Health News

Is It All in Your Head? Or Heart?, By Therese Griffin Hicks, RN, DC, FIACA

We've had a lot of patients lately who have been curious about the mind / spirit / body connection, so we thought this would be a great week to expand on some of the feelings that may be behind certain physical symptoms. We use a reference in our office for lingering problems that don’t respond quickly to traditional chiropractic or acupuncture treatments. Now, sometimes things just happen and this reference isn't gospel but it can be helpful to consider some different perspectives now and then. Is It All in Your Head? Or Heart? The book that we often refer to is called "Feelings Buried Alive Never Die" by Karol K Truman. I know that some folks think that there is no possible way our emotional state can participate in a physical symptom but after scores of years doing wellness work I am convinced there is very often some connection. So…just for fun, see if you or anyone you know might be experiencing some of these emotions behind certain symptoms they may have. 1: Aches: often associated with overall aches are feelings of being all alone; feeling separated from source of love; aching to be held and loved; feelings of sadness. 2. Addiction: Is associated with being unable to think rationally; being unable to perceive clearly and correctly; disapproval of self; feelings of self-rejection; feelings of despair; feeling a void in the soul. 3. Adrenal Problems (our stress regulator): Often associated with feeling defeated; feeling like a victim; lack of courage; feeling of anxiety; subconscious belief that life must have burdens; feeling that one must struggle for success, power, or position. 4. Anorexia: Feeling totally unable to please a parent; feeling of self-rejection / hatred; lack of spiritual understanding /of knowing oneself. 5. Anxiety: Feeling unable to "call the shots" in life; feeling helpless to affect a change. 6. Arthritis: Severely criticizing of self or others; holding onto feelings of hostility; holding onto own opinions and beliefs; long term tension or anger in life; depression endured over long periods of time; belief that it's wrong to get angry which creates repressed anger that "eats you up": rigid thinking, uncompromising attitude; infl exibility. So....as you can see we’ve only begun to address some of the "A" conditions. Let us know if you enjoy digging into deeper levels to help reveal some surprising things about yourself. Perhaps you may be able to say Hmmm, and handle some of your challenges yourself with much more of compassion and forgiveness. Or you may want to consult with one of our docs for a more in depth "emotional release" procedure. If so, call 928-425-3207 for a free consultation.

Thank You, Mom!, By Janet Trimble Gila Community College Wellness Center Facilitator

I want to tell you about my mom. She loves my dad, her kids and grandkids, and babies and old people. She was raised in the 1930s by a single working mom and worked herself from an early age. She married my dad at 19 and had me at 20. There are three of us, me, Patty, and Chuck, all of us born in four years. My mom and dad met when she was a freshman in high school. They married after he graduated from fl ight school 55 years ago. She said it was the uniform and new car that won her over. I suspect it had a bit to do with his good looks, quick smile and twinkly blue eyes, and easygoing nature. I often wonder if she had any inkling back then of the adventure we would all have. She’s a great mom, when I was a kid and now, like so many of yours are. She raised us with no cell phone, email, microwave, fast food, air conditioning, jet airplanes, or wash and wear clothes. She took us to our games, Boy and Girl Scouts, to the ER when necessary, and was home when we got there from school. She still has our trophies stored in her garage. She took good care of us. She still sends hundreds of Christmas cards with personal notes, thank you cards, and never forgets birthdays. None of us suffered any wants or needs. She learned how to be a military wife flying by the seat Thank You, Mom! of her pants. Now that I've told you basic facts, I'm going to tell you a few stories. It's her strength and courage I want you to know about. In September, 1958, I was 2 ½ and Patty was 8 weeks. My mom traveled with us to France where my dad was stationed and already working. She had packed our household goods for storage or transport, packed what she could carry for an infant and toddler, and we set off from her hometown in Murphysboro, IL. Our route: car to St Louis, train to east coast, plane to Paris after refueling over the Atlantic. Mom says when we arrived at Dover AFB for the trans-Atlantic flight, it was after midnight and we had no food or drink left. At some point the base commander helped us…ah, those guys in uniform. We made it to my dad. She was 23. In October 1962, I was scheduled to have my tonsils out. We were living at Clovis AFB, New Mexico . In order for me to be in the hospital, mom or dad had to be with me and the other had to be with Patty and Chuck. My dad was called to sit alert on the flight line during the Cuban Missile Crisis. My mom stayed with us, I still have my tonsils. She was 30. In 1967 while living at Kadena AFB, Okinawa, a world class typhoon was headed toward the island. My dad fl ew his fighter off to safety and airmen came to tape our windows and help us move outdoor stuff inside. The four of us sat in the bathtub with the door closed when the storm hit. In the years 1965-69, my dad spent many months in combat in Southeast Asia. There were neighborhood dads that flew with my dad and did not come home. She was 35. In 1970-1973 she was a tireless worker for the POW/MIA campaign. My dad was still flying combat. Mom was the wife and mother other wives and mothers turned to for support and comfort. She was not yet 40. It’s not so much that she met all the challenges, responsibilities, and duties without flinching - it's that I was never scared. Patty, Chuck, and I have a fi erce, unwavering sense of family, home, loyalty, right and wrong. We are independent, hardworking adults with strong families of our own. My mom and I share sentimentality, cherish our time together, and today I appreciate the qualities she’s passed on to me. She’s special in the way many women of her generation are…and the life she's led and leads is similar to those who have lived in her time and space. She’s unique because she’s my mom…and I love her. Today when someone who knows us both says, "You remind me of your mom," I say, "Thank you."