The Science of Chiropractic
Chiropractic science recognizes the foundational role the nervous system plays in health. When there is interference in the communication between the brain and the body, we are not able to adapt to stress effectively. Finding, measuring, and helping the nervous system reorganize these areas of interference is the primary goal of chiropractic care.
This begins with movement. Areas of the spine that do not move normally do not move effectively. The energy bound in these areas can show up as muscle tension, stiffness, reduced range of motion, or pain. Movement, especially within the spine, is a vital nutrient for the brain.
Without free and integrated movement, the quantity and quality of information from the body to the brain is reduced. The picture the brain has to work with becomes less rich and detailed. Its ability to regulate normal baseline function in the organs is affected.
What follows is a change in tone. Tone is the energetic signature that all cells, tissues, and organs have. All muscles in the body must maintain tone in order for the body to work properly.
Beyond the “musculoskeletal” system, when we recognize that muscle tone determines the flow of blood and the release of hormones from every gland in the body, we can appreciate the physiological fact that the health of any part of the body is intimately connected to the state and tone of the nervous system.
Dysfunction, dis-ease, and disease are downstream effects of the insult and interference within and through the nervous system. Chiropractic calls this interference subluxation. The chiropractic adjustment is an invitation to help the nervous system re-member, and in so doing liberate the self-healing and self-organizing power of the body.
Both Sides, Now
My father once told me that “there are two sides to every story, and then there’s the truth”. In his concise way, he was illuminating a critical piece of sense-making. The thing we refer to as “the truth” is something we can only see through a glass, darkly…it is something known only as well as we know ourselves.
In a similar way, our limited ability to make sense of truth is reflected in the parable of the blind men and the elephant. A band of blind men encounter an obstacle on the path. One man grabs a leg and declares it is a tree. Another is wrapped by the trunk and proclaims it is a snake. Yet another is flicked by its tail and decides it is a rope. Another feels an ear and calls it a fan. We are always at the mercy of the limitations of our perception. The only chance we have to address the complex issues that currently and will continue to face us is discourse. Discourse requires the willingness to communicate what we “see” and have that heard and reflected back to us by others who are also having their own experience even and especially when we do not agree on what we perceive reality to be.
These days our elephant is the incredible vehicle of the internet. Never before in the history of our species has so much information been so accessible for so many. This technology has facilitated our ability to find facts, proof, evidence, and opinions for any position. Yet the process of inquiry has always been about more than simply researching information that supports what you already believe. In its essence, science is a process of inquiry. Science derives from philosophy and the dialectic tradition of Socrates. Dialectic means investigating the truth of opinions; it is the art of debate. The root of this word is shared with dialogue, which means “to converse with”. My point is simply this - in order to do science, to investigate truth, to practice inquiry, there must be an open, transparent exchange of ideas. Without this criterion, without a conversation to propel meaning, refine arguments, and clarify positions, we are doomed to hug one leg of the elephant and convince ourselves it’s a tree.
There are always (and at least) two sides to every story, which reminds me of the courage and humility in Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides, Now:
Oh, but now old friends they're acting strange
And they shake their heads and they tell me that I've changed
Well something's lost, but something's gained
In living every dayI've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all
It is unlikely any of us will ever know all life has to offer. But we can engage with it in a way that is meaningful, draws us closer to the truth, and employs a best practice that was recorded long ago: charity does not behave unseemly, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil.