This Old Guitar
I have an Ovation guitar I bought from a pawn shop 20 some years ago. It sits in a corner of our living room most of the time. I guess it is helping to hold up the wall. It has a few imperfections that bely a rancorous past. But it still looks cool. Occasionally I pick it up and play one of the few songs I know, like Margaritaville. Three or four chords, a simple strumming pattern, and the house is transformed into a beach party!
Unless…
Unless I have left it sitting innocently in the corner for too long. Sure it still looks like a guitar no matter how long it sits. But if it has sat for some time, it doesn’t sound much like one.
When I do pick it up and play my greatest hit, it invariably needs to be tuned. I cannot leave it sitting idle for weeks at a time and expect it to work when I pick it up. So I tune it. And it takes a while. The strings aren’t happy about being moved. The heat and cold have affected it. The humidity, or lack thereof, affects it too. Getting everything working correctly after constant neglect is no small feat. And if I pick it up the next day it usually needs some more encouragement to hold a tune, but not as much. But here is the thing. If I pick it up often enough, it doesn’t need a big overhaul every Jimmy Buffett jam session. It just needs little tweaks.
Here is the point:
Our nervous systems are like guitars, they need to be played and tuned on a regular basis or they don’t work correctly. They won’t hold a tune.
A nervous system that has been neglected, like my old guitar, takes some work, some persistent care, to get it tuned up and functioning properly. Again, most likely the nervous system won’t want to hold a tune very long if it has been neglected for a while. It hasn’t been played enough to hold a tune. Getting a human being to stay in tune, takes time and repetition.
Similarly, my guitar needs to be reminded on a regular basis what is expected of it. But early in the process I don’t expect it to remember for long. Like a nervous system, a guitar just wants to keep doing what it was doing, sitting in the corner and collecting dust. Nervous systems and guitars both want to do as little as possible. But if they are to be useful, and they both are, they need to learn to work as they were designed. And this type of change requires time and energy and persistence.
At our office, we have tools that allow us to measure your nervous system function. We want to know if it’s in tune. So we measure your range of motion. Why? Because symmetry and balance are crucial to a properly functioning nervous system. We also measure your leg length. Why? Because balance and symmetry are crucial to a properly functioning nervous system. We also, check your weight distribution on two independent scales to determine your balance and symmetry. Why? Yes! Because it is crucial to a properly functioning nervous system.
And finally, the activator method adjusting that we use, (What is that Clicky Thing) allows us to check the function of individual spinal segments quickly and reliably. And each spinal segment has nerves that run organ systems like digestion and circulation and essentially every part of us.
In case you haven’t guessed, the quality of our lives, our wellness, must function properly or we are headed toward sickness and degeneration. So, if the spinal bones are working properly, chances are you will be functioning at a higher capacity.
Hopefully by now, you get the idea about the supremacy of your nervous system in regulating your overall health and wellness. Humans, and guitars, need regular tune ups. And maintenance. Inactivity and neglect will ruin your guitar and your body. Not to mention the dust!
Get your spine tuned on a regular basis to keep things moving in your favor. And if you have neglected your guitar and your nervous system for any length of time, we are here to help. But remember to stay patient AND persistent. The consistent effort will be worth it.
If you need help getting back in tune, call us:
208-466-4580
Cheers,
Dr. Swaim
