August 2004

'NO!'

by Dr. Madeline Behrendt

How much sickness, stress, and suffering is just the body saying "NO!" to all the nonsense in your life?

Because beyond the differences of generation, gender, or geography, humans need to be honored. This experience is a primal contributor to well-being.

And with the body as a gorgeous, if somewhat abused, storage vat of life's experiences, biology tells your biography. The cells, the tissues, the organs vibrate, they're humming your yesterdays, your tomorrows.

So, who does your body say no to? A bad boss, a less than perfect client, a lover you are not ready for, maybe your curious teen? Or, what does your body say no to? Are you misunderstood? Overworked but underemployed? Mistreated through circumstances of either mistake or intention?

The list goes on. Yet, it doesn't go anywhere. The job, the lover, the agitators, and the family are stuck to you as nasty as gum on your shoe. It's your life.

As a practitioner, I see the impact of all the no's that have been stuffed into people's bodies. No alters health and well‑being. It alters lives.

As a researcher, I see case histories of people who tried to escape this powerlessness by numbing the discomfort with something external, something medicating. Their emergency stress responses then hardened into habits ‑‑ mouths open wide to down caffeine, sugar, alcohol, cigarettes or mind‑altering medication ‑‑ to stop from hearing the body scream that the world is not listening to them.

But the only thing stopped is the connection to the internal relief and response system. So, people get sick.

Simply, the body erupts when you can't. Your headache, your allergies, your aching back... No, you can't go into work today, or no, you can't be intimate, or no, there's no reason for nutrition when chocolate is the only thing that can really help you.

In our culture, sickness is a license for NO!

Concurrently, sickness demands attention. Symptoms force an issue. But what issue? And, what result? Symptom‑based care focuses on managing the noises around illness. It's a slow, circular route, rather than a direct path to the primal concerns of illness. You know, the path that is scary to sick people.

Stuffing no has become epidemic in our world. It is why those who say yes are so magnetic. Members of the no community are attracted to the yes leadership and gladly throw them money for products and services offering a winner's energy.

The no's are delighted to have those who say yes speak for them. Saying what the under‑empowered restrict themselves from expressing due to skill levels that stuff or numb the unspoken no's into their bodies.

But it's hard when you care, it's hard when you want better but sometimes feel that you woke up in the wrong life.

How many restless souls are dreaming of the distant day when they will retire, when the agitator in their life will pass on or move on, when the world will behave the way they want it to (even for a moment)? Yet, this fantasy only keeps people in an emotional‑mental fetal position, self‑medicating and locked down for the foreseeable future. Real living is for the active, not the passive. A real life awaits the un-subluxated.

How do you get out of the no mess? How do you bridge the gap between the life you have and the one you want?

Consider subluxations a gift. Think of them as your body protecting you ‑‑ an alarm that something needs to change before your body receives further injury. That something is usually you. Subluxations remind you that no, this is not working for your best life ‑‑ another response, another choice needs to be found.

You need stress reduction, you need to increase well‑being and self‑awareness, plus you'll want to increase your skills so that you have a better developed response system. Where can you get help that can benefit you? Hmm...

I think the best place for a subluxated person to be is in a chiropractic office, a place where your wellness is a priority. This is an environment where you can benefit from care that promotes health ‑‑ including an improved response to the environment.

And while a chiropractic office is a sanctuary, everyone has to leave the office and go back into the outside world where your boss, lover, or relative is still waiting to push your buttons.

But, it's not the situation that makes the difference. The difference comes from your response, and hey, you're un-subluxated! You're clear! You can now shake your head at the former you, who spent so much of the day in a war with your world, pushing/pulling, saying no over and over, doing things you don't want.

Subluxated? NO!

(Dr. Madeline Behrendt is chair of the WCA Council on Women's Health and associate editor of the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research [JVSR]. An author and speaker, she is committed to connecting women to chiropractic and chiropractors to women, and may be contacted at drmadeline@drmadelinedc.com)

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