“As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.”
Have You Ever Noticed That Life Imitates Nature?
As I sit in my office and think about the spring season, I look at a picture of a Bonsai tree. On it is a quote from Alexander Pope that says, “A little neglect may breed great mischief.” I visualize how chiropractic care can help with the health, strength and longevity we hope to achieve through proper balance and growth.
Take Time To Understand
The Japanese art of growing Bonsai trees is fascinating. Bonsai trees are carefully groomed shrubs that have been shaped by their owners over many years to look like miniature versions of full-sized trees. This can be accomplished by stressing the tree in a particular way while it grows, or it can happen naturally when the tree has been exposed to harsh conditions for many years.
Second, is the Vision
Good posture doesn’t just mean standing and sitting up straight. It also means being aware of how your posture affects your health and wellbeing. Our bodies crave alignment, so when we are properly aligned, our bones support our weight, reducing effort and strain on our nervous system.
Posture and Your Spine
As a chiropractor, I know that posture ranks right up at the top of the list when you’re talking about optimal health. It’s as important as eating right, exercising, getting proper rest, and avoiding potentially harmful substances like alcohol and tobacco. Ideally, your bones stack up one upon the other: the head rests directly on top of the spine which sits directly over the pelvis which sits directly over your knees and ankles. But if you spend hours every day sitting in a chair or hunch forward or balance your weight primarily on one leg, your muscles will have to carry the weight of your body rather than being supported by your spine. The resulting tension can affect you not only physically but emotionally too.
As a chiropractor, one of our goals is to correct misalignments, which will release tension on the delicate nerve tissues and relieve muscle spasms. As the body tries to protect an injured area, another area of the spine can become compromised.
The Good vs. The Bad
Good posture is vital to your physical, chemical and mental well-being. Your posture affects how your nerves communicate with your organs and glands, so it affects your energy level and stress levels. If you don’t have good posture, you could end up damaging your back every time you exercise.
Chiropractic Grows Healthy Kids
From the time our children are born, we are creating guidelines to help form and develop them into healthy adults. Today’s parents face a new force: the smartphone. Over time, this repetitive activity is grooming our children’s postures into a head-forward posture and rolled shoulders. With these unhealthy curves, we see the path of our children’s health becoming clear: back pain, headaches, short attention spans and depression at earlier ages.
By starting a healthy lifestyle early, you can avoid many diseases later in life. Chiropractic care is a safe, effective, drug-free way to get started on this path. All care is tailored to the individual’s size, age, shape and needs.
Posture Is the Window To Your Spine
What does your posture say about you and your family?
Contact us today and schedule a posture exam. Your posture will be telling all of us more than you think!
For Your Health,
Dr. Joseph Gambardella, Dr. Benjamin Erb and Dr. Gail Behar