A New Year and a New YOU!

A New Year a New You!
By: Dr Thomas Graham DC

WELCOME one and all to a new piece of BookDrTom.com !! This is a section where I get to reflect and give back to a growing community of health conscious individuals. As a kid growing up with a mother that had serious mental health issues, and later myself struggling with thoughts of suicide and self worth, health has always been something subconsciously present in my eyes. As I've learned more, I truly believe that mental health is one of the biggest pieces of health we must deal with in order to conquer our dreams, aspirations and future happiness. Furthermore, our own bodies and disease itself are actually intimately connected to the state of our own mind, and it will CHANGE based on the mental and emotional states we carry through our day. Is this a new concept for you!? Well read a little more so you can understand how we can begin making a new and better you!
Without going too into depth about myself, my passion for health was originally developed as an athlete in high school, and as I got into college, I realized that I was fascinated by the way the brain and body works. I began pursuing an education in health and eventually I realized that natural health is what made most sense to me, and that drugs and surgery should be a last resort, not the first efforts as so often seen in America. With that in mind, I embarked on a journey of natural health over the last 18 years, and have had the honor of serving thousands in finding a more natural journey towards healthier and happier living. I want to be clear. I used the word JOURNEY for a reason. The BIG picture behind health is actually understanding that our health comes MOSTLY from our lifestyle choices! YES, our genetics can play a small role in our health, but the majority of your current ailments are due to your lifestyle choices. And please understand that this is not all your fault by any means. Sadly our culture, especially in the USA, does not help the average person create healthy habits. A combination of toxic food, toxic water, lots of EMFs, violent media or movies, and even our healthcare system pumps people full of chemicals, rather than letting their body heal the way it knows how to naturally. So what are we supposed to do? Changing our habits is the answer! Whether you are suffering from mental disorders like depression, anxiety, ADD, etc… and/or physical diseases (diabetes, cancer, autoimmune issues, etc…), the big picture is that your body didn’t get “here” from nowhere. It took time for you to get where you are now. The good news is your body and mind created your current state, which means with the right ingredients, and some time, your body and mind can also reverse the issues you face today! So let's go over some basics to start unlocking HOW we may begin our healing journey.
In my chiropractic/neural integration practice, I lead people down a journey of health and wellness, based on two very simple, but also very profound principles. Principle number 1 that we must understand, is that our life is comprised of a physical material part known as your body, and then there is also an energetic portion of your self known as your mind and emotions. To put it in layman's terms, what I do for people in my practice is I make sure the energetic part of you and the physical part of you stay in communication at 100%! Based off of known physiological processes, if your brain or nervous system (which is like the CPU of your body) cannot communicate with ANY part of your body, then that part of the body will dysfunction and start to maladapt, leading to symptoms and maybe even disease. So in my basic health course which I teach to all of my clients, I focus on Principle number 2 which is that we must do a few things to perfect and heal both our energetic and physical pieces of our body which is why I teach about the 5 pillars of health to getting and staying healthy.
Pillar #1 is Proper Brain & Neural Communication! Make sure that the physical and energetic parts of your body stay connected by getting adjusted by a chiropractor! The nervous system is responsible for communication of all the cells, organs and tissues within the body, and without proper communication things will start to dysfunction. Examples to illustrate this would be hitting your funny bone and feeling it in your hand or up your arm. Or another example would be if you've sat on your foot or had a leg in a weird position and you feel your limb start to go numb, that is because neural transmission is either insulted or interfered with, so your body perceives pain in a different place, or the lack of sensation all together. Thus if the body is not moving properly or storing stress over long periods, the signals to and from the brain start to get interfered with, and the cells, or organs will start to malfunction due to improper neural transmission. Other mobility work like yoga or stretching can help to loosen the tension within the body also, so the energy through the nerves can flow through the physical properly, and you stay functioning at your optimum!
Pillar #2 is about MINDSET! It may seem simple, but if you put garbage into your mind, you will get garbage out of it. Pay attention to the things you watch, listen to and feed your mind everyday. Is it violent? O is itr fear based or hopeless in nature? Because if it is, then you are programming your mind and emotions to stay in a lower vibrational and fearful place, and your physical body will start to deteriorate based on the subconscious thoughts and emotions you are having throughout your day. (Note: There is a LOT of physiology behind the statement just made that I won’t get into here but it is proven science. Bottom line is that the more stressed your mind and body, the less healthy you become). 

MEDITATE!!! For your energetic self, meditation is probably the best practice you can do to start to reprogram your mind and emotions towards a new you. And be patient through the process, because meditation is hard to “get good at”. I suggest counting breaths or looking for a guided meditation to begin with. If your mind starts to wander be compassionate with yourself, like a child learning to do something new, just remind your mind "it's time to meditate", and kindly refocus on the task. Breath, and learn to love this time with yourself, because self mastery is the key, and this is the training for it. Don't get caught up in yesterday, or tomorrow. It can wait. JUST BE! The key is to become mentally and emotionally ok with just BEING first. Regardless of your past, just be grateful to breath, to wakeup, and to simply have this life first. Once you get good at that, there are other fun things you can do, but start there! Dr. Joe Dispenza is one of the best resources you can look into to start mastering the energetic you! If you can master the energetic self, the physical self will follow suit! And the best part is you dont have to go anywhere to do it! Another simple task you can do is gratitude journaling (every day write 5 things that your grateful for). These are all things to start to reprogram a new energetic you! There are quite a few more techniques for shifting energy, so reach out if looking for more. 

Pillar #3 is NUTRITION. It is the same principle as above, garbage in, garbage out. When we eat food that is not good for us, our bodies create cells, organs and tissues that cannot heal, repair or function properly, and we become sick or diseased. A sad reality we live in at this point is that most of our food we buy at the store is actually not good for you at all. It is sprayed with toxic chemicals or processed with toxic chemicals that are designed to take life away from you. The simple guideline is eat as close to as nature gives it to you. In other words the less processed the better. Try to eat organic or even better is to know the farmers that produce your food. If it will rot and die on your table in a few days, that means it’s life filled and best for you! When your body has proper nutrition it will heal itself, and it will absolutely help your brain and mind function  for better mental clarity and emotional stability.
Pillar #4 is EXERCISE! This is an easy one. If you don’t use it you lose it. You MUST move your body or it will start to harden, dysfunction and break down early in life. Aim for twenty minutes of cardio a day by getting your heart rate up for a little bit. If you can add some strength training and stretching even better! Use and mildly stress the body every day though because that is how it learns to keep adapting. And one of the best parts is there is LOTS of research on exercise and getting a better mindset. The more you do it the easier it becomes, and your mind, like a battery charging, actually depends on your body for stimulation and health. When you exercise it also creates lots of happy chemicals to reward your efforts, thus adding to your success in creating a new and happier you! 

Pillar #5 is the last pillar and it is DETOX/DESTRESS. Most people don't realize the extent of toxins we are surrounded by on a daily basis. Our food supply, our water, the air we breath, our soaps, shampoos and cleaning products are ALL filled with many chemicals that are really not good for our health. Start going through the products you buy (take your time, this does NOT happen over night). Using products closer to nature will absolutely help your body and mind be able to heal and function better, which will allow you to get to your goals faster. You can also begin to reduce things like EMFs. And of course toxic people are a real thing! Start being mindful of these things that could be reducing our potential physically or mentally. Observe the things in your surroundings that tend to stress you out, and figure out how you can begin eliminating the things in your life that are not serving you anymore. Reach out if you want suggestions or not sure what to buy also! I truly love getting people healthier! 

So this was a little long, but these are the five pillars of health. Healing DOES NOT HAPPEN OVER NIGHT!!! But I promise you that if you start tending to your mind and body better, that your overall health meter, and happy meter will begin to tick up in the right direction, and in months you will begin cultivating a new, happier and better you! What is true today in not necessarily true tomorrow, and with some dedication you CAN create a new happier and healthier you! Even better is that you will begin to enrich the people around you through your hard work and dedication too! Remember you are worth it! And start small! But the key is to start somehow! You have the power within you to change everything in your life, if you are willing to plug in the right ingredients and have patience for your healing journey!

Also if you are struggling with this journey, PLEASE feel free to reach out to me for guidance! All of my contact information is on this site. Together we can create a better world, and it all starts with YOU!