It Isn’t Easy
By Dale Powers, D.C., B.S. and Janet L. Rueger, D.C.
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