health coaching – We Only Get One Chance

DOG MOM LIFE

I am not sure I have actually written much in this space about dog mom life.

It is truly the BEST LIFE!

Most of you already know that Louis came to me is a super roundabout way and I didn’t have any intention of having a dog in my life. I grew up with dogs and after having to rehome a dog a few years ago, I didn’t have time and space to have a dog in my life…or so I thought.

Obviously having Louis has been one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. We are all certain about that!

Just over 2 years ago, I began to follow a group up in Traverse City who breeds teeny tiny dogs. I was in communication with them asking what it is like with the teeny tiny dogs in the same home as big dogs. She graciously answered all of my questions back then though ultimately I decided not to pursue one of their dogs. I did, however, keep following them and their accounts on social media.

Last September, one of their dogs birthed just a single puppy. I don’t know much about dogs but I do know that dogs have litters, not single puppies. I was curious about this little one but more curious how he was born a singleton.

Fast forward to the first week in January and the breeder posted on Facebook that they needed to help a family rehome their little dog and that he just wasn’t fitting into their home well enough. It was on my heart to reach out to talk about this pup and maybe get a chance to meet him.

During that time, I had remembered that i tuned in when this pup was born as it was the singleton from September! Apparently when a mom is done having puppies, they spay them (obviously) but when they went to spay her, she was already and unknowingly pregnant. Her body was done having puppies and so she was unable to support a full litter and only one made it to their birthday.

I met Tater Tot, formally named Maddox and Nico, the first Friday of January, the family brought him to me so that he and Louis could meet.

It wasn’t an instant match, but it was a fun playmate that Louis took to right away. I knew that both Louis and I would need a bit of time to get used to the idea of having this 3 pound pipsqueak around AND I also knew in my heart that it was the right thing to do in that moment.

So this little one came home with us that day.

3AM in the morning, I woke up with so much anxiety…HOW ON EARTH IS THIS TEENY TINY 3 POUND BABY GOING TO SURVIVE THE STAIRS IN OUR HOUSE?1/!?!?!?!!!!!! My house has 4 full flights of wood stairs and there is just no way around it. In my mind, there was just no way that he would be able to manage going up and down that many stairs when he was smaller than the stair itself!

I wrote to the breeder and also the family to let them know that I made a horrible mistake! I am still not sure that either of them appreciated a 3AM email but sharing this concern was the only way I was going to be able to go back to sleep!

I awoke to an email from the breeder assuring me that all their little ones eventually learn to work with all the stairs in all the homes that they live in.

Little did I know that the big guy would also be teaching the little one so many things, including going up the stairs within just a couple days. Louis would go up to the top of the steps and wait for Tate to do the same. He would sit at the landing wagging his tail and of course I was there being his cheerleader too.

He mastered going up the stairs in 2.5 days and another couple days, he mastered going down too.

For those reading this who live in Michigan, you may remember the weather through those winter months. To be honest, it was very difficult to bundle up 7 times each day to take this little one out. I also knew that when I took him home on that Friday that I was signing up for that for the season no matter what was happening. I also had faith that the commitment to that this year would be tough but wouldn’t be every year.

The biggest concern of all was being a single mom to two dogs. What was I even thinking? Would I be able to make that happen? Would I be able to manage two dogs? Would it be overwhelming to have eight little legs and feet running around the house? Will I have enough time and energy for both of them? Will they figure out how to eat next to each other?

YES TO ALL OF IT and SO MUCH MORE!!!

Having the little one has brought new life and fun into Lou’s world, as well as, Lou teaching Tate so much about life and living and listening (well we are still working on that last part).

They aren’t the very best of friends just yet but day by day they are growing and evolving together. I also take them on adventures together, and very different kinds of adventures separately.

So the question that everyone has asked, “WHEN IS TATE COMING INTO THE OFFICE???”

That is NOT our plan. Although you would all love him so much, the office would be more of a dog party than a chiropractic office. And more importantly, he want to be in the mix of it all and he easily become a trip hazard for me…and also for all of YOU!!! There are just too many moving parts inside of our days to make that happen. For a long while anyway. We will see once he is maybe a couple years old to see what kind of temperament he evolves into.

If you are still reading this, THANK YOU!!! It has been wordy however both of their stories deserve to be shared as this DOG MOM LIFE is the VERY BEST LIFE EVER!!!!

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.

EXPANSION

As we were navigating a busy day at the office, a patient began to ask questions that led me to share a bit about what is currently happening in and around the Cafe of LIFE and the Center for Well-Being.
As I answered the questions, he said, “WAIT! You are expanding your office during a GLOBAL PANDEMIC?!?”
“Yes, I guess I am.”
As we have navigated this crazy year, there have been many opportunities thrown my way. And although I had so much on my plate already, I began to step, SLOWLY step, in the direction that has gotten us to the point we are at today.
Which is truly just the beginning.
I wanted to take a moment just to clarify all the things happening in and around the Center for Well-Being and also the Cafe of LIFE.
In the spring, Dr Navpreet Saini-Conn reached out to me to share that, after working 2 years in Brighton, she wanted to move up to Fenton and open a practice.
We sat down to a few conversations and it turns out she is a great fit for our office and she has joined us. She will be building her own practice alongside what we already have here and the great thing is that THERE IS SPACE for her to do just that. She joined us at the beginning of October and she will be sharing more and more as the time goes on. We won’t be seeing each other’s patients but there is possibility for us to fill in for each other, if ever the need arises.
We moved Dr. Nav into the rooms that you are all used to our massage therapists being in and so we have moved them on to BIG AND BEAUTIFUL rooms in another section of the building. Many of you have already had a chance to experience this new massage therapy area and have given us lots of positive feedback of how peaceful and cozy it is.

We have added 2 more massage therapists to our team to accommodate the demand on our schedule and you will be seeing Rachael and Anna in and around the office. They are incredible and are both talented in their work and enjoy being part of our already established team of great therapists, Stephanie and Laura.
We have had Lauren Lay, MSW, a family therapist, renting space on our second floor for the past year and she has MANY RAVING FANS! If you are looking for a good therapist in the area, she is a really great place to start!
Many of you have seen Michigan Community Holistic Health, Sabrina Bastian, who has been offering acupuncture and other services in the other part of the building. Throughout the last 18 months, her patient base has expanded and she has added 3 more treatment rooms to what she was already doing!

We have a commercial kitchen in the back part of our building and if you are looking for a great meal prep service, Feed Me Michigan is prepping meals through the weekend and we are a pick-up spot for those who have ordered ahead of time! We have additional days available inside our kitchen space in case you are someone you know are in need of certified commercial kitchen space.
A couple other businesses we have teamed up with are Optimize Hypnosis and an incredible functional medicine practitioner in the local area.
I remember when I purchased the building 2.5 years ago…the constant mantra of all those around me was (just like the Field of Dreams) “if you build it, they will come.” It is incredible when I really look around at what has happened in the past 2.5 years and just how much the Center for Well-Being has come to life, THEY REALLY DID COME!!!
This building is an ongoing project, 10,000 sq ft of space and half of that being 130 years old, it is naturally always going to be a project. I have an incredible team and am bringing more staff on board to help as it grows and evolves. I have a continuous checklist of stuff that needs to be done, but to be honest with all of you, I am happy to be the one that the Universe sent to take care of this place.
As I was busy designing our new massage suite and expanding our adjusting space and spending a lot of after hours time doing the work, it reminds me back to the beginnings (the initial help has moved on in life, thank goodness) and how it feels like a big playground for creation. All in all, it has actually been a lot of fun to repurpose.
As I stated before, this is only the beginning and the natural attraction to the building, location and charm has let us become the “go-to” spot for all things health and wellness for the entire family.

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

THE SECOND STRAP

He always reaches for the second strap.

It doesn’t matter how many hundreds of times I have put this walking boot on, he reaches for that second strap to help out.

Most of you know I have been in a walking boot since early August. This has been an overuse injury do to my climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro back in March. Actually it didn’t happen on the mountain, it was when I got home and never took the proper time to rest that the injury happened. And beyond that I have been dealing with plantar fasciitis off and on for the past 4 years in my left foot. It was simply the perfect storm of events.

The trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro was life changing and amazing however since Kilimanjaro it has been the best seven months of my life and all due to meeting one heck of an incredible man.

He has been such a light in my life and I will be sharing our incredible life adventures as we go but I wanted to introduce you all to Mike.

He is the most kind, gentle, generous, hilarious and loving man I have ever been around and I feel lucky to even be able to hang out with someone like him on a regular basis and even luckier to be loved and supported by him.

The other day as I was leaving to head back into work after my lunch, he was there grabbing the boot and helping me. Of course I am the only one that knows exactly when I am putting it on and taking it off but as soon as I grab and velcro or un-velcro the first strap, he always grabs the second strap. I got choked up “Even after all this time, how do you just keep doing that and helping me?”

Last week must have marked 500 (not exaggerating) times or so that I have taken this boot off and put it back on. If he is with me, he jumps up from any place and is instantly up in my business and helping me get this thing back on and he is always fast enough to grab the second strap. There are 5 total and by the time he has his hands on the second strap he is fixing the rest of them up for me to go out and take on the world. Every. Single. Time.

We have worked and camped and traveled and danced and played since I have had this boot on. He is always always always making sure it is handled.

There is an air pump on the boot that pumps air around the liner and softens the hard rough corners of the boot. He knows it takes 8 pumps to pump it up to a comfortable level and that when I stand up it needs 2 more pumps of air for it to be solid. He counts out loud as he does it. It comforts me.

I have never ever known a man so willing to help me in my life. He is there for the fun times but also there, right by my side for the mundane-ness of life…like taking this boot off and putting it back on. The extent of his help is endless, I am just using this simple task as illustration.

I would be a liar if I said this has all been easy for me but honestly, to accept help in my life isn’t easy to begin with and it has taken this long to really be alright with leaning on him. His continual willingness to grab that second strap has been eye-opening, as well as mind-boggling. For the 40 years of my life so far, I have never had so much help, love and support.

Does it sound strange to say that I believe the Universe sent me such a crazy injury that needed so much tending to and sent him at the same time just so I could truly have a shift in my being and allow him to infiltrate my life? Does it sound crazy that this boot has been like a “boot camp” of sorts to break me down, break all the guards down and teach me to allow someone, him, in?

A friend said to me the other day “I sympathize with your foot thing as I dealt with something similar for 6 months. It took me getting to a place in my mind that if this is how it was going to be for the rest of my life, if this pain is permanent and I have to deal with this limitation for life, I accept that as my reality…and then I started healing.”

That hit me like a ton of bricks mostly because I have learned to accept it into my life with the condition that it is just for the time being assuming it will heal and feel better. But taking the idea up a level to the concept that if I have to live in this boot for the rest of my life and be alright with that has really allowed a huge emotional release for me and I can feel the healing happen…on many levels.

…because if I get to have his help with this (which I am finally healing so I will be back to normal in the next few weeks so I won’t need help with it for a lifetime BUT there are ALWAYS other obstacles) life for the rest of my life, I open my arms and heart fully and accept it.

After all of these months and never wavering ever even once, I know he will always be by my side ready to grab that second strap and help me move forward. I am forever grateful for his love.

FOUNDATION

If you are following me on this journey, you know that I am currently building a house. In fact, this week they are finishing with the foundation. Chiropractor Fenton Michigan - Foundation - Dr Erica Peabody This house project is about 1 year delayed but it is a tricky lot and there has been a lot of time spent on putting in the foundation. The house is set back into a hill and so the foundation has to be done in pieces and locked together.
The house project has been going on for quite a while and the one right next door finished just about a month ago. Of course because that one is ahead of us, it puts a bit of pressure from outsiders that are wondering why they aren’t finished at the same time. What they don’t realize is that the neighbors had their house plans in the works even before I had dreamed of purchasing my lot. Their efforts began much before mine did, but sitting side by side, onlookers forgot about that part.
I am fascinated by demolition as well as construction and I am the homeowner that sits on the sidelines, literally on the sidelines, and watches as much of the process as possible in person. I have a very talented builder working on my house and have been sitting right by his side since the very first line was drawn.
I feel very lucky to be part of the process but also even luckier to be privy to the very beginnings and all pieces along the way.
Currently it is difficult to not spend every extra minute out there watching what they are doing on a day to day basis. Chiropractor Fenton Michigan - Foundation - Dr Erica Peabody It started with excavation and then on to footings. Footings started with just boards for forms and then the cement was poured. At this point it felt like something was actually happening.
The next was forms for the foundation. Watching the crew work so hard and putting together this steel puzzle that would eventually be the foundation of my home, absolutely fascinating. I have an incredible team hired to do the foundation and to watch as they all worked together to make this thing happen was really interesting.
Then the pump truck pulls in and they start filling the forms with cement. I sat there and watched from the neighbor’s stairs as this puzzle soon became my basement.
It has been a beautifully sunshiny fall here in Michigan and that day was no exception. It was in the low 60s and the sun was shining on my face as I sat and watched them do this process.
I have been in awe of this entire building process but to actually watch something like this come together, I called my builder and said “It must be so gratifying to watch lines on paper become something!”
Not everyone will get a chance to put a mark on the Earth.
Not everyone who does get a chance to build will be able to watch the process every step of the way.
In that moment, I realized how strongly I was fighting back tears of

Chiropractor Fenton Michigan - Foundation - Dr Erica Peabody

gratitude. I had to have the events of my life to line up exactly the way they did in order to be able to have this chance. During this long and drawn out process, I had no idea if it was going to actually happen and, truthfully some of the process has been very very difficult and some of it actually quite painful.
The nay-sayers will always be there. The ones that want to give opinions on what to do and how to do it will always be waiting in the wings to chime in. I have heard “Do this.” “Don’t do that.” “Have you considered this?” “If I were you, I wouldn’t do that.”
Yup, you know what? We got this covered. There is a reason, well many many reason, why I am chosen the particular builder I am working with. In the midst of all of this I am confident he has it handled as he has shown me over and over and over.
In a moment, those tears of gratitude busted through the surface and I was balling.
Of course I am sure this looked so bizarre to the crew of guys that a woman would sit on the sidelines and ball her eyes out. It was a combination of tears along with laughter as it must have been a pretty bizarre energy coming through from me (I caught some of this in my instagram story: follow me @drericapeabody)
So I am in this. I have been in this but I am truly in this in a way that I can feel it from head to toe. I have created this beautiful home in my mind for years now. It is amazing to see the beginnings of its foundation, a foundation that has so much strength it is palpable.
This also rolls over to the fact that I am currently building a strong foundation for my life in other ways. Using the visual of the powerful foundation that is built for my home as a vision for my future, I have confidence it will be able to withstand the many tests that come with time.

EXPANDING

The services at Cafe of LIFE are EXPANDING!!!

I have been in private practice for almost 12 years. Over the years, we have seen many patients come through our doors and heal, healing on levels both big and small.

There are so many different aspects to what make up our health and while chiropractic is a BIG PART of that, many people also have other areas that need assistance to sort out and change to really express more life and ease in the day to day. Things like diet, exercise and stress-reducing activities are so important in maintaining good health.

In the end, I am only one woman. And although I have created this facility and, along with my team, have grown it into what it is today, I am still only one woman, with only so much energy and only so much time. I realize that I cannot do it all. I also realize that you all need more.

So it is PERFECT TIMING to partner with a couple of dynamic women who have been doing HOLISTIC LIFESTYLE COACHING for a few years now. Jennifer Ream and Christine Landaal, otherwise known as the OSO Sisters, live locally here in town and have been coaching through an online and telephone platform. They are ready to bring their services out into the community and reach those in search of assistance to move their lives and health forward.

Jennifer holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing, is a certified Reiki practitioner, and is a life-long student of spiritual awareness and holistic healing. She is also a wife, mother and lover of the outdoors and enjoys helping to guide clients towards reconnecting with themselves, healing from the inside out (which is also the chiropractic philosophy, seriously a perfect match for us) and learning tools to manage everyday life with ease.

Christine has a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and is a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. She is a wife and mom and has done some work with her son’s food allergies as well as healing herself through an autoimmune disease. Her knowledge and personal experience has led her to pursue her passion for nutrition and healthy living and assisting her clients on their health journeys.

WE ARE THRILLED to have such qualified and dynamic women here to assist us in furthering our mission to help serve this community better in your multitude of health needs.

Jennifer and Christine are conducting their business here Tuesday mornings from 8am-2pm. Go to www.OSOSisters.com to learn more about their services and schedule a consultation. Find them and “Like” their page on Facebook at OSOSisters or email them directly at JenandChristine@OSOSisters.com.

Some of our patients have had concerns about how we will all fit into this space. One day we hope to EXPAND the building, but for right now, we will be working with our different practicioners (there are 2 others joining us as well that I will introduce over the next couple weeks…stay tuned!!!) during hours we are not regularly open. Chiropractic care and massage therapy will carry on as they always have.

We are excited to be EXPANDING and able to offer you a little more in an INTEGRATED HEALTH TEAM atmosphere here at Cafe of LIFE.

While you are at it, grab your calendars and mark THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20 to join us here at the Cafe of LIFE from 6-7pm to meet our team and learn more about our INTEGRATED HEALTH TEAM!!!