From stress to strain, there are a lot of ways that people go from being healthy to being stuck in a degenerative rut. From the air we breathe, to the food we eat, to the way we move—there are countless ways that we can go rolling down the hill of health. While we experience different types of traumas, it is important to understand that each of these come with an emotional and mental sidebar that can either expedite the healing process or leave you with an unhealing wound.

I am here today to say that no matter how far you feel that you’ve gone away from the life that you desire, as long as you have breath in your lungs, your body, mind, and spirit can heal. You can heal. It just takes finding the inhibition—understanding what is pressing the emergency brake on your body’s capacity to overcome. The Premier Life is not simply in the business of just renovating human physiology. We are in the business of transforming lives through physical, mental, and emotional restoration. Why? Because there is no truly holistic healing without this complete change.

Here’s why the mental and emotional components are even more important than the physical: If you fall and scrape your knee, you experience that event once. In your mind and memory, you can experience an event any number of times. If you’ve gone through a divorce, I guarantee there are moments that still affect you to this day even though they may have happened years ago. If you suffered an injury in a sport, your body may be completely healed, but your mind may limit you to the extent you push, because your unconscious mind is scared to re-experience the trauma.

So, how do we get to peak restoration? Changing how we think can be more than recanting words in front of a mirror, reading the latest self-help book, or venting on a chase lounge to a therapist. Today, I’m going to share unconventional ways to heal the mental and emotional block. But before I do, I want to share a story. Miles was 7 years old at the time I met him. He was one of the most anxious kids I have ever met, and he had a problem with bedwetting and holding his bladder. For a 7-year-old kid, it was embarrassing. He was scared to invite the neighborhood boys to play catch outside, because he was scared of having an accident. He was getting adjustments and changed his diet. While accidents became less frequent, he still had them. He was still the anxious kid.

At the previous clinic I was at, we had a rock wall. Miles had the tendency to go on the first rock, hold on for dear life, and then jump off onto the padded floor from a height of about half a foot off the ground. One day, I asked Miles, “Can you imagine what it would feel like if you made it to the top? What do you think it would feel like? I bet it would feel pretty liberating to be able to make it up to the top. I’ll watch you do it.” After a beat, Miles started his ascent. After making sure I was watching him, he made it to the second rock, then the third, and so on, until he made it to the top. He carefully scaled down and then leaped with excitement. “DID YOU SEE ME? I MADE IT!”

Before I even had the chance to reply, Miles was back on the wall. He made it up again. And again. He probably climbed up the wall 50 times that day. When his mom came around the corner, she was shocked to see that her son was different. His demeanor was different. He was grinning from ear to ear. The coolest part of that story is that Mile’s didn’t have a problem with bedwetting again after that day. He never had another accident at school following that moment. Something in his brain switched from hyperactive fear to liberated courage and his neurology was different.

The good news is that if Miles can change, so can you. You may not have a problem with bedwetting. Maybe your problem is an addiction or a pain pattern. Maybe its anxiety or depression. Nevertheless, healing is on the other side of the courage to press on towards life transformation. Here are ways that I would work on healing the mind body connection:

1. Visualization of Victory — When you visualize defeat in overcoming sickness and disease, you often bias your physiology to be stuck in a pattern. Just like Miles, with every supplement that you take and every adjustment you receive, imagine what it feels like to be at the top.

2. Supplementing the Mind — Thiamine (B1), Niacin (B3), Methylfolate (B9), and Omega 3s from whole food sources are a great place to start.

3. Outrunning Negative Thoughts — Going for a run will move cortisol (stress hormone) out of the hippocampus (memory center in the brain) for degradation. Sweat not only dissipates heat, but it dissolves things associated with negative emotions. It also promotes things that help to change our mind, like BDNF (miracle growth for nerves) and endogenous endorphins.

4. Being Open to Change — This may be the biggest one. You have to feel the motivation to let old patterns die. One saying that I always tell practice members is that “the pain of change is always better than the pain of staying the same.” This is not just true physically, but it’s true mentally and emotionally as well.

5. Consistent Neurological Adjustments — Adjustments change the communication of the cerebellum and frontal lobe. Both of these have implications in mindset and perception. This is why chiropractic has a great track record for brain health.

Stay consistent with these tips and you’ll see the breakthrough that you were designed to achieve. Have a great week!

Let’s Press Towards Transformation

Dr. Nate