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body works diligently to maintain itself in the best
possible health by adapting itself to internal and
external environmental changes. If the outside temperature
rises, the body takes steps to cool down. If it's cold,
the body works to maintain its warmth. Every significant
change in the external environment triggers an adaptive
reaction in the body.
The same is true with the internal environment. When a
virus or other foreign substance invades its system, the
body produces the chemicals – or causes the reactions
– which are required for that special circumstance.
Often, knowing that it needs to rid itself of an
"invader," the body will elevate its internal
temperature or increase waste elimination. These are
normal actions which the body takes to adapt to changes
and maintain health.
Unfortunately, these actions are often looked upon and
treated as a disease. We force our body down to a
"normal" temperature, and consume bottles of
medicine to prevent us from evacuating the toxic wastes we
need to get rid of. By doing so, we work against
the body's own instincts and make it even more difficult
to adapt as it should.
This is not to say, of course, that the body will always
be able to adapt totally to every change. Subluxations can
reduce the flow of Innate Energy to the body and reduce
its ability to adapt. Lack of proper nutrition, exercise,
and sleep set up barriers to efficient adaptation.
Pollution in the air ... chemical additives in food and
water ... emotional stress ... and psychological factors
also make it difficult or impossible for us to adapt
totally to every environmental demand.
In addition, even a "perfect" body does not
have infinite abilities. All Innate Matter has certain
inherent limitations. It cannot overcome major structural
defects, and it cannot adapt immediately to all changes.
If it is expending its energy, for instance, fighting off
an invading virus, it might not be able to respond as
readily to the increased demands of physical exertion.
There is nothing we can do to expand the given limitations
of the body, but there is much we can do to eliminate the
artificial barriers to health.
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On
a societal level, we can work towards improving the
quality of the air and water. On a personal level, we can
improve our diet, increase our exercise, get enough sleep,
learn to avoid or reduce emotional stress; and attend to
psychological problems as they arise. Naturally, since the
correction of vertebral subluxations require specialized
training and skill, we need to include regular visits to a
chiropractor in this health-maintenance regimen.
We should also take care not to interfere with the
adaptive actions of the body by treating
"symptoms" which are really normal bodily
functions! This means avoiding the unnecessary use of
therapies and medications which force the body to
act – or stop acting – in a certain way.
While it's difficult to believe this when you're lying
in bed with a temperature of 101 degrees, you're actually
lucky to have symptoms! Sometimes, that's the only way you
know that something is wrong with your body. For instance,
if you put your hand on a hot stove and didn't feel pain,
you could damage that hand beyond repair.
The real problem, then, arises in the absence of
symptoms. Too often, interferences in our body's normal
functioning do NOT exhibit any warning signs. When a
subluxation, for instance, distorts the normal flow of
Innate Energy, there may be internal changes so subtle
that no outward signs are noticed. Slowly, quietly,
however, that distortion takes its toll on our body.
Often, when someone dies suddenly, friends say,
"But he was so healthy! He was never sick a day in
his life!" Obviously, he wasn't so healthy, and he
probably had been "sick" quite a bit. The
problem was, he didn't exhibit any symptoms to alert him
to that fact. Without the symptoms, he assumed he was
healthy and allowed the interference to continue.
That is why all people – those who suffer
frequent or occasional symptoms AND those who are
"always healthy" – must take care to correct
and prevent any interference to the normal flow of life
energy in the body. If we wait for symptoms, it may be too
late. |