Can You Run for the Bus? Metaphorically Speaking…

I think most of us have been there, that moment when you are casually walking down the street to catch the bus, when all of a sudden out the corner of your eye you see it coming; “wait” you think to yourself, “it’s 10 minutes early, if I miss this I won’t get to work on time!”

So, you pick up the pace of your walk, a march initially, then a jog and “Oh gosh” before you know it, you’re in a full out sprint to make the bus. As luck would have it, you got to the bus on time, and once onboard the puffing and panting starts to subside and the sweat begins to stop.

This example, as simple as it is, is a clear demonstration of our ability to ‘adapt’. We can increase our heart rate, breathing rate, and forward-thinking to make the bus. And once onboard we are able to slow our cardiovascular and respiratory systems to enable us to recover.

But did you know, it doesn’t stop there? All-day, every day for 24hours a day 365 days a year your body is constantly ‘adapting’. When you move from a cold to a hot room, your core temperature never changes, when you’re asleep, your heart never stops. Without you knowing, every time your body meets a virus or bacteria, you adapt to fight off infection. When you move from a bright space to a dark room, your eyes adapt to the change in light. All of this, without us knowing, keeps us alive, it keeps us thriving and adapting to an ever-changing world.

Therefore, our ability to adapt is the most vital part of our being, in terms of health, wellbeing and survival and if taken a step further it can be the key to us not just surviving, but thriving and really enjoying our life.

So what does this have to do with chiropractic and Epoch?

Everything.

You see, as I am sure you know, your brain is the controller of everything in your body, from the movement of your arms and hands, to thinking, to breathing and digestion. Everything in your body is controlled by signaling from the brain, through the nervous system (spinal cord) to wherever the message is intended.

As chiropractors, we work with that nervous system. Yes, you may assume we are just moving your spine, but remember, what sits within that spine? Your spinal cord.

Science is repeatedly showing us that poor movement in the spine has the ability to change and reduce brain function and nerve signalling. This means that if the spine is not moving properly, it can have a consequence on almost any part of your body, not just pain. In fact, we might not even feel the issue, there may be no pain!

So if there is no pain, how on earth do we know if our body is functioning as well as it can do? How do we know if we are ‘adapting’ to our environment?

Great question!

‘Heart Rate Variability’ is the answer.

Heart Rate Variability (HRV), what you may have heard being called ‘the stress test’ is the most effective way to measure the adaptability of our body and how well we may cope with the stressors of life.

Remember stress is not just emotional, it can be chemical and physical. And it is not how stressed we feel that is important, it is how our body, on the inside (physiologically), can cope with stress that is important. Again, this is your ‘adaptability’.

HRV measures the variation in your heart rate and rhythm, giving us an indication of how your body is working at rest and how much adaptability it has.

If you score low on this test, it means your ability to adapt is poor, which will tell us that healing will take time and that you are more likely to succumb to stressors in your environment. Physical, chemical or emotional.

If you score highly on this test, we can be confident that you will heal quickly and that even when stressors come into your life, your body will have the ability to ‘adapt’ and cope.

Therefore, if you want to improve your body and your health long term, think to yourself ‘Am I adaptive?’ and find a way to improve that.

Eating well, moving well, and thinking well all go a long way to reducing the stress in our lives; physically, mentally and emotionally. But remember, if your nervous system is not working to its best potential there will always be a limitation on our ability to adapt.

Seeing your chiropractor and helping your spine to move and function better can further increase your ability to adapt and the efficiency of your nervous system.

Ask us how you are adapting next time you’re in and see what else you and your family could be doing to get and stay well with chiropractic.

With love

Tom