As many of you know, for the past several weeks I’ve been deep in the process of writing a thesis for a Chiropractic Philosophy course. Well, the thesis is complete, I’ve submitted it for approval and I’m surfacing from the depths of reference books, research journals, and Turbian’s manual for thesis writing. I considered putting the entire thesis in this issue of the newsletter, but it is quite lengthy and I did not want to “hog” space in the newsletter. I thought, instead, that I would give you the short version. So here it is, a “kinder, gentler” version of where my head travelled over the last few months. In Chiropractic, a signifi- cant amount of time and energy has been spent defining and quantifying the subluxation. There are several models which describe its physiological effects and mechanisms. All have subtle differences but share the same idea of an interference in the communication between the body and its Innate Intelligence. This interference is thought to be the reason that we express dis-ease. The body’s natural healing ability is blocked and thus a lack of wellness results. Because of this, the subluxation has been viewed as a “bad” thing; something that should be battled and eliminated from our existence. And so Chiropractors spend their professional lives adjusting and releasing subluxations in an attempt to free the world from this terrible “dis-ease causing” plague. This is how I viewed subluxations for the first several years of my Chiropractic life. Each day I would go to work and battle the ever growing number of subluxations in an attempt to restore the world to a state of ease. I have to admit, though, that there was always something about this “battle” idea that never felt right to me. I tend to be of the belief that what we compete with, we get more of. So, I had to take pause and really consider the “whys” and “wherefore’s” of the subluxation. Why do they exist? Do they serve humanity in some way or are they
evil”? Is there a deeper implication in the creation and release of subluxations? Pondering these questions brought some interesting thoughts, ones which have led to my current views and ideas about subluxations and intention when adjusting. When the subluxation is related only to the dis-ease it creates, we miss the deeper value and purpose of the subluxation. We miss the gift presented by the creation of the subluxation, that gift being the fact that the subluxation causes a separation from Innate. Now, you may be wondering, how can separation from our inborn wisdom, Innate, be a gift. It is a gift because it gives us the opportunity to begin to have knowledge of that wisdom based on the very fact of separation, it yields a new perspective. Perhaps you’ve had the experience of being so close to something that you cannot really see it. You can’t see the forest for the trees. This is how it is with Innate Intelligence. It’s so much a part of us that we cannot truly see it or know it. It just is. Innate acts quietly and consistently in our lives, coordinating all bodily functions, allowing it to move, healing spontaneously. It works so well that we take it for granted. That is, until interference or separation, occurs. At that point, when all that we take for granted is interrupted, we take notice. We wake up and perceive the lack of connection, we experience the gap between innate and ourselves and say “Hey, something’s different, what is it? What is absent now that was present before? What is missing?” In feeling it’s absence we are made aware of it’s presence and a desire to know and reconnect is created. The separation from Innate creates distance and with distance comes perspective. We can “view” Innate from a different vantage point and thus begin to understand its wisdom. Distance also creates polarity, a desire to reconnect with innate. The qualities experienced, those of perspective and polarity created by the subluxation, are the exact qualities which inspire us not only to reconnect with Innate but give us the opportunity to know Innate. And that reaching out toward Innate causes growth, an evolution of body mind and spirit. The subluxation is not a “bad” thing, but a necessary component of self-awareness. It is only “evil” when without any care or attention it is allowed to persist that it becomes detrimental. The Chiropractic adjustment is not a way to