December 2004

Proprioception: An adjustment

by Dr. Will Tickel  

Proprioception is a perception. It's an opinion based on sensory input. It's an awareness of time, space, and place. It's sensory input or afferentation sent from the joint mechanics to the cognition center. It allows for posture and balance to be performed in the most energy efficient, or restful, manner.

When interfered with, proprioception becomes skewed. This leads to stress that results in early or inappropriate fatigue and dysfunction in the soma. Since soma is related to viscera, neurologically and in other ways, subluxation or interference to proprioception has far‑reaching effects and sequellae.

In the name of health

Like proprioception, philosophy, a thought, is sensory input, too. Philosophy is an educated concept, but educated ain't all bad. How can you go through life, with its bumps and grinds, starts and stops, tragedies and triumphs, and not develop some sort of philosophy?

What role does philosophy play in adaptation or adjustment? The Barna group a few years back conducted research of Americans and their philosophies. That research found that 51% of all Americans have no philosophy. [1] Somehow, more than half of Americans enter into and go through their days without philosophy. They simply arise in the morning and react to the stimuli of the day. You see them on the horn, behind the wheel of a fast moving vehicle or standing and impatiently waiting in line at the fast food joint, the bank, or the grocery, heroically putting up with the inconvenience in their own minds.

Imagine how your day would go if more than half the decision makers you deal with on a daily basis held to a philosophy of life that stated "something is always going right?" And that "there is an intelligence, a power, that ultimately is in charge of all of life's processes? If we, as a profession, thought and acted globally in this fashion, the world would truly be a better place, a place marked by integrity where joy and peace would abound. Our job as DCs is to instill this thought in others. That is, in essence, the chiropractic philosophy.

"The world is our home and we are at home in the world." [2]

Geneticists, immunologists, psychologists and others are getting on the chiropractic bandwagon that DCs have been playing on since the inception of the profession. Prominent geneticists like Bruce Lipton contend that without a philosophy we are doomed to live in the lower brain stem where flight and fight preside. Lipton and others also assert that a perception, a philosophy, acts as a sensory input to the cortex.

For years, it's seemed to me that the lack of a philosophy to direct or, at least influence, the inborn or innate intelligence of the organism is in itself a subluxation. Besides, the cortex needs to be connected to the soma.

The communication between brain cell and tissue cell is the sensory impetus both need to sense vitality. The brain needs to be aware of the body in order to feel needed, to be of value. Interference to this communication is unhealthy. Obviously, this includes drugs designed to do just that.

While it may be true that the administration of chemicals to block communication may provide rest for a while, with rest being one of the cornerstones or building blocks of health [3] chronic use of such devices is unhealthy and may simply provide for a comfortable state of decay or dying. A steep price to pay! [4]

Defense, fight or flight, may win championships, as they say in sports. It may even spell survival for a while in the game of life. But fight or flight alone over the long haul is damaging. Maybe even deadly. It always implies an enemy and requires a loss to another party. Win‑win, on the other hand, is determined by offense. Offense is directed by philosophy. Chiropractic health care is win‑win. So let's continue to educate the public to the offensive side of the matter.

References

1. Palmer, BJ, various

2. Barna, George, "The Frog in the Kettle."

3. Dossey, Larry, "Space, Time and Medicine."

4. Commoner, Barry, "The Closing Circle."

(Will Tickel, DC, is a graduate of a chiropractic college that no longer calls itself such. He's the author of two books on health and healing and a prominent lecturer in chiropractic on things natural. His wife, Pamela, is also a chiropractor, as is son, Bill, and daughter‑in‑law, Tammy. Two other sons, James and Geoff, are currently enrolled at Life. Dr. Tickel is presently at work on a third book, entitled "Stirrin' it Up! A Baby Boomer's Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Imperfect Bliss." willtickel@msn.com)