60 Day Turnaround

Pretty amazing weather we have been seeing.  Rain, warmth… so much warmth that we were greeted with a thunderstorm this evening.  Strong winds, the whole deal, just like a spring storm!  I have had a strong desire for cold weather.  I don’t care for much of it, my 2 and 1/2 decades in Buffalo really took care of that.

But there is this thing inside of me that longs for a little cold weather, a brisk breeze, some snow of course.  It just seems like Christmas would be complete with that cold air, vs. the thunderstorm of today.  It kind of mirrors so many things in our life that we put a lot of effort into, focus and direction, just to have one thing go wrong, and mess up the outcome.  But think about Christmas specifically; for those celebrating, you would never let something like the weather destroy your day, or week.  The EVENT is too big for a small detail significantly impact it.

My question to you, is are you that resilient in other areas?  Do you let yourself get pulled down into the dumps too easy?  Do you sweat immaterial details?  I have taught many people about diet being a lifestyle, yet in most cases we pursue diets like a short term fix.  Even when the goal is lifestyle change, we usually find ourselves adopting short term habits… “I’ll start in three days (after I eat all the garbage I’ll never have again); I am eating nothing but lemonade and spinach”, etc.

When you ask most people about their diets, you will find that they have fallen short of their goals.  We host an event every year at the end of January, either a Body By God Challenge, or a Total Food Makeover.  The reason why we wait until the end of January is because most people have failed at their New Years resolutions by then, and they need some help.  So why have they fallen short?  Sweating the details.  Like letting Christmas rain destroy your Christmas, they let some minor detail take them off course.

In most cases, people fail, then give up.  So I want to give you my best advice for lifestyle change.

The 80% Rule.   80% of your choices should reflect the lifestyle that you want to have, diet, exercise, sleep, stress reduction, and 20% can be lost in the wind.  Trying to hold much more strict than that will probably result in failure just about every single time.

So as you go forward into your spring storm Christmas, look at the cookies and pie, and fudge and cake, and consider the 80/20 rule.  And if you find yourself on the wrong 80%, don’t give up!  Have a great Christmas, be well!

Dr. Eric

Christmas is such a great time of year.  I know that for those who read regularly, you have seen me write about holidays, and Biblical holidays vs man made holidays.  And though the celebration of Christmas is not a Biblical holiday, it happens to be my favorite one.  For me personally, it tends to make me want to run out into the world and do good things.  The sad thing, is that I often feel too busy to do that.

So, I figure it is a good topic to write on.  Though the disposition of the heart is really, really important.  It honestly matters very little to the outcome of the world, if your positive heart disposition, never makes it out into the world to reach and touch the hearts of others, then it is really of no value.  I do not recall the scripture right now, but I believe Paul wrote something along the lines of “it doesn’t matter if you desire to do good, the act is the measure of your heart”.

Not that this is upsetting the world of Grace, but rather this is addressing a matter of the heart. So lets all address the matters of our own hearts, right now.  What can we do, now, that pushes us over the edge of wanting to do good, to really doing good, and being all that we can to the world around us.  There is really no better feeling than the moment that follows a random act of kindness.  And that feeling is directly related to the size of the act.  Opening a door for someone, or holding a door at the mall feels good, but not really good.  Rushing to pick something up off the ground, feels a bit better, but not amazing.  Buying the coffee for the person in line behind you at Starbucks is pretty good, you’ll get a good smile for that one.

How about offering to help someone with a project at their home?  Big heart warmth for that one for sure.  Let’s pull back and make it less time intensive… telling someone who you come in contact with on a regular basis, how much you appreciate them.  Pull it out of a deep place of appreciation, shock someone with your praise.  I think this might just be the best thing we could do for anyone, let them know they are really someone in your life.  It might be difficult to find the right moment, but I think it just might be worth it.

Back to the love of the season.   I love the music, it celebrates Christ, it reminds us to be joyful, it helps take away anything difficult with a love for life.   Christ, was the most loving person to walk the earth.  If you don’t believe he was Messiah, you surely cannot deny that there is not a single man who has eclipsed him in popularity.  From a small town, in the midst of a giant Roman Empire, a baby emerged, into a man, and changed the entire world.  Never would he have been pegged to be one to change the world by those around him who didn’t believe.  He was known for his incredible acts of kindness, random, and constant.  And 2000 years later, we know all about them.

My prayer for the season is that we let this time permeate our hearts, and bring about great joy!  Be well, Be blessed!  – Dr. E

So, “bad backs” are very common.  They are probably 50% of the reason for new visits into chiropractic offices.  It is actually the reason why I am a chiropractor.  17 years old, back was going bad, hurting during hockey practice, and built up to a point when (three months post auto accident), I was put on the floor for about four days without moving besides crawling.  I saw a chiropractor shortly after that episode, and my life was changed.  I was 24 at the time.

I am now, acutely aware of what it takes to make a back strong, and keep it strong, though at times, simple rest is the answer.  Certain injuries require a time of rest, and that time of rest varies based on MANY factors.  But the thing that I want to write about (because I am sitting here in pain right now, more in a bit), is when the very thing that insures your backs future, ends up being the cause of short term pain.  What to do next?

So today I head off to the gym after church.  I had the girls with me all weekend, so the plan was get in quick, do a few heavy lifts (squat, shoulder press, dead-lift), and get out.  I went in and worked up with four warm-up lifts on the dead-lift.  The weight will seem heavy if you aren’t in this world, but the last succesful lift I did was 405#.  Then I jumped up to what would have been a 30# PR (personal record) and attempted 495#.  I missed the lift.  No back pain.  475#, near miss.  Waited and tried it again, missed it worse.  Then dropped back to a very safe and “easy” 455#.  On the pull my back said “NO”!

So I stopped there, abandoned all other lifts, and cleaned up.  Now the question, what do you do when you hurt your back doing something that strengthens the back?  My answer, is you do more.  But when, how, and how do you know to do more?  If you hurt your back doing abdominal crunches on a machine at the gym with a weight bar across your chest, I would tell you to stay away from that ridiculous machine for the rest of your life.  So it is obviously not going to be that easy at times.

The key to understanding this, is to understanding the goal.  Quick rewind, your spine is the vine.  Your brain reaches everything through it, so there is a relationship that is based on the ability of your spine to first carry messages to your muscles, and to organize their coordinated contraction, their tone, and their responsiveness to stress.  This is an amazing component of the healing process, intricate and beyond full understanding.  Many things have to come together to truly be OVER the problem of a bad back.

Currently I live episode free for about five years.  I have had bad pain, but nothing that was a true episodic acute meltdown (several days of non-functional living).  Even though the pain I feel right now is pretty significant, I know that I will be adjusting tomorrow without too much issue, and by Wednesday will feel comfortable going right back after that heavy lift.  Healing is a combination of strengthening the back, while insuring that it is in the right position (adjustments).  I have met many people with extremely strong backs, and really bad back pain (need adjusting).  And I have met people with really well adjusted spines, but little neuro-muscular connection (need strengthening).

My recommendation for all of you, is to consider starting a program that will strengthen your whole body functionally.  I hate machines, I think that moving within the confines of a machine make no sense.  It takes skewing reality to “buy into” the idea that isolation exercises somehow best builds strength for compound movements… when the compound movements are available for you to do!  So if you are a patient, try Max T3 in our office for $50 a month, it is well worth it.  Otherwise consider buying the DVD’s on the Maximized Living website or looking up our CrossFit gym.

Second, stay adjusted.  It only takes one poor movement on a subluxated spine to set you back a year or more.  We all want health, your spine is your health because of the nervous system; then it is a significant component of your health because it is the physical point of stress for all movement and muscular action.  It is HUGE.

So, go out and get it strong!  Be well, have a great week!  – Dr. E

There is one more, very powerful reason why you might want to turn your back on conventional milk and conventional milk products.  We have taught a line somewhere between dairy avoidance and minimized dairy for ten+ years now.  I have come around to look harder at grass fed dairy products and have seen the benefit in them.  In my house however, we have continued to stay away from milk.

Now as I continue to follow the literature, I have decided that our future lies in Raw, Organic, Grass Fed dairy products.  The last has been the hardest to come by.  You look around at the local markets, and you can find raw dairy, typically raised organic (even if it does not have the designation on it), and never grass fed.  Yep, you heard it right, NEVER grass fed.

We can get our hands on awesome grass fed beef (we just placed our order for three more beefs this week).  We also can get our hands on incredible chicken, and eggs.  And we can buy pasture butter (made from the milk of cows in pasture, eating grass (greens)), but we cannot get the actual pasture milk.  Trader Joe’s has grass fed cheeses, and they have raw cheeses, but not grass fed and raw at the same time!  Dilemma.

So that is why I am SOOOOO excited about the Beyond Organic cheese in the photo below!  This stuff is awesome, and we have it in stock!  What does that mean?  I don’t really know, I guess we will let you sample it, buy it, learn about it, and then learn how to order this cheese yourself.  But there is more, and I am really excited about it, primarily because it is GRASS FED!

So let’s back to why the milk is all bad.

A1 beta casein (one of the two primary forms of casein – cow’s milk protein), has been shown to have been genetically shifted in grain fed cows milk.  First off, Casein makes up about 80% of the milk protein vs. the more coveted whey protein which is about 20%.  The A1 differs from A2 (the other form of casein) by having a different molecule at one of the genetic positions.  In A1 that molecule is less stable, and can be morphed.  Read the Health Rangers full article on the chemical side to this story HERE.

The problem is that this molecule, is the molecule of incredible inflammation.  It immediately irritates the gut lining, creating inflammation and leaky gut (allows molecules to pass through the gut into the bloodstream, that otherwise would not pass through).  This molecule is present heavily in most of the Jersey cows of the US dairy market.  The A1 beta casein only makes up about 10% of the protein in Guernsey cows.  Which makes it even cooler that the Beyond Organic label is all Guernsey cows.

For all of you goat milk drinkers, good news.  No A1 beta casein in goats milk, no evil that has been transformed from grain fed process.  You are simply, Safe!

So what does all this mean?  Step one, get off of your milk.  Go Almond milk, and then step two.  Look for the cultured dairy beverage that we will be bringing out to you, as well as the Kefir.  These products are really awesome, and I believe we might just have the only ones coming from grass fed cows on the market.  This will change soon hopefully, allowing everyone easier access, but for now, I am on a mission.  GRASS FED!

Be well, love the gift of the natural earth that we have been given, and don’t stress out this weekend, it will kill you eventually! – Dr. E

So, have you heard that we are doing Max T3 classes in the office?  Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we lead a workout in the office (at 11:45am), based off the Maximized Living Max T3 principles, and loosely tied to the CrossFit workouts that I preach (it is a bit of a step stool to CrossFit).

So I want to give you an overview of what we do in our class each week, tell you why you should come do the class, and then offer you a workout to mimic the class.  First off, Angel and Loree have both been CrossFitting for about a year (Mariah too, but she isn’t involved with the T3 class).  So the coaches, Angel and Loree, are experienced in this type of exercise, and are great coaches.

Our MWF class lasts about 20 minutes total, with only 6 actual minutes of “WORK” and 8 minutes of “REST”, with some warmup and cool down time as well.  What we do, is tackle three exercises.  Each exercise is done over 4 minutes with 2 minutes of work (30 second bouts, and 2 minutes of rest).  You start with 30 seconds of the exercise (and count) and then do 30 seconds of rest, follow that until you have done 4 minutes.  Rest exactly one minute, then start the second exercise the same way, rest 1 minute then the third. DONE!

The goal is to be intense during the bouts of exercise, over time you should have little drop off in rep count for each 30 seconds.  Also, we program the exercises to build strength, tax your aerobic system, and push your anaerobic limits as well.  The great news, is that it is for everyone.  You can be 80 years old and do this, or you could do it at 18 years old and be equally taxed.  Intensity is self governed by your fitness level, so it works great no matter what!

The plan for this workout test, is simple.  I want you to know that the simple can be so effective.

For the first 4 minutes, do 30 seconds of push-ups, followed by 30 seconds of rest.  Record your efforts for each 30 second burst of exercise.  When you are done with your push-ups, rest one minute before beginning your sit-ups.  Same routine of 30 on and 30 off.  For all of these exercises, you substitute appropriately.  I would do full push-ups, with range of motion from my chest touching the floor to my arms straightened.  Sit-ups I would bring my torso back to touch the floor with my hands overhead, then bringing my body to a perpendicular to the floor position.

Finally, after sit-ups, we have squats.  full depth, your hip bone is below your knee squats (if you can only go half that deep, fine for now).  These lovely little evil exercise will leave your legs nice and wobbly.

Record each round, so that your score card might look like this:

Push-up: 20/19/16/16
Sit-up: 22/21/20/18
Squat: 33/33/31/31

Post that score to comments and you will be able to find it here again, on another day that you choose to try it again!

Our in office class is $50 a month for patients, and $75 a month for non-patients.  If the interest for a morning grows, we will look at adding that!  Keep pursuing health and fitness!  Be Well and Blessed – Dr. E

You have to wonder, just a bit, if it is safe to eat anything from China.  There have been so many reports from other countries, and ours, of contaminated products coming off of the Chinese shores, that I personally have a rule not to eat food from China.  Awhile back the Goji berry made a huge charge in the US, with products touting its amazing healing properties (I am on the record as saying, there is no such thing as a miracle cure, so far I think time has shown that belief is true most of the time… your whole life added up in summation is the miracle cure… that and God).

So, I like Goji berries, and think they could be good to eat, yet when I went on a search through Whole Foods, i found that all except the pre-frozen, quickly add to your smoothie goji, was all imported from China. Figures.  Goji berries are part of the nightshade family, and grow in and around the Himalaya’s (Tibet, Mongolia and China).  So, sadly, if they are harvested in one of the other non-Chinese countries, they usually make it through China to be processed and gain transport to the USA.  My plan, avoid them!

So then, what about products that come from China, but end up in the US with a USDA Organic stamp on it?  Whole Foods has many, many products that are labeled organic, yet also labeled product of china.  One very funny example, are the “California Blend” vegetables!  Check out that product label below:

So this is the problem.  The USDA does not inspect food that comes in from other countries for organic.  They hire separate contractors for that.  One example is the company whose logo is to the left of the UDS Organic label above.  QAI.  Quality Assurance International, who says they have never certified a product from China (certification requires certifying the farm, not just the product).

This is awful, given that the certification is dependent on 3-5 years of organic farming in the field of question, depending on the product.  It isn’t the product that is really being certified… it is the soil and the origin of the seed.  How in the world can we trust anything coming over from China without actually having a trustworthy organization on site.  If they were to go so far as to tell us that they have a certifier on site, then the next question would be to prove that they are actually checking.  I don’t trust the USDA to do it right, that is why you see me posting about the hierarchy of organic farms here.

So bottom line, don’t you dare buy anything that comes from China, and surely don’t waste any money paying organic prices for it!  Watch this VIDEO of an ABC news production, it will have you concerned!

Be well, hope you join me tonight for the One Night Makeover!  Enjoy Christmas, be in love and loved! – Dr. E

You might have seen this on our Facebook Page recently.  The article was published on Mercola’s website earlier this week, and it is nothing less than shocking.  The meat of the article is that there was recently a call that was sponsored by the CDC and HHS department in conjunction with the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

The call was first of all listed as “off the record” and “not for public purposes”.  That alone brings up the conspicuous meter pretty high.  So the call was published on the HHS web site however, so some outsiders were able to get on this call, and listen in to the material that was being shared.  The focus of the call, was to get faith based organizations, to sponsor flu clinics with Walgreens.

So the government, is funding efforts to convince your local church, to hold a flu clinic (flu shots, forget about opinion, but line up and get the jab).

From the article:

Zeroing in on minorities, particularly older adults, blacks and Latinos, health officials said churches, mosques and schools are places where barriers to vaccinations can be taken down, and these minorities can be convinced to get vaccinated. Besides hosting flu shot clinics, churches can also help by putting reminders in their bulletins, and by church members personally reminding others to get their shots, officials said.

They even went so far as to encourage the churches to pay people’s insurance co-pays so they’d be more inclined to get the shots. For those who simply can’t pay anything, there’ll be 300,000 free shots given out as part of the flu vaccine crusade.

The point that I want to make about this article, is that this is completely opposite of what the church role should be.  The church should be the organization that is preaching what I am preaching.  Why would a church be the leader in telling you that your body is too weak, that you were made weak and in need of a chemical?  That God did not give you what you need to handle an influenza virus if you live under His guidelines?

We started an organization two years ago, “Open Box Health: Letting God out of the Box when it comes to your health”.  The point of the organization was to lead people into lifestyle changes and guide them towards health through healthy living and understanding the power of the nervous system when it is given an opportunity to be powerful!  The group has never fully gotten off the ground, partly because the idea is fantastic, but culture pounds that idea into the dirt.  Everywhere you turn there is a cultural message telling you that you are weak, that you are in need of a drug, or that you should live in fear.

So as we see the White House pushing that message, and trying to push it through the very people who should be building your confidence up.  It concerns me… for two reasons.  Obviously I don’t want the very people who are supposed to be building you up, tearing you down.  But I also wonder, what happens to the message in general.  The message that God has a plan for you, that He cares about you, and that He watches over you.  On one hand, you are told that there is no place for worry or stress, and then a moment later, you are told that you had better, or you might.  The two don’t mix.

Check out the full message on Mercola.com… it is worth it.  Love – Dr. E   🙂

The Cornucopia Institute is a great organization that serves as a watchdog for the term “Organic” (among other things).  They have been rating organic farms for years, and by doing so they have influenced my decision to not only buy organic, but to preferentially buy organic dairy with Horizon Foods, as my last choice.

Though this is not a “gang up on Horizon Foods” sprout, I want to draw attention to this recently published rating guide of the dairy based organic farms.  As you review the guide, you will notice that Organic Valley (you can buy their produce here in our Kroger and Publix stores, but they are not stocked heavily in either).  And we have access to Whole Foods (365 Organic) and Stonyfield Farms yogurt products here in GA (All three of these producers are ranked 4 out of 5 on their cow maintenance and treatment scale).

So why the concern, why the ratings?  Recently I came in contact with a conventional farmer who conveyed that he felt organic was a false label.  That there was no way to really do organic.  I chalk up most of that belief to frustration over the effort to become a true organic farm, and the statements of attestation that are included with fact based history.  Together they will yield an organic designation, but portions of their application can be fudged.  This farmers disgruntlement spells a clear concern over how well maintained these farms are.

Well back to Horizon (and I do buy Horizon organic when it is the only organic available, I simply prefer not to); they were recently bought by Dean Foods.  One of the largest food producing companies in our country.  Hard to believe that this company, who we rarely hear about, is so huge.  Land o Lakes is theirs, Borden, their own name brand where I come from (known for their french onion dip), and here in our area… Mayfield.  This company is huge, and now they own Horizon, who received 0 out of 5 on the cornucopia rankings.

They recently picked up another company, Organic Cow.  Located in Texas not far from Horizon Foods.  My concern is with this type of growth, they become a huge marketing machine, which is all it takes.  Though several hundred will read this, several thousand more will be privy to the pressure of the market.  Before you know it, the companies with the worst organic ratings, will be the top producers across the board.

If you browse the cow ratings, you can click through the farms and learn about some pretty cool farmers.  One such farm is this cool company that specializes in pasture butter for those high end consumers.  If you have read the recent posts on pasture butter, and CLA, then you know how I feel about it.  It is serious stuff.  Will have a significant impact on your overall health over time.  Animal Farm –  they are located in Vermont, and the pictures on their site suggest that they love their cows.  That is a nice image.  A Farmer who loves the animals that they raise to produce your food.

So I want to leave you with this.  It all matters, don’t get caught up in it, but get settled on the idea that this is worth a little of your time to learn more.  Makeover night, Monday December 12th, will start that extra learning for you!

Be well and healthy!  – Dr. E

Loved the message at Church yesterday.  So I changed from writing an article about the cornucopia group and organic farms, to writing about gratitude.  But do not fear, the other sprout will be out later this week!

So I am grateful, and sometimes I realize I am not grateful enough.  I should be constantly so grateful that so many of you have signed up to listen to what I teach, and to see beyond me to a bigger picture of health and wellness.  One that is not my model, it is the model of chiropractic, and that which more aggressive chiropractors have adopted recently as we look at every aspect of wellness.  Not from treatment, but from pursuing health.  This is awesome, and it is because I am here thanks to a number of circumstances, and a series of interactions, events, and other happenings that have led me here.  I call it God led.

So, I SHOULD be so grateful, but you know how you can look beyond what is in front of you, and push for something more, and in that moment, though you are still grateful, you actually start to look ungrateful.  And you might even seem that way to yourself.  I know that I fit that description at times, when I should be grateful that you are listening at all, but I find myself feeling frustrated as if nobody is listening.  We had an awesome recipe night with 30+ people being fed on a Wednesday night in our office.  I was thankful and grateful and felt humbled by your desire to come out and and pick up some tips on healthy living.

I was disappointed the following Monday when i only had 4 people signed up for my Makeover class.  Silly now that i think about it.  Four people were willing to sit in a class the Monday before Thanksgiving, and be told that they should scrap all of their Thanksgiving plans!  Well, actually, I wasn’t going to say that at all, but I bet most of you thought that is what would happen!  So to have four people say yes to that, is awesome!  Should have been pure grateful.

You know, in our business we often think about all those people who stopped care at some point.  We wonder what happened.  We actually measure our worth (inappropriately) by who is still getting regular adjustments vs those that are not.  Granted, I have been in this for ten+ years, so I have learned to handle that pretty well.  But it is true, we will still think about all those people who quite care, and we don’t understand, and we feel like we have failed, and when we consider this greater mission to lead people away from medication and into natural healthcare, it seems as though the only answer would be if we had continually growing practices.  Non-stop growth.  Otherwise, we are never gaining, and always losing ground… it seems.

I heard a Maximized Living mentor talk about a similar situation.  He was at a party, where he had one patient (the person who threw the party) and a ton of used to be patients.  The host approached him afterwards because he could tell that the chiropractor had been very withdrawn.  He told the host that he felt awkward in a place with so many people who had quit care, who didn’t see value in what he did, and thus he felt like he really couldn’t communicate with them well.

The host responded, “That isn’t who was in that room.  That wasn’t a party full of quitters, that was a party full of people who have had their lives touched and changed by you.  A woman who still talks about her change from your care, even though she has been out of it for years.  An athlete who hadn’t been able to compete in years until seeing you, a young couple who has changed their direction with their family health and child rearing because of you.  A couple who no longer medicates their eldest son because of you.  There was nothing but people who respect what you do in that room.”

You know, that is a reality check in a big way.  I hope I take care of all of you until the last day that i practice.  But I know that won’t be true.  I do know, that chiropractic is better for life.  In a study a few years back, patients were compared for several health measures.  Consistently they found that those who had been adjusted the longest had the best measures of their health, as well as their own subjective assessment of their health.

I am grateful to be part of this healing profession that utilizes your own ability to heal, and nothing else.  But, I don’t write these for my health.  Is there something that you are grateful for, that you know you are grateful for, that you don’t necessarily express gratitude as loudly as you could?  I don’t want to be quiet when it comes to gratitude.  I want to be loud and obnoxious!  Thanks for listening just a little bit, and don’t ever feel judged by me over your health choices.  I don’t ever judge, I simply wish more for you… but I’ll be doing my best to be grateful the whole time!

No.  Not a national holiday.  Just another day in the world leading up to a National Holiday.  I love Thanksgiving, so much so that I want to hug someone.  So it might as well be you.  I wonder if those of you who read this, who never show up in my office, if you just might consider throwing down a few hugs on some random people today.

Speaking of that, have you ever seen this?  Cool!  Recently shared by a patient whom I love, who always wants to shake off her “bad apple” appearance and change the world with love.

You won’t find that kind of controversy in my office… just hugs.  So why?

You know I have been writing a lot on human relationship lately.  There has been a lot less scientific, and a lot more love and touchy feely stuff.  The reason is because I see the stress in this world.  I see it growing with every day that this economic pain wears on.  I kind of feel like it is going to continue to wear at us, and that we need to become accustomed to it, we need to not be surprised by change to our lives, but be willing to accomodate.

So we need some hugs!  My practice has been hit significantly in the last year or two.  I have had so many people significantly reduce their care because of financial reasons.  And I have accepted it to some extent, understanding that this economy is difficult.

But, the reality, is that there are more people out there who need what we offer now, more than ever.  AND it is my mission to change the world perceives health, so I need to go reach them.  I need to go find those people and bring them through my office.  Through a mixture of generosity, reduced care, and blessing, we’ll find ways to reach and then serve these people.

So, I want to give you a hug.  Because just as I need to move forward with acceptance that the economy is different, and could be to stay for awhile… you might need to understand that there are people who love you, and we are part of that large group of those who love you!

Research has been done over the years, that tracks the function of a person as it relates to their emotional state.  Studies that look at stress and disease… relationships and emotional health and physical manifestation.  In the end, you would be hard pressed to argue that emotional health does not have a SIGNIFICANT impact on overall health.  I would say that it actually is your physical health (because the brain controls everything, and the brain is subject to emotional stress).

So on this Monday before Thanksgiving, I ask you to give thanks for all the things in your life, without exception.  Just as I thank you for being a part of mine.  God bless!  – Dr. E