pediatric chiropractic – Page 6 – We Only Get One Chance

WHAT A WEEK!!!

To say this past week was incredible would be a complete understatement. I am not sure if I can find the words to do it any justice but I will attempt.

It has been exciting, exhilarating, perfect time and perfect place, talking, connection, love, growth, reading, developing, email, introspective, travel, peace, writing, heart-centeredness, exhausting, awesome, long hours, talking, Skype, sharing, Internet, love, books, friends, family, hungry, bliss, planning, creating, nurturing, staring, introducing, hugs, sounds, video, discussions, parents, happiness, pictures, flowing, riding waves, flowers, notes, work, p

Chiropractor Fenton Michigan - Dr Erica Peabody - What a week

lay, counsel, ideas, music, kisses, movies, voice, Facebook, Hey Tell, random facts, quotes, scrapbooks, house, lake, ice, snow, conversation, celebration, glowing, communication, energy, vulnerable, open, raw, wounds, opportunity, practice, planting seeds, simple life, pure, days, one week, favorites, feeling of readiness, special, percentages, names, togetherness, news, unpack, concerns, highlights, tremendous growth, breath, appreciation, thoughts, truth, thinking, greatness, settling in, luck, promises, responses, pleasure and singing.

It feels as though the stars have aligned and they are all on my side. Because of a few different things and my own desire for growth and evolution, and the work I am doing on myself, I can honestly say that January 12th, 2012 was a pivotal point in my life. It is as though my life can be described as “before Jan. 12th” and “after Jan. 12th”. It goes way deeper than a love connection though that is a significant part of it. Where is life heading? I know what direction it is going, however I have chosen to surrender to the fact that “I will ride the wave where it takes me”. It is uncharted territory for me, unfamiliar and uncomfortable. All I can do is trust that “As I take a step, the next one is revealed”.

Have you had an event or a culmination of events that has led to a significant shift in your being or your life? Is there a date or a time frame that you can look back at and see an obvious shift? For me, being able to share my story brings me so much joy. Maybe you feel the same way…we only get one chance in this life. Do more things that make you happy!

SUPER HERO CHRISTMAS

Last night I bought a wimpy Christmas tree. I say wimpy because it is only an 7 foot tree and looks so small. Over the last few years, I have been used to my 20+ foot ceilings and I would get 10+ foot trees because I had just the perfect spot. This year I am back to standard

8 foot ceilings and that is very limiting outside of cutting a hole in the ceiling. One of our favorite couples came into the Cafe this morning and I got laughing so hard as I was reminded me of a Christmas tree incident that happened last year. It goes something like this…

I cannot remember exactly what the evening consisted of, however I know that there was some sort of drama involved that left me feeling a little “run over”. I remember pulling into my garage after midnight with a distressed feeling and ready to go to bed and start the next day new. I walked into my house, set my keys down, kicked off my shoes and was heading upstairs when I noticed that my 12 foot Christmas tree had taken a tumble and many ornaments were smashed on the floor. “Where is that dog?!?!” …oh, right, he is still in his kennel being a good boy. There weren’t any earthquakes so the only one I could blame it on was the little physics wizard inside of me that was on vacation when I put it into the tree stand…apparently off balance. Then my inner comedian chimed in with “If a 12 foot Christmas tree falls in a living room and no one is around, does it make a sound?”

I quickly accepted the destruction and decided since it was already after midnight and nobody is around to help…this is the PERFECT time to remedy the situation. So with one big heave, I was able to get it mostly upright…well upright as long as I was holding it there…but if I was holding it, who is going to re-do the screws in the tree stand so that it won’t tip over again????? BRILLIANT ERICA!!!! Your SUPERWOMAN complex is really getting you into trouble this time around!!! So next decision to make was… 1. Let the tree fall again and go out on a limb and ask for help tomorrow, or… 2. Be grateful for long arms and find some of that SUPERHERO strength and somehow make it happen. Let’s put it this way…you all know which one I chose (I mean really, if you have been following this blog at all, you know me quite well), I dove in waist deep in pine needles, it was a dumb idea, and I was sore for days!!! …and if you do know me, I am sure you can get the visual and have probably let out a chuckle and the ridiculous-ness.

Moral of the story…if you are one person, don’t try to do a two-person job! Learn to ask for help when it is appropriate because helping others is human nature and if you ask, I can guarantee someone will step in and be glad to. Running my chiropractic office, I have people coming in all the time because they tried to do a two-person job on their own. Learn from my mistakes…or just buy smaller Christmas trees!!! ‘Tis the Season!!!

HALLOWEEN

Halloween means 2 things to me…COSTUMES AND CANDY!! The costume part of the 2…pure fun! The candy…a double-edged sword. Candy does a weird thing to me. It is fun to eat, tastes amazing, and releases “feel good” and comforting chemicals in the body. I always have mixed feelings about giving away candy at Halloween…and it mostly has to do with the detrimental effects the sugar has on immune system function. I have settled this battle in my head by giving out caramel apples at the Cafe. It allows me to still have fun with candy but also get that apple in there as well since…”An apple a day keeps the doctor away!”.

So this year I decided I wanted to do a little more educating when it comes to sugar and the immune system. What is the physiology behind sugar and the immune system and why is sugar so detrimental?

Interesting to note, October-February seems to be dubbed “Cold and Flu Season”. I would like to open your minds a little bit to the fact that it may be better termed “Sugar Season”. Halloween starts with the candy that can last for weeks, then Thanksgiving is filled with deserts, and December is the month of endless holiday parties, Christmas cookies, wine and other cocktails.

Do you want the physiology? The major players in the immune system, namely the white blood cells, need vitamin C in order to do their work. Vitamin C and sugar have a similar structure and if sugar is around, it will bind to the activation site and block Vit C. When you ingest sugar you can think of your immune system slowing down to a crawl. Not a good thing. Then do that over and over for days, weeks and potentially 2 straight months…guess what? COLDS and FLU VIRUSES set in!!

So let’s approach this holiday season with a little more awareness…and a little more will power to steer clear of all that sugar. Indulge some, but keep it to a minimum and I bet you will find more energy to enjoy the celebrations, friends and family, and I bet you will come through the winter season a little happier and healthier.

I am by no means saying that I keep my diet completely clear of sugar. On most days I do however I found myself digging in some on Halloween with all the goodies we had at the Cafe of LIFE. I also found myself experiencing some intense sugar cravings on Tuesday, needing extra sleep on Tuesday night and a good portion of Wednesday and am finally feeling back to normal. It is fun while it lasts…tastes great while it is in your mouth and I feel good about it all for about 3-4 minutes. Then I spend 3 full days recovering from it all. It simply is not worth it.

We may as well do the best we can with the choices of what we put in in our bodies…we only get one chance.

TRY SOMETHING NEW

It was just over a week ago that i brought a friend to yoga class with me. He had never done yoga and going to the studio for the first time can create a little bit of anxiety not knowing what to expect. The class was amazing as usual and he did great. At the end of the evening I told him I was glad he was game for attending that class…and his response “I am up for just about anything as long as it doesn’t leave a permanent scar, I don’t have to get a tetanus shot and it doesn’t ruin my credit”.

Initially I laughed pretty hard…but since then I have been pondering how much power is behind those simple words. Life is all about having experiences, relating to others and learning…and that particular statement is all encompassing. How many times have you found yourself bowing out of something because “Its too cold”, “Its too hot”, “Its too hard”, “Its too early”, “Its too uncomfortable”, “I don’t have time”, “I’m too tired”, “I’m not strong enough”, “I have too much to do”. We make those excuses time after time and we watch life fly by and really miss out on some pretty great things.

I do my best to life my life in a way that puts me in places to have rich, rewarding experiences. Sometimes it is intimidating to enter into some of those situations I have no idea about and do something for the first time. Generally I have found that the more nervous I am about something, the more amazing I feel when I am finished. So instead of placing too many restrictions and being a fair-weather participant…how about creating a couple simple restrictions of your own, or adopting those three simple ones…doesn’t leave a permanent scar, no tetanus shot and doesn’t ruin your credit. Life becomes really, really exciting when you live like that and you will find yourself doing things you never even knew were on the menu…at least that is what I have found so far. We only get one chance…let’s make it to the end with no regrets!

SUMMER IS HERE

What a beautiful long weekend!!! It really feels like summer now. For some reason Mother Nature feels that the people from Michigan can handle going from 50s right to 80s and 90s. For those of us that live in this amazing state…if it means we get to see th

e sun, WE WILL TAKE IT!!! There is a certain feeling that comes along with summer. I think it may have to do with the shedding of all the layers we have to wear during the winter in order to keep warm. Once summer comes, even something as simple as being able to wear flip flops is so freeing.

We are incredibly blessed with all the water and lakes that surround us. In this great little town alone, we probably have 8 or 9. Life on the lake is really nice. I am fortunate that my parents live on the lake just south of town and on the weekends, my brothers and their families gather and we hang out and play all day. We usually gather with food and music and spend the entire day chatting, catching some rays and watching my niece, Charlei, learn about the water, sand and navigating the deck. It is a lot of fun and has become my most favorite thing to do. Yesterday was wonderfully hot, the lake was incredibly busy, and the water was amazingly refreshing. Everything wrapped up around 7 or so and everyone headed home to get some final rest before the week begins again. I headed down a couple doors to a small gathering that was happening, chatted for a few minutes and helped them clean up… And that is when it happened…I had my first bite of watermelon. I don’t know anything that says “welcome to summer” more than biting into fresh watermelon. It’s summertime. Get out there and enjoy yourself!

A GREAT WEEKEND

It was a GREAT weekend, I mean really great. It was the most perfectly balanced weekend that I can remember in a long time. It started with a coaching meeting and getting my hair done on Friday morning. The evening marked the last class of Yoga Teacher Training with concluded with 108 sun salutations to a live bongo band. Awesome! And maybe you are not familiar with what a sun salutation is so let me breifly describe it. It follows the length of about 5-6 breaths and includes 11 postures, standing, forward fold, top of a plank then bottom, up dog, down dog and back to the top of the mat. Multiply that by 108 = A LOT of work. Good work though. Saturday morning began with the Le Leche League doing their cloth diaper sale in the front yard of the Cafe of LIFE. It was great because I came and helped set up and didn’t have to stay and work. So I chose to head up north. There is a bike ride called Zoo-De-Mack(http://www.zoo-de-mack.com/) that happens once a year and I have gone up and participated for 7 years. This year I didn’t get to do the ride but I went up for the celebration anyways. Mackinaw Island is such a cool place. There is so much to do and see there, I really enjoy it. The evening was filled with friends and dancing and everyone was in such great spirits. I woke early on Sunday and made it home to finish the weekend hanging out with my family and having dinner on the lake.

This is the frist weekend where I actually felt like I was able to catch up with myself. Seems life is so full anymore that I feel I fall behind a little with myself. Great to relax and have some fun and catch up. This morning I woke up loving the fact that it is Monday. Monday mornings are so full of potential. Some people really dread Mondays however I feel like there are so many possibilities for the week when I am staring at the ceiling waking up on Monday mornings. In that same moment, I am so grateful that I play a part in choosing to make the week a good one or not. It was a great weekend. May as well do our best to make all of our weeks great…we only get one chance.

A NEW PERSPECTIVE

I taught my very first yoga class this past Saturday and I have a new perspective. It was called a “feedback session” which means all the teacher trainees were invited as well as anyone else I wanted to invite. The concept is I teach an hour long slow flow class and the teacher trainees stay after and give me feedback. It was a wonderful process in spite of all the nervous energy that takes over the body when one undertakes something like that and I learned a couple interesting lessons from it.

First, I have been practicing yoga in the room I taught in for over 4 years now. To me, this room is sacred and when you are in it, the rules are you need to obey “noble silence” which means shut your mouth and stay out of other people’s business. There is rarely even whispers going on in that room except for if someone is trying to make room for someone else’s mat. My routine when I go to take classes is to go in, set up my mat, go to the back, change my clothes (I am almost always coming from work), do some talking in the tea room and when I am done and ready to be quiet, I go in and find my place on my mat and prepare to be present. So in the beginning of the class that I taught, none of my regular routine was happening and it kind of threw me off. There were 8 or 9 people in the class and getting them to lay down on their mat by a simple verbal cue was pretty easy. After working with breath for a few minutes it was time to start the class. I was almost paralyzed by the idea that I had to talk for the next 60 minutes in a room where everyone else was quiet and I had always been silent in for the past 4 years of my life. My lesson…I am a “rule-follower” almost to a fault. It was so funny to see the panic inside of me as I faced this 60 minutes of talking. But I did it and as the minutes slipped past, it became more and more comfortable.

Second, I am a vinyasa student and I was having to teach a slow flow class. The vinyasa classes that I am used to are a little, and sometimes a lot, faster pace than slow flow and some of the moves take a little, and sometimes a lot, more effort to transition in to and hold. I thought I was making a flow that would be great for the level of students I was working with. Apparently it was a little, or a lot, too hard!

For 9 years of my life, I was an aerobics instructor and I taught so many types of classes, and even yoga, in a gym setting. During these classes, I was able to gage the participants by their body language and energy. One of the goals of yoga is to build up the capability of peacefully handling incredibly intense moments, both on the mat and out in real life. As my yoga class is progressing, all the participants were peacefully moving through the postures in what appeared grace and ease and to me, didn’t seem like they were working very hard….I had forgotten that is part of the whole point of yoga.

So after class, some of the attendees were like “Were you trying to kill us?!?!?!” When I look back, it is a really obvious thing and I chuckle at my naivety. The lesson here is in yoga, or even as we walk down the street or around the grocery store, we have no idea what is going on inside of each person that we pass. One of the biggest lessons of yoga is to have compassion for others and extend loving kindness to all people in our lives. Since we have no idea what is going on inside other people, what better way to look at the world than from a place of loving kindness and a new perspective…we only get one chance.

YOGA TEACHER TRAINING

As many of you know, I practice yoga…a lot. I have been committed to cultivating my inner yogi for the past 4 years and spend 2-3 nights at Ethos Yoga Studio in Holly http://www.ethosyoga.net/.

It is one of my passions and helps to make me a better person in this world. My usual classes are Monday and Wednesday night over at Ethos and Friday afternoon either there or down at Center For Yoga in Birmingham http://www.centerforyoga.com/. It is therapeutic for me; mind, body and spirit. It is absolutely one of the greatest things I have added to my life and spend a lot of time talking about it during the day at the Cafe of LIFE. In order for the body to be and stay healthy, it needs to move. I haven’t found a better way to move the body than to flow and twist and turn in a yoga class and would highly recommend it in some way to everyone.

Tomorrow starts a new phase of yoga for me. I am always on the hunt for rich, rewarding experiences and I will begin a Yoga Teacher Training course over at Ethos Yoga. The course is 3 months long and is designed to immerse trainees in the yoga philosophy. We will be practicing yoga on a daily basis on our own or in a class. We will develop a personal meditation practice on our own and in class. We will change our eating habits to vegetarian or vegan. So this is going to be in addition to what I already have going on which is running a really fun chiropractic practice, hosting an amazing Book Club, giving Half Hour to Health lectures, participating in an awesome Walking Club, being a dog mom, and a runner amongst many other activities I am involved in. It means getting up an hour earlier and time managing a little better. It means studying and spending a lot of down time reading and writing. I look forward to it. I will keep you posted during the process.

(pictures are right off Ethos website; Kel Leigh Coale photography)

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year to all of you. 2009 is destined to bring a lot of changes, good or bad is to be determined still. It is wonderful to celebrate and bring in the new year and even better that it is a chance to start off with a clean slate. It is a wonderful time to check back in with yourself and your life and see what things are serving you and what aren’t and take a moment to express gratitude for all that you have. I had a wonderful celebration with some friends down in Atlanta, Georgia where I spent the week. Choco and I drove down there on Saturday December 27th and just got home yesterday. It was a nice change in scenery and I do have to say that having a dog in warmer temperatures was a treat. Anytime we go for a walk here in Michigan, I have to be so layered and bundled up to even be able to step outside. Down there it was nice to throw on sneakers and a t-shirt or light sweatshirt and hit the sidewalk. Choco loved the urban lifestyle and I wanted to share a picture of him enjoying the champagne toast at midnight on New Years. It’s time to get 2009 started!

CELEBRATE CHILDREN

I have the honor of serving a lot of children in my practice. The innocense they have in viewing the world is priceless.

They come free of guilt, free of inhibitions, and they allow themselves to really be happy. I love that part about kids and especially when they learn to talk and want to discuss things in their world. Have you ever had a conversation with a child and really listened to their view of situations? It just makes me laugh, not at them, but at how far off center we get as adults.

You see, the stress that we create in our lives, is just that, CREATED. The Cafe of LIFE Book Club is reading an excellent book that helps to put it all into perspective. Along the way it is assisting us in getting to what is creating stress and suffering and whether or not it is even true. It really boils down to the fact that most of what is happening is our made-up view and opinion of the situation and not reality.

Children do not have a whole lot of opinions about things. Well maybe they do, but it usually only goes as far as what they do and do not want to eat. The rest of the world is approached from such an innocent place…and that place is fill with wonder and joy. Let’s learn from the children.