Man In The Mirror

If you don't like the world you see, take a look inside yourself. Take a look in the mirror because the world you see is a reflection of YOU.

I have struggled BIG TIME with this concept this weekend. My current ideology was challenged and my first response was an expression of anger at the source of attack. I got uncomfortable in my own skin, my insides started to boil, and I had a true moment of weakness. After I let the insult to my conscience simmer, I began to look inward. What inside ME was having this reaction...

We must understand that we are the feeler apart from the feeling, the thinker apart from the thoughts, and the actor apart from the action. It's our PERCEPTION that determines the world as we see it. We must not blame others for how we feel or behave. Look inside to discover the road blocks interfering with growth. Look in the mirror and love yourself. Say out loud, "I love ME."

When you love yourself, you love the world around you.




In continuing the process of creation, here's the new WYT video. If we don't tell them, who will?

Be Impressive or be Impressed upon

Every social interaction we encounter has the possibility of influencing the way we think, behave and live. In this new age of high-tech media devices, there are more circulating suggestive ideas entering our consciousness then ever before. Life as we know it is a repetitive compilation of suggestions. However, this does not make us powerless from all the incoming information. We have two options; either stand around and be impressed upon or STAND OUT and be IMPRESSIVE. Standing out means breaking the mold and satisfying our urge for creative expression.

"If your not thinking for yourself, someone else is." -DC Catherine Franklin.

Here's two new video's for WYT.
Create. Love. Repeat.

Walk Your Talk

At it again with a new video series titled, "Walk Your Talk". This series is all about sharing the chiropractic life philosophy with the public. The plan is to post a new volume every week with a theme of conversation followed by the ACTION of actually putting it into play. Here are two vids I've already completed....

The following article was just written for Life Chiropractic College West's  Lifelines newspaper.

 Walk Your Talk: The People Are Waiting

by Brett Jones

As a 7^th quarter student I’ve heard the chiropractic message thousands upon thousands of times. It’s in all my conversations, all my thoughts, and usually told in creative and well-spun ways by most of my colleagues and friends. I love the chiropractic story and I’m enthralled to hear it again and again. However, this message usually stays within the same social networks and mainly just amongst other chiropractors. This needs to change.

If we have this life transforming philosophy and outlook on life, why are we keeping it to ourselves? How can we go to these big awe-inspiring seminars, get pumped up, and then during breaks only mingle with the same people that were just at the seminar? Why are we even having seminars that don’t include the public? Is it not the people that need to hear it? These questions consistently plague my mind as I continue my journey through chiropractic school. The more I dive into these questions there is a recurring answer; talk less and DO more. It’s time to walk the talk.

As stated by Eleanor Roosevelt, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” If you are scared of talking to strangers, it’s time to attack your fears. Periods of personal growth occur by stepping outside of your comfort zone. If this was your last week alive, would a moment of discomfort detour you away from sharing an idea that has the potential to change someone’s life forever? I sure hope not. Let’s deliver the message and deliver it well.

One of the biggest problems I’ve encountered when attempting to relay the chiropractic message to the public is that there is just so much I want to tell them. With our heavy class load and all of the information constantly being pounded into our heads, it can be quite difficult to deliver a clear and concise message on the fly. Often when we do speak, and end up getting something out – it’s one big hot mess of information. It’s like we “word vomit” all over people. We LOSE them at hello. Insert glassy eyed stare here. Problem identified, now on to the solution.

In order to be the communicators we want to be, we should create a specific and simple theme of conversation each week for what we want to talk about. Then when the opportunity to tell someone about the benefits of chiropractic care presents itself we can be better prepared. We must figure out how to open the conversation, know what we want to talk about, and make sure that it all can be relayed to the layperson. None of the big mumbo-jumbo grad level words accomplish anything if the person we’re talking to doesn’t understand it. Remember, it’s about them and we are here to SERVE.

  

We are also here to cause a paradigm shift in health and healing. In order to do so, we need to break out of our little boxes and tell the PEOPLE! French novelist Victor Hugo once said, “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”  The time for chiropractic’s Big Idea has come but it’s up to us to deliver it. Walk your talk.

 

GMO's Oh No: An Interview on Nutrition

Interview by Vanessa Cloyd

1. Do you believe GE foods are safe? Two answers. Short term, GM foods are safe enough to pass on to most unsuspecting typical American consumers. Meaning that you are not going to get ill from these foods immediately. Just like a Big Mac won't kill you right away. In fact most of these foods taste delicious due to the chemical taste enhancers (msg, aspartame, high fructose corn syrup etc...)  The problem lies with long term use. Most of these GM seeds and crops are raped of their nutrition and can disturb digestion by altering the natural state of which once was  real food. *Nearly 1/2 of Americans report having some sort of digestive illness.

2. Would you recommend your patients to avoid GE food? Absolutely. If i had to give a basic guide for choosing food it would be these 8 rules taken from The Dark Side of Fat Loss by Sean Croxton  1) If it wasn't here 10,000 years ago, don't eat it. 2) If it's in the media, it's probably bad for you. 3) If you can't pronounce the ingredients, don't eat it. 4) If your great-grandmother didn't eat it, you probably shouldn't either. 5) If it comes in a box or a bag, don't eat it. 6) If your dog won't eat it, you shouldn't either. 7) If it doesn't spoil, don't eat it. [Check out this link, The World's First Bionic Burger]  8) If it's been sprayed with chemicals, don't eat it.

3. As someone who doesn't eat GE food, have you noticed any physical changes with your body? Yes, big changes. As I cleaned up my diet to more of a Paleo/Real Food diet excess fat around my flanks finally disappeared. The love handles that I thought was just my body type was more likely excess fat storage due to endocrine disruption caused by chemically infested and altered foods. These foods can create a chemical related stress response and actually start to throw off your hormone balance. Not only will effects be seen physically, but mentally, and emotionally as well (depression, anxiety, decreased libido, etc..) Some links have been drawn to phytoestrogens (plant-derived xenoestrogens functioning as the primary female sex hormone) and the current trend for early onset of menses in young women and even breast cancer. When it comes to men, check out this documentary about how toxins are interfering with the male reproductive system, The Disapperaing Male.

4. How long have you been on a natural, organic diet? How do you feel? Would you say better or worse when you were eating processed food? I've been mainly eating Organic for about a year and a half which is basically ever since I started Chiropractic school and began to be exposed to the truth on what health really was. Our bodies were designed to function at a natural state of health. Disruption of that natural state is what brings dis-ease to the body. So when we are not properly aligned or we intake foods that have been modified form their natural state, we can expect the dis-ease process to follow. This natural concept of health is frequently overshadowed by pharmaceutical companies pushing their drugs via mass media. The U.S. and New Zealand are the only two countries in the world that allow advertisement of prescription meds on national television. Big Pharma would like you to believe that health comes from the outside-in and can be found in a pill. The truth, on the contrary, is actually the exact opposite. Health is within us all and is expressed from the inside-out. In that idea lies empowerment. In that idea lies truth. In that idea lies health. So, to answer the last part of your question, since I've made the shift of concepts and the shift in diet, I feel AMAZING!!

5. 90% of foods in our grocery stores contain either GE corn or GE soybean, what was/is your hardest obstacle to eat healthy despite GE foods being everywhere and in everything? The biggest obstacle in eating healthy in a world of GMO's is the lack of convenience. 99% of fast food chains and restaurants produce absolute garbage. This means you are going to need to spend some extra time in the kitchen whippin' up your own meals. I've learned that preparation is key. Try to make food for the entire day so you are not frequently preparing individual meals. I also highly recommend finding a like-minded buddy or group to swap meals with. At my school I'm part of a little lunch club of four people where each individual takes turns bringing meals for the other three. So, 3/5 days during the week my lunch is brought by someone else. Kinda like mom packing your lunch in the good ol' days... :)  

    

 Three Things to leave you with:

 1) Convenience is killer of souls. You wanna step your game up, step up your work load.

 2) Take control of your own health. Ask questions. Find Truths.

    3) Health and healing comes from the inside-out. It knows no other way. Get that big idea and else will follow.

The biggest limit you have in this world, is the one residing in your mind

Just Go!! Systems Launch!! Ready the Torpedo!! Fire Motha Fucka!!

Excuse my language but I had a mini epiphany this morning... I have to just DO. I hadn't wrote in awhile because there are so many ideas constantly rushing through my mind and it's in my head that I have to present this "perfect" idea in this pretty little box to be accepted. One word, WRONG!! When on a journey to mastery, we are in a state of constant evolution. We are always working towards the next goal, sharpening our skill set and re-defining "possible".

My big realization is this, just because we are not exactly at the level of expertise we may eventually see ourselves being at, does NOT mean we should hold back our services or creative expression. The truth is, there is beauty in so many different forms and stages of development. What's most important is operating from a state of REAL. It's not about the presentation, it's about people getting to see the REAL,RAW, GRIMEY and TRUE you. In the state of real, your INNATE/INBORN wisdom takes over. Life is expressed THROUGH you rather than from you. NOTHING is more beautiful than that... REMOVE the FACADE.

So, no more holding back. I'm making a commitment to post a blog again every week. It may not be perfect, but it will continually be my maximum expression in that given moment. DC  Sid E. Williams once said, "Success is not necessarily reaching your goals, but reaching your maximum potential in light of your opportunities." One of the four agreements is, "Always do your Best." That best is along a different scale for many people, but the RESPECT comes from giving it everything you have.

Again, I really would like to emphasize that we should not hold back our services or creative expression in fear of judgement. Wherever we are in development, there is something to be shared with somebody. My greatest example of this is the mission trip I took to El Salvador as a 3rd quarter chiropractic student. People thought I was crazy and not ready to serve people with chiropractic care. But, I worked my ass off preparing for that trip so that the people of El Salvador were getting my absolute best. On my  last day of service, a 91 year old woman was laid on my table with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. She could not close her hand and had been in excruciating pain for the last three years. Instead of seeing this as a major challenge, I approached it as an opportunity. An opportunity for SOURCE to work through me. I got out of my head and accepted that I had prepared my vessel to the best of my availability. What would come through would come through... Following completion of the adjustment, this woman told me it was the best she had felt in three years. In THREE YEARS!! She may have never experienced this joyous relief if I would of held back my services because, "I wasn't ready."

Tell me I can't do something, I'll tell you, "WATCH ME... Motha Fucka ;)"

Don't hold back. Don't Fear Judgement. Fire the Torpedoes!!

In Love and Chiropractic, future Dr. J

Potential

My deceased older brother would be thirty today. It’s a fact hard to believe when he left this world at the age of eighteen; an age that I used to think of as old but which now I have far surpassed. On this bitter-sweet day there is one word staining my thoughts ... POTENTIAL. Potential is a latent excellence or ability that may not yet be developed. Ryan had a ton of it, and yet he will never get the opportunity to express it or let it be felt by others here on earth. As sad as it is to think about, I also believe it to be a constant reminder that we can do better. Strive for more. Fight for more. Love, more.

As proof of many of loved ones lost at a young age, we never know when it’s going to be our time to go. What we can do is make sure that we take the steps to actually LIVE our lives and not just exist. For those who truly live are on the pursuit of fulfilling their dreams and accomplishing their goals while never resisting the opportunity to better thy self. To go through life in pure existence would be to settle and miss the chance to make a positive impact on those in your surroundings. If life can be short, is it not better to live tall?

We must transmute the potential energy inside of us into a kinetic, flowing representation of life. We must pursue our ideals, connect to our potential, and live the life we’ve always wanted. If the concept of fear may be what is holding us back, how relevant is fear when we are dead and gone?  

I hope this serves some purpose to those who stumble upon it. Don’t give up. We all cycle thru our ups and downs but the importance is in how hard we come back fighting. Be defiant in failure in order to triumph in success.

R.I.P Ryan, Love Brett

              

Swollen Feet

I'm  kicking for life so hard that my feet are swollen. My eyes are welled up, passion built tears waiting to explode. My stomach turns, can I stand another letdown? My head hurts, increased cranial pressure due to constant information overload. I’m shaking, lack of sleep and a wondering mind makes the nerves jumble. My muscles are sore and tired, but I can’t stop, “be the example you want for your patients.” I must make time to meditate. If I free my mind, the rest will follow. Thank you EnVogue.

Welcome inside my head and body. Life as a 3^rd quarter chiropractic student has been quite the ride. There have been moments of depression/excitement, failure/success, and confusion/discovery. I’ve been up, down, and all over the board. A mess at times but relentless always. My spark for the profession keeps me always wanting to know more, which is great in one sense, but dangerous in another. Maybe it’s more efficient to set your scope of practice right out the gates and stay focused on one way to do things... but that’s not me. I question. I need to FEEL the truth. I want the knowledge to resonate so strong that it speaks not just to me, but through me. So, I keep fighting. Failure is not an option.

 Just what am I doing?

-Currently enrolled  in 28 units of class.

-Attend the following clubs: Profession Applied Kinesiology (finishing the 100 hour PAK certification program next weekend), Neurology, Integrated Health Care, Toastmasters, and drop-ins on a few others when I can.

-Participate in Band of Brothers, a philosophy group that meets on Tuesday nights to hear principled chiropractors via teleseminars.

-Started my own “club”, Adjusting Ninjas… Mission: Become a subluxation assassin.  Via Adjusting Ninjas, I also started to interview some killer kiro’s on what makes for that magical adjustment.

http://youtu.be/py2zlbc0q1A

http://youtu.be/FcdbtTN1uZM 

-Read as much philosophy as I can get my hands on and attend as many adjusting seminars as I can afford.

-Train chiropractic, always. Workout, 5+ times a week.

-Formulated EPIC workout Sunday. Every Sunday I design a workout that I wouldn’t think I could complete and then break my previous ‘boundaries” with every successful finish.

-Planning and trying to raise money for a Spinal Mission to El Salvador this summer.

-Doing my best to keep in contact with all those I know and love.

So, what am I thinking?

…. For that, expect a follow up :)

In Love and Chiropracrtic, Future Dr. J