Yoga and Chiropractic
I often connect yoga with chiropractic as examples of disciplines that are often narrowly understood. Is yoga a form of exercise? Yes. Is it therapeutic? Yes. Do you need special clothing to practice it? Not really. But, here’s the thing - the purpose of yoga is not physical fitness. You can use asana as an exercise, but that is not its sole or primary function.
Similarly, the purpose of chiropractic is not relief of neck and back pain. It is certainly effective in addressing these and other musculoskeletal issues, but this is not and never has been its sole or primary function.
Like yoga, there is a science, philosophy, and art that informs the practice of chiropractic. Simply, the energy of life that sustains and coordinates health and harmony in the body transits the nervous system. When there is interference with the conversation between the brain and any part of the body, we experience dis-ease/dis-order. Chiropractic identifies where and how this interference is affecting the nervous system (often in the spine), and offers a specific signal in the form of an adjustment to help reestablish equilibrium.
This perspective means chiropractic is not a treatment for a condition any more than yoga is a marketing vehicle for stretchy pants. When we acknowledge that freedom, clarity, sanity, coherence - the expression and experience of intelligence in matter - is the objective, we can see that the therapeutic aspects are a natural and downstream effect from starting closer to the Source.
Cultivating Inner Space
At a time when so much emphasis is placed on social distancing, how often do we consider how much space we give to our thoughts and emotions? Space is the universal complement to form. It is what allows forms (bodies, thoughts, emotions, objects) to move. The natural expression of form is movement, for we see in all things that when there is not enough space to move or enough space between moves, things get compressed, tense, and are not able to express with ease or health.
Observe, for example, your breath. Physiologically, breath happens when your body creates space within. As the main breathing muscle (the diaphragm) activates, it pushes down on the contents of your abdomen. This lowers the relative pressure within your rib cage. So long as your are open air naturally flows from the relatively higher pressure outside your body through the respiratory channels to the lungs, which fill and expand within the rib cage. With effortless effort normal exhalation is simply the process of the pressures reversing. Consider the moment of transition between the inhale and exhale of your breath. This transition can be an intentional pause as a way to create space within your mind and body. The yogic practice of pranayama offers many techniques to intentionally move your breath as a way to cultivate a stillness of mind.
With regard to the heart, we can measure how the time between beats reflects the balance and adaptability of the nervous system. The heart does not beat consistently like a metronome, but has a unique cadence in each of us. In many respects our relationship to space physically, mentally, emotionally, and environmentally is reflected in the state of our heart rate variability. For instance, we can measure whether someone is physiologically in fight/flight (sympathetic) mode, whether their body regulates well and balances between fight/flight and rest/recuperate (parasympathetic), and how well someone uses the energy they have available to maintain health and function.
There is a profound and intimate relationship between the breath, the heart, and the nervous system. They are reflections of each other as well as reflections of our state of being. To connect with them, to feel what they are communicating, and to support their ability to function are the space-honoring goals of my chiropractic practice. Life depends on the balance of movement and stillness. Stillness is derived from space and the quiet formless peace therein. It is the silence between the notes, the space within the synapse, and the room we choose to give to our thoughts and emotions that makes all the difference. The space we give others and ourselves is different than distance. Space is the medium through which connection is made, whereas distance implies a forced separation. They may look similar, but the feeling and the intention behind the feeling are quite distinct. At a time when so much emphasis is placed on how distant and separated we seem to be, make space your ally, allow yourself to slow down and calm down, and remember to find and celebrate the connections that are (everywhere).
(re)Framing Causation
Some time ago, a Scottish philosopher inquired into the nature of human understanding. He saw that perceptions of sense and memory, as they present to the mind, do so in space or in time, but most importantly, in a necessary connection with each other. He reasoned that space, time, and causation are ideas. They do not actually represent the perceptions themselves. Rather, they reflect the manner in which the mind takes perceptions in, processes them, and “understands” them.
Consider the notion that what we perceive as matter - you know, “the hard stuff” of reality - is ultimately a quantum entanglement of light. All of the flavor and the scent, the gift of sound and vision, and the felt sense of perception comes from your body swimming in a sea of electromagnetic radiation.
From and within this sea of light, the mind uses the information from perception to generate ideas and does so in language. How we frame perception and how we (choose to) use language is a creative act.
Each moment in life is a creative unfolding of how we interact with this light. Tuning and turning the mind with intention and attention is a conscious choice that transforms the lens through which we perceive. We can perceive because we are embodied and this embodiment allows us to sense the relationships within and between space, time, and motion.
What if we (re)framed how we think about causation? That instead of being subject to, powerless against, or separate from the process of causation - we are the sequence of time. That essentially causation is thought and action creatively interwoven through the fabric of our reality causing, effecting, and affecting our experience in this life.
Kosmos i jego kontrasty