Hi folks,
This week I have been mostly…
Listening:
To the new album by Andy Shauf called The Party. If you like The Shins or Grandaddy you might enjoy this.
Contemplating:
The concepts that I am trying to communicate most clearly to my clients with regard to Chiropractic care:
1. There is a natural force within us that constantly heals and repairs us. We call this Innate Intelligence.
2. There are things that can confuse or interfere with this intelligence. We call these things Subluxations.
3. Our purpose is to address your Subluxations and help you return to a natural state of healing and health. We call these Adjustments.
Watching:
The build up to the McGregor vs Mayweather boxing match on Sunday. Whatever your views on combat sports and who will win, I appreciate the stoic philosophy and the positive mindset that Conor McGregor has espoused in his rise from nowhere to superstar in four years vs the legendary technician.
“An injury is not just a process of recovery, it’s a process of discovery.” - Conor McGregor
Eating:
A lot of super squidgy, stinky, raw cheese. August tends to be the month when friends come to stay and this time brought with them my favourite cheeses. The stinkiest was some unpasteurised Reblechon. My fridge may not ever smell the same again. The fact that this cheese is made from raw milk makes it taste better and is possibly better for us as it has more natural, and greater numbers, of bacteria in it which may be good for your ‘microbiome’ (the sum total of helpful symbiotic bacteria that populate your gut and your skin). The idea that full fat cheese is bad for us is highly questionable and in my opinion has been largely de-bunked; fat is essential and good fat is good for you.
Exercising:
Been revisiting the Bear Crawl. A great exercise for all joint mobility, balance and co-ordination. Good for core and spinal stability also. Here is a link for a beginners form of the exercise.
Have a great bank holiday weekend!
Simon
Finemore's Five for Friday (15)
Hi everyone,
Here's this week's edition of FFFF. Enjoy.
This week I have been mostly:
Looking forward:
To the start of the Test Cricket series between us and the South Africans. Nothing like a 5-day game on TV to force significant marital negotiations. A new England captain, Joe Root. C’mon lads.
Listening to:
A new album by Kevin Morby called City Music. You can pick your vinyl copy at Jam Records in town.
Reading:
Black Rednecks and White Liberals by Thomas Sowell. I have been wanting to read this book for a while, it challenges assumptions about culture in the US with interesting theories on the commonality of culture across race and social division which has historical relevance to our ancestors (those seafarers of the south west involved in the slave trade, piracy and those who emigrated to the ‘new world’). How powerful culture is and how it conditions behaviour.
Contemplating:
A passage from the book I mentioned previously, Neither Wolf nor Dog by Kent Nerburn.
To summarise badly, Dan the Lakota Sioux elder comments on the white people that came and how important freedom is to them. Dan suggests that freedom was not important to the Indian tribes as they understood what it was to be free. Honour was more important to the Indians than freedom. The white people left Europe to escape their cages in search of freedom but brought their cages with them. The white people imposed cages upon the Indians, parcelled up the land and put lines and fences to cage the Indian tribes. Brought fences to cage themselves in on small pieces of land with a small cage they called a house.
Exercising:
My favourite muscle group for lateral and low back stability: the Obliques. This time a modified push up/plank. In a plank or push up position simply lifting one leg and draw imaginary squares in the air with your pointed foot while keeping your back level (no twist), repeat with the other leg. Alternatively, bringing one leg up bending the knee alongside the body like a dog cocking its leg, repeat with the other leg.
Until next week,
Simon
Finemore's Five for Friday (3)
Hi folks,
Today's Finemore’s Five for Friday comes to you from Bucharest. I'll bring you up to speed with what I'm doing out here next week, in the meantime here's the latest for you to ponder over the weekend.
This week I am mostly reading...
‘One River’ by Wade Davis is a tale of scientific exploration in the 1970s as the author follows in the footsteps of his mentor Richard Evans Schultes, the world’s leading authority on the hallucinogens and medicinal plants who in 1941 disappeared for 12 years into the Amazonian rain forest of Columbia in a dug-out canoe. Inspirational.
This week I am mostly listening to...
A Sheffield revival. Pulp's Common People and the Artic Monkeys' Whatever...
This week I am mostly appreciating...
Our capacity for altruism. Whether considering the three people in Lidl who stepped out of a queue to help me pick up every blueberry that I had spilt over the floor or the ‘Effective Altruism’ movement which enables us to have faith that the charity donation goes where we intend. For example it is estimated to cost £2835 (or £28 a month for a year) to save a human life if given wisely.
How many lives could you save in your lifetime? How many of us are donating regularly to charities unsure of what percentage of that donation is being spent on further fund raising or charity infrastructure?
http://www.effectivealtruism.com or you can listen to this podcast : https://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/being-good-and-doing-good
This week I am mostly enjoying...
Surprisingly good instant coffee (served with cream - hurray) and in-flight food on a Tarom flight from London to Bucharest. No charges for food or wine, like stepping back in time. Hoping to enjoy a Cinzano with Leonard Rossiter and or Joan Colllins (that reference is too old for most). Passing through Heathrow Terminal 4 was also a relatively pleasant experience.
This week I am mostly working on...
My vision. You don’t achieve, create or complete anything without thinking of or visualising the desired result repeatedly. We all imagine outcomes. Some of us even imagine and realise unfortunate outcomes. The clearer we are in our vision of what we want the more likely we are to create it. For example you will never heal without investing in that possibility; the placebo effect is real and observable. Be careful what you wish for.
Have a great weekend and see you soon.
Until next time,
Simon
PS - Would love to know what you think of these or if you've got any questions you'd like answering send them through and I'll do my best to oblige.
Finemore's Five For Friday (2)
Hi folks,
Welcome to the second instalment of Finemore’s Five for Friday, my weekly roundup of the five things I can’t stop doing this week, I’m enjoying or are simply on my mind.
This week I am mostly listening to...
The Feelies : Crazy Rhythms (Chiropractic band in the most appropriate sense) - great post punk poppy sound. This is their debut album; spring is on the way. Listen to them on Spotify here or check out the album on Rough Trade here.
This week I am mostly reading...
You are the Placebo by Joe Dispenza : an amazing description of the power of self healing that we all have access to from miraculous recovery to changes in the thoughts we choose that allow us to take the first steps in a preferred direction. Joe advocates meditation as a ‘way in’... here's the link to the book.
There's also a great podcast on the same topic from the Ice Man, Wim Hof, psychologist Stanley Krippner (85 yrs young) and Chris Ryan Phd that you can listen to here.
This week I am mostly appreciating...
The sound of vinyl - analogue in a digital world is rebellious. Dig ‘em out.
This week I am mostly exercising...
My low back stabilisers and Gluteus Medius integration with an exercise called ‘Flying Aeroplanes’ - one of my favourites : great to do when cleaning you teeth. Try it. Here is me doing it on YouTube.
This week I am mostly pondering...
The cultural specificity of productivity and progress. Are these concepts just cultural norms and is the idea of continual growth an illusion on a planet of finite resource?
In the podcast below Wade Davis (Ethnobotanist, explorer etc) mentions the fact that as late 1910 it was legal for white immigrants to shoot and kill ‘indigenous Australians’. It was considered that indigenous Australians were 'not human’ as they were not ‘productive' in normative immigrant terms.
In Indigenous Australian culture it was sacrilege to change, destroy or build upon the perfection of nature. Nature above all had to be appreciated and respected which resulted in the perceived lack of ‘progress’. This murderous clash of culture has stuck with me all week. Great podcast.
Have a great weekend and see you soon.
Until next time,
Simon
PS - Would love to know what you think of these or if you've got any questions you'd like answering send them through and I'll do my best to oblige.
Finemore's Five for Friday (Last Friday that is)
Hi folks,
Welcome to Finemore’s Five for Friday, my weekly roundup of the five things I can’t stop doing this week, I’m enjoying or are simply on my mind.
This week I am mostly listening to...
GRANDADDY - pending the release of their get-back-together album, I can't stop playing their single 'Evermore.' I love the synth sound as it opens, looking forward to seeing them live at the Roundhouse in London on the March 3rd (tickets still available). Dance or nod appropriately. Listen to Evermore by Grandaddy on Spotify.
This week I am mostly eating...
Kale from Cusgarne Organic Farm. Love this stuff. Just throw it in a covered pain with plenty of grass-fed organic butter and some chopped organic garlic. Salt and pepper to taste. Eat. Here’s a 5 min omelette with kale, mushrooms and eggs all from Cusgarne and all organic. Yum.
This week I am mostly appreciating...
How we all have power over the course and direction of our lives and the fulfilment of our dreams. The thoughts we have determine our perceptions, our dreams and our actions. If you want your life to take a new direction then you must think a new thought to gain a change in perspective and a change in your actions. We have the power, to change the way we think, be careful how big you dream.
“You are only as young as the last time you changed your mind.” Timothy Leary
This week I am mostly reading...
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. It is a personal account of Dr Frankl’s experiences during WW2 in Auschwitz and other concentration camps. This might sound like a heavy read but his description of human resilience and the power of perception in the face of death is uplifting and inspirational.
This week I am mostly exercising...
My Quadratus Lumborum (low back stabilisers) : Sit upright on the floor, legs straight out in front of you and lift one buttock and walk it forward then the other buttock until you have travelled 10ft, then walk back again. Done (you can hold a small kettlebell to your chest as you do this).
I hope you've enjoyed the first instalment of Finemore's Five For Friday, have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you soon.
Simon
INSPIRATION is better than DESPERATION
Both of these sitting postures are poor.
It is rarely the accident or the unusual lift that causes problems but your daily grind or habits that are the cause.
If you watch most 5 year olds they bend and squat like olympic weightlifters; they have perfect form. As soon as we force our children to sit for long enough they start to loose those natural movement patterns and bend, lift and sit abnormally (like most adults).
It's better to be inspired by great posture, great health, feeling well than to wait until you are desperate for help to correct an established problem caused by an established habit.
Try to lead by example and inspire others to choose different daily habits. Come to see your Chiropractor for inspiration, not through desperation.
Inspiring Posture
'Health is the soul that animates all the enjoyments of life, which fade and are tasteless without it.' -Seneca
Bulletproof Coffee back in stock at LivingRoom Chiropractic Cornwall
Mmmmm Bulletproof Coffee - clean, stimulates you and tastes great
I use Bulletproof Coffee most mornings blended with MCT oil and grass fed butter to keep me in fat burning until lunchtime. Tastes great, makes me feel great and the evidence for the benefits of Ketosis and fasting with exogenous ketones is growing.
Modern Healthcare - a decidedly average approach. Chiropractic an Individual approach.
The Actor Christopher Waltz was interviewed recently in the run up to the release of the latest James Bond Movie, Spectre. In that interview he commented on judgements made by the film industry about its audience.
Waltz said that Carl Jung once claimed that if you collected a sample of 1,000 pebbles, you could calculate the average weight of a pebble on the beach. And yet the chances of finding a pebble that matches that weight is about a million to one.
Waltz loves this analogy. "You cannot reach a generality," he says, "And you cannot reach an individual through generalities."
I think that this analogy has implications for national healthcare systems that are developed by economists and influenced by endless statistics. This approach then accounts for the mean or average patient more than the individual. This leads to a generalised drug administration and care protocols.
Chiropractic has a different approach. It does not generalise, it does not base its care protocols on a mean or a typical diagnosis; it allows everyone to be an individual. Care is not standardised between people, not even between visits. You as an individual get what you need each time you visit the Chiropractor on that particular day.
What is Sciatica? How can Chiropractic help?
Sciatica often originates in the Spine
As you can see from the diagram above true sciatica more often than not originates in the spine. Your sciatic nerve is made up of a number of spinal nerves that descend together down the leg. Irritation of any of these spinal nerves can cause irritation and symptoms in the sciatic nerve.
Your spinal joints lie just behind your main nerves that exit through the spine. If your joints are unhappy they can become inflamed and irritate the nerve, this can affect the ability of your brain to receive vital messages from your leg and to send vital messages down the nerve to your leg. Nerve irritation can also give you sciatic pain which can go along the length of the sciatic nerve all the way to your foot.
If you spinal joints have been dysfunctional for some time this can lead to stress on your spinal discs which can in turn can make a disc injury more likely. Your spinal disc sits directly in front of the major nerve that exits from the spine. So just like joint inflammation, disc inflammation can cause irritation to your spinal nerves and then your sciatic nerve. Disc injuries can be very small (annular tear) or more significant (full prolapse) but either way they can irritate the spinal nerves depending on how much inflammation occurs.
Therefore in order to help you with your sciatic nerve pain we often need to reduce the irritation and inflammation in and around the spinal nerves that go on to make up the Sciatic nerve. This means we have to address any dysfunction in the joints and discs of the spine. If the spine is happier, the nerves that exit the spine will be happier, inflammation will decrease and so will your nerve pain. The key is finding the cause of the irritation (often the spinal joints) and not just attempting to treat the symptoms.
As Chiropractors we aim to improve the function of the unhappy spinal joints by the application gentle and specific hands on techniques called Chiropractic Adjustments which stimulate normal nerve reflexes local to the spinal joints and allow the joints to function better and to begin healing.
Happy joints = happy nerves = happy body = happy brain
'Adjustment'
“I focus my attention on the interference component
of the subluxation, it is the Chiropractors job to remove interference, not straighten spines"”
Interference
Poor Signal
Chiropractors simply attempt to remove interference to the signalling of your nervous system - a bit like tuning your TV to make the picture crystal clear
Chiropractic Healing
Chiropractic Philosophy
In order to maximise the expression of the potential within, we work best when we are free of interference…
there are three interferences :
-Trauma (a car accident)
-Toxins - either too much (cigarette smoke) or too little (vit D3) of something
-Auto-suggestion or thoughts (emotional or psychological stressors)
[after DD and BJ Palmer]
the tenets of Chiropractic
-
We are all self healing and self regulating
-Our nervous systems are the master control systems of us; they are the windows to our worlds
-We must address the cause and not the symptoms of a lack of health
-We must address the person as a physical, emotional and spiritual whole and not the components of a mechanism
“Nature needs no help, just no interference.”
How Chiropractic Care Has Helped Me: Introducing Brigadier General Becky Halstead
Retired Brigadier General Becky Halstead is no stranger to pain. She spent her entire adult life…
