Deciding to have a baby is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. Or is it? Truthfully, the most important decision you’ll ever make for that baby is to prepare your body in advance for the important job that it will do.
Believe in Breastfeeding
Posted by: Jenny Everett King, CYT
The cover of a well-known magazine this week featured a well-known actress performing a well-known activity: breastfeeding her child. Now, just like when another magazine’s cover portrayed a breastfeeding mother and baby in 2006, people have complained. There are, apparently, many adults and teenagers who are uncomfortable with images of nursing mothers.
Breastfeeding is one of the few practices left in our culture that is inherently natural. It also happens to be healthy for both mother and baby (physically and emotionally), convenient, and economical. (Stressed about the expense of having a baby in the current economy? Breastfeed, and you could save thousands of dollars a year!) Most of us know, intellectually, that breastfeeding is the ideal means of infant nutrition. Yet many still don’t like to see it in action.
Consequently, many breastfeeding mothers feel uncomfortable nursing their babies in public. Numerous women have commented, “I just don’t want to make anyone else feel awkward.” A mother may not mind being seen nursing her baby, but still mind the disapproving looks she gets for doing so. The majority of restaurants, shopping malls, and airports do not offer an area that is comfortable, clean, private, and otherwise appropriate for breastfeeding. Many women feel that they are left with a choice between hygiene and privacy . (Public restrooms are very often not an option. )
If we as a culture truly believe in the benefits of breastfeeding for all babies, then we must show our support for nursing mothers. We should encourage them to feed their babies in the area where they are most comfortable, physically and emotionally. We certainly should never make them feel awkward or embarrased.
At Healing Hands, we offer a comfortable and private sitting area where we invite women to breastfeed. However, mothers are welcome to feed their babies wherever they prefer in our office. We believe that both mother and baby benefit immeasurably from the act of breastfeeding, and we are committed to encouraging this aspect of natural health and well-being.
Turn Up the Health
Posted by: Dr. Jessica L. Caruso
When I first graduated from chiropractic college, I moved to New Hampshire to take on an associate position. While working under this other doctor, I learned a lot about how to explain the power of chiropractic and the miracle of the human body to both patients and prospective patients alike.
One particular analogy always stuck with me when explaining the difference between health and sickness. I would be in a room full of people with the door shut. I would tell the people that on the other side of the door all the lights were out in the hallway and the hallway was left in pitch darkness. I would then ask the group what would happen if I opened the door- would the light from the room we were in seep into the dark hallway and make the hallway brighter, or would the darkness from the hallway seep into the lit room and make it dimmer? Every time I would ask this question, the answer was always, “Of course the hallway would become brighter.” So I would ask “Why?” I would get all kinds of answers about the speed of light and so forth. But never once did I get the answer I was looking for. I would wonder if never getting the right answer was due to our societal mindset of “healthcare.” I would then go on to explain that darkness does not exist but is merely the absence of light…just like sickness does not exist but is merely the absence of health. In order to make the hallway brighter we need to turn up the lights, not go into the dark room and pick out the “dark spots”! So why aren’t we turning up the light in our bodies? Turning up the health is the answer, not taking out the dark spots; taking out the gallbladder, tonsils, female reproductive organs, whatever the surgery du jour or surgery trend of the decade is.
Too many people are ignoring the signs their bodies are sending them! We are all born with an innate intelligence. Our bodies all have the ability to heal. However, we need to provide the environment for that to occur optimally. If someone breaks their arm, and decides not visit the ER to get the bone set and cast, their arm will heal. However, it will not heal optimally. This may be a drastic example. Most people cannot ignore the fact that their arm is broken, so why are we ignoring all the other signs. Headaches…not a deficiency of Excedrine like the commercials want you to believe. Getting a headache is your body’s way of telling you there is something wrong, something’s out of balance and in a state of dis-ease. If your oil light in the car came on and you decided to take the fuse out so the light turned off, does that mean the problem is fixed? Or does it make more sense to check the oil?!! We need to start treating our bodies at least as well as we treat our vehicles.
Chiropractic, yoga, reiki, massage and a regular meditation practice are all ways of enhancing the ability to listen to your body and make the appropriate adjustments your body needs. Stop turning off the lights and start turning up the health.