” —>>>CLICK HERE<<<— to read all about it….and ––>>>CLICK HERE<<<— for the recap).

So my friend and I get to the top, strapped the other foot into our boards, and off we went!

Do you snowboard? Do you surf? Do you ski? There is a beautiful rhythm to snowboarding that is a match for some natural rhythm of life and it is almost as though the first turn linking together with the next turn and the next creates a harmony for the body and mind that is integral to help regulate my nervous system. That was the wordiest and headiest language to say THIS IS MY HAPPIEST PLACE!!!

And if you know much about snowboarding, if you are not paying attention, you are bound to get yourself in trouble or injured rather quickly, you are not on an edge and shifting weight as you choose your line down the mountain, you are going to catch an edge and faceplant or land hard on your backside. The presence to put it all together is so meditative for me. It is the present-time consciousness, the moments of mindfulness, that creates peace and grace and springtime happiness!

Springtime happiness comes in lots of different ways for lots of different people. Another springtime happiness moment is when the local lakes thaw and we can feel the impending glorious Michigan summer season in the near future. The budding of the trees, just the little leaf buds that begin to emerge as the world hints at coming back to life. It is warmer days and wearing less layers to be able to get outside and enjoy some fresh air. It is Opening Day, baseball and other spring sports coming back to life.

Moments of springtime happiness have an extra bit of sweetness after this past year of quarantine and limited connections with family and friends. I hope you are able to find some of these moments for yourself…we only get one chance!

MIDLAND DISASTER RELIEF

Inside of all the ways that life is crazy and busy and shifting on a daily basis, imagine that your home or place of employment was washed out by major flooding and you lost some or everything you owned. Some of the residents of Midland, Michigan experienced just that and I was able to join the Midland disaster relief efforts.

The Michigan Association of Chiropractors put out an email a week ago asking for volunteers to offer their time and services to the disaster relief workers and also the residents that have been effected by the flooding. There is a tent set up at Calvary Baptist Church and School in Midland and volunteer chiropractors are going to be manning the tables there on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays 12p-2p indefinitely. If you are in that area, please look for the burgundy tent that is set up and stop in to get your spine checked!

I have had a lot going on in my personal and business life but honestly that stuff never outweighs the LASTING PURPOSE that lives inside of me. Lasting Purpose is a principle that the chiropractic profession was based on and it means “To Give, To Love and to Serve out of our own sense of abundance.”

Many people have asked how I come up with the energy to donate my time like that, my own Lasting Purpose drives me to do it all.

I shared in a couple FACEBOOK LIVE videos a little bit about what is happening up in the Midland, Michigan area. It is truly devastating to know that our “neighbors” have not only dealt with the global pandemic that has been happening and sheltering in place due to executive orders, but also watched as severe flooding was heading their way and trying to rescue items from their homes prior to the damage.

Many of the homes and businesses will never be the same. There were disaster relief workers from all around the country there helping people restore some sense of order and assist in repairing and rebuilding their homes.

It is nice to be a helper and it is extra nice to help the helpers. It is nice to be of service to the community giving the chiropractic adjustment to allow for things inside of their bodies to settle and help them to integrate stresses. It is nice to be barefoot in the grass with my table, my hands, a smile on my face and a couple colleagues by my side helping others. It is truly the magic in this life.

Many have asked how they can help. If you are a chiropractor, grab your portable table and drive up to the tent and set it up and open up your heart. If you are a contractor, I am sure there is someone organizing efforts and so maybe contacting the Calvary Baptist Church would be a good place to start. If you just want to go up and help clean up, I am sure if you just showed up at the church, someone would take you onto their crew. I wish I had all the links to hand out to you and how to get involved. I honestly don’t have the personal bandwidth to find out much more information except I sought out my own way to help.

I have had so so many inquiries about this service mission I just wanted to share. I would encourage you to find some way, even if it isn’t up inside the Midland disaster relief work, to help people.

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. ” –Albert Schweitzer

COVID CHAOS

I am writing this from inside some massive COVID chaos! I don’t even know exactly what to call it anymore except for that. (And when I refer to it this way, I am not talking lightly about it. This has been and is very serious as many have been very sick and even lost their lives. This is written from a safe place at home in good health with deep respect for the severity of it all.)

COVID chaos is one of the reasons that this blog has been on delayed because I didn’t know the best way to go about getting a new laptop anyway. I know I could have just ordered one and had it shipped to me but I am such a “hands on” (pun intended from this chiropractor) person and I like to touch and feel things prior to purchasing.

Best Chiropractor Fenton Michigan - Dr Erica Peabody - COVID chaos

So as I mentioned in the previous blog post, I got a great recommendation from a very knowledgeable person and just pulled the trigger. The experience with Best Buy was seamless and here we are.

So one week later I was noticing that my phone battery would hold a charge for a few hours and then I would have to plug it back in, I would be charging it 2-3 times per day. THEN, last Sunday morning I went on a kayak tour with my niece and nephew and put my cell phone in the “dry” compartment of my kayak…quotes intended. Well turns out it wasn’t dry and it sat in there while I did a few more errands in a bit of water unknown to me.

I put it in a bag of rice and later that day I accidentally dropped it and smashed the screen. On the computer with Verizon for 2 hours on Monday morning through their live chat section…they would say “Well just call us and we can handle it over the phone.” “Call you? With WHAT?!?!?!” Two hours later I have a new phone to be picked up at the local store, or so I thought, until I got an email with shipping information and tracking…now they decide they will ship to me.

Of course they try to deliver to my office during my lunch hour yesterday and missed us so they were going to try again today…Friday, when nobody is there. SO, now they will hold it where it is this morning and I will attempt to go and pick it up at the UPS location…except for I have done this before and they ask for an ID. Which is fine but they usually need the ID address to match the shipping address, except for it doesn’t match because the address on my driver’s license is my home, and this was headed to the office. This should be interesting.

I have seen many patients this past week and it seems this kind of chaos is happening all over. We are all ready to be released to a life of a bit more freedom and some familiar places and processes. The frustrations are high and the quarantine has gotten the best of many.

We are almost there. When things do open up, many will return to some old patterns and routines, and some have taken on an entirely new existence where the radius for desire for daily travel is reduced a lot and each of those is perfectly fine and well.

I have been in solitude for a good portion of the quarantine when I am not at my work. I enjoy the quiet of life, I always have, but I will also enjoy the more “hands on” experience of some of the things we took for granted prior to all of this.

We have all become a little more innovative with our personal and professional lives through this incredible time. The important things have bubbled up to the surface of our awareness and the people that are the most important inside of our lives are front and center. When it all boils down, a laptop and a cell phone are truly “first-world” problems and I realize these are insignificant problems compared to what others around the globe are dealing with and these are not real problems in the grand scheme of things, just using them for examples.

The COVID chaos has been eye-opening, everyone taking a “time out” from their normal lives has been challenging but good. It is going to be nice to get back to SOME of the things we enjoyed about the conveniences of life prior to all of this and NEVER taking any of it for granted again. Our freedoms are broad and wide in this time and place. I hope you and yours are safe and well and I will continue to pray for those who are sick and suffering.

NEW

WOW!! Is life crazy or what? It feels all brand new. But not like the super great brand new that we have been wanting and looking forward to, more like a new that hit us smack in the face, shoved our noses into it and said “Here!!! FIGURE IT OUT!!!”

I know we are all in this same kind of boat although we are not navigating the exact same waves, I know that for sure. Some are working from home while also learning to teach school. Some are displaced from life or work or family or whatever it is…but we are all out here doing our very best with the unknows. It literally feels like most of life is filled full of unknowns.

Best Chiropractor Fenton Michigan Dr Erica Peabody - New

You haven’t heard from me through this format in a long time as navigating it all has pushed blogging to the back burner. One other stumbling block is my laptop was on its last leg for a few months. I would begin writing here or inside of an office newsletter and in the middle, prior to be able to save it, it would kick me all the way back off and discard all that I had written. Life has taken a lot of extra energy lately and so trying to deal with that as well was just plain frustration.

So I ordered a new laptop and braved the curbside pick-up they had set up and honestly it was seamless and rather delightful!! So I now have a brand new machine to communicate with you better. I am excited to move forward with this blog and creating other content as we all learn to navigate this brand new life.

I take solace in writing and sharing in this manner and hopefully it remains interesting and entertaining as I share tips and trick, but probably more brutal honesty as we move through the stories of life: mine, my practice, friends, colleagues, being a dog mom, my family….on and on we will go. Check back here regularly and of course all of these posts will be shared on my social media platforms.

Years ago, I named this blog “We Only Get One Chance” and I still live and eat and breathe by that tagline in my day to day. Maybe now, more than ever before, others have really increased their awareness around that as well, that we really do get only one chance. It is time to make the very best of it!!

New computer, new life, many unknows and a new commitment to sharing and helping in any way I can. Stay tuned!!

PART 2

To continue from the previous blog, I wanted to give you an update on where I am now, following my Patent Foramen Ovale closure surgery, but also answer some of the questions you have had since the first post. Welcome to part 2.

In August of 2019, I was at my regular yearly check-up with my primary care physician. Now when I say “regularly yearly check-up” I haven’t been to anything “regular” and “yearly” except to see my chiropractor and functional medicine practitioner in years. Being a spouse of a GM employee required that I do certain things on that insurance and so I am following the rules.

When I was in that appointment, I said to her, “I know I have a hole in my heart. I may be planning to have my own family in the next couple years and I would like to pursue getting is closed ahead of time.” I had a different cardiologist recommended to me but she told me to absolutely go back to the same one I saw before and that he is the greatest in this region.

One test was redone and a few more tests were added to the mix to determine exactly the size and location. Funny and not funny part of this is that I happen to be a healthcare provider and also in good health inside of a cardiologist’s office and so they sort of took it for granted that I would already know how this whole thing would go.

I asked questions along the way, and although I didn’t get “blown off” it was more like “of course yes that happens…” and “of course no way it would go that way…” was always the attitude. Which ended up probably being a test to me and my ability to trust.

I am a generally trustworthy kind of person and so I just turned it all over to them to do what they needed to do and know that I was in the best care in the region. On that I settled in, navigated through it all and am now here to tell the story on the other side.

Many have asked “How are you feeling now?”

I feel GREAT!!! I truly do. Instantaneously following surgery my hands and feet were warm for the first time in my entire life. I remember back in chiropractic college, my fellow classmates would always mention just how cold my hands all the time. I didn’t know any better so I had no idea it was even an issue.

Best Chiropractor - Part 2 - Dr Erica Peabody - Kilimanjaro

By this point in the game, 12 weeks out from surgery, I have skipped what I would count to be 9 migraine headaches (I’m tallying this due to my history of roughly 3 per month). I haven’t had even one. I don’t even get any headaches that I know of anymore, or nothing that I would even count as a tension or cluster headache.

I am able to workout and do what I want to do at this point and feel pretty amazing. Three weeks ago I started back at step aerobic class and looking back on teaching step for over a decade of my life, I feel incredible. The step I take now I can keep up with the HIIT moves and can actually do a burpee without blacking out!!!

I will begin to run again soon. If you have been to my office, you can see my collection of participation medals although not many from anytime recently. I will know more once I begin to train for the CRIM this year, it is a race I have done numerous times and I am curious to see if my finishing times improve and just how well I recover. I will begin back to the triathlon sport as well and look forward to seeing how my swimming progresses.

If you have followed this blog at all, you know that I had a severe foot injury following my summit of Mt Kilimanjaro back in 2017. (I have added the video log link below in case you missed it thus far…it was EPIC!!)

I wore a walking boot for 6 solid months and have been working with that foot at about 80% healed. Now I am beginning to not even have to think about it at all…warm hands and feet mean that blood supply is actually going to my feet at a better rate and I AM HEALING!!!

I truly feel great and I am so, so, so, so grateful to have been a candidate for the closure as I just know for the next decades of my life, I will be far better off.

One of the questions I have gotten a few times along the way is “how do I find out if I have this or not?” as a few of you may be suspecting something similar for yourself now listening to this story. I have to send you right back to your own general practitioner to get that resolved.

The recovery has been amazing and pretty simple for the most part. The cardiologist had me on a blood thinner since the anatomy of the heart changed and has since taken me off to proceed into my life exactly as I want to.

Dr Erica Peabody - Part 2 - Best Chiropractor Fenton Michigan

Your words of encouragement as well and your good wishes are appreciated more than I can really say in words here on this blog. It has been quite an experience and I hope that my sharing this information, that you feel a little more informed and educated about the possibilities.

Of course, all along I have continued chiropractic care, massage therapy and stayed in touch with my functional medicine practitioner. I have continued yoga and meditation and am now back at full capacity in the gym. In essence, I have done the things that we talk about in the practice all the time: eat well, move well and think well. These are truly the keys to optimizing the body and it’s inborn ability to heal, and even more critical to healing from something like that.

Thanks for checking back for part 2 and stay in touch as time progresses…there is a lot more to share!

PUPPY LOVE

I am sure you know, as most of you follow me already on social media, this puppy love is a real thing!

As written in a prior post, getting a puppy wasn’t exactly my idea. In fact, inside of the logistics challenge that is already our life, there isn’t much time or space to give a puppy the proper home.

Best Chiropractor Fenton Michigan Dr Erica Peabody Puppy Love — **Puppy Hugs**

Would I call myself a “dog person”? Not necessarily although a few years back I had a chocolate lab that brought me so much joy. Life was very different back when I had Choco though, I was traveling a ton and it was quite a juggle to make it all happen as a single mom to a dog.

But life has changed…A LOT!!! I a lot more than anyone can really fathom (I have wanted to write more on this blog lately but when my computer has taken a crap and life has been so crazy, it is hard to keep you all filled in).

How has life changed? Things are beginning to settle a bit and slow down a lot more. Many of you know that I transitioned the office to my Center for Well-Being, affectionately known as “Big Blue” a year ago. Our wedding was in March and we were simultaneously working to blend our lives and fire a builder and finish building my super-delayed home. SERIOUSLY UNIVERSE!!! That much challenge for one gal all at the same time, that is not even funny anymore. In fact, something finally cracked… (more to come on that, stay tuned).

This time in life is about slowing down and looking around at all the amazing things that surround me on a daily basis. This time is about looking back on all the hard work and then looking forward with eyes both on the the laboring that the life ahead requires, but also enjoying the fruits of all the labor up until this point.

This beautiful floofball joined the roster back in August and since then the schedule constraints made it so that he has been with me and by my side most of the days. I thought I wanted life to be a different way, but honestly, when the Universe throws you some life lessons, at least begin by embracing them.

I became a dog mom overnight inside of a time that I had no idea I wanted a dog. And I am not sure that I would want just any dog, this guy has special magic powers.

Inside of the responsibilities of taking good care of a dog, life needs a little more space and time; get up a little earlier, head home between events, check in on him and get super creative with ways that he can fit into it all. He is a charmer, cute as can be, loves snuggles and actually hugs back. He is smart as a whip and so so generous with his energy. He is a Bernedoodle; Bernese Mountain dog with their grace, peacefulness and loyalty and Poodle which is one of the smartest breeds and non shed hair.

When I describe him I always say that he is literally like if one of your favorite stuffed animals came to life and follows you around to brighten your day. It is the GREATEST connection ever and the most perfect companion.

Remember that list from above? The list of the past 2 years and all the chaos? Well one chick isn’t able to always completely hold it together and the level of daily anxiety was (and still ebbs and flows) off the charts! I have done a lot of hard things in my life however I never experienced chronic anxiety like that.

Since Lou, my days are calmer, quieter, more peaceful and more filled with appreciating the little things. Life went from the big grand scale and doing all the things just to keep up with that moving train, to most of my focus on this little 4 legged floofball and what his needs are at any time. It went from big and outside the home, back hunkered down inside this beautiful sanctuary-like sacred space that I intentionally created.

And my level of anxiety went from red-lining most of the time and has reduced by probably, if I had to put a number on it, 70%. It has been an incredible shift. Being a dog mom at this point in my life, in this space and time, having the contrast of experiencing the tornado of the past 2 years, is a shift I did not know was coming…but I am forever grateful.

I have been attacked by 2 dogs in my life, breeds that are not suspect of turning quickly like they did, but I see the world differently now. I see through the eyes of this grand puppy love and, although I have had my own dogs in the past and grew up with them, I really get it now. No, like I REALLY get it now. The love for the little fur balls is something so super special.

THE FIRST YEAR

I cannot believe that we are already through the first year of practice here at the Center For Well-Being, our beautiful BIG BLUE!!!

This will mark my 15th year in private practice but the first year in this location. It has been nothing less than incredible!!! We have, hands down, no exception, the most beautiful office space in the area. I am not saying that just to toot our own horn either. As you look around during your appointments, you will notice it is like being adjusted in a museum. The woodwork is incredible, there is so much to look at. I do my work by hand, and the fact that all of this woodworking was done by hand is just so impressive.

The space that we adjust out of is just absolute perfection for us. We have room to move and breathe and as our reception area packs full, which happens on the regular here, we still have room for everyone and do not feel like they are sitting on top of one another. The greatest thing is being able to have so much room to move as I dance around my tables adjusting all day long.

I am grateful beyond any words that could describe it all. One year later, I look back to where it all began with a big unveiling of our sign out front in the front yard on Monday, September 17th of last year at 9:45 to accept our first patients at 10!

Every single day I feel more and more healing coming from this building, but as we work with her more and more and begin to shine her run-down corners, I can feel her healing as well. She hasn’t had the TLC over the past years that she is so deserving of.

Have you been in here yet? Do you feel the grounding and healing energy like we do?

Over the past 3 months, we have been able to really begin to shine up those run-down corners, hallways and rooms. She was already so beautiful but you need to SEE HER NOW!!!

Dr Erica Peabody - Best Chiropractor Fenton Michigan - The first year

We have our first tenants moved in and joining their businesses under our roof. It was the intention from the start that instead of saying “The acupuncturist is across town” we can now officially say “The acupuncturist is just down the hallway and to the left.” as Michigan Community Acupuncture has joined us early September.

I have many practitioners that I refer to on a regular basis and now we can ALSO say “An incredible psychotherapist, Lauren Lay, is just up the grand staircase and to the right. She has created a beautiful cozy space to work in.”

What I love the most about all of this is that there are other great people now loving on our building just like we have over the past year, and it is only the beginning. We have a few other things in the works and only 11 more office spaces available up for grabs at this point and we couldn’t be any more excited about this whole thing coming together as my dream is brought to life.

WOW!!! One whole year!!!

Just WOW!!! And if the first year is any indication of where this thing has potential of going, I stand in pure amazement. Swing by and see for yourself! It is time to plan an official OPEN HOUSE!!! Stay tuned….

DOWN DOG

You may think I am about to write of just how wonderful my new puppy is? Not this time but I am sure he will make many appearances on the blog as the time goes. This is about another kind of dog, yoga down dog.

Just a couple weeks ago I had the incredible opportunity to attend Barefoot and Free Yoga Festival at Proud Lake Recreation Area south of Milford. I have been in attendance for all 4 years it has been running and this year I got to attend but also had a chance to present!

Best Chiropractor Fenton Michigan - Dr Erica Peabody - Down Dog

I am still trying to unravel all the learning and feelings surrounding that weekend and put them into words. It has taken some time to really digest it all but I will do my best.

When one of your passions in life meet and hit a crossroads with another, it is the best feeling! I had been brewing a class in the back of my mind for years and I call it “Yoga as a Prescription: How Asana Heals”. In the back of my mind it worked perfectly, but what happens when the rubber meets the road? Will anyone be interested in this topic? Will anyone join in to listen and participate?

I committed to the festival months ago, and par for the course right now with life, it all got out of control with timing and I ended up putting the final nuts and bolts of the course together all the way up to the moment that I presented.

Barefoot and Free Yoga Festival is a 3 day event starting on Friday and finishing in the evening on Sunday. Each 90 minutes, there are 5-10 classes being offered in everything from yoga (of course) to essential oil classes, herb walks, nature walks, stand-up paddle board yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, human connection classes, dance…and so much more. It is a fabulous venue that offers many locations for these classes to be happening concurrently.

When I found out my time and then the location, I took a LOOOOONG walk out to the yurt I would be teaching inside of. From the center of the festival grounds, it was a 20 minute walk through the woods to get to the location.

Like anything else in life that we do for the first time, I was super doubtful that anyone would want to learn that and then to have the long walk as another obstacle to deter students, I just thought I would be teaching to the inside of an empty yurt.

Sunday morning, following the first class of the morning, I made my way to the location. As I was walking that way, many people were just finishing up with other sessions and were heading back. “Great! Exactly as I suspected. Nobody will be here.” was my thought pattern. HELLO NEGATIVE SELF-TALK!!!

But as I descended on the yurt, 2 people were quick to follow me. I set up my mat and my props in the front of the yurt with space for what I thought would MAYBE be 10 people or so.

Others started to show up. Then more people and I kept shifting around and moving to squeeze more people in. By the time I was to begin my presentation, there were close to 40 people packed mat to mat inside of that little yurt. I won’t share all the details of the class, maybe another blog post, but it went off without a hitch and was SO MUCH FUN!!! It was exactly the class that I had planned for a few years in the back of my mind and it hit just the right ears.

Prior to class starting, I thought to myself “how in the world am I going to be able to fill up 90 minutes?” (again, enter negative self-talk). By the end of 90 minutes, I had only covered about 1/3 of the total content I had prepared and didn’t even get to tap some of the potential for what I have to share. The feedback from the participants was “Next year, can you ask to have 5 hours instead of just 90 minutes?” LOL!!

Being a yogi for going on 23 years, in combination with my private chiropractic practice for 15 years which I use “Yoga as a Prescription” inside of on a daily basis, OF COURSE I have a lot to share and I am beyond happy to give that gift and love and serve the people in any way that I can. ESPECIALLY when I am able to give, love and serve my yoga community that has given so much back to me.

Those of you who attended my class, thank you for showing up!!!

Those of you, students and especially my teachers, who inspire me daily and weekly inside of my round robin of yoga studios that I attend on a weekly basis, THANK YOU!!!

To my patients that are always open to learning a new pose to help with their healing journey and who trust the care of their entire family’s health to me and my team, we have only scratched the surface, thank you, you are all so precious to me. 🙂

To my personal yoga practice and the sweat and tears that get absorbed by my mat over and over and over and over again, I am forever grateful. I am one who really truly looks forward to every class. Another day, another down dog.