Our body and behavior have built in mechanisms or tendencies to stay the same within a narrow limit. And when changed it will snap back immediately to its old alignment or pattern. Just think about it, when we are cold the body causes us shiver to generate more heat. This brings our core temperature back to a more comfortable limit. If the body didn’t make us shiver then we would succumb to the cold and risk injury or even freeze to death. The same thing applies to blood sugar, sodium, & thyroid hormone among others. How about dieting? For those who have started a diet, they know the process of making changes in their diet requires new choices in types of food, as well as the proportions. If followed carefully the most obvious change is in their weight and energy levels. They become a new person. When they fall off track they notice they are in the same place as where started. Those who remained committed to the process noticed that it eventually became second nature and they did not revert back to their old eating habits.
This condition of equilibrium, this resistance to change, is called homeostasis. Homeostasis is an innate mechanism within the body that regulates all the systems in the body. When there is change in the body, your innate intelligence or inborn wisdom keeps you at a set limit. The problem is that sometimes the level or set limit you are currently at is not a positive one. Homeostasis works to keep things as they are, even if they aren’t very good. Being that our patterns and behaviors are hard to change, we become stuck at a certain level. Sometimes it’s beneficial, and sometimes it’s not. So it is essential to understand this innate mechanism in order to achieve optimal health and start being well.
Remember, homeostasis doesn’t distinguish between what you would call change for the better and change for the worse. It resists ALL change. So how do we tap in and reset our set limit? The way we do it in Chiropractic is start with the foundation. We start with the nervous system. According to Gray’s Anatomy,” The nervous system controls and coordinates all organs and structures of the body. Misalignments of spinal vertebrae and discs may cause irritation to the nervous system which could affect the structures, organs, and functions of the body.” So the central concept of chiropractic is to remove interference from the master system through specific adjustments to the spine, so the vital nerve energy can flow freely from the brain down the cord and out to every cell in the body. With a clear connection the body can function as it was designed to without distortion. We then build from there.
Chiropractic care begins with creating more motion in the body. Since motion is life and life is motion we must build or rebuild a body that is flexible and capable of handling the rigors and demands from life. When we open up, the body shifts in that direction. Innately the body wants more motion. Chiropractic adjustments to the spine allow for a greater degree of motion. But in order to prevent the body from reverting back to its old posture and patterns it needs reinforcement and correction. We do that with a series of adjustment to retrain and rebuild the alignment. With time the body will recognize that alignment and consider it to be its new set point. Then the body will seek to maintain homeostasis by keeping you at that limit.
Once motion and a correct alignment are attained an individual is able to have a better connection within. Through a new awareness of their spine… their backbone…their foundation… their connection to life… they are able to consciously see their old unconscious patterns, whether they are unbeneficial emotions or postural distortions.
No one said it’s easy to create change. It requires three components. Time. Repetition. Energy. It takes time to make change. It requires repetition to reprogram the old. It requires energy to be committed to the process. And then sit back and watch the organic process in action. Others surely will.