Keep Paddling

Life is like a river.  It is constantly flowing down stream.  Sometimes the river is rough and full of rocks and rapids, sometimes its smooth sailing.  But, somewhere down the river there is a waterfall.  You have no clue where the falls are.  They are different for everyone but it marks the end of your ride.  At the head of the river there is a spring.  The spring pours out the waters of life abundantly for everyone to experience.  Like the falls, you have no clue where the springs are.  You just know they are up there somewhere, creating and giving life.

If you sit and do nothing life will sweep you away.  You’re just along for the ride, dealing with whatever challenges might arise as you float down the river.  That is how most people live.  Never really thinking ahead or planning, never really asking where is this river going? 

But the falls are coming.  First you will start to feel the waters change, moving a little faster.  That’s no big deal it’s probably just another rough spot.  But, then you’ll hear the falls in the distance.  You’ll try to ignore them at first but soon you must face the fact that you’re about to go over the edge.  You must drop everything and start paddling like crazy, doing everything within your power to paddle back upstream to safety!  Some of you will make it and live to paddle another day.  Some will go over the falls. 

Then there are those who choose to paddle upstream towards the spring.  Paddling is hard work and the work is endless.  If you stop for even just a moment your progress will slow and you will start floating back down stream.  But your purpose is great.  You know that the spring of life is at the head of the waters.  You know that with every pull of the oar you inch closer to those abundant waters.  There will still be rapids that you must paddle through.  When the rapids come some people will quit paddling saying its no use, its too hard.  They go back to floating.  But some will dig deep within themselves knowing that if they just keep paddling, the rapids will end and they will be stronger for it, bringing them ever closer to that abundant spring.  

All good things that God has created for us in this life require that we paddle, not just for a day or two but for our entire lives.  If you want a great marriage, you must work at it.  For how long?  For as long as you want a great marriage!  Want to be financially free?  You have to put the work in.  For a month or two?  Nope!  For a lifetime.  If you want to be HEALTHY, it requires that you put in the effort.  For how long?  You guessed it – your ENTIRE life.  When does life start?  When you have free time and motivation?  When you have extra money to spend on your health?  Nope.  The river of life starts flowing down stream towards the falls from day one. 

Especially when it comes to health most people float.  They are just along for the ride, doing very little to help themselves.  Some days you feel great (smooth sailing), some days you’re sick or in pain (rapids).  But, one day you’ll start getting near the falls.  You’ll hear them (sign & symptoms: high blood pressure, digestive problems, sleep apnea, etc).  You’ll cover your ears pretending they aren’t real (covering symptoms with drugs).  They are real and when you see them coming you’ll have to drop everything and fight like hell (even stronger drugs and inevitably surgeries).  They cannot be ignored.  Your kid’s soccer practice no longer matters.  The car you drive, the house you live in, how much money you make, none of it matters any longer.  You must drop everything and fight.

But the few who choose to paddle have a very different experience.  Paddling is the act of choosing the hard things in life on purpose BEFORE they become urgent, BEFORE it becomes a crisis.  You take great care of your spine and nervous system knowing that LIFE FLOWS THROUGH YOUR SPINE.  You eat LIFE-GIVING FOODS and avoid life-taking foods.  You MOVE YOUR BODY, EXERCISE, and BREATHE.  You minimize the toxic manmade chemicals of this world and protect the NATURAL CHEMISTRY OF YOUR BODY.  You cut out the negative people, thoughts, and media outlets in your life MINIMIZING YOUR STRESS and REALIZING that there really is an ABUNDANT SPRING sitting there waiting for you if only you’ll paddle.  Yes, floating is easier but paddling moves you upstream.  There will still be rapids.  Pain and sickness are real.  But those who paddle through those seasons come out on the other side healthier, stronger, and better for it.

Paddling is hard.  Paddling alone is even harder.  If you are in a boat of people who just want to float, you gotta get out of that boat!  They will only hold you back from reaching the springs of life.  Similarly, you cannot paddle for your entire family alone.  You must teach your kids how to paddle for themselves, express the importance of paddling together with your spouse.  If a family paddles together, everyone reaches the springs much faster and the rapids become that much easier. 

Now, just like in real life, you must learn how to paddle well.  Anyone can splash about with an oar and still move in the right direction, but people have been paddling upstream since the beginning of time.  In that time have discovered the best ways to paddle.  That’s what we do here at NGFC.  We are here to teach you the best techniques of paddling and whenever you are ready you are welcome to hop in our boat.  We’re pretty good at paddling!

On February 5^th from 9-11:30 AM we are taking a deep dive into the WHY, WHAT, and HOW of healthy living.  It is our Reclaim Your Health seminar! From that seminar we will also be launching into our 30 Day Reclaim Your Health challenge where you will be encouraged and supported as we all paddle together!  See the front desk to reserve your spot ASAP as we are keeping this event small that we might engage and encourage you better.  Hope to see you there and always remember, just keep paddling!

 

In Health and Faith,

Dr. Marc

 

 

 

 

 

Healing Happens Here

 

Another one of our foundational principles here at NGFC is “Healing Happens Here.”  This is not an observation but a declaration.  Don’t get me wrong; every day we see healing miracles in our office.  Just last week we had a patient whose breathing issues had plagued them their entire life.  They had been on drugs for over 20 years and had done steroid injections yearly for a decade.  Their issues only ever got WORSE with drugs and therapies.  Just a couple of months into correcting the subluxations in their spine and removing the interference so that their body could function properly and 30 years of chronic breathing issues completely healed.  No more drugs no more useless injections.  Healing definitely happens here every day! 

But again “Healing Happens Here” is a declaration not an observation.  What’s the difference?  I’m glad you asked! To observe that healing happens here would be to show up day in and day out, going about our work, marking xrays, adjusting spines, taking payments, helping our people as needed and then when someone actually sees some improvement in their health we would be pleasantly surprised.  We’d celebrate their story because we were so shocked and impressed that someone healed!  Ill tell you right now; I am never surprised when healing happens here.  Because everything that we do makes it possible and probable that healing happens. 

When we decided to declare that healing happens here we knew that we could no longer sit idly by waiting for a miracle.  We knew that to build an environment of health, and joy, and abundance we would have to be very intentional with everything we did.  No longer can we just go about our work.  Our work must be intentional.  Marking xrays becomes a deep dive into a person’s life, who they are, what they have been through, how to help them, and how to communicate some hard truths with compassion.  Showing wobble exercises could no longer be just going through the motions (literally lol).  Scheduling appointments could no longer be nothing more than clerical work, it must be done with love knowing that life happens and it is our responsibility to help keep our people on track because we’ve seen what happens when health stops being a priority.  Before each shift we prepare ourselves to be ready to serve. We pray over every single person coming into our office that day before we ever open the doors.  We decorate and play music that is positive and uplifting.  We live what we preach so that we may be an example to our people and that we might have the energy to serve as many people as God sends our way. We train ourselves every week and we are constantly seeking areas in which to improve so that we know there is NO INTERFERENCE and that we can boldly declare that Healing Happens Here because we have made it so.

So now it’s your turn.  You can’t live at NGFC.  You have to go home, back into the crazy world.  Back to your TV, social media, your news stations.  Back to your coworkers, your family, and your friends. The question then becomes “what environment have you created in your life?”  Have you declared that healing happens here in your life?  Have you cut off the negative chatter, the people and things that cause your grief and stress?  Do you pour in positive life-giving food, friends, music, books, etc?  Or do you idly float along the river of life?  If you are floating, of course you will be surprised IF healing happened much less any other good thing in your life.  This year I challenge you to declare that HEALING HAPPENS HERE through out your entire life – and go make it so.  

If you live in Colorado Springs, Monument, or Palmer Lake and you are ready to reclaim control over your health and life swing by Northgate Family Chiropractic at 12245 Voyager Parkway Suite 124, Colorado Springs, CO 80921, or give us a call at (719) 619-9832.

In Health and Faith,

Dr. Marc

Expect Miracles

 

Here at NGFC one of our founding principles is “Expect Miracles”.  This statement has deep meaning to us and its impact is far reaching.  First, it is a recognition that LIFE is a miracle.  God breathed life into dirt and created man.  That was a miracle!  For all of our trillions of dollars and years of research, no man has ever or will ever create life.  That job is God’s alone.  Whether you realize it or not, you expect the miracle of life every day when you wake up.  You expect life to be there waiting for you.  But the cool thing is that same miracle is still alive and active in every living thing.  Life perpetuates itself.  Living things tend to keep themselves alive.  They do that by adapting, regenerating, and HEALING.  Healing is a miracle.  The next time you cut yourself, watch as your body clots the blood, sends inflammatory healing cells, stitches the tissues back together, forms a scar in preparation for the next cut.  What man with all of his drugs and surgeries could ever heal a cut on the finger? We’ve been at war with cancer for 70 years now.  We’ve spent trillions trying to cure chronic disease.  Yet we haven’t even cured the common cold.  Life and healing are miracles from God.  When we can fully understand that and live in alignment with how we were created we can fully Expect Miracles in our lives and health.

Beyond Expecting Miracles in health and healing, at NGFC we expect miracles in our daily lives.  We were all created for a purpose.  God has put some calling on each of our hearts.  It is our responsibility to be obedient and to step into that calling.  Sometimes that stepping out into faith can be incredibly intimidating.  Maybe you’re embarrassed to tell your friends and family that you are quitting your steady job to follow your passion.  Maybe you just cannot see HOW to pull it off, where the money will come from, or how you will make the time.  But the lack of understanding from your friends should never hold you back from pursuing something greater.  And the HOW is not for you to decide.  To Expect Miracles is to understand that God is the Way Maker.  Just because you don’t see any possible path forward, does not mean that you should quit.  When you step forward into what God has placed on your heart you can EXPECT Him to show up and open the doors necessary.  Please don’t get me wrong, it probably wont go the way you thought it would go or wanted it to go but the fact that it didn’t happen means that God has something BETTER in store for you in the future. 

Sometimes knowing what God is calling you to in our crazy modern world is difficult.  Many don’t feel that they have a calling.  That’s only because you aren’t LISTENING.  All too often we flood our minds with input.  Constant talk, radio, social media, news stations.  We have an incredible lack of silence in our world.  If you feel lost, listen.  Turn it all off and just listen.  Let your thoughts run wild and see where they lead you.  In that silence you can Expect a Miracle. 

As the New Year turns and we look ahead to endless opportunities, your question must become “what am I being called to do this year?”  Maybe its time to let some people go in your life.  Maybe its time to take ownership of your health or your finances.  Whatever you feel like you are being call to do this year just know that when you live in alignment with God and His precepts, you can Expect Miracles in your life and health.  Here’s to an incredible 2022! 

If you live in Colorado Springs, Monument, Palmer Lake area and you’re ready to experience a miracle in your life and health give us a call today!  We are at 12245 Voyager Parkway, suite 124, Colorado Springs, CO 80921! 

In Health and Faith,

Dr. Marc

 Gut Health Essentials

If you missed our online workshop last week, it is still available on our Facebook page. I encourage you to pop over and check it out for all of the details but here is a brief overview of gut health and some action steps to restoring your health!

The gut is one of the most powerful and complex systems in our bodies! Not only does it take food and turn it into human cells, but it makes up 70% of our immune systems, and plays a huge role in brain function and mental health. So its pretty important to take care of our guts!

Problems arise when we put things in our bodies that aren’t supposed to be there. Things like excess sugar, grains, and man-made toxins irritate and damage the gut lining causing it to wear out and makes it impossible for the gut to do its job of digesting food and keeping the garbage out of your blood stream. That’s called leaky gut. Essentially, the gut wall cannot keep out harmful substances and they LEAK into your blood stream. When this happens your immune system goes on high alert attacking and removing those harmful substances. But if the problem persists, more and more harmful substances leak in causing your immune system to stay on guard constantly. Eventually your immune system breaks and starts destroying anything in its path. That, in a nutshell, is autoimmune disease. A broken immune system caused by a leaking gut. Solution: REMOVE the causes of your gut issues and RESTORE your gut back to health.

REMOVE: Get rid of the things that caused the problem in the first place! This seems so obvious. If you have a nail in your tire, you can pump all the air into it that you want but unless you remove the nail, the air will seep right back out!
Sugar/ Grains: There are many things that cause damage to your gut but none so prevalent as excess sugar and grains. These two enemies of health cause chronic inflammation and irritation and slowly tear up your gut lining. If you or your child has gut/ digestive issues, remove all sugar and all grains right away.

Lactose: Humans are the only creatures to use the milk from other animals! Its kind of weird when you think about it but beyond that, humans aren’t designed to break down lactose which is why so many people cannot handle dairy at all. So do process it better than others, but if you’re looking to heal your gut, cut out lactose at least for a month to see how you improve.

Toxins: When you take in harmful chemicals, it’s like swallowing a rock. When you swallow a rock, your body will do a great job of getting rid of it but it still must pass through your digestive system. As the rock is moving through, it scrapes, bangs, and tears up the gut! The same damage occurs when you take in toxins! Outside chemicals do not belong on the inside. It doesn’t matter what the chemical is, it should not be there and will cause damage to your health. Common chemicals come from the plastics you use (especially for food storage and cooking), the water you drink (heavy metals, fluoride, chlorine), and the drugs you take. Medications can be lifesaving but when used long term they have terrible effects on your health. Drugs are not intended for health they are intended to get you out of a bind when you are very sick and are in crisis mode. They disrupt your body’s ability to function properly and many have terrible effects on the gut. Even simple NSAIDs like aspirin cause intestinal damage. So, to heal your gut, cut the toxins.

RESTORE: Once you have removed the causes of the continued damage to your gut, your body will being to heal and restore but there are things that you can do to help your body restore faster!

Eat well! Start eating the Advanced Plan right away. See the NGFC team for support on this. The AP will give your body the essentials it needs and none of the garbage. I recommend at least 30 days of strict AP to begin.
Try fasting! You have been digesting food since you were born. Your gut needs a break so that it can use that energy to heal. Intermittent fasting is a great option. Basically, you simply don’t eat for 12-18 in a day. The easiest way is to cut out breakfast. So you will go from supper to lunch (approx. 16 hours). But the most effective way is to cut out supper. So you will eat breakfast and lunch but wont eat again until the next morning! Give it a shot, its easier than you’d think.

Supplements: You cannot get all of your nutrients from a healthy diet anymore. Modern fields and crops are largely depleted of vital nutrients. So you must “supplement” your diet. The problem is that the supplement industry is wildly under regulated. You can put just about anything on the label and charge what ever you please. Marketing agencies have jumped on this industry causing millions of people to over pay for supplements that don’t contain what they say!

I am very proud of the MaxLiving supplements that we sell at NGFC. They are of the highest quality possible, always contain exactly what is on the label, and always come in the most bioavailable forms. These are the supplements that we take daily and so should you!

Max GI + Probiotic 50B: The combo of Max GI and Probiotic 50B is a powerful punch for gut health. With digestive enzymes, essential oils, prebiotics, and 10 different strains of essential probiotics these two supplements is a great place to start to get things moving and healing.

Bone Broth Protein + Collagen + Max Greens: These 3 make up the majority of my daily smoothie. The bone broth protein plus collagen give your gut everything it needs to repair the gut wall. The greens add the nutrients of nearly 40 different organic veggies including fiber, which is essential for gut health. Plus it all tastes great as a morning smoothie!

Daily Essentials: Just as the name implies, the daily essentials are the bare minimum that your body needs to function properly every day. Nearly everyone is deficient in these nutrients but especially magnesium. If you want proper gut function, magnesium should be at the top of your supplement list, but Mg only takes its full effect when combined with Vitamin D and B, which is why they all come together in the Daily Essentials packet.

For many, following this outline is just the beginning. Your gut issues may have been around for decades. It will take more to correct all of that damage, either way this is your starting point. But for most, this is all you need. REMOVE the causes and help your body RESTORE! The key is to make one good choice at a time!

If you live in the Colorado Springs, Monument, Palmer Lake area and are ready to begin your health journey, give us a call today!

In Health and Faith,

Dr. Marc

Northgate Family Chiropractic

12245 Voyager Pkwy, Ste 124

Colorado Springs, CO 80921

(719) 419-7955

Control What You Can Control

Life happens! Good or bad, every day will bring a new adventure. Call it luck, call it fate, call it divine will, life will throw you curve balls and it our privilege to live through it all. But when we take a step back and realize there are certain things we have zero control over and there are also things we have complete control over our lives can become much simpler and our souls can be more at ease.

Bad things happen to everyone. A car rear ends you on your way to work, someone you love passes away suddenly, your boss was having a bad day so they took it out on you, negative situations will inevitably arise in our lives. But in those moments, it is essential to ask ourselves, what do I have control over here? I can’t stop someone from running into my car (assuming I’m driving safely) but I can control how I respond to the situation. Yeah, it stinks, you’re going to be late, your car is all smashed up but you have no control over that anymore not even in the slightest. You can choose to let it ruin the rest of your day, week, year, even life, OR you can see it for what it is, and move forward and make the most out of every situation. When we hold on to things of the past, whether minutes ago or years ago, we let them also affect our present. So not only did someone hit you in one moment, but you let that accident negatively impact many more of your precious moments. So, day in and day out you must ask yourself, what can I control here?

We will all die one day! I’m sorry if that’s news to you and comes as a shock but it’s something we must all face. There’s lots of ways we can die. That fender bender might have been a multi car pileup that ends your days. A tree branch could snap and fall on your head. You could slip on ice walking your dog. These can all happen but even if you’re as careful as possible you have no control over these things. But for the overwhelming majority of us that is not how we will go. 5 out of 6 people in our country die of chronic disease. And that is the most freeing thing I know of because you have control over chronic disease!

These days we love blaming things on our genes. My mom and dad were overweight so I’m overweight. My grand dad died of a heart attack so I probably will too. The women in my family all get breast cancer. Blaming our family history and genes takes all responsibility for our health off of ourselves and puts it elsewhere and that’s a much easier pill to swallow than saying I can control my health if only I make some changes. But the fact remains, your genes do not dictate your health. Only 2.7% of diseases are truly genetic meaning that if you have that gene, you will have that disease and you have no control over it. That being the case it means that 97.3% of diseases are based on your daily habits and choices and you have complete control over them! You choose to either build health or disease in your body every day. The food you eat, how much you move and breathe, the chemicals you allow in your body, the thoughts you tell yourself, the way you treat your spine and nervous system, these are all choices that will determine whether you build health or disease. Choose wisely!

There’s a saying that I love that goes like this, “The past is the past and it couldn’t have happened any other way because it didn’t.” There is no going back. Whether you had control or not nothing can be done. Ultimately you only have control over what you think, say, and do right NOW in this moment. If you want to be healthy, feel better, have more energy and joy, you are only one choice away. Choose wisely!

If you live in the Colorado Springs, Monument, Palmer Lake area and you are ready to take control of your health, give us a call today!

 

In Health and Faith,

Dr. Marc

Northgate Family Chiropractic

12245 Voyager Pkwy

Colorado Springs, CO 80921