Healing Happens in Community
At the beginning of August 2021, Mutter Chiropractic will be expanding. We are keeping our current location in Suite B of 3810 SE Division St. and adding a new larger space (Suite C), which is located just down the hall from where we are now. Suite B will be reserved for new patient exams, re-exams, and some private appointments. The new space, Suite C, will be where most office visits take place. Adding this larger space will allow us to increase appointment availability and options. In Suite C we will have appointment blocks each day designated as “semi-private”. This means you will have your own table and for now will be in your own room. Either Dr. Naomi or I will be working with more than one practice member during the 30 minute appointment.
The main reason for this is simple: healing happens in community. Expanding the practice into this larger space is part of pulling that principle into lived experience.
Since April 2020, we have offered a group appointment type (labelled “family”) and have limited it to members of the same household in response to pandemic guidance and the small footprint of Suite B, our current location. Beginning in August 2021, we will introduce semi-private appointment blocks in the new space, which allows us to practice healing in community. Over time and with consideration we will open again into full group appointments.
The style of chiropractic we practice is built around Network Spinal Analysis. Network uses the term “entrainment” to describe the experience and the application of gentle spinal contacts that help the body become more self-reflective, reduce spinal tension, and reorganize energy throughout the body. The process is enhanced when shared. This principle is the foundation for why Network practitioners have an open format in their offices.
There are many benefits to this style of practice. The neural and energetic advantages of entrainment are enhanced in a group environment that is dedicated to the health, healing, and empowerment of those whose enter it. The communication and facilitation of breath, movement, and flow also become more resonant in a community healing space.
We are committed to extending the safe and sacred space we have established in Suite B into the new space of Suite C, as well. All rooms are well-ventilated and contain HEPA air filter/purifiers. We will continue best practices for the safety and cleanliness of the physical and energetic space.
We are very excited for the opportunity to share this growth with you. I have practiced in community entrainment spaces for a decade prior to 2020, and I enjoy offering care in this way. I understand that this style of practice will not appeal to everyone. Dr. Naomi and I will continue to offer private appointments, and will do our best to accommodate everyone as we transition.
Information about updates to scheduling and fees can be accessed here. Please reach out by email or phone with any questions. We look forward to seeing you soon!
The Triad of Change
In mythology, the 3 Fates represent the forces that determine destiny. In Greek and Roman tradition, they are described as weavers: creating (Clotho), measuring (Lachesis), and cutting (Atropos) the thread of a human life. The number 3 is symbolically useful because it asks us to see relationships beyond the duality of black-white, either-or, us-them.
Chiropractic philosophy describes the Triune of Life as an interplay (force) between intelligence and matter. Life, after all, is the expression of intelligence through matter. We recognize the vital element that animates form. We also recognize the intelligent ways living things maintain their active organization in the face of a constantly changing and challenging environment.
The Triad of Change provides a useful model to understand the ways that energy organizes in living systems. As humans, we can consider Structure (the body we inhabit), Behavior (how we move ourselves), and Perception (how we view our relationship to ourselves in the environment). This model is appropriate in the context of chiropractic practice because we work with the nervous system. As chiropractors, we assess and support the ability of the nervous system to be more flexible and more adaptive. We do this directly through the alignment of the body (structure), facilitating movement and connection between parts (behavior), and offering a perspective of coherence (perception).
Whether our preference is to lead with the energy of the fabric maker, the measurer-planner, or the action-taker, we are participating in the process of weaving. Seen from this perspective we weave with the Fates instead of at their mercy. Empowerment comes when we are in alignment with our principles. We can choose to defer our fate to perceived authority or we can do the work to build resilience, act with integrity, and clarify our perception .
Babies and Chiropractic
There are many reasons for parents to consider chiropractic as a first line of support when encountering challenges with their babies. Chiropractors trained and experienced in the care of young ones offer a gentle, precise, drug-free, and physiologically-based service to facilitate more ease in the developing nervous system. Chiropractic is not a treatment for a condition, but rather a way to support the normal, self-healing capacity of the body. There are many expressions of dis-ease that occur in young ones that are often related to stress and tension held in the spine and cranium. Birth is a powerful experience and that power can be exerted in ways that can be taxing to the newborn’s body.
Parents may consider seeking chiropractic services for their young one for colic, issues with latch, digestive challenges, irregular/absent poops, sleep difficulties, mobility concerns, or visible asymmetry in posture or movements. Parents also bring their young ones in simply because they have personal experience with the benefits of chiropractic to facilitate balance and ease and want to offer that gift to their child.
I have heard parents and pediatricians describe expressions of dis-ease as “normal.” As in, “it’s normal to not poop for days at a time” or “some babies prefer to only nurse on one side” or “she has too much stomach acid, which is why she is spitting up after feeding.” To be clear - there is nothing wrong with the child in these circumstances. They are striving to find balance with the environment to the best of their ability. When their ability to find this balance is compromised by stress and strain on the nervous system (housed in the spine and cranium) it makes sense that we would see some kind of challenge. I find it important to discern between “normal” and “common.” We can acclimate to ideas or environments, especially when they surround us for extended periods of time. Their prevalence - how common they are or seem - does not mean they are “normal.” It is normal for the body to adapt and heal. The expression of pain and symptoms is a normal signal that the body is working to adapt and heal. It is normal to want to reduce discomfort and dis-ease in ourselves and our children. It has become common for us to hear that drugs and symptom suppression are standards of care. It has become common for us to hear that disease is preventable and should be eradicated with pharmaceutical interventions.
To approach health from a perspective that acknowledges and honors the innate capacity of the body to adapt and heal is, for me, normal. Chiropractic helps the communication system of the body to express health and life with more ease. When it comes to the health and lives of our children, I invite you to consider chiropractic today for a better world tomorrow.