I was sitting in 6am spin class this morning, contemplating why I thought participating in a 100-mile biking event this summer would be a good idea.  I was tired, a little cranky and only had a half a cup of coffee.  I decide to tough it out and do the class.  Between songs of Billy Joel, Brittany and Justin, my mind wonders and I begin to visualize the day of the event.  A bright blue sky, teammates, even my outfit and it pushes me to work harder.  I could feel the sense of accomplishment, knowing that even on days where I would have preferred to sit on my couch and drink coffee, I stuck to the plan.  While driving home, I was listening to Tony Robbins.  Zig Ziglar called it “automobile university”.  Anyways, while listening to Tony a previous conversation I had, had with a former classmate of mine occurred to me.  Chiropractors love discussing chiropractic with each other and of course the subject of nerve interference. Nerve interference is caused by a misalignment or a subluxation of the spine.  When there is a misalignment of the spine, a vertebra moves out of juxtaposition to the one above or below it occludes the opening where the nerve exits the spine and impedes the nerve impulses.  Nerve interference is what ultimately causes much pain and discomfort and can affect your overall health. 

I completely subscribe to this; however the conversation I had with my colleague has more to do with removing the interference people have in their daily lives. Of course as a chiropractor I help remove nerve interference but what is causing the interference?  While I fill out fitness analysis forms with people interested in Ilovekickboxing.com, I’m beginning to see it.  I hear it when I spend time with patients.  How do you help to remove the interference of self-sabotage and self-loathing to move people in a healthy direction where their lives are lead by value and purpose?  How do I get others to envision what they want whether it be participating in a triathlon, fitting into skinny jeans or living an active healthy lifestyle free of pain and medication?  My suspicion is one spin class, one patient and one day at a time.  

When I was six years old, I watched my first karate movie.  I immediately fell in love.  For months, I pestered until I finally was able to start taking lessons. By the time I was in high school, I was practicing 2-3 hours/day, 4-5x/week.  I could hold kicks over my head, do standing splits and punch faster than most of my comtemporaries.  At about 16, I was becoming progressively plagued by severe back pain and debilitating headaches.  Back pain was daily, making it difficult for me to sit all day in school and the headaches re-occurring 3-4x/week, sometimes more.  Karate was becoming increasingly more difficulty to perform daily. 2000-3000 mg of Over-the-Counter Pain medication would not even touch the pain.  I went to my medical doctor and was told I can take stronger prescription pain medication or I can quit.  I did not take kindly to this advice.  Finally, my grandfather who is a retired Toledo Fire fighter had been seeing a chiropractor for more than 25 years.  He picked me up from high school and took me to see her.  At the time, I was very ignorant about the subject and I was very suspect of the whole ordeal.  Over the course of several months and much to my teenage chagrin, I started getting better.  My back pain had entirely remised and my headaches were down to once a month.  I had my life back and could physically do what I desired, along with a certain mental and emotional freedom when the body is no longer in constant pain.

Shortly after my treatment, I decided to change the course of my life and become a doctor of chiropractic.  10 years later, I graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in October of 2012.  I had an associate position before I even graduated.  As events unfold, so does life.  The martial arts led me to chiropractic and conversely chiropractic to the martial arts.