Every process we go through requires time. Whether it is the
aging process, the birth of a child, job promotions, graduating, or learning
new skills like walking, talking or riding a bike. Reaching new milestones and
new levels in understanding takes time. I imagine we all agree with this so
much so that we place a value on it. For instance, time is money and medals,
every second counts, there’s no time to waste, if we don’t go now we won’t have
time, if its not there in 30 minutes it’s free! People even get impatient in
the drive-through for the “fast food”. Most people want instant gratification
and immediate results, just like the instant microwave dinner that is “cooked”
in one minute.
So many things take time. Cooking a turkey at Christmas
takes three or four hours, pregnancy takes nine months and career achievements
take time. Yet when it comes to our bodies we seem to be a lot less tolerant of
the process of time. The innate time of your body is vastly different to the
man-made time of “I want it done yesterday.”
Anything quick, artificial or
that has an easy option to it will probably only give you short term results
and may have an altered long-term effect on your body.
Let’s look at the nervous system.
When we have a sprained ankle, we generally stay off it.
When we break our arm or leg, it is usually put in plaster and immobilized. Is
it because the arms and legs are so imperative to daily activities that we
notice it more when something is amiss? When plaster is applied to a fracture,
the fracture is immobilized and you could be out of pain within days. Does that
mean you can remove the plaster and start using the arm or leg again? Certainly
not. The cast reminds us that we have time left in the healing process. A scab
on the skin reminds us that the healing process is still taking place. But what
is there to remind us that the nervous system is regaining its optimum health
expression? Nothing. This is the risk we get into when we think that because
there is no scab, pain or cast, and no symptoms, we must be “healthy” and
healed.
It has been my observation that we tend to follow the
recommendations outlined to us for healing when it is an extremity, such as the
appendicular skeleton that is symptomatically expressing in some way and
preventing us from undertaking certain activities. Yet we seem to easily
compromise the central aspects of the body, the axial skeleton. In my observation small indicators of pain such
as a niggle, headache, or a dull ache are ignored until we are unable to bear
it any longer. We then reach for care
outside of our self, often entertaining unrealistic expectations about the
healing process. When we think in this way, we live in the
allopathic paradigm where something from the outside supposedly takes care of
the inside. We want change as soon as possible, however are usually unwilling
to change any of our lives (physically, chemically or emotionally) in order to
help the body to help itself in the healing it can do. People often want change
at all costs, and they invariably want it rectified yesterday however it is not
until later in life that the “quick fix” early in life is paid for.
When people come into the practice, one of the most
important pieces of information I share with them is the initial tissue healing time of the body,
which generally takes 6-8 weeks.
Even though we may experience a reduction in their symptomatic expression, that
doesn’t mean we are healed and healthy. All it means is that the symptoms are
reduced and the body is now able to communicate with itself more clearly. The
body is still on its journey to healing, but is not yet healed. However, what
if we changed your emotional (thought) and chemical (toxin) realities as well and
not just the physical (trauma)?
George was eight when he came into the office with his
parents who were beside themselves, trying to work out how to alleviate the
severe constipation their son had been experiencing for two-and-a-half weeks.
They had tried all and sundry with little success. George described passing a
stool as very painful. At this stage George was trying to hold on rather than
experience the pain of attempting to go to the bathroom.
Upon receiving a series of physical adjustments, he started
to change his internal environment and his body was able to coordinate the
peristaltic movement to propel the fecal material through the intestinal
system. The adjustments changed his life. No longer was he straining to pass a
stool nor having the feeling of being bound up. An emotional technique used in
the practice was also run to help the family deal with any emotional issues
felt to be binding him up. George had recently changed schools and a new
sibling had been introduced to the family. His parents found a huge relief when
they were asked certain questions about his life to date. After the first
adjustment, young George was able to pass a stool. His body, post-adjustment,
was now coordinating a series of events in order to create greater states of
health. The emotional issues brought to the surface were able to be integrated
for the parents and you could see George’s body relax into a feeling of
“somebody now knows what I have been experiencing.”
The chemical component was also discussed, which his parents
were also dedicated to changing. George’s life had changed as a result of this
interaction. On subsequent appointments to the office George found himself
racing to the toilet before getting adjusted: his body knew how the adjustment
would be received and his innate intelligence was allowing him to reach new
states in his health expression at all levels.
Now, George and his parents could have decided after one
successful trip to the bathroom that he no longer needed to work on this area
of his health expression. Yet he and his parents realized that it takes time to
readjust the internal system and, likewise, acknowledged they needed to invest
time into this process.
This young man still receives
chiropractic care today ― his family recognizes that the adjustment
is NOT about alleviating symptoms from the body
in order to “feel better” but
rather allowing your life to be the best it can be in all areas. He’s now a
16-year-old budding sports professional, and upon completion of school wants to
make a go of it on the professional circuit.
The emotional component of healing is an interesting process
for a lot of people. Some people, although wishing
to get well, actually find they benefit from where they are in their present
situation. Making a decision between the supposed benefits they
receive from their current situation, and the genuine benefit that comes with
having each system in their body functioning at its optimum level is a
challenge for them. Some want change but are too scared to embrace the new self
to truly see what they may gain from the change. Most only see the loss.
All processes in
life take time ― whether a flower is blossoming, the sun is rising, a storm is
brewing, or tissue is healing. With time comes clarity and perspective ― at all
levels: physical, chemical and emotional.
I appreciate that the power that made the body has the
ability to heal the body. It simply… takes time.
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