Thing is, the atlas doesn’t meet the skull. Instead it sits in between the vertebra that does (the axis or 2^nd cervical vertebra) and the occipital bone. It is a position void of weight bearing and structural restriction. The atlas has the capacity to move in pretty much any direction. The atlas can move up, down, to the right, or left. It can twist forward or backward or move directly to the back or front.  The motion of the atlas is restricted only by the musculature that surrounds it.

Which means that, at the junction where all our worldly perceptions meet all our conscious thoughts there is a vertebra capable of molding (with its positioning and resulting muscular compensations) our ability to perceive, think and respond. In other words, our life’s experience lies at the mercy of the positioning of the atlas.

The Secrets of the Spine examines the atlas’ mirroring capacity, its influence over our experiences, and how this vertebra, along with the other twenty-three vertebrae of the spine, links our mind and body to the person we have become. It is a process that influences everything and, in this role designed to affect every aspect of our life, the atlas is as much the influencer as it is the influenced. For it is that the positioning of our ankles, the tilt of our pelvis, the alignment of the lower thoracic spine, and the health and functioning of our urinary system influences the twist of the atlas. Theirs is, as is every aspect of our body, a two-way communication where a twinge of fear, an unhealthy fluid, or an imbalanced core can cause an increased sensitivity to everything that could be construed as a personal threat.

We see the world through colored glasses, designed and constructed from our thoughts, beliefs and all the interconnections between mind and body.  It is a perspective that is led by the positioning of every vertebra, and yet it is the atlas that often gets the credit or the blame. The first cervical vertebra in is the middle of it all. For instance, there is the following.

It wasn’t so much a headache as it was a thumping in his head. Thump – thumb, in sync with the beat of his heart, every time he tried to fall asleep the noise would distract. The temptation to open his eyes in search of the source was hard to ignore. But he didn’t. Experience had already taught John that nothing was there. Whatever it was, it wasn’t coming from the outside.

For two months he fought his battle, to sleep in spite of the sound, in silence. I suspect John was afraid it was something rather important – something that couldn’t be fixed. So he continued his nightly dance with the thumping until, well frankly, he just couldn’t take it any more.    

It was then that John told his wife and, as was her way, within hours John was in his doctor’s office discovering that he had high blood pressure. Dangerously high it was termed, and followed immediately with a prescription that was to begin at once.

Alarmed, John complied without thought of why he had suddenly developed such a problem. He wasn’t overweight; he managed to exercise (though he wasn’t terribly consistent), and his diet had been fairly decent for years. Truth was, there wasn’t a reason he could have pinpointed if he had decided to wonder. So in a way it was just as well that John and his wife headed to the pharmacy accepting that John’s life had been altered. He would likely be taking blood pressure medication for the rest of his life.

What happened next John would later consider an intervention from God. However, at the time, it came at him as if the universe was piling it on. As he and his wife were turning into the pharmacy’s parking lot, a car came out of nowhere and did its best to smash into the front seat John had been occupying.

The medication s was forgotten. In its place were the police, the emergency room, the x-rays and a whole lot of worrying. At the end of the day, John and his wife were home, without car or pills. That night the thumping, though it was as strong as ever, wasn’t the reason John couldn’t get to sleep. It was the pain in his middle back that did that.

I saw John the next day, found the problem in his back and began the process of helping him find a better balance. As I did, the story of John’s thumping unfolded, caught my attention and sparked my curiosity. Once I had his middle back realigned, I immediately turned to the positioning of the first vertebra in his neck. My actions were being guided by something I had been told about the connection between the atlas and high blood pressure. From what I could remember, it had been found that, if the atlas were misaligned in a certain way, it would always result in an elevation of the systolic pressure (that’s the first number in the blood pressure reading).

I found John’s atlas to be misaligned. What’s more its aberrant positioning was exactly the way it would need to be to elevate John’s blood pressure. Curious about the blood pressure connection, and aware that John’s atlas wasn’t properly aligned, I decided on a course of action that involved me adjusting John’s neck and asking him to hold off on the medication for a few more days.

That night John fell asleep without the pain in his back or the thumping.

The next day I found John’s neck to be better aligned and his blood pressure improved. Again I worked on the atlas. Two weeks later, with a healthier positioned neck and no more thumping, John received a renewed diagnosis from his medical doctor. John’s blood pressure was normal.

I have no doubt that his atlas was the reason for John’s high blood pressure. What I failed to discover (most likely because I didn’t look) were all the other imbalances and disruption that were also connected to that bone’s aberrant positioning. Over the years I have found the atlas to have a thousand reasons for its misalign and, perhaps more importantly, I have been able to help eliminate thousands of problems by simply getting the first cervical vertebrae to maintain a healthier position. 

Next entry: C2 – the axis

The next 10 entries (including this one) will address some of the individual relationships connected to the positioning of the base of the skull, each the 24 vertebra and the base of the spine. As we go through the relationships, the influences, and the adversities that come when the structure isn’t properly aligned, please keep in mind that everyone (that includes you) has the ability to realign, rebalance, and improve every facet, issue, and interconnection within his or her spinal column. As a matter of a fact, I am certain that the very specific do-it-yourself approach I have discovered is a design nature intended for us all. However, as all the techniques are covered in the Secrets of the Spine and the directions for the Spine Tuner System, we’ll get on with the relationships and leave the directions of how to realign and rebalance where they already are.

The occipital bone is really nothing more than a fancy name for the base of our skull. It’s that portion of the skull that sits on top of the spine. If you recall a previous entry, it is also the upper pendulum. With every breath there is a rocking motion of the occipital bone. From front to back the skull rocks on the spine causing a motion that reverberates throughout the spinal column. Energy, fluid, and neurological impulses are moved as the skull and sacrum (base of the spine) shift in a mirroring manner.

When the spine deviates, however, the skull’s motion is one of the first things to be lost. No matter what the deviation, or at what level within the spine, when the spine moves beyond its design, it is a certainty some degree of tension will occur between the occipital bone and the upper most cervical vertebrae.

It is a jamming that reduces motion, slows the force of life and interferes with the nervous system. From hind brain to spinal cord, some degree of neurological disruption is going to occur. And though this could influence and affect almost anything, one of the commonest symptoms is what we refer to as a headache.

When the skull jams onto the neck, the neurological integrity of the brain is affected. This occurs because of a direct mechanical torque to the nervous system or a reduction of the normal blood supply to the brain. Either way our brain is going to be affected. And though it is the pain of the headache that is more likely to get our attention, it is almost a certainty that when our head hurts, the brain is being malnourished, deprived of oxygen, and forcefully twisted (at the level of the hindbrain). Not something we would chose to continue if we knew what was happening.

However, in most cases we have no idea. The misalignment, though not without clues (there is the tension, the stiffness, and the soreness, if we poke around a little at the top of our neck), is either overshadowed by the pain in our head or is dismissed as just something accompanying our head pain. Seldom are the signs and symptoms of deviation known for what they represent. Instead, the signs (the soreness, tension and rigidity) are called reactions to stress, fatigue, or a part of our dilemma (the headache).

As to the headache itself – it is explained away as a chemical or stress reaction. We’ve done something we shouldn’t have, and now we are paying for it. It is a perspective that makes it quite appropriate to do whatever we can to rid ourselves of the pain. So we do.

When the pain pill has done its job, however, what happens to the alignment of the skull, the tension between the skull and the neck or any of the other neurological and structural complications that have come about when the occipital bone was misaligned and jammed?

Odds are, the mechanical distortions are going to lessen, however, seldom do they return to normal on their own. Instead, the deviations abate just enough so that our pain doesn’t immediately return. The distortions remain in an asymptomatic form that continues to disrupt and eat away at our neurological, physiological, and mental health.

It is truly amazing how often a headache that has been cured by a pain pill has silently set us up for further decline, greater susceptibility and, more than likely, another headache sometime in the future.

Next, as your imagination is holding this pendulum picture, let your mind cause a further separation of the two pendulums, and then quickly fill in the space with a tube, a covering, and a vibratory field surrounding everything that you now have running from the bottom to the top. Within the tube imagine an electrical current capable of moving up or down, and within the covering imagine a fluid flowing in the same manner, which would also be the case for the energetic field you have positioned around everything.

Everything moves. However, as you watch all this motion, you begin to realize that it is the rhythmic opposition of the pendulums synced to some unknown source that is responsible. Without the pendulums, the dynamics of the electrical current, fluid and energetic field would stagnate – a situation you immediately intuit as unfavorable. So you maintain the motion, the separation, and everything currently present, as you add in another piece to your picture.

This piece comes in pieces – twenty-four to be exact. Beginning immediately above the bottom pendulum you begin stacking; one on top of the other, a series of highly movable segments, each associated with a very particular and different construct. Piece by piece you stack and, as you do, you pause for a brief moment to get a sense of all the relationships with which each piece comes. There are feelings you recognize, thoughts you know and senses that relate to every aspect of what could only be called a physiological pattern. And though you are not sure why, you know that within each segment of this tower you are erecting piece by piece, there is an inescapable power that, if allowed, would shape the destiny of your entire picture.

For a moment, hold this picture and allow yourself to ponder the potential of unending motion, flowing energy (in the guise of an electrical current, nourishing fluid and a surrounding electromagnetic field) and twenty-four movable segments (all capable of molding every aspect of your experience).

In and of itself – it’s a pretty amazing picture. However, it is also not quite complete. Missing are all the thoughts you have ever thought and all those emotions you have allowed to frequent your life. These, you attach (with your imagination) to the placement of the segments, the positioning of the tower, and to every aspect of your creation’s ensuing dance with the forces of nature.    

Intertwined with all that we are (our thoughts, feelings, perspectives, hopes and dreams) this picture hopefully will give you a small glimpse of the powerful potential that is your spine. The structure is indeed made up of bones, muscles, ligament and nerves, and yet it is neither physical nor energetic – instead it is the purest representation of the being/person we truly are. Twenty-four segments called vertebrae, two pendulums – the skull and the sacrum, an electrical system known as the spinal cord, a flowing liquid known as the cerebral spinal fluid, and an energetic field called the kundalini all come together to guide and direct our thoughts, feelings and every cell within our body.

This is the tower we call our spine.

**********

For a moment longer, stay with your thoughts, however, instead of being off in your imagination, shift perspectives for an earthier, more practical contemplation.

There is a certainty about the spinal column with which everyone finds agreement. The individual bones of the spine move in a manner that influences the nervous system, the spine’s overall positioning impacts our brain as equally as it affects every organ and cell of the body and the alignment and balance of every vertebra is essential to our overall life experience. Combining this with the finding that it takes but a little effort, and even less know how, to maintain the alignment and balance of our spine in a way that ensures the health and functioning of our nerves, organs, cells, brain, and perspectives and we find that the simplest approach to our spine must be in part a mechanical one.

The spinal column’s structural-neurological-physiological connection is accepted. The spine’s interrelationship with our thoughts and feeling, its command over our health and life, and its direct connection to our interpretations, beliefs and perspectives is equally known though less considered. Nevertheless, if we are to successfully mold our spine into a more balanced and healthier position, we must also include thoughts and feelings, perspective and focus and the energetic nature of every connection and relationship.

Whether energetic or mechanical, influenced by the forces of gravity or our thoughts, and/or the cause of our health or just an early warning system to tell us of our situation, the alignment, balance, and functioning of our spine is an essential ingredient in all our health related desires. It is for this reason that I consider our spine to be the most important part of us. However, I realize that few have my background. So, even though I am certain when I say, “To be healthier and happier our first step must always have us working with our mind and spine.” I realize many of us may still be overwhelmed by all the thoughts, beliefs, theories and constructs purporting to be the more valid view of our reality.

It’s a hollow feeling when we don’t know what to accept, especially if what we are being told seems to contradict what we have already accepted as our truth. Fortunately, even though our thoughts and feelings play such a decisive role in the alignment and functioning of our spine, we don’t have to begin with the spine’s energetic nature. Instead, a simple look at the mechanical-neurological relationships of each vertebra should be more than enough to convince the most ardent disbeliever of how incredibly important our spinal column really is.

In my next entry I’ll begin at the top and explore a few of these interconnections.

Ask a medical doctor what we should do about our lower back pain and we will likely get something about pain pills, traction or surgery. Ask the same thing of an acupuncturist and we get needles, a nutritionist and we get a diet, a dentist and we get the relationship between the pain and tension we are experiencing and our teeth and jaws. Then, of course, there is the chiropractor. No matter how much more knowledgeable a chiropractor is about our back, his or her answer is going to depend on his or her chosen discipline. We might be told that our pain is coming from the positioning of our neck, or how we use our feet – but then again it could also be one of the many probable causes lying in-between the two.

Who we see determines what we do, or at least it does if we can afford what they are suggesting and can get ourselves to accept what they are offering. Actually, when it comes to the latter, pain creates desperation, and desperation creates a rather gullible mind, meaning that we are likely to accept anything if it comes with the promise, ‘the pain will be gone’.

It is a promise that demonstrates two very important truths about our health (these are truths that just as easily relate to every other facet of our life as well).

Number one: There are many ways to get to where we want to be. All the suggestions and all the techniques in the world of health care are being offered for one very curious reason – they work. When the lower back says ‘ouch’, we can rub, twist, medicate, exercise, or eat something and, regardless of what we have chosen; it is likely that the pain will be vanquished. If the pain remains – typically we just try something else. Sooner or later, somewhat like buying a lottery ticket, we are going to find a technique or action that brings us the changes we seek.

Number two: Seeking the right cure, fix or solution points out the second truth – We don’t have a clue as to what we are doing. This is especially evident when the issue doesn’t respond. For some there is a somewhat stubborn adherence to the same approach as each successive effort brings the same unfulfilling results. For others, there is the parade of techniques and physicians, as they become the quintessential expert on their condition or problem.

Not knowing why everything relates to, or influences, everything else is likely the reason most of us are unable to answer why is it that so many diverse approaches can cause the same outcome. Yet, at the same time, this same lack of knowing leads us to the answer of the far more important question that asks, “Why is it that, when we find ourselves with some sort of difficulty, our first reaction is to ask another for assistance?”

Not knowing the why of a thing drives the curious mind to seek an answer. However, each answer is (as it was likely designed to be) based on the perspective of the individual doing the searching.

With life’s foundations a mystery, evolving theories tend to come from relationships and interactions we think we know. This gives us answers and explanations; however, it also means that many of our supporting theories come from a mechanism, interaction, or relationship that has at its core a determining factor unknown to us. Any theory created in this manner (and they all are) must rely on some degree of subjective interpretation.

This means we all get to make up our own story as to what is happening. Sometimes our stories agree and sometimes they don’t. Yet it is almost a certainty a number of the actions resulting from our different interpretations are going to cause similar responses in our body as well as our life. From our differences comes a sameness that is seldom understood.

There is no shortage of assumed knowledge, theories, and concepts – that’s why there are so many approaches, techniques, and answers. In fact, there are so many things to choose from we have all become convinced that only the experts could possibly have the answer. This is the reason we seek outside of ourselves when circumstances and situations are not the way we want them.

Our lack of knowing has created of plethora of knowledge that has quite likely prevented us from addressing our health and life in the manner nature originally intended. There’s also the likelihood that all this supposed knowing is the underlying reason theories with the greatest political or financial backing are the theories most accepted. When all truths can be questioned, does it really matter which is on top?

The latter thought I find fun to think about, however, it really is irrelevant. Knowing that we don’t know is the key here. Once we can grasp that, then the door to a deeper understanding, and perhaps a better way, seems to automatically open. When it does, one of the first things everyone (passing through the resulting opening) is struck by is how all these answers we have been searching for have always been there.

It’s just that we have been looking in the wrong direction. Everything we need to know lies within us. Granted, it is often deeply buried, however, when we look at life from its energetic nature (currently considered life’s basic foundation) we begin to understand why and how all things relate to all things.

It is a perspective that answers many a question, explaining, as it does, the reason techniques either work or don’t, why a thing can be approached from so many different angles and why it is that our first step with any desired change is always ours alone to make.

It is also a perspective that gives us cause to ponder concepts and relationships seldom considered. For instance, when the energetic nature of life is factored in, what we think comes to the forefront as perhaps the most important thing in our life. Every thought forms a pattern to which our body and life must adapt. It is an adaptation that is never random or unfair and, as a matter of fact, when our thoughts are consciously paid attention to, the adaptations, as well as the resulting situations and circumstances become as easily predictable as they are changeable. Our life and health have structure and potential, and yet whatever happens is always ours to choose.

An energetic perspective makes life knowable, yet it remains up to us to make life tolerable. It is for this reason that I have spent most of my life searching for the easiest and simplest way to help everyone create a life that is not only fun, but also filled with health and happiness.

It was during this search that I stumbled over one of the biggest surprises of my life. I had been a chiropractor for a few years and considered my knowledge of the spine somewhat complete. I knew the bones, muscles, joint and nerves. I knew the impact of misalignment, the cause of degeneration and, more importantly, I knew how to fix what wasn’t right.

So it was a shock when I discovered that the spine was not so much a mechanical structure as it was a link between the person we believe ourselves to be and life’s foundation (the energetic nature of everything). This system of bones, muscles and nerves is a link that molds to our thoughts as it determines the physical aspects of our health and life. With every thought it shifts and changes, with every reaction it adapts and aligns and yet its nature is to command the physical, influence the mental and always be a part of the neurological. It is a system that is more alive than perhaps any other aspect of our physical self, and yet it is a system we think of only as tower that affects our nerves and holds us upright.

Discovering the true nature of the spinal column changed my life. It changed the way I was to help others, and eventually it caused me to set aside my practice for a keyboard. Yet my life’s purpose remains the same. The goal is simply to help everyone get to the point where they can help themselves. With the Spine Tuner System and the knowledge within the Secrets of the Spine I have a good beginning. There will be other books and other tools. However, for now, there is also this blog. So let me continue explaining not so much the true nature of our spine (that’s already been written about in the Secrets of the Spine) but, instead, how it is that the spine is the most important part of our life. I call this series “Why the Spine?”

Stay tuned for the next entry.

 Computers (at least for now) demand that we use our eyes. For the entire time we are on a computer (unless you type the way I do) we are staring at a screen filled with little radiating dots. In a way it is like looking into the sun, though fortunately the radiation is far less intense and/or harmful.

 It is a process that stresses the eyes, affects the alignment of our head, and exacerbates tension and imbalance. Whether it is reading the text, playing a game, or shopping, selling and buying, when we are in front of our computer, our eyes are being asked to stare unceasingly at an unfriendly surface. However, it’s not the electrical quality of our computer screen or whatever radiation it might be emitting that poses the biggest problem for our eyes. No, that threat goes to the immobility of the surface on which our eyes are being asked to focus.

 When we are on line, typing a letter, or in some other way staring at that screen above our keyboard, our focus narrows and doesn’t shift. For a few minutes, a few hours or all day, our eyes are being asked to function, without being allowed to move. It is a combination completely contrary to the conditions best suited for normal, healthy and coordinated usage of our eyes. Our eyes strain, sometimes within the first hour, and always by the end of the day.

 It is a stress that might cause localized pain around the eyes or a reddening of the eyeballs, however, most of the time we leave our computer just knowing that our eyes are a little tired. What we are not aware of is the resulting lack of eye coordination between the right and left, the eye-brain disconnect, the tension at the base of our skull, the pressure on our hindbrain, the tight (often rigid) muscles around our eyeballs, and all the resulting neurological ramifications that come when the eye-brain coordination is disrupted.

 We walk away from our computer imbalanced, stressed, and susceptible to anything and everything. From the common cold to a big time disease, a suppressed thyroid to a cardiovascular condition or an acute inflammatory condition to some sort of accident; some type of susceptibility is always going to present itself when our eyes have been abused, misused and taken for granted. The influence our eyes wield over our body is astounding, to the point of being unbelievable, and yet over and over again I have seen all kinds of problems (mechanical, physiological and emotional) disappear when the health of our eyes is addressed.

 It was because of this adverse affect computers have on our eyes that I came up with another impractical idea for the computer. The thought was to have a screen that would, every now and then, shift positions. For instances, if we begin by looking  slightly off to the left, after a few minutes the monitor would reposition itself so that we were now looking straight ahead or off to the right. By constantly altering the direction in which we looked (this would be just enough so that we moved only our eyes, not our head), we would at least be getting some motion to the muscles of our eyes.

 Being told that no one wants a computer screen they have to chase, made me rethink my solution for our eyes. Unfortunately, nothing simple and easy (or practical) has surfaced. Instead, I have found but one solution, and though it works extremely well, it still requires one of the hardest things there is– we have to set aside the time for it, and then do it.

 The doing of anything because it is good for us seldom seems to be enough motivation to get it done. Nevertheless, for now the following comes only with the recommendation that if you can implement this technique into your evening routine the effect of a day’s worth of computer usage will be lessened. Eye-brain coordination will be maintained, and all the ramifications stemming from uncoordinated eyes will likely not become an issue.

 The technique is simply an eye exercise. Fact is; any eye exercise will do. As long as whatever we have chosen makes our eyes work, as we focus our attention on what our eyes are doing, the results are going to be positive. In the series Secrets of the Spine the best eye exercise is detailed, so instead of going over an eye exercise step by step I will refer you to the series and finish by adding the following.

 For an eye exercise to result in what we are after, it is advisable to make sure we are fulfilling the following five steps.

1.  Our attention should be on our eyes and their motion, not what we are looking at.
2. Our motion should be smooth and expanded. Moving the eyes as far as possible with a gentle motion that moves the eyes in every conceivable direction is always best.
3. Variable motions providing a decided difference in focus is always preferred. For instance, shifting rapidly from a close-in focus to something far away makes the eye muscles work as it also causes the eye-brain coordination to reset.
4. The chosen routine should be after we have finished with the computer and consistent (an everyday routine is always best)
5. Our eye exercise technique should be as simple as possible and, if possible, made to be fun – not something we must do to be better.

 With these rules, and an eye program you like, you will be able to soften the impact your computer has on your life.

It is a mechanism that involves the totality of everything we have become, even when it is experienced as non-important or inconsequential. The slightest of pricks, the gentle brush of feather, or the totally unnoticed but neurologically stimulating event will, and usually does, trigger a global reaction involving, at the very least, our chemical, structural and neurological selves.

Whether we are aware of it or not, we respond to everything. Consciousness is not essential to the living of life. And though it is true that, if we are to enjoy what we are living, the odds increase exponentially the more open and aware we become, the key here is that the impact of each experience will resonate with or without our knowledge. Our body is in constant flow (some call it the motion of life) adapting and responding to everything we come in contact.

Consequently, when we want to know how something is affecting us, one of the last things we should do is ask our conscious self. The likelihood of us not knowing is usually only rivaled by the certainty that our body is already responding. Because of this, I have found that the best diagnostic approach is to ask the body directly.

One such technique has been given the name – applied kinesiology. Essentially it is nothing more than a muscle testing technique whereby we are able to evaluate the strength and weakness of a muscle, as well as the muscle’s reaction to specific stimuli. In other words, if we expose ourselves to a certain way of thinking, a health enhancing or life threatening chemical or some other random physical stimuli, the muscles of the body are going to react. It is a language that can be confusing, is often misinterpreted, and yet when read correctly, the person being tested becomes an opened book. Everything becomes interpretable, even the things the individual has no awareness of.

Having spent decades learning the technique’s nuances and pitfalls and discovering the perfect approach for every situation, I quite naturally began testing everyone’s muscles as I began my understanding of our interrelationship with electricity. The first thing I discovered was that the longer we sit in front of a computer the weaker our muscles become. Knowing that prolonged sitting will cause the same response from our body, prompted me to set up a situation where the person was either lying or standing near the same computer. The results never wavered.

With this unchanging and always present response my study of electrical devices began. It was study that, more often than not, found me examining someone while they sat in front of a computer, and so it seems only natural for me to include what I discovered in this entry on how to live and function with a computer.

My first reaction was to remove my patient from his or her computer. A sacrifice that, years ago, could be made without a total collapse of a person’s lifestyle. The results were amazing. Regardless of the symptom, problem, and /or the person’s overall conditioning, as soon as the computer was not a major part of the individual’s life the response time (in every case) miraculously shortened.

People got healthier – faster.

When I included televisions and all the other electrical devices available at the time, the speed of recovery became unbelievable. There wasn’t a weakness or difficulty that didn’t respond. These were exciting times filled only with one ominous concern. I knew it couldn’t last. Computers were shifting from the rage to a necessity. Sooner or later my option of getting someone off their computer was going to disappear.

My study of how electricity affects us quickly became a search for how we could interact with electricity in a way that wouldn’t be draining or detrimental.  It was a search that took me to grounding devices, mathematical formulas, and varies forms of shields and protective techniques. Many sort of worked, though most didn’t and all were rather impractical, let alone simple and easy.

Then, as it has been with everything that is simple and effective, the answer was there, given to me in a theory that had little to do with our body’s resistance to electricity. However, as it was tried over and over again with the same remarkable results I had to admit that it worked. So I began telling patients about it, and suggesting that they give it a try.

Being as simple and easy as it is, the only difficulty we encountered was remembering to use it. That was solved with an alarm to signal, ‘time to once again implement the technique’.

So what is this miraculous technique?

Let me warn you now – it’s too simple to be believed, yet once I have been able to get anyone in the habit of using it, I have not only found muscles to remain strong and more relaxed, but I have also seen pretty much every kind of symptom (especially the one’s aggravated by  one’s proximity to a computer) disappear. Note: this technique supports the body in its effort to compensate for an exposure to electricity. In and of itself, it also improves our health; however, most of the improvement will likely come from the spinal self health techniques I teach.

The technique is nothing more than a several deep breaths taken as the body is positioned properly and the mind is engaged with a very specific imagination.

I know, this sounds too simple, however, when we consider that the vast majority of us don’t have a clue as to what a healthy breath actually is it begins to make a little more sense. So let me teach you the breath.

As to how it works, why it works, and the amazing power behind such a technique please read the series Secrets of the Spine.

The Technique

You’re sitting behind your keyboard, staring at the screen when an alarm signals it’s time to breath. You remain sitting; however, you push back from the keyboard a bit, and take stock of your posture. Without questioning where you found yourself or judging your posture, you move your body into the position you want.  Sitting equally on both buttocks, you elevate your feet (using whatever footstool gives you’re the correct height) so that your legs are parallel to the floor. With a small support behind your lower back you lift up your chest so that your back is tall and your shoulders are above your hips. Lastly you tuck your chin to your neck and relax.

Holding this position you now let your mind focus on your feet as you take a deep breath in (let your diaphragm expand fully as you keep your chin tucked). As the air rushes in, let your focus move from your feet to ankles, knees, hips, and then up your spine to your skull. At this point your breath is full and your position hasn’t wavered. Now breathe out, letting your mind retrace your body from skull to spine to hips, knees, ankles and feet.

Now repeat the entire process at least two more times but no more than 5 more times.

That’s all there is – in, out, done, and back to the computer.

When you get to the point where you are doing this about eight times a day, you will notice a difference. The longer you stay with the technique the more you’ll likely notice all kinds of changes in your life. This is especially so if you are also working with the Spine Tuner System and following the techniques in the Secrets of the Spine.

 In today’s world there’s, more often than not, an electrical device strapped to our waist or wrist, several more either in pockets or at an arms reach, and seldom a room within our houses that doesn’t have either a gigantic television, an equally impressive computer or some sort of gigantic docking system for all those rechargeable items we cannot live without. Our life has become an electrical event. And though the ramifications of such a phase (or is it evolution) carry into the far corners of every aspect of our existence, for now let’s focus on but one small portion of this experience – living and working with a computer.

 Computers, televisions and those massive electrical transport systems strung across fields, over homes and through neighborhoods were a favorite for those convinced our health would wither proportionally to our electrical exposure. At the time, I found their alarm somewhat overblown, non-supported and curiously contagious, so much so that it wasn’t long before I was doing my own experimentation. The results were enlightening, and have, over the years, helped many a person whose work has placed them in front of a computer screen.

 My discoveries were simple. Electrical currents, regardless of their origin (batteries, wall sockets, or transformers) and how they are spread (wires, pocketed devices, or radiating images), have an adverse effect upon the proper functioning of our body.

 Exposure to any form of electricity lessens us.

 Which means, when we find ourselves too close to an electrical device, our body is being caused to do one of two things. It is either going to break down and degenerate or it is going to adapt and compensate. Of these two choices, for the vast majority it is the latter that is always chosen.

 We compensate – very effectively I might add. So well in fact that, at times, a small electrical exposure appears to create what we call improvement – pain disappears, tissue heals, and systems appear healthier. Of course, when this happens, the electrical devise is given the credit, even though, in truth, it is the body’s capacity to adapt and respond that is at the heart of any and all improvement.

 Electrical devices are detrimental – however, as long as we have a body capable of shifting and changing with its environment, we will remain oblivious to the harm, which, as it turns out, is the real problem with our electrical society. Unaware that our continuous prolonged exposure is wearing on us, we continue on, adding more and more things for which there is a need to compensate. It is a path that, with every addition, brings us ever nearer to what could only be called ‘compensatory failure’. When that happens, our body is going to be left with only one other choice – breakdown and degeneration.

 For many this has already begun, yet because of the body’s ability to compensate, the cause of our difficulties is not being blamed on our devices, computers and televisions. Instead, what we eat, how we move (or don’t move) and all the other adversities of life (like the news) continue to share the responsibility of our downfall and decline. And when those don’t work, there is always the aging process. 

 Getting older is already the catchall for anything and everything for which we can’t quite pinpoint a cause or reason. And as, no matter who we are, everyone gets older, even though our electrical overexposure is wearing on us, odds are we’ll never be able to place the blame on our phones, cameras and computers. Which means any advice given that directs us to avoid our electrical conveniences will be as effectively ignored as it has been for the past 20 or 30 years.

 We will continue using our devices.

 To advise against it is an ill-advised uphill journey – one I have taken more times than I care to admit. And though the results were always less than hoped for, from this journey came a far greater understanding of the natural interplay between the physical and the electrical. For instance, the primary factor in our dance with nature’s energies, is not the substance or its energetic makeup but, instead, the health, balance, and energetic makeup of our own body. The healthier, more relaxed and happier we are the greater our adaptation and resistance will be. 

 We move through life far easier when we know of, and utilize, the gifts nature has given us.

 There’s the water we drink, the food we consume, the posture we acquire, and the thoughts we think – all, in a variety of ways, affect the physical body’s ability to be as it was designed. To know how to flow with gravity, which foods and what drinks support and detract, and what thoughts best provide for our desires is something we all should be aware of.

 Of course, this doesn’t mean we must then base all our actions on what we know – in life we are always free to choose whatever we want. It’s just that some choices are more fun than others. This is true with everything we do including everything we take the time to do or not do when we are working with our computers. We get to choose and, even though it is our choice, I have discovered that everything has a tendency to turn out better (in that it is far more pleasing) when our choices are consciously based on the underlying energetic knowledge of life.

 For this reason, in the next entry we will take a look at the simplest, easiest technique there is for supporting our body’s resistance to electricity. It is a technique I have found to be especially important when we ask our body to sit in front of a computer screen for hours at a time.

 For instance, we all know about carpal tunnel syndromes. Manipulating the mouse and keyboard in a repetitive manner with our hands placed incorrectly causes the joints to inflame, tissue to irritate, and pain fibers to fire. Or at least that is what we have been told. Yet why is it, when our hands and forearms begin to get our attention, our neck invariably is misaligned, imbalanced and overly tight, our brain is typically functioning at a lowered capacity, and most of the major organs of our body are a lot less healthy than they are suppose to be?

 There is also another question all this attention on our hands and wrists brings up.   

 Why is it that prior to the invention of the computer the name ‘repetitive stress syndrome’ had yet to be coined? Typewriters demanded pretty near the same thing from our hands and yet inflammation and pain was not a price paid by anyone. Could it be that it is not the mouse, the typing, or any other demand a computer places on our hands and fingers? Perhaps instead, it is something that begins with a pattern, is exacerbated by a tendency, and worsens with every hour we spend with our computer.

 The cervical spine is designed to have a smooth c-shaped forward curve. The muscles of the neck were intended to be equal in strength and length and coordinate in such a way that opens the brain to a constant and plentiful blood supply, as we are allowed a range of motion envied by all but the possessed (remember ‘The Exorcist’).

 This is a design that has, for a slew of possible reasons, been ignored. Instead, for the vast majority, the curve has been lost, the muscles have developed significant differences, and our brain, body and self-esteem have been caused to worsen. In most people, the neck is not aligned, the nerves are not functioning and the blood to the brain is not flowing as it should. We’ve lost the forward curve, our health, and the proper nerve supply to our hands and arms (as well as all our vital organs). There is a reason for this and a way to change it that doesn’t so much involve posture as it does attitude. However, in the series Secrets of the Spine you will be given both, as we do our best to show you how easy good health and proper placement and functioning really is.

 It is this almost evolutionary straightening of the cervical spine that forms the foundation for what, in one way or another, is going to happen to all of us when we succumb to a certain tendency a computer seems to demand from anyone sitting in front of the terminal.

 Here’s how it happens.

 We sit down in front of the computer and begin to interact with the screen, keyboard and mouse. We have come to this setting with a neck that isn’t horrible, but then it isn’t all that good either. Odds are, there is a loss of the curve, the muscles in the front of our neck are longer and weaker than they should be and the muscles in the back of our neck are tighter and shorter than their original design. Yet we are unaware. We have no idea the imbalances in our neck are interfering with the blood flow to our brain.

 Being easily confused, unable to remember or just tired and listless has so many other explanations that to think it is coming from our overly tight neck never crosses our mind. When we can’t think we usually don’t. Reasons never are apparent, creativity never comes with practicality and from an overall perspective life is more overwhelming than it is fun – so we aren’t all that upset when we find ourselves unable to think about our predicament.

 Muscular imbalances of the neck, arms, hands, and fingers are usually not known, as aren’t the loss of the curve, the tightening at the base of the skull, and the decrease of our mental capacities. We know what isn’t as it should be when it gets in our way or hurts, beyond that, for most us, there isn’t the time, energy or knowledge to get acquainted with the way things were meant to be. Our decreased mental capabilities follow the gradualness of the tightening, weakening and neurological encroachment. It has all happened so gradually we haven’t noticed that we aren’t as quick as that six or seven year old we use to be. All these imbalances to our neck begin to play havoc with our health, functioning and life around the age of eight or so.  The why of this is explained in the series Secrets of the Spine.

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 These are the circumstances in which the majority of us find ourselves when we begin to type and click. Adding posture, sitting, and the need to read and understand brings to us all a very specific inclination.

 Perhaps it is because we can’t quite think, or it might be an unconscious effort to get away from the stress and tension already living in our necks. Regardless of the reason, the tendency to succumb to this inclination comes to us all. As we sit in front of the computer screen, we invariably begin to narrow the gap between our eyes and what is being displayed on the screen.

 It is a motion that is achieved by simply shifting our head away from our shoulders. We don’t move our body closer to the computer. Instead, we stretch our necks and, as we do, we cause all those already existing neck issues to exacerbate. The vertebrae jam tighter, the openings for the nerves become narrower and the arms, hands, and fingers become more susceptible to abnormal wear and tear.

 I have come to call this the computer neck.

 For a more graphic example of what the computer neck looks like, stand off to the side and watch your co-workers as they address their computer. What you’ll likely see is their head drifting closer and closer to the computer screen as their neck is being extended further and further from their shoulders.

 The need to get closer combines with the existing weaknesses and imbalances to decrease the health of our body, the effectiveness of our brain  (and thus the quality of our intellect) and the overall balance of our entire body. In other words, it is the pre-disposition of our neck combined with our tendency to stretch closer to the screen that is placing our body at risk. Not the typing or the clicking – just our tendency to stretch our susceptible neck closer to the computer.

 The computer neck will stress, fatigue, cause our hands and arms all kinds of injuries, affect our weight, our self esteem, our intellect, and in more ways than you might imagine cause our body to hasten its aging process. Degeneration and decline are the product of this simple combination and will be for as long as we hold on to our acquired postural and structural imbalances and/or continue drifting our head away from our shoulders.

 So what do we do?

 Changing all the imbalances, the non-supporting patterns and the postural and vertebral misalignments can be achieved – a lot easy than you might think. As all the needed information and techniques for this kind of change can be found in the series Secrets of the Spine, I’ll leave it there and, instead, turn my attention to how we can stop trying to move our eyeballs closer to what we are watching, reading and typing.

 So how do we stop stretching our neck? I mean really, how can we possibly refrain from doing something most of us are totally unaware that we are actually even doing?

 The answer to this is simple – it’s impossible. And yet I am certain that everyone reading this can do it. The trick is to avoid trying to keep from developing a computer neck. It works like this.

 When we have a habit of doing something without thought or predisposition (in other words we don’t think about what we are doing), it is more than likely we will not be able to stop by simply telling ourselves that we will no longer do it. The secret to change is the creation of an act that takes the place of what we no longer want to do. Stopping what is already in motion is difficult, however, replacing it with something else is often rather easy. The easiest way I have found to replace the computer neck, is with the random  postural check. This is especially so if we are caring for our spine on a daily basis.

 A random postural check requires that, every now and then (often at the call of an alarm that has been set to go off every 20 or 30 minutes), we stop what we are doing and do our best to reposition our body.  If we are sitting behind a computer this would call for us to make sure our thighs are parallel to the floor, our back is straight (with a small support behind our lower back) and our chin is tucked in so that our head is above our shoulders.

 That’s it – we just reposition without concern for where we found our head or neck.

 The more often we reposition, the sooner we are going to find that we are no longer jutting our neck away from our body. It is a process focused on achieving a different position rather than correcting what we are doing. Amazingly, this is often all that is needed to alter how we hold our body. The how and why of this is again in the series Secrets of the Spine.

 When the computer neck becomes something you used to do, you’ll be surprised as to how different you will feel. I suspect you’ll find that more than just your neck, shoulders, arms and hands will change.

It’s not like the monitor is going to fall off the desk and hit someone in the head, or we are going to wrench our back lifting the computer to a better location (though both have happened more than a few times), it’s more a matter of posture, positioning, tension, stress, muscular balance, and eye-brain coordination.

Working with a computer, whether it is playing a game, surfing the net, writing a blog, or actually doing what we are being paid to do, demands that we place our body in a particular position (usually sitting), fixate our eyeballs on a non-moving radiating screen and attempt to coordinate tensing shoulders and moving hands with an ever-increasing, fatigue-oriented, muscular imbalance that is slowly spreading throughout our body.

It is, from every possible perspective, an accident waiting to happen.

Computer elbows and carpal tunnels have become an occupational hazard, blamed on our mouse, the positioning of our hands and the repetitive nature of the interplay between mouse, keyboard and the computer’s electronic brain. But, what about that sluggish thyroid, our gradual weight gain, the chronic headaches, or the lower back stiffness that has been slowly developing over the last few years – is it possible that they too are the result of our time on the computer?

I was more than a little surprised (more like disbelieving) when I began to discover just how many of our problems and issues can be exacerbated, or caused, by simply spending a portion of our life plunked down in front of a computer screen. Yet, it wasn’t the number of conditions caused or created by a computer that caught my attention, instead, it was the understanding that every relationship I found was something that could, and should have been, avoided.

Computers are tools that, if used properly, will facilitate both our life and health. If however, we insist on ignoring the implications of what we are asking of our body, chances are we will end up with something we would rather not have and something that most definitely could have been avoided if we would have taken but a second to reposition, rebalance or in some other way better support the physical or energetic nature of our body.

Fortunately, there is a lot we can do when the keyboard has our fingers, the chair our bottom and the monitor our eyes. For instance, there is the sitting posture we assume when we are using the computer. The best position would have our thighs parallel to the floor, our back straight, and our head above our shoulders. For a much more comprehensive explanation of sitting posture please refer to the Secrets of the Spine.

However, as I mentioned in the lower back pain blog, no matter how well we position our sitting posture, if we allow our body to stay put, our back is going to suffer. When we sit for hours upon hours without going for a walkabout (all it takes is a minute or so), the muscles tighten, the lower back jams and the rest of the spine deviates. All of which means that our neck and shoulders and middle back will also be involved in any suffering to which our lower back is going to be subjected.

The difficulties we are likely to notice in our neck and shoulders will be an overall muscular tension, tightness in our forearms and, frequently but not always, some degree of pain in our wrists and elbows. What we won’t notice is the deviation to the seventh cervical vertebrae, the abnormal pressure on the nerve supply to our thyroid and the compression in the upper thoracic spine that will, sooner or later, influence the functioning of a few key organs (heart, lungs, liver and gall bladder).

Prolonged sitting plays havoc with our mechanical, physiological and chemical stability. So don’t do it!

Problem is computers aren’t programmed to make sure we pay attention to the time. If anything, it’s quite the opposite. When we are typing away, trying not to get killed or caught (or whatever else is being demanded from us by that computer game we are playing), surfing the net, or watching a show, movie or event the time moves far quicker than the body’s signals to our mind. Before we know it, the stiffness and tension is on us – simply because we have forgotten to move.

For this reason I have always thought computers should have a timer. Every fifteen minutes (this could safely stretch to 20 minutes) the screen would go blank causing everything to be placed on hold so we wouldn’t lose a thing but, at the same time, causing us to stop what we were doing. All we would need is 1 to 2 minutes. Just long enough to get up and move.

Okay, so there are a zillion reasons why this wouldn’t be all that practical, but it sure would help us become healthier, more productive and a tad bit more creative. It’s just that the disruption to our train of thought, momentum, and/or concentration goes against the theories about working hard and endlessly focusing and concentrating – all of which is considered to be necessary if we are to reach our goal or succeed at our endeavor. Funny thing is, those who get in the habit of taking a break and taking the time to move a little have discovered work, focus, and concentration to all be much easier when they do so.

However, accepted concepts, no matter how untrue, are hard to buck. So, instead of approaching the computer industry with my brilliant suggestion, I saved my recommendations my patients.

For those with back problems, diseases, pathologies, and anything else considered less than healthy, and/or not desired, I suggested an alarm that could be set to go off every 15 minutes or so. In this way, there is no need to remember or pay attention to the time – all we have to do is stop when the alarm goes off, get up and walk around.  Just long enough for the body to reset, for our energy to shift, and for all the parts of our body that are supposed to be in motion to move.

For the past 40 years this has been a suggestion that has proven itself for everyone willing to give it a try. A brief scamper around a desk or down a hall is all the body needs to shift into a more desired space. It is a space that gives us more energy, less tension and puts us all into the frame of mind where we are a little more willing to care for ourselves in some of the other ways that help us when we are working with a computer.

The importance of motion is perhaps the most misunderstood facet of health there is – check out the Secrets of the Spine for a better understanding of how to move and why we should.

 That variable is the health and functioning of our intestines.

 The small and large intestines each impact our lower back in several ways. Like the kidneys – psoas connection, both the colon and small intestines have an organ/muscle relationship.

•  Small intestine – abdominal muscles
• Large intestine (colon) – hamstrings, and a localized group of muscles surrounding the 4^th and 5^th lumbar vertebrae.

 When either organ or muscle isn’t as it should be the other will also likely be found in a   lesser than condition. As both muscles and organs have neurological connections, the shared imbalances are then, just a likely, to create some sort of disturbance at the level of the spine to which their nerves are connected.

 The positioning of the spine, especially the lumbar spine, the strength and balanced of the associated musculature, and even the internal health of the surrounding tissue are influenced and affected by how our large and small intestines are working.

 A constipated colon is a toxic colon, and a toxic colon is an organ that spews toxins into the surrounding tissue, irritates nerve fibers, and suppresses the lymphatic flow from the region. Tight, sore and irritated is a lower back that sits behind a malfunctioning colon.

 The health of our intestines impacts our lower back, but what is it that causes the health of our intestines to diminish.

 Here again there are many variables. For instance, if the alignment of T12 and L1 isn’t as should be, the primary nerve supply to the small and large intestine is altered, causing, at the very least, a less than normal intestinal track. This could come in the form of colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, susceptibility to parasites, diarrhea, a lowered resistance to bacteria and viruses, an inflammation or irritation of the ileo-cecal valve (a one-way valve found where the small intestines join with the large intestines),and/or a lack of healthy absorption leading to all kinds of nutritional deficiencies and imbalances.

 Then, of course, there is the old saying, “You are what you eat.” In the case of our intestines this saying can safely be taken literally. There are certain foods that clog, irritate, and interfere with the functioning of small intestines, the functioning of the large intestines and the health of the area (the ileo-cecal valve) where the two come together.

 When our lower back proves unresponsive to therapy, posture or relaxation; the key to change might lie in the food we are eating, the health of the intestines, and the peristaltic action of the large intestines. In other words, constipation, a mineral imbalance, an inflamed ileo-cecal valve, and clogged small intestines affect our lower back about as adversely as they impact our physiology.

 For this reason when your back is still hurting, even though you are doing what your mind and body want, it might be a good idea to consider the following.

•  Eliminating dairy and wheat products have been known to improve the health of our small intestine, especially their ability to get from our foods all the nutrients our body needs.
• Dairy has been acclaimed for its calcium, yet there has been, for quite some time, serious doubt as to how much calcium we actually get from the dairy we consume. When the back is hurting, I have found a calcium/magnesium supplement to be helpful.
• Alcohol, hot spices and caffeine irritate the ileo-cecal valve. Avoiding these substances will generally help lessen the pain in our lower back.
• Protein (especially animal protein), sugar, soft drinks, and other acid forming foods demand that the body uses up the nutrients with which it would normally support our muscles. This causes the muscles to become overly sensitive, tight and painful. When the back won’t stop hurting try reducing your intake of these foods.
• Constipation, or an overly full colon, will directly impact the lower back. When the pain lingers, cleaning out the colon often results in what could only be called a miraculous change.

 The food we eat impacts our body. Of this no one would disagree. However, as we are all different, the degree of impact varies so wildly that it has spawned an infinite number of theories and concepts about nutrition. As most of these concepts disagree with one another, I have found that the most effective first step in understanding our health, as well as the situations and circumstances of our life, is one that examines the energetic nature of things. What I have learned I have attempted to pass on with the Secrets of the Spine, the Spine Tuner System and now this blog – and though I have completed what I sat out to say about the lower back (everything else has been said in the series Secrets of the Spine) there is a lot more to say about every other aspect of our health and life. I shall endeavor to pass on everything I have learned.

 Stay tuned for the next entry.