The In8 Life: How Going to the Chiropractor Changed My Outlook on Health – Part Two
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The In8 Life: How Going to the Chiropractor Changed My Outlook on Health – Part Two

You know that expression ‘light as a feather?’ Well that’s how I felt when I left that first chiropractic session – and I hadn’t even had a full adjustment yet. Having that tension released in my neck made me feel like I had a lot of space between my ears and my shoulders – one that I didn’t have to strain to keep.

I went to bed that night feeling very aware of my body, and was excited to see how I would wake up the next morning. Would I have a really deep sleep? Would I bounce out of bed with hours to spare instead of crawling out 20 minutes before work like I usually do? Unfortunately, it was definitely more the latter. I suppose old habits die hard.

When I returned later that afternoon, approximately 24 hours after my initial appointment, I was led to what I can only describe as the ‘communal table area’. I’m sure there’s a better way of describing this, but essentially when you’re a regular client coming for adjustments the process is to go and relax on one of the tables until it’s your turn.

My understanding of the concept behind this open layout is that it’s to reinforce the notion of community where your health and wellbeing are at the forefront. There is no need to hide behind walls, because there is nothing wrong per say, just a couple of people relaxing and getting their backs adjusted.

As Dr. Sam starts my first full adjustment, I can’t help but feel a bit goofy being put into certain positions, but I definitely enjoy the feeling of the adjustment on my back. When it comes to my neck, I’m still pretty tense but only as an instinctual reaction. After those popping noises that make me feel like I’m a transformer, Sam directs me to his office where we start to discuss the results of my health baseline, what the adjustment showed and what the recommended plan was going forward.

A folder of information is handed to me that is catered solely to my needs. Alongside descriptions of sublaxations and what I can expect from the chiropractor, there is an accompanying diagram of the spinal chord, which has little circles drawn on indicating where my sublaxations are and the corresponding side effects of that.

Surprisingly, I had seven sublaxations down my spine, and the occipital part in my neck. The latter sublaxation, which had only just been adjusted the night before, had already returned to it’s incorrect position – telling Sam and myself that this had been going on for a long time and that my body just assumed that this was the correct way of functioning.

What’s interesting about this, is that if my body thinks that’s the best it can do, then have I ever really reached my peak level of functioning? I mean most days I would say I feel ‘good’, but how many of those days could I have actually felt  better?

It really made me consider how many of us would walk around saying that we’re at our peak health, when really we could actually be feeling 20 times better, but never know because our body only  thinks  it’s reached its top level.

Being a 24-year-old non smoker or drinker, my body is functioning pretty good – but it definitely could be better. What didn’t surprise me, and probably should have, is the results of the heart rate variability test. It showed that my natural stress state is at 80% – which obviously isn’t very good. It did hone in the legitimacy of the link between physiological and psychological, and that I was doing the right thing by putting my health as my number one priority.

I’m not saying that going to the chiropractor is going to turn me into the most zen human ever, but I think one of the components of going to the In8 Life is that you start to kind of re-evaluate your reactions to outside stresses. That could be from how I physically sit on the couch (like a slug) to how I emotionally react to not getting fudge with my coffee (absolute disaster).
So my program of care is in three phases and the first phase – which I will be focusing on in this ongoing review – is to return for an adjustment twice a week for six weeks. It’s an intense period in the care program, but it’s to address those immediate issues and start to recalibrate my Central Nervous System!

Return for part three as I chat about these adjustments and if or how my health has changed after phase one.

The In8 Life is located at 53 Hope Street, Geelong West. Call 5298 1838 for more information.

Written by Caitlin Haddad
Working with the In8 Life