Walking With Intention Day 18

“Our intention creates our reality.”

– Wayne Dyer

The concept of “intention” has never held very much meaning for me beyond a few experiences with Catholic volunteers. It was a nice, though abstract, concept. Living intentionally never became so important to me until I had a baby.

In my mind, walking with intention means a few different things. On one hand, it means being present to the current moment. On the other hand, it means being conscientious and deliberate about my attitude, my actions and my words, because those three things influence my reality and my future.

Being Present

This is my first child and I’m daily fumbling with getting it right. Since her birth, it has been very important to me to be present in a way I never was before, when I would daydream my way through a never-ending afternoon and seek to rush an uncomfortable moment.

Now, I’m trying to be catalogue every precious little moment, like her determined face and middle-of-the-night sighs or the small moments in a quiet house that she’s playing independently. I’m (trying to!) not wishing away the long nights of overtired screaming because I know the day will come that I will wish problems could be solved with mere rocking, kisses, and a round of “Baby Mine.” I’m trying to make note of every time we nurse or she presses her cheek to mine, because one of those times will be the last time, and I love them. I love every day with her, even the minutes that suck. I am crazy in love with her right now, and she adores me. I am the best thing ever. I make her laugh and I calm her, and I know I won’t always.

Being Conscious and Deliberate

I didn’t grow up around children, and before I had her, I honestly just thought they were little jerks. I couldn’t imagine how parents could put up with their attitude. (At the time, I also couldn’t imagine loving something the way I love her, but now I get it.)  During my pregnancy and ever since she was born, I have been anxious about the “terrible twos,” having a “threenager,” and every day she grows, I hate that she’s getting closer to that time. I don’t know how I’m going to handle it and I’m afraid I’m going to hate her, the being with half my heart.

I don’t like this. I don’t want to think of her as a “terror,” and I don’t want to be her adversary. I know that, as her mother, it is going to be my job to set boundaries she won’t like and she will see me as her enemy sometimes, but I don’t want to see her as the enemy.

She is not the enemy.

My anxiety of that time is lessened and I think (hope) my ability to respond from a place of love will increase when I am intentional in my thoughts about her. I believe the way I think and talk about her will make a big difference in how I perceive her.  Even when my Wee One is acting stubborn, disobedient, or rude, if I say those things are who she is, I will believe them. If i can be intentional in my thoughts about her and consider her as a whole person, I will see things differently and be able to respond to her differently. When she pushes against me, or when she’s rude or disrespectful, it is because she is learning the rules of social interaction and experimenting with different behaviors. Or it is because I am expecting something of her that she is not developmentally able to do. Moreover, she’s acting out with me because she knows she’s safe with me.

In my practice as a drug and alcohol counselor, I read and found to be true that the strongest tool I had when working with a client was my relationship with them. I also noticed that the clients who did best were those who had a strong relationship with me.  (In this context, by “best,” I do not mean the ones who stayed sober and got housed. I mean the ones who stayed connected with our program and kept trying.) They knew they could come to me drunk, or call me from prison, or send me to talk to their P.O. and lawyers, and I still respected and believed in their ability to change.

I remember this and also think about my relationship with my own mother, with whom I have always been safe. I think the quality of relationship with my daughter is going to be the most important thing I have in my ability to help her grow. To do this, I need to stay aware of the bigger picture and act with intention to keep our relationship sacred.

Sarah Myers

I am a St. Louis native and social worker who spent 10 years working with homeless addicts in North city. In about the course of a year I got married, had a child, left my job and moved to the Seattle area – made about every big change one can make.  Now I’m a stay at home mom and loving every day of it, but I’m also trying to rebuild my life around these big changes.

https://theseekersdungeon.com/2015/11/18/walking-with-intention-day-18-by-sarah-myers/

***Reposted with permission via http://creosomnium.org/

Chiropractic care for pregnancy, postpartum and newborns

(by guest writer, By Dr. Mark Lindholm, Natural Health Family Chiropractic)

Several years ago I was invited to speak to a group of area Birth Professionals. I asked them prior to the presentation what they most wanted to know about Chiropractic. These are the questions they asked and my answers.

1. How is chiropractic care beneficial during pregnancy, postpartum and for the newborn?

There is probably no other time when Chiropractic care is more appropriate and important than during pregnancy, postpartum and for the newborn. First though it is important to explain what chiropractic care is and is not.

Chiropractic is based on a Vitalistic Paradigm, that the human body has an innate ability to heal (homeostasis or homeodynamics), and the biological fact that every dimension of the human experience is processed by the nervous system. In application the Chiropractor removes interference to the nervous system by adjusting vertebral subluxations in the spine and endeavors to empower his or her patients to adopt a wellness lifestyle focusing on how they eat (nutrition), how they move (exercise), and how they think (positive mental attitude and stress reduction). It is also important to note that Chiropractic is not merely a treatment for back pain or a modality applied for the treatment of disease, but has much further reaching benefits.

2. What is Optimal Fetal Positioning Technique or the Webster Technique?

Optimal Fetal Positioning Technique and the Webster Technique are protocols which I have used very successfully in my practice to correct breech and posterior presentations. These are not an external version or any form of a physical turning of the baby.

It is gentle protocol based on removing subluxations and ligamentous tension to reduce uterine constraint and thereby allow the baby to move into an optimal presentation over a series of adjustments. The protocol also utilizes at home exercises, positioning education and in some cases self or partner massage in addition to the in office adjustments and treatments. It is important to note that with this type of treatment we sometimes see results from just one adjustment and treatment session but that it often takes multiple adjustments and the closer to full term the mother is the more difficult it is for the baby to turn.

3. We all want to know: Can you or should you really adjust a newborn? Why?

Yes you can, Chiropractic adjustments of a newborn usually require only gentle fingertip type of pressure. All chiropractors are trained in pediatrics and the care of newborns though some chiropractors may be more skilled and/or experienced in this area.

Yes you should, right after birth is a critical time to check for and correct any interference in the nervous system of this precious little baby. The upper cervical spine is commonly stressed or injured during even an ideal labor and delivery, not to mention the stress that can be put on a babies’ spine and nervous system during a traumatic labor and delivery. The neurology of the upper cervical spine affects the brain stem which controls all basic life sustaining functions, breathing, heart rate, and appetite. This area also acts as a conduit for the passage of almost all the nerves to communicate with the entire body.

Why? In addition to what we have already discussed there is a window of opportunity in the newborn during which the nervous system is developing and adapting. If interference is uncorrected during this critical time it can cause permanent consequences in the babies’ development and health for the rest of its life.

4. Are there “Red Flag” conditions that would be a sign that a baby should see a Chiropractor?

Yes, forceps, vacuum extraction, and C-sections all greatly increase the risk of injury to the baby. It is very unlikely that a baby will be born using these interventions and not be subluxated. Newborns that under go these types of traumatic births need to be checked by a chiropractor as soon as possible. Obviously forceps, vacuum extraction, and C-section should be used only in emergencies. Chiropractic prenatal care can and usually does result in a healthier pregnancy and a better labor and delivery, decreasing the odds that dangerous interventions will be necessary.

Very fast and also very long labors, posterior presentations, breech births, etc. all also increase the risks of birth trauma. Babies with low Apgar scores, failure to thrive diagnoses, problems latching and nursing well, infantile colic and recurrent ear infections are also red flag signs of potential subluxations.

For more information regarding the Webster Technique and Optimal Fetal Positioning :
This video is a demonstration using the Webster Technique on a patient.
This video is from a workshop we held at my clinic on “good baby positioning”

www.NHFChiropractic.com