Changing lives by changing the culture

by Dr. Ben Lerner and Dr. Greg Loman

As we look at societies that experience a high degree of wellness, societies that lack the sophisticated tools we have in the United States, it becomes evident that health is not created by "things." Health is created ‑‑ or, in reality, destroyed ‑‑ by our culture. This becomes particularly apparent when you see American cultural influences make their way into other parts of the world and then you immediately watch the health of the people in those areas begin to decline.

In our culture, most adults and even many children use cell phones for chit‑chatting and doing business 24/7. McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and other fast‑food vendors have franchises in the public schools. Few people can imagine a stress‑free week or an unrushed moment. Consumers demand fast service and instant relief. The medical community offers a pill for every ill and a potion for every emotion. People get their exercise by competing in an intense hockey game ‑‑ on their Nintendo machines. And we have a blood supply that, in many areas of Seattle, California, and New York, are up to 75% Starbucks.

As our culture has permeated more and more of the world culture, we begin to see many of our same problems show up on a global scale.

To solve the incredible health, family, and emotional crises that exist in the United States, and more and more, the world, it's going to take more than a pill or the latest diet program. There's a need for a new way of thinking ‑‑ a shift in the way we in our culture live, think, and treat our bodies. This shift will not just save us, but save the world.

The most effective and successful chiropractors are not just interested in changing people, they're interested in changing the culture. Truly, people will not change if all you do is treat them and drop them right back into their same world with the same thinking, operating, eating, working philosophy, etc.

If you want to love what you do, stay fired up nearly all of the time, and have a huge practice, get into the "culture principle." Stay focused on how, as a chiropractor, you can change the world. Then your practice ‑‑ and the world you live in ‑‑ will truly start to change.

(Dr. Ben Lerner and Dr. Greg Loman manage Teach The World About Chiropractic ‑‑ a coaching, seminar, and product company ‑‑ and Body by God Intl. They created Body by God and Teach the World about Chiropractic in an effort to change our culture and move the world towards the power of chiropractic thinking. Dr. Lerner is author of the New York Times best‑selling book, "Body by God: The Owner's Manual For Maximized Living." Drs. Loman and Lerner, maintaining two of the highest‑volume clinics in chiropractic, both have a new book coming out in August from Thomas Nelson Publishing.)