Good clutter has a home and is never ’stuffed’ or hidden away indefinitely.  It has a place to belong.  It may have appeared during a particularly busy week or maybe you weren’t feeling well.  It’s temporary.

The not-so-good clutter has been accumulating over time.  It’s hidden in closets, covers flat surfaces, causes you stress and lost time.  It begins to creep into all aspects of your life, leaving you feeling tired and overwhelmed.

The definition of clutter is postponed decisions.  Procrastinating and not clearing it regularly is a vicious cycle.  We all must clear the clutter routinely.

Tips:

• Everything must have a home.
• Instead of putting it down, put it away.
• Start small; take baby steps.  One drawer, a table top, a closet, or the mail.  The trick is to start.  Make some decisions.
• Remember the clutter didn’t appear overnight and it will take some time to control.
• Keep a donation bag, box or drawer: a place so when you come across an unwanted possession, it can be removed immediately from your main living space.  Donate once it’s full.

By being organized you will save time and reduce your stress level.  Time is one of our most valuable assets, yet we tend to waste it everyday.  Start clearing the clutter and find time for those things that truly matter in your life.

Lori Brandes

Time 4 Order – Professional Organizing

www.time4order.com

(925) 846-8476

What if we can’t sleep?

• Is it the presence of a child (perhaps young or perhaps just not able to sleep either)?
• Do we have too much to do preparing for a holiday or a job?
• Are we unable to sleep?
• Is sleep restless and disjointed?

I don’t think there’s much we can do about the presence of our children, although if there’s a reason he/she is not sleeping and it can be resolved, let’s deal with that.  If kids are insecure, sick or teething, they need more TLC, but if they never sleep well, perhaps they, too, need a NUCCA adjustment.  NUCCA will also help boost their immune system.

Are we inefficient with our jobs? Are we stressed out and need to consider a career or job change?  NUCCA can help us to be more focused and able to get our work done better, so we’ll have more time to sleep.

Are we unable to sleep because our bodies won’t cooperate? Insomnia or an over-active mind?  NUCCA can  help stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system which helps us to sleep.  It helps relieve stress and allow us to relax.

Do we have trouble staying asleep or being rested in the morning? NUCCA can help make the sleep more efficient so you’ll be rested and more able to function.

If you’re like me and your lack of sleep is not due to staying up late having fun, make sure you’re doing everything you can to make the time you have to sleep as effective as possible.

Call today for a complimentary consultation at Vital Life Wellness Center in Dublin, CA.

Start with your chair:

Sit up straight with feet flat on the floor.  If you can’t reach the floor easily, adjust the height of the chair.  You should have your knees bent to 90 degrees and the back of your knees not touching the chair, but with your thighs mostly supported by the chair.  Your hips should be bent to 90 degrees as well.  Also, check to see that your wallet is not in your back pocket while sitting; it unlevels your pelvis and therefore the rest of your spine, causing misalignment and pain.  Make sure your chair has lumbar support.

If you don’t fit well in your chair, replace it with one you do fit in. Not all people are the same size, so not all chairs will fit you.

You can also use an exercise ball to sit on, which strengthens your low back, reducing the incidence of back pain.

Another option besides the exercise ball and the office chair is a kneeling chair.  These have no back support but allow you to kneel on them and easily maintain an ergonomic position.

Pull the chair up to your desk.

With your shoulders relaxed and lowered, your elbows should be bent to 90 degrees when resting on the desk.  Wrists should be flat (not bent) when resting on the keyboard.   When looking at the computer monitor, your head should be over your shoulders rather than in front of them, and you shouldn’t bend down to look at the monitor, so raise it up if you need to.  Also make sure you’re not turning your head to look at anything you need to see on a regular basis.  It’s important to be in neutral position as much as possible.  If you need to write, look at the phone or a second monitor, or other activity in addition to using the computer, you’ll need a swiveling chair and you’ll need to evaluate your position for each of these activities.

Maintaining a good posture during the work day will help reduce your stress, your pain and will help maintain your chiropractic adjustments. Even with a good chiropractor, if you spend a lot of time in a poor position, the adjustments won’t hold as well.

If you have an ergonomic workstation and you still have pain, make sure to get a chiropractic evaluation to determine how your spine can be corrected.

• It saves you time.  There’s no time wasted when going from sitting to standing or standing to sitting.   It’s efficient.  Phone calls are shorter because you feel more urgency.  If someone comes into your office to talk to you, the visit will likely be shorter, again allowing you to get more work done.
• It encourages movement.  When standing, you’re more apt to move around, which uses more calories as well as keeping you from getting stiff and sore from sitting.
• It keeps you more alert.  When your reticular activating system is being stimulated by movement, you stay alert longer through the day.  You’ll be able to get more work done!
• It’s easier to maintain an ergonomic position.  It is easier to stand up straight than it is to sit straight in a chair.  This is, of course, if the desk is the right height for you.  A lot of people sit crooked by leaning over on their elbow or crossing their legs.

These are some potential issues with sitting desks:

• If you sit too long, it can lead to poor circulation and compressed discs.  This is multiplied if you have a long commute.
• Chairs and workstations are not always ergonomic.

Some things to be cautious of when using or purchasing a standing desk:

• It must be the right height for you.  If it’s too high, you have to reach up for things, which raises and tenses your shoulders and neck.  If it’s too low, you’ll bend over too much, which causes low back pain.
• If your feet get sore or tired, put a thick, soft cushion under your feet and wear shoes with arch support as well as cushion, or bring a second pair of shoes for wearing at your desk.
• If your legs get tired over the course of the day, use a tall stool to lean back on as needed.
• Be cognizant of your posture and balance your weight on both feet.

All in all, a standing desk is a great investment in your health and office efficiency.  It doesn’t have to be an expensive purchase.  Be creative about your cubicle or your desk, especially if you know someone who is handy and can build you one.  You can even put blocks under your desk to raise it up, thus trying it out before you invest much money in it.

• Are you able to expend energy helping others without wearing yourself out?
• Are you able to think clearly enough to make long-term plans?
• Are you able to think positively about life?
• Are you able to help your parents or friends or kids with their needs?

We are created to be in community and to make a difference in people’s lives.  We cannot live isolated lives. It’s not fulfilling to us and doesn’t make us feel rewarded or useful in life.

• Are you healthy enough mentally and emotionally to give to others and to know your boundaries?

You have to get healthy first – and that means more than being “fine”.  In the case of emergency on an airplane, we are instructed to put on our own oxygen mask first before giving it to others.  The same thing is true in life: we need to take time and effort to make ourselves healthy in order to be there for others.  Moms especially need this advice.  I need this advice!  It’s so hard to take time for myself when I have a little one who needs me.

One way to begin the journey toward mental and emotional health is through NUCCA.

“What?!” you ask?

Your purpose in life is difficult to determine when you are in pain (pain takes our focus off of other things) and with a subluxation (a.k.a. your brain not connecting with your body properly or firing optimally).  The communication between your brain and your body is not working properly.  Your body takes care of the necessary things like breathing and keeping your heart pumping, before complex thought and planning and relaxing.  NUCCA stimulates your body’s ability to communicate and to heal.

Once your brain is communicating properly, you can begin to get things in perspective.  Functioning will be more efficient.  Thinking will be easier and hormones and emotions will be more balanced.  Then and only then, will you be able to make better decisions for yourself and your family.  Then you’ll be able to have more time to spend on yourself.  Then you’ll be able to do other healthy things like counseling or exercise or organizing or eating properly. Then you’ll be able to stay healthy and feel better than fine – fabulous perhaps!?

Hydrolyzed proteins contain the reactive portion of monosodium glutamate (MSG) which is why they enhance flavors. It causes the same reactions that MSG causes in people who are sensitive to MSG. Studies in the 1970’s showed that 25 – 43% of the population is sensitive to MSG.  Unfortunately, processed food is labeled with many different ingredients that look benign, but always or may contain MSG.

What’s worse, most if not all hydrolyzed proteins in processed foods are created using acid.  Acid hydrolyzed proteins contain carcinogens, or cancer-causing agents, yet another reason to read the labels of the foods you buy.

Reference: Weston A. Price

You cannot go into your DNA and “choose” which genes to turn off and which to turn on, but you can make lifestyle changes which will turn off some disease-promoting genes and turn on some disease-preventing genes.

What are the lifestyle changes?  This article mentioned three:

1. Diet and nutritional changes, increasing fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
2. Moderate exercise, such as walking for half and hour each day.
3. Stress management exercises daily for an hour, such as meditation.

These take focus to accomplish, but they are pretty straight-forward.  I expect that there are others as well, including sleep and upper cervical chiropractic.

Take the step today to implement one lifestyle change into your life. Pick one that is reasonable.  Make sure that it won’t overwhelm you so that you will continue doing it.  Perhaps it is exercising for 15-30 minutes a day.  If you are in pain and can’t do that, see a NUCCA doctor to help rid your body of pain.

Take that one step today and find someone to keep you accountable!  You can do it!

• Drink a lot of water.  Drink water (not other beverages – they’re not all equal) until your urine output is very light yellow, unless you’re taking a multi-vitamin with B vitamins, as it changes the color.
• Limit sugar intake. Sugar will tax your body and increase your susceptibility to getting sick.
• Exercise regularly.  If you are stressed out, avoid exercising strenuously, as it will tax your body too much, so just exercise with mild exertion.  Exercising will improve your circulation and allow the white blood cells, T cells and antibodies to get to where they need to go to fight off the infection.
• Homeopathic remedies can be helpful as well, especially if you see a homeopath or a naturopath who can prescribe the right ones.
• Sleep.  This is extremely important, as your body heals while you sleep.
• Take Vitamin D.  If you take a significant amount of vitamin D, you may want to get your levels checked via a blood test, because it can be toxic in high doses, but it’s invaluable for your immune system as well as bone health and a plethora of other things.
• NUCCA care boosts your immune system by improving the nerve information to allow it to function properly.  Your immune system is a highly specialized system which requires the proper amount of stimulation and suppression.
• Get sick!  This may surprise you, but the more times you get sick, the healthier you’ll be, because it creates memory cells which will then be able to fight off the same antigens quicker next time.  For most diseases or illnesses, you’ll be immune to them forever if your body goes through the immune response.  The same is not true with vaccines.  This is why boosters are given.  Your immune response is not the same.

I’ve seen many people who tell me that they no longer get sick as much as they used to before NUCCA care.  Wouldn’t you like to feel better?  If you’re in the Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, San Ramon area, you’re in my backyard!  Call me at 925-829-7900.

If your posture is less than ideal, your weight distribution is putting more pressure on one part of your low back (and hip and knee and foot) than the other.

1. It could be that you have a pinched nerve, causing sharp pain shooting into a part of your low back or leg, for example, sciatica.
2. It could be that the disc is injured, protruding, or degenerated.
3. It could be that your muscles are spasming to protect the joints and to keep you upright so you don’t fall over.
4. It could be that the stabilizer muscles in your low back (or the core muscles in your abdomen) are weak, and are fatigued from an activity you performed.
5. There are other possibilities as well, which are less common.
6. It could even be a combination of more than one of the above.

Some of the options (not all are created equal) for pain relief are:

1. Bed rest.  This can be helpful for short periods of time, or with the advice of your doctor.  The problem is that your muscles atrophy extremely quickly and if the muscles are weak, the pain can get worse, and the joints can more easily be damaged.
2. Ice or Heat.  These can be very helpful in combination with other things.  The ice can help reduce inflammation and the heat can relax the muscles.  Don’t overdo it, though.  Never leave heat or ice on for more than 20 minutes.
3. Pain relievers.  These can give temporary relief, but can cause problems with the stomach, the liver and the kidneys.  Pain relievers including OTC (over the counter) ones can cause you to overdo your activities, leading to more damage to the body.  They usually reduce the healing capabilities of the body as well.
4. Anti-inflammatories.  These can be helpful.
5. Muscle relaxants.  These can be helpful, depending on the injury.  However, the spasms may be protecting the joints, therefore without them, you may further damage your body.
6. Muscle strengthening exercises.  These can be very helpful, but usually not in the acute (first) stages of the injury.  Back extension exercises and using an unstable surface such as sitting on an exercise ball can be extremely important for keeping low back pain at bay.  This is because they (and not most of the other exercises) can strengthen the multifidus muscles in the low back.  Weak multifidi have been shown to correlate with recurrent low back pain.  Be careful when doing these exercises that you do them correctly and don’t do further damage.
7. Weight loss.  Don’t forget that if you are overweight, the weight on your abdomen causes extra force on your low back, making all other pain relieving measures less effective.
8. NUCCA improves your posture, re-balancing the distribution of weight and taking the extra pressure off of the joints.  NUCCA also improves the function of the nervous system, and allows the nerves and tissues to heal.  NUCCA can also improve metabolism and increase your ability to exercise without pain, aiding in weight loss.

Call Dr. Pritchett today at (925) 829-7900 for relief of your chronic or acute low back pain!

Unfortunately, when it’s long-term, those stress hormones cause chaos in our bodies and start to wear down our bodies from the inside.  Long-term stress can cause:

• Pain
• Heart disease
• Digestive problems
• Sleep problems
• Depression
• Obesity
• Auto-immune diseases
• Skin conditions, such as eczema

Resource: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/SR00001

What can you do to keep your stress response short-term?

• Have a support system (friends, family, etc.).
• Mild-moderate exercise regularly (This gets the stress hormones out of our system by using them up, but don’t work out too hard or it’s added stress on your body.)
• Keep a positive attitude and outlook on life.
• Laugh often
• Sleep long enough
• Understanding the situation and keeping it in perspective with how long it should last or how to work through it.
• Seeing a therapist if necessary to help deal with the stresses.

In looking at both the effects of stress as well as the ways to deal with stress, it’s evident that NUCCA therapy can help on more than one level.

• NUCCA helps your body to physically deal with stress – it improves your body’s response to and regulation of  stress.
• NUCCA helps your body to heal from (or inhibit the formation of) these long-term stress problems shown above (heart disease, chronic pain,  digestive problems, etc.)
• NUCCA helps with insomnia and improves the mental functions of your body, enabling you to manage your stress consciously through your attitude and cognitive function as well as giving you more energy or pain relief to exercise regularly.

It may be time for you to deal with your stress levels and improve your vitality.  Call Dr. Pritchett today.