I wrote this very popular post called, “THE SPINE SHAPES THE WORLD, YOUR SPINE SHAPES YOUR WORLD.” In case you missed it, here it is as what is now, Part I:
THE FASCINATING CASE OF PHINEAS GAGE: In 1848, while working on a railroad construction site, and a huge iron rod punctured his skull and destroyed his frontal cortex. He lived, but became angry, impatient, developed mood swings, and began to swear. Why? Because the frontal cortex primary controls what is considered appropriate response and behavior and important for managing aggression.
Studies show that messaging coming from the spine into the frontal cortex, as well as other key areas of the brain, has a significant impact on brain function. How someone’s spine and nervous system functions weighs heavily on how they treat others, manage their temper, hedge violent activity, and work at their job, perform in school, and how they feel about themselves.
How people treat others lays the foundation for the world we live in and experience. Equally so, how we see the world creates how we experience. Thus, the spine shapes the world and your spine shapes your world.
THE SPINE SHAPES THE WORLD AND YOUR SPINE SHAPES YOUR WORLD PART II
Our habits determine much of our level of health, quality of life, and radically impact our work and relationships. In other words, habits have a whole lot to do with shaping your world.
Not surprisingly, the actual science behind habits show that good habits can be challenging to form and bad ones tough to break. Neural pathways related to habit take time to form and the old habits in our brains are readily reactivated; making habits extremely hard to change. Case in point; there is about 94% failure rate of addiction recovery programs.
Brain science shows that those making good choices have greater development in the parts of the brain that control decision making. Thanks to a healthier, better functioning brain they tend to make healthy lifestyle decisions. On the contrary, when those same areas of the brain are less developed, it can be very challenging to make the right moves for your future and personal well-being.
Yet, this is not a death sentence. You can’t just make the excuse, “See, I’ve got a small pre-frontal cortex so I can’t help but play video games, drink beer, and eat Doritos all day. There is some good news for anyone who wants the kind of brain that actually tends to lean towards good choices.
The brain has been found to be incredibly plastic or moldable – something known as “Neuroplasticity.” You have the power to choose whether brain tissue is positively or negatively activated, molded and re-molded. The same choices that build and shape the brain into a good one also serve to create the new habits you struggled with in the first place. — And good, true habits are as hard to break as bad ones.
A healthy brain comes simply from doing positive things to it like exercise, Omega 3s, rest, good relationships, prayer and meditative time, and perhaps most directly; a chiropractic adjustment.
The reason an adjustment is most direct is that the spine is actually attached to the brain and thus, the most direct route there. Brain wellness is highly influenced by positively activating the brain through proper spinal motion and the receipt of healthy signals coming in from the spine and nerves back up to the brain. When charting a positive path towards better habits and a healthier future, the straightest line there is starting with the spine. When God gave us free-will, He made it that a good, long life is really your choice. Get adjusted…
