Chiropractic and mental health… this is a combination most people won’t tell you about. I found chiropractic in high school as a way to help achieve more physical balance in my body. The first couple of chiropractors I saw did help, but never as much as I wanted. I always found myself looking for more – Why did my chiropractors never talk about my muscles? Why is this stress headache treated the same as a concussion? Well, this is when I found Dynamic Essense Chiropractic Center. There, the mind-body connection is at the core of a person’s treatment.

Drs. Brit and Lisa are both such beautiful humans. And I say humans very intentionally. They really set a good example for what I mean when I say that I want this podcast to highlight authentic humans. As Dr. Brit says in this episode, they do not want to hide the fact that they are doing the work right alongside you. Not all chiropractors, and not all healing professionals, are like these women, but their nature and ways of being are too spot on not to highlight. That all being said, Dr. Brit and I had an awesome conversation about chiropractic, the nervous system, and mental health.

The connection between mental health and chiropractic care is simple. A chiropractic adjustment draws your body’s awareness to the joint being adjusted. The action of paying attention to an area of the body can increase the neurological communication between the mind and body. When this communication is improved, the body can communicate better with the mind, making it easier for the body to tell the mind what’s going on. A chiropractic adjustment removes any interference in the area, and awareness and connection can begin to increase.

From here, senses become clearer. Not in the sense that you’ll have super good vision or hearing, but in that your body is less likely to confuse being startled by the cat with an attack warranting full on panic. You become more in touch with the present moment as it is – with reality, even. Remember, the mind doesn’t understand reality without the body. The body is the thing receiving the sensory information about the environment and communicating it to the brain for interpretation. Through the chiropractic process, the body and mind learn to understand each other, and the environment they reside in, better. This strengthens the mind-body connection, which is so often at the base of healing.

What I love is that this whole process ends up going so much farther. Every area of your life is impacted. You might even notice changes days or weeks after an adjustment. The adjustment (literally) caused a shift in your body and now you are perceiving in a different way and therefore able to respond differently. After an adjustment, workout, or other thing-that-improves-mind-body-connection, I often feel like I make better decisions. I choose to cook a balanced dinner instead of eating the granola in the cupboard. Beyond this, chiropractic can even aid in trauma processing. Adjustments are helpful at each phase here, meaning that chiropractic care can help with the discovery, processing, and release of trauma as your body and mind communicate and work together in new ways.

We tend to be such top-down beings – We do things with our brain first and body second. However, chiropractic, and many of the other soul-healing interventions I highlight, are bottom-up things. This means that it happens body first and brain second. WOAH. Dr. Brit and I use this language to describe the ways in which chiropractic care can work its magic for a person. We get into many of the ideas and explorations around this basic truth and end up talking about so much more than just chiropractic care. Be sure to listen to hear all about it. 

You can find Dr. Brit at Dynamic Essence Chiropractic Center in Grand Rapids, MI, and at their website and on the DECC blog.

You can find this episode of Psychiatria and all the others on your podcatcher of choice, embedded below, or at the links HERE. If you’ve already listened – What did you think? Do you have questions or feedback on something that could be improved? Ideas for future episodes? Any questions, comments, or feedback are welcome! Email me at podcast@freerangepsych.org. Want to keep up with the show and get a heads up on new episodes? Find me on Instagram (@PsychiatriaPodcast). I can’t wait to hear from you! Stay curious, dear listeners.

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