Inside The Polished Apple

The theme is Celebration this December!  Do you make celebrating a routine activity in your life? I like the concept of celebrating a win at the end of the day (soon to be added to my evening routine!) As you read this, take a moment to celebrate that you have made health improvements over last year and that you are getting healthier every year! We want to celebrate your wins with you, so please share them with us when we see you. And if you want more health wins, we can help with that too. The energy of Celebration is aligned with the Advanced Season of Care or Wellbeing that we honour in the office. I'm super excited to be recently back from training on Advanced care and will share some experiences from that in another post. I'm hoping that we can inspire you to also include more purposeful, action directed advancement in your life too, so we can make a positive impact on our little piece of the world. An example...I went to my recent seminar thinking that the advan

Thank you to Dr Robert Clarke for this post on Mindfulness for our May Theme. Dr Rob is a Network Spinal Analysis and SomatoRespiratory Practitioner with Elan.  Mindfulness... This is something we all strive for, to be mindful of others, of the environment, of ourselves.  So if most of us want more mindfulness, why is it such a challenge for many? The key reason is that our nervous systems are dominated by survival energy. With our fast pace of life, financial pressures, and information overload, it's not surprising we get stuck in “fight or flight” mode. While in this state, blood supply to the frontal lobe of our brains in decreased, lowering our ability to be mindful as an ongoing practice. One of the first things we observe when you receive care is a shift in breathing patterns that indicates a shift from survival mode and reacting, to a place of thriving where your nervous system is open to learning and growth. This thriving space is the place of mindfulness.   Breathing

Spring has arrived and the world instantly feels better to me. Along with the season's arrival, April always make me think of new beginnings with pregnancies and babies everywhere (the human and animal variety!). Our office offers many services for around the prenatal time and we especially love to see new babies getting entrained with Network care and seeing them learn strategies to release tension in their bodies-whether the tension has built up from development, during birth or in their early days. I find that many babies who have had care in-utero and in their early weeks and months tend to self-correct with ease and have balanced and flexible nervous systems. For the babes we don't see, or if parents are wondering what to look for to decide if they should have their baby examined, here are some things to look for that may indicate a more serious need for chiropractic care.  Torticollis or difficulty turning head in either direction Placiocephaly (head flatten

Our March Theme at Elan is Nourish and Nature. Here are some words from Dr Robert Clarke on  Nourish Yourself. Dr Clarke practices Network Spinal Analysis Chiropractic with our office, and this article originally appeared in our March newsletter.    The word Nourish is most often associated with food, yet that is only one dimension of nourishing yourself. Certainly, eat well, buy organic foods when possible. Prepare your meals with love, eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Once you have taken care of your nutritional needs, then turn your attention to other ways to nourish yourself. Spend time in nature; research has shown us that as little a few minutes in nature reduces blood pressure. We also know that regular exercise is more effective than medication at improving depression. So take a walk, breath some fresh air. Another important aspect of nourishment is quality connection with others. As social creatures, spending time with friends and loved ones is essential to our well being. G

Join us in Bragg Creek on Feb 26th for a Energy Rich day of Exploring your 12 Stages of Healing. Spend the day deepening your understanding of these natural rhythms. Learn to recognize what stage you are in at different times in your life. Learn how to connect to each stage, acknowledge the stage and accept it as it is. These relatively simple exercises are extremely powerful in assisting healing, fueling transformation and opening you up to your highest potential. The Snowbirds Chalet in Bragg Creek is a great space to the spend the day. Hang out with some cool people, eat some great food and of course, Dr Rob will bring his famous Chocolate treats. You will come away with insights on how you hold different patterns in your body and why. As you learn to work with these patterns,  you are able to respond in a more constructive way in your life. The 12 Stages of Healing Exercises are truly transformative.  So join us for a fabulous day in Beautiful Bragg Creek 11am – 5pm

Welcome to our office-we look forward to seeing you!   In case you haven't been by yet, I thought I'd give you a preview of what you can expect when you come for a visit.   Reception Area Front Desk Entrainment Space for Network Spinal Analysis and a peak into Private Chiropractic Consult Room One of three private Treatment Rooms (Massage Therapy) We hope to share our office space with you soon!  You can help us to celebrate the new space by joining us for our Grand Opening Celebration (AND 10 year birthday party!). Join us Friday, December 5th 5 pm - 7 pm.  We're building our collaborative mosaic, and will have gift bags for our first 50 in attendance, a door prize draw, drinks and snacks, and crafts for the kids!  We're also kicking off our season of giving, by collecting donations for our Adopt a Family from the Bowness Boys and Girls club.  Please RSVP at 403 217 5577.  

Welcome to SpiritWood Retreat in Priddis, Alberta!   It's beautiful here and surrounded by nature and fresh air.  Spending the day here, may mean I will one day write again!   I had the chance to spend the day here for a content/ social media retreat.  But I had to walk the labyrinth for inspiration, during our lunch time break. We arrived in Priddis the day before the snowstorm came to Calgary. It's easier to admire the beauty when you're not worried about the drive!  This lovely creek runs beside the property.   Look!  I actually did some work and have plans to bring to my blog and Elan Family Wellness Centre.  I had lots of good ideas for how to bring content about our programs and services and how we can help enrich your life, through our work-lots of good stuff to come on Reorganizational Healing, Network Spinal Analysis, recipes, and of course, how we can be congruent in our lives, connect with our practice member

Mindfulness, Presence, On the Subject of the Mind, the Brain... this is what May will hold for us!   The Facebook and social media quizzes are everyone-Are you Right Brain or Left Brain Dominant? What hemisphere may be stronger, which one may be less developed, how does that shows up in our body, how does that shows up in our masculine, feminine, if we spend too much time in our logical brain, if our creative brain is neglected, and so it goes on.   I love seeing when other worlds intersect with this:   * * * * * The recent Pathways magazine has an article called The Pregnancy Circle by Laurel Bay Connell, MA.  She compares her first pregnancy from more of a left brain approach, to her second with more of a right brain approach.  For her first pregnancy, she spent her time researching, doing the expected things, going to the classes, interviewing doctors and midwives, doing her exercises, etc.- making her left brain strong.  Compared to her second pregnancy, she spent her tim

Dr. Adrienne Perkins- Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Acupuncturist & Massage Therapist!   This past weekend we were at the Festival of Health and Wellness.  Between muscle testing for allergies, DTCM Tongue and Pulse Diagnosis, sharing information on Network Spinal Analysis, and meeting some new faces, we were busy!   Here's a peak at our table.   It's always fascinating to see the different health and healing modalities being offered in Calgary-there's no much to do and experience!  From movement therapies, health practitioners, organic coffees, angel readings, crystals, massage, to self help books, and much, much more... How does one decide?   We often see people who are confused by what choices to make.   I can share my own experience of how I make decisions about my health.  I choose NSA chiropractic first because it is the one way that I know I can learn new things about how I do my life, and how to re-program that in m

Kapow! It's March. For the last 3 days I have been trying to clear my head enough to get some of the most powerful things I can share into this Newsletter/Blog. How do you put the feeling of agitation into words? Not... anger.... but an incredible longing, buzz, or high pitched squeal. Something so incredible that you cannot put it into words without softening it. How can you? It's like trying to describe the colour red to a blind person – words are inadequate for the job. I've been asked to talk about appreciation but something bigger and much more important to me is on my mind right now. As a health practitioner, I have long thought that restoring someone to their pre-symptomatic state was the goal. To move them from pain back to normal. To return them to their daily lives. A person would come in with XYZ, I'd treat them and then have them go away, returned to normal. Some time later, they would return with ABC, and we would work on that. Again I'd get them

In light of our month of appreciation, I thought I'd share a piece of behind the scenes at our office.  We have much to appreciate-lovely practice members, a supportive community, a beautiful office, and probably key to a lot of this...  some pretty amazing reorganizational tools that we can use for our own healing and growth and to contribute to our own Elan community.   Today is our example of a not so typical day.  Ever wonder what happens at Elan on a quiet day? When the stars align and our schedules are clear at the same time, we've created space for great things.   Such as our staff healing intensive session using Network Spinal Analysis entrainments... Or moments for SomatoRespiratory Integration... (Scott took this one earlier-such beautiful sunlight!) Or strategically plan for all of the fun events we have coming up and work on how to improve our services... Now you know!

Welcome Back!   It's been a nice time away and we had the perfect start to January with a brand new, New Moon.  It feels like an auspicious start and aren't you curious what good things this year will hold?   Have you made plans for the year?  Resisted making plans to see how the year unfolds?  Made a planning date for later in January?   A year ago today I was fully into my food experiment challenge - with a January full of cleanses and playing with a changing diet from Vegan to Paleo.  While it was fun when I did it and I learned a lot about how my body interacts with food, there is none of that at this moment!  This moment will include a little less of the extremes and more of my own common sense.  Yes, I'll try new foods and recipes, but nothing crazy to start off my January.   Any voices that I hear, are all saying that I will have a year that is quiet, home-based, nurturing, creative and restful.  I would love if it includes a bit of boredom as well.  Last yea

The team from Elan Family Wellness Centre spent this past Saturday at the Festival of Health and Wellness sharing our secrets on how to have more health and well being in your life.  We had Allergy and Sensitivity Testing and Treatment demo's, information on Acupuncture and Network Spinal Analysis, and a workshop on 3 Tools to Connect your Breath and Body . The biggest attraction...the magic mister. It was a full and busy day and we hope it helps some of the dozens of people who came by to visit! Dr. Adrienne Perkins, our Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine/ Acupuncturist.

It's Valentine's Day!   Of course, our practice members are the heart of our business and the reason that we've been in business for 8+ years in Calgary (8 years at Elan and 2 1/2 years prior).  How do we love our practice members?  Let us count the ways.   We love that we get to share in your health discoveries. We love that we get to see you from being grumpy in pain, to happy and joyful with life. We love getting to share in the journeys of pregnancies and birth. We love that we get to see kids grow up! We love to see people more comfortable in our community environment. We love being a piece of your life. We love seeing you take charge of your problems and making changes. We love when we see proactive changes to your nutrition, exercise, lifestyle.   We love seeing the changes in your health, your work, your relationships. We love when our practice members are in joy, connected, and contributing.   We love when we see practice members "getting y

I have had the opportunity to travel for work two times in the past three weeks. Why would I want to spend this precious time away from both my family and practice? Fortunately, the trips were for two amazing seminars, which I have been asked about by many practice members. Here is the why and what I have learned. In January I travelled to Denver for 4 days for Dr. Donald Epstein's Intermediate and Advanced Care Intensive seminar. This is the advanced technique seminar for Network Spinal Analysis and is offered yearly, although I have not managed to attend since I last attended in Como, Italy. We have a lot of information to cover as Dr Epstein is constantly refining the work, and we get both lecture and hands-on practice time. As part of his new Reorganizational Healing model, we are learning new ways to work at different depths in the body to refine both the Respiratory and Somatopsychic (healing) waves. It's pretty amazing to see how the work is constantly changing