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It Isn't
Easy
by Dale Powers,
D.C., B.S. and Janet L. Rueger, D.C. |
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All of our
distractions and chemical dependencies are a distraction from the
hurt that was there before. All of the traumatic events of our
lives, undigested emotional upsets, etc. ferment in the nervous
system, especially at the spinal levels (and the brain).
In
performing case histories of people entering our offices with a
history of chemical dependency, it is very consistent that the
spinal system is in a state of protection, lack of ease, lack of
flexibility, guarded, armored, and less than vital. This closely
correlates to a history of personal dishonoring, violation,
unresolved emotions, rage, and very often multiple accidents and
physical injuries.
Chemical dependency may be an appropriate
reaction for persons who have limited options. Chemical dependencies
are associated with our reinforced distractions from what is or has
been going on in our life. Many people have chemical dependency. In
addition to drugs and alcohol, these can be coffee, sweets, going
out to dinner, too much protein, too much meat, etc. The tendency
may be to talk about food rather than deal with personal
issues.
Many people have found that drinking or using
chemical substances makes them feel more comfortable and in the
moment of taking them, they usually do. Our society tells us that we
are supposed to feel comfortable. As a baby or child we are told
"Don't cry." We do not express ourselves so we stuff our
feelings.
Everyone has his or her way of distracting
themselves from the emotional hurt and it's not easy. What's not
okay is trying to feel comfortable and still be hurting inside.
Eventually your inner being, that is you, will force you to your
knees in desperation to be set free, and it is not easy
either.
Everybody has it, but you have it tougher. At this
point you have gone through incredible suffering and have worked
very hard at pulling yourself into self authority, self
responsibility.
Some of the finest healers of our times have
first suffered so much through chemical dependency that they've
said, "I'm not going to take this any more, and I want to help
others avoid what I've been through."
Many treatments for
codependency substitute a less desirable pattern of codependency for
a more socially acceptable one (e.g., heroin replaced by methadone,
then later replaced by sugar addiction.)
Chemical
codependency, in its healing stages, is often replaced by another
type of codependency, for example emotional codependency. This may
show up in relationships as a need to rescue others or to be
rescued.
"You can't heal it until you feel
it."
Why is it that people continue to exhibit patterns
that are considered abusive or destructive toward themselves and
loved ones? Did you ever notice that the more you perform an
activity, the better you get at it? Why is this so? Imagine wanting
to forget how to perform an activity you've learned over the years.
Difficult? Now, you could say, "I can't ride a bike," although
you've learned how to ride; in reality your neurological system has
learned it so well you would have to be in denial to say you can't
ride a bike. It is now known that the memory of every experience
you've ever had in your life (in utero also), even patterns
your parents, grandparents, and influential parties had upon you,
are stored in your neurological system at the cellular
level.
At the National Institute of Mental Health, Dr.
Candace Pert conducted extensive research with morphine and heroin
addicts. She discovered that the chemicals of emotions are not only
produced by the brain but by most areas of the body, including and
especially the spinal cord. This is the region where the first
connection between the environment and your nervous system
starts.
Dr. Pert stated, "Happy thoughts make happy
chemicals, and happy chemicals make happy cells. Angry, sad thoughts
make angry, sad chemicals, and angry, sad chemicals make angry, sad
cells."
Dr. Pert said people used to think that the conscious
mind was at the top part of the brain and the subconscious is the
lower part. Dr. Pert suggested that the spinal cord is the seat of
the subconscious.
As a chiropractor, I have no cure for
chemical dependency. I have no means of making any individual more
comfortable nor do I have the desire. People who have had
codependency have tried to feel comfortable for too long (by
distractions).
As a chiropractor, practicing a relatively new
leading edge of integration of chiropractic methods called "Network
Chiropractic", our focus, attention, clinical responsibility, and
clinical success comes from integrating the healing concepts we
spoke about in this article with specific and loving manual
adjustments. Dr. Donald Epstein, founder of Network Chiropractic,
has developed a method that directs the neurological system to let
go of dominant patterns and find new healthy patterns.
Dr.
Glenn Russo, Network Chiropractic Instructor, states that, " Network
Chiropractic is a network of techniques and methods employed
throughout the chiropractic profession. What makes it unique is the
sequence and intent. It does not compete with the body, it flows
with it. The adjustment first seeks to release the adverse tension
in the brain and spinal cord with sustained gentle contacts. Then,
only if needed, the type of adjustment more commonly associated with
chiropractic, the structural thrust is more effectively applied when
the vertebrae are ready to effortlessly release their structural
locks. It is the sustained, gentle adjustment of the subluxation in
a precise sequence that helps to release the trapped energy of the
blocked emotions and thought patterns that have fermented within our
being."
Some points to consider:
- There is a wisdom inside you that has managed to keep you
alive in spite of what you have done to yourself.
- This wisdom functions through the coordinating mechanism of
your nervous system.
- This nervous system relays the wisdom that makes your physical
body, animates it, coordinates it, heals it, and inspires
it.
- This system has its main switchboard relay station, and a good
deal of its memory of events that you've reacted to in your life,
throughout the center of your neck and back (spinal
column).
- Events in your life that do not honor who you are; or that
happened at a time, or in a way that you could not properly adapt
to, or could not recover from, are associated with spinal blocks
to your life flow. We call these spinal subluxations.
Old
traumas stored in spinal muscles cause subluxations (spinal
"blockages" of the nervous system) which cause new traumatic
information to be scattered into all organs and cells. Subluxations
block the communication of your higher self which always knows how
to make things right emotionally, physically, and chemically. As a
consequence of these old traumas we get stuck in behaviors that
consistently block our higher communications.
When this
happens we get stuck in patterns. The only difference between being
stuck in a pattern of disconnection and in a grave, is how well
rehearsed or reinforced that pattern is. What we are saying here is
that the shape, position, tension, tone, and flexibility of the
spinal system is directly associated with the shape, position, tone,
and flexibility of your life.
It is most common when we
locate the spinal subluxations and use our hands to gently adjust
them, that the individual takes a deep breath, probably for the
first time in quite some time. They also experience greater
flexibility of the spine, release their armoring in their spinal
system and have a profound experience of communication with their
higher self.
We don't claim to cure people; we do claim that
we have a very powerful and unique service to help set people free.
After all, isn't that what you wanted all along?
Dr.
Powers and Dr. Rueger are chiropractors currently practicing in
Auburn, CA. Call 888-8865 for more information.
As
featured in Serene magazine, October 1991, Vol. 2, No.
1
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Ithaca, New York 14850 
