A Balanced Tension

The first instrument I learned to play was the cello. I recall that the first lesson was how to tighten the bow. The “horsehair” threads that are drawn across the metal strings need to be not too tight and not too loose. It wasn’t until later that we learned to tune the strings. The seasoned ear and hand of the music teacher helped keep the violins, violas, cellos, and basses in tune. I can attest that the sawing serenades of 5th grade novices inflicted both physical and sonic trauma to those instruments. However, the generous encouragement of parents and teachers taught compassion, patience, and to trust the reward of diligent practice.

All stringed instruments require a balanced tension within and across the body to resonate their sound. It is this state of balanced tension that characterizes how the central nervous system feels when it is adaptive and resilient. In chiropractic, we refer to this as tone. 

We often consider tension a bad thing, relating it to stress. Out of proportion and balance, it is. In proportion, it expresses balance, potential, and creative energy. 

The Foundation is Tone

“The principles of Chiropractic should be known and utilized in the growth of the infant and continue as a safeguard throughout life.”

— D.D. Palmer

At the turn of the last century, D.D. Palmer, the founder of chiropractic, proposed that tension (too much or too little) on the “neuroskeleton” altered the function of every organ and system in the body. He found through decades of hands-on work and study of the the various healing modalities of his time that adjusting the spine had a direct and predictable impact on the function and health of the people he saw.

The principles of Chiropractic outline a vitalistic and salutogenic approach to health and healing. The body is a self-healing organism. The body’s ability to regulate normal function depends on clear communication in and through the nervous system. Interference to this communication is often manifested as subluxations (local areas of stress and restricted movement) in the spine. Adjusting these areas and their associated patterns of tension allows the body to develop, repair, and adapt with greater ease and efficiency.

These principles apply to all humans, including and especially young ones. The “safeguard” referenced above is about the opportunity to allow a developing nervous system to be free from unnecessary physiological stress. It refers to the immeasurable benefit of supporting the innate capacity to adapt. It is a powerful way to help “prepare the child for the road,” recognizing that “uncertainty is chronic…instability is permanent, and disruption is common.”

The reason I am such a strong proponent of these principles is that I see them in practice every day. I learned them by experience as a chiro kid and I witness them now as a papa. It is the tone we set now that becomes the foundation of what is to come.

Beauty and Silence

When I was young, there was a small sign that hung next to the bay window that overlooked the backyard. It read, “How beautiful the silence of growing things.” Now, nearly three decades and three thousand miles from that place, I see the verdant green of new shoots on plants I put into the ground last year. I see the slow and enduring cycle of the natural world open to the light of summer. I see…a rainbow unicorn jump all over this keyboard as the laptop screen is forcefully closed by the small hands of a clumsy yet determined toddler. 

These days are a reminder that silence, while essential in its own right, is not required for or characteristic of growing things. What we might take for silence is actually the fundamental - the lowest and most prominent pitch upon which the harmony of nature unfolds. Our task continues to be finding signal amidst a cacophonic information landscape. Perhaps if we open our ears and eyes to the peace of wild things we can come to rest in something not quite silent, but beautiful.