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Good posture is more important than many people realize.

Many a mother has followed her child around, reminding him or her to “stand up straight!” Not everyone knows all the reasons that this is important, but they should. Good posture is essential to good spinal health as well as good overall health.

People with good posture sleep better, feel better, and have fewer aches and pains in the joints, back, neck, and head. It helps you have better digestion, improves your organ function, and helps to make your chiropractic treatments even more effective. These top posture tips will help you stand straight and tall while enjoying better health.

Be aware

Being aware of poor posture is the first step in being able to correct it. When you feel your spine starts to curve, your shoulders hunch, or your back sway, stop and take a moment to pull your body back into proper alignment. Pretend that there is a string that goes through your entire body from the top of your head.

In your mind, pull that string up, raising your chin slightly so that it is parallel to the floor. Pull your shoulders back and allow your arms to hang naturally at your side. Bend your knees slightly (soft knees) with your feet about shoulder width apart. Tuck in your stomach and roll your pelvis forward so your back is not swayed. Keep your weight mostly on the balls of your feet. Think tall. Take deep breaths and allow yourself to get an idea of what this, good posture, feels like.

Use the wall

Using the wall or floor can help you get a feel for how to shift your pelvis. If you have a habit of tilting your pelvis back so that you have a sway back, you need to learn how to roll it forward to get it straight.

A person can develop a sway back out of habit, due to injury, or if they carry a lot of abdominal fat. It can cause a great deal of pain and just making the adjustment to straighten your spine will make a tremendous difference.

To get the feel for straightening your back, stand flat against a wall. Keep your feet directly under you. Now try to press the small of your back into the wall. Feel how your body shifts as your pelvis rolls forward. Pay attention to that sensation so you can duplicate it without using the wall. You can also do this while lying on your back with your knees slightly bent. Practice arching your back and then pressing it against the floor to get a feel for that motion.

Stay active

Regular exercise and stretching are very important for good posture. What many people don’t realize, though, is that good posture is absolutely vital while you are exercising. This is called “form.” You need to practice good form while you are doing weight bearing exercises, cardio, and stretching. If you don’t it can lead to injury or pain.

Your chiropractor can advise you on various exercises and the proper form for them. If you work out at a gym or at home, learn about good form for the exercises that you do. Fitness professionals can help you with this and are well worth the investment.

Get Regular Chiropractic Adjustments

Chiropractic Adjustments can help correct poor posture, but even if you are working on it yourself it is important to get regular chiropractic care. There are several reasons for this. First, your chiropractor can make adjustments to your spine, providing you with a much wider range of motion and better mobility. Your chiropractor can also recommend exercises for you and show you how to do them properly. If you have weight issues he or she can provide you with advice on diet and lifestyle changes. Taking advantage of the whole body wellness that chiropractic offers will not only improve your posture, it will improve your life.

I hope you found this article helpful and gained some new knowledge from it. Please, leave a comment or feel free to ask questions. Also, Let your Friends and Family know about the article by sharing it on Facebook.

In Health,
Dr Ashlin Gasiorowski

The Body’s Foundation

At its very foundation chiropractic helps improve nervous system function by making adjustments to the spine. Over time, more and more studies are proving that it is extremely effective and as a result many health conditions are improved and even healed completely.

Function of the Nervous System

The nervous system is a complex network of nerves, spinal cord, and brain that reach and affect every part of the body. The core of the nervous system is the spinal cord which receives and transmits information in the body.

It is responsible for organ function, movement, and experiencing the senses sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. The brain receives the information that is carried by the nervous system. It processes the information and helps the body react appropriately.

When you look at a cat, the image is transmitted through the nervous system, processed in the brain, and translated to the image of a cat as you understand it. It happens so quickly; there is no pause or lapse of time in a healthy nervous system. The transmission of the message is instantaneous.

How Chiropractic Helps Improve the Nervous System

When the spine is not aligned or the body is out of balance it can impact the function of the nervous system, causing chronic pain, difficulty in mobility, and a wide range of health conditions. Chiropractic adjustments open the pathways of the nervous system allowing the information to flow unobstructed.

It goes far beyond just the spine though. The chiropractor may adjust the arms, legs, neck, and hips in addition to the spine which all work together to provide a healthy, functioning nervous system. Regular chiropractic care can help keep the nervous system unimpeded and working as it should.

Improved Nervous System Means Improved Immune and Endocrine Systems

The nervous system, immune system, and endocrine system are inextricably linked so when one is impacted, the others are impacted as well. This occurs because all three systems share certain molecules that carry message between them, allowing them to communicate or work together. It is this connection that makes chiropractic an effective treatment for immunity.

While the immune system protects the body from disease, the endocrine system is responsible for producing certain hormones. These hormones are responsible for regulating tissue function, sleep, metabolism, sexual function, mood, growth and development, as well as other vital functions.

This is why chiropractic care can often help with depression and insomnia; it is even an effective with infertility. When you look at the nervous system from this perspective it is easy to see how far reaching it is and how much it impacts the entire body.

Benefits of an Improved Nervous System

There are many chronic and even degenerative health conditions that are impacted by the nervous system. Studies have shown that chiropractic is a very effective for numerous neurological conditions including:

• Vertigo
• Cerebral palsy
• Ataxia
• Multiple sclerosis
• Parkinson’s
• Epilepsy
• Tourette’s Syndrome
• Autism

This makes chiropractic more global care in many cases. A patient may seek treatment for pain or limited mobility but will often experience many other benefits due to the positive effects that the chiropractic has on the nervous system.

When there is a communication breakdown between the brain and the body’s tissues, organs, and cells it can lead to a variety of health problems. Chiropractic provides a safe, effective treatment for improved nervous system function.

In some cases, a patient may need regular chiropractic adjustments that may be once a week or several times a week. The type, frequency, and intensity of the adjustments is dependent upon the patient and their condition. Chiropractic adjustments positively affects the nervous system and as a result, positively affects the entire body.

I hope you found this article helpful and gained some new knowledge from it. Please, leave a comment or feel free to ask questions. Also, Let your Friends and Family know about the article by sharing it on Facebook.

In Health,
Dr Jim Lopez

Obesity on the rise

Childhood obesity is on the rise in America. Even if you don’t want fries with that kids’ meal, chances are your fast food restaurant wants to give you some. Chains like McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Burger King offer unhealthy sides and drinks 84 percent of the time, in lieu of their more nutritious offerings like apple slices, yogurt, and juice. That’s among the findings of a new analysis released by researchers at Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, which examined fast food marketing and nutrition trends.

The fast food industry has stepped up efforts to reach children and teens. Last year, preschoolers saw 56 percent more ads for Subway, 21 percent more ads for McDonald’s, and 9 percent more ads for Burger King than they did in 2007. Often, they’re bombarded with images of snacks and desserts—
children see more than two advertisements each day promoting unhealthy menu items.

How Chiropractic Can Help

You may not think of your chiropractor as being helpful with obesity problems, but they can be your best ally with weight problems. Obviously, the traditional medical field does not have the answer, or we would not have an increasing childhood obesity problem in America.

Except for obesity conditions caused by extremely rare glandular problems, children and adults become obese for one reason and one reason only—consuming more calories than they burn. To lose weight you just need to consume less calories than you burn. 
That’s it—it’s that simple. Either eat less, exercise more, or do both.

There are many reasons we are overeating:

• Stress
• Boredom
• Food/Comfort Issues
• Malnutrition

If low, or no energy, is the reason for not exercising, the chiropractor will examine the possible causes for this. It may be a nutritional deficiency, lack of sleep, stress, or other physical problem. The chiropractor will be able to find the cause and eliminate or treat the cause. With more energy, it will easier to get out and exercise, allowing the body to burn more calories.

When people attempt to lose weight by eating less, they may become even more deficient in nutrients. Which increases their hunger sensation. We tend to eat more when our bodies are nutrient deficient. When we eat more we than we should, we put on weight.

Once the body has sufficient amounts of all nutrients, then the hunger center shuts down, and there is no longer a feeling of hunger. When the hunger is under control, people can much more easily control the amount of food that they eat, and they can begin to lose weight.

Other Factors

The other factor in the equation for losing weight is exercising more to burn more calories than are consumed. Here, again, your chiropractor can help make this easier. If kids and adults are not exercising because of pain, the chiropractor can help with both of these problems. Chiropractors are the experts at eliminating the causes of pain, not just masking the pain with drugs. Through chiropractic adjustments, the body will be restored to normal alignment. Thus reducing the physical causes of spinal stress and return it to normal function.

The bottom line is that obesity problems can be addressed. Take the first step and want to do something about the problem. Together, your chiropractor and you can solve the problem.