Straight Talk: Pathways To Raising Healthy, Happy, Well-Adjusted Children

Introduction to Chiropractic and Pediatric Wellness 0:00

Welcome back to ADHD, Autism and Chronic Disease Parenting Summit. I am here with one of my favorite practitioners, Doctor Brian Spencer, author of Dream Wellness and excited to talk about chiropractic as well as raising healthy, happy children. So thanks for being here. Oh, thanks for having me, doc. So let's just start. You know, actually what I wouldn't to start with chiropractic because I think that's such an interesting topic. And I, we were mentioning it a little bit before. You know, I've been to a chiropractor, my child has been to a chiropractor.

My wife has been to a chiropractor. I think a lot of people think of chiropractors in the old way of like, oh, they crack backs, which, you know, for some people they do work on that, some of the carburetors. But I do think it's really interesting because chiropractors are kind of a jack of all trades at this point. There are all kinds of different chiropractors I feel like and have different experience. So maybe you can talk to that a little bit and, and how you as a chiropractor now work. You know a lot in the wellness space talking about, you know, children, healthy lifestyle and how that has kind of molded in with chiropractors, which I don't think people think of.

You know, unless you're maybe more in the integrative space and have worked with them before. Yeah, right. That's a great question. And so I, I for 25 years, I practice pediatric and family wellness chiropractic. I don't practice currently. I send a lot of people to chiropractors all over the world. Very passionate about it. And like you said, chiropractors have such a wide variety of how they practice. And some of them, you could even argue, is that even chiropractic?

How Chiropractic Works and Gentle Care for Babies 1:35

And then I go back to, well, how do you define chiropractic? Do you want to go back to the D.D. Palmer and BJ days, who, you know, discovered and developed chiropractic? Do you want to take more of a progressive route and so on and so forth. But the whole premise behind chiropractic, at least the way that I practiced it, and many of my friends have, is maximizing the integrity of the nervous system. That is our goal. You know, there are some people that will only go to a chiropractor if they have back pain or neck pain, just like they'll only go to a dentist when they have tooth pain or something like that.

But we know that dentistry is so much bigger than that. We talk about oral health not just to prevent bad things from happening, but a lot of health comes through the mouth. And if you're not putting, you know, if your mouth mouth is not healthy, that can affect your intestinal organs, your gut and everything else. Well, chiropractic is like that, if not even more, because we are working on the function of your nervous system. And why is the nervous system important is because we live our lives through our nervous system.

Every organ, every muscle, every gland, every tissue, every cell in the body knows exactly what to do, when to do, and how to do it because the brain tells it so. So in order for your stomach to break down food, your brain has to send messages down the spinal cord out those little nerves that go to the stomach and all the digestive organs to break down the food and make that food nutritious so you can eat all the nutritious food in the world. It's got all the vitamins and the minerals, but if your body's not breaking it down properly, that food will not be nutritious because you will be malnourished.

And so that's just one example to stomach. I mean, your immune system, your productive system, your endocrine system, every single system in the body is under direct control of the nervous system. So my job as a pediatric and family wellness chiropractor was to ensure the efficiency of the communication between the brain and the body through the nervous system. And can you are you cracking back all day? And that which because I think that's what people think. But I mean, you're not even people, you know, my office, I send people to chiropractor all the time for newborns, you know, or we talk about it if they're having, feeding issues, maybe they're, have a little bit of stiffness in their body, constipation.

And a lot of the and most of the time, it's very effective. People are really excited about it. But they, you know, if you eat a lot of times they'll come to me because I have a natural minded patient panel. But sometimes if I am recommending people going, you know, they they don't they don't think of it. But it's not like you're cracking packs for babies, but like, maybe you can talk to what you are doing with babies, or maybe dispel that rumor a little bit. Sure, absolutely. Well, first of all, work cracking sounds so bad, right?

It's like, sound like you're breaking something. And, you know, I always tell people we're not breaking your bones, and I usually have other jokes that go along with that. But I want for this audience, when it comes to crack and all that. But the idea is the sound that somebody hears when when an adult gets an adjustment or a bigger child, it's just a cavitation in a joint, which is basically air in between the bones releasing. So just like you crack your knuckles right now cracking a knuckle, the little pop sound is just gas being released.

No different than bubble wrap, you know? And you get the fun stuff, you know, unwrapping that. So that sound is done when bones are moved and it kind of releases that vacuum seal. That's all the sound is. It's nothing breaking, cracking or snapping. When it comes to certain populations, newborn babies, elderly people, people with fractures, people with blood

Signs a Child May Benefit from a Chiropractic Check 4:52

disorders, people on certain medications, some people that just don't like the popping experience. There are so many different techniques that can be utilized that don't that don't elicit that sound, that cavitation of the joint, that popping sound, if you will. And babies, we don't do that with, you know, depending on the size and the age of the baby. So usually we'll use like something called sustained contact where it be like the amount of pressure that you'd put onto a tomato before that tomato. Even dense.

That's all it takes. That amount of pressure just to get that bone. Maybe it's the atlas, the top bone in the neck to slide just a little bit. And there's no human being on the planet that is too young to get adjusted as long as they need to be adjusted. Right. So we did when my my, my son was born, he was it was a home birth. And that was a planned home birth. We had midwives there. We had our tools and everything else. And it turns out that the cord was actually wrapped around his neck several times.

So as I was catching him, the midwife prepared me like, okay, we're going to need to do a little extra work here. So we kind of untangle him and everything, and he kind of didn't have a whole lot of energy, was a little bit listless. And so I actually gave him his first adjustment while the cord was still connected. As I was handing him to my wife. And it was just so gentle, ever so slight, just a tiny little bit of pressure to get that Atlas back into alignment. The rest of the neck, everything else was great.

And then all of a sudden it's like he came to life. Not that he wasn't in life before, but it's like you could see his expression, change his breathing, change his old demeanor. So there is no one that's too young or too old to get adjusted. The techniques that we use need to vary for the appropriate population and the comfort level as well. Yeah. And when I talk to families too, I, I think people understand it a little better when you put in the framework of like, acupressure, you know, it's not the same thing, obviously, but it's, you know, there's acupressure, there's cranial psychotherapy, there's chiropractic work.

But when you're talking about little candidates, are, you know, fairly similar in terms of knowing the body, knowing different points, and then, you know, gently making adjustments or putting pressure, which can help for, for certain points. And this it's just so interesting because it just goes back to so many ancient philosophies which have been known forever. And there's just a lot of overlap there. I think, and we're starting to at least I'm starting to realize that there's just so much overlap between all of these modalities, because this is what we've known forever, but it's just being applied in different ways in modern, modern world.

Sure. And there is a lot of overlap in terms of helping people in certain populations over for certain issues. But chiropractic, not to say chiropractic is better and more important than the others that you mentioned, but chiropractic is unique because we're the only profession that addresses what's called a vertebral subluxation, which is basically misaligned vertebrae that are irritating the nervous system and not allowing the proper communication between the brain in the body. So we're not putting pressure like on skin or on certain points of G to release energy or anything like that.

We're doing a very specific adjustment to realign the spine and take pressure off the nerve. And while there are other professions out there that do spinal manipulation and osteopath, a medical doctor, some in Chinese medicine, sometimes nature, not naturopathic doctors can do it in certain states. There are many forms of manipulation, but chiropractors are the only ones licensed and trained to do a very specific adjustment, which is a specific form of manipulation to restore balance and communication between the brain and the body.

And what are some of the things that parents should be looking for, to see if they start to feel that maybe there is some some communication issues there, there is some misalignment there, there are some issues where that would be a great thing to think, to go to a chiropractor, like, what are the things that they would be even noticing? And obviously there's a lot of things that it's different in every age, but maybe some of the big ones. So the first one that I would do that would make in my world, I'm going to be totally real with you now.

Okay? In my world, the most important sign of anything to take a child to a chiropractor to get checked would be a pulse. If they have a pulse, we should make sure that everything is in alignment so that the brain and body communicate better. You know, it's one of those things where, I don't know if you could tell me of any living person on this planet who is better off without a fully functioning nervous system then with one, right. Everyone benefits. So, I mean, I've had people say to me, because I've had amazing

The DREAM Wellness Lifestyle Framework 9:13

things happen to my practices over the years, and I've never said that I've treated any condition or any illness. I just adjust the spine when it's out of adjustment, when it's obliterated, and I say I move the ball and God does the healing, right? So it didn't matter to me whether it was a heart problem, whether it's an ear infection, whether it's asthma, allergies, makes zero difference. When somebody says to me, well, you telling me that somebody with cancer should go to a chiropractor, I say, well, is somebody with cancer better off with a fully functioning nervous system or without one?

Is a newborn baby better off with a fully functioning nervous system or without one. So it's not that everyone needs to be adjusted. It's everyone needs to be in adjustment which is being imbalanced mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally and having optimal brain body communication through the nervous system. So my first answer is a pulse. I think that every parent that wants their child to have every opportunity possible to succeed in life should start with a checkup. Hopefully they don't need to be adjusted, but the birth process is quite physically, chemically, and emotionally stressful, and those stressors have a positive out of adjustment.

Now, if you actually wanted to talk about certain symptoms because I know that's what your audience is listening for because like, I'm getting my kit for chiropractors, totally fine is perfect, right? Which is perfect. Well, okay, so common things that I would see in my office would be ear infections, allergies, asthma, colic, not connecting with their peers, with their friends, having poor mobility, having just disconnect, just not engaged, not being able to look people in the eyes. I mean, any time that somebody sees their child not functioning the way that they could or should, why not take them to a chiropractor if it's not life threatening when they have to go to the E.R.

first, why not check and see if it's nervous system related? Chiropractors like the way that I practice. We will not claim to treat any of these diseases or conditions, but if we find subluxation in the spine, we're going to clear that out. Whether it gets rid of the symptom that the parent was concerned about or not was kind of irrelevant to me, you know? And one of the things that was interesting in my practice for over 25 years was I didn't ask my practice members. I didn't even call patients. I call the practice members.

I didn't ask them how they were feeling on a daily basis. Sure, when they came in for the first time, they would write down their forms if they came in for a particular reason. But I would always say to them, I'm not going to ask you daily how you're feeling. Not because I don't care, but because I don't care. So as a human being, of course I care. And I want to see people get better, and I want them to rave about how great chiropractic is and they want to give me a testimonial. That's great, I love that, but as a chiropractor, I don't care the way somebody responds to the symptoms is irrelevant to me.

If the nervous system is functioning better, I've done my job and a good chiropractor will have certain technology and the practices that will help determine whether or not somebody's nervous system is working better or not. That's that's fantastic. And I totally agree. I think it's, you know, it's always nice to talk to somebody about chiropractic care, but I feel like people just don't don't get how beneficial it can be, how many places it can be helpful, and how great a part of the team is and just how how far.

I mean, I don't I can't even remember any time where somebody has gone in and said, oh no, that was useless. You know, it's usually like, oh yeah, I got better, you know, this, this, that, and the other side. I think it's like a really underutilized field. But maybe we can well, I don't if it's switching tangents a little bit, but just maybe talk about the dream lifestyle a little bit and, and what that means and how that, that relates to to wellness. Yeah sure. So you know, it's one of those things where I got kind of tired of hearing people coming in over and over and over again with the same issues, because, you know what one of my mentors, Christopher Kent, said to so many years ago, he said the true purpose of the chiropractor should be to make the chiropractic adjustment obsolete.

Like what? Why did well, if we actually lived a certain lifestyle, then in the absence of trauma, we should never need to get adjusted. And so that's where I use that acronym of Dream diet relaxation exercise being an adjustment and mental wellness. And and I'll go I'll go a little bit more deeply into those five components in a moment. But when we live and balanced with those five components, then that will set us up for success in doing our best possible chance of either avoiding or adapting to a neutralizing chemical, physical, and emotional stressors.

It's ultimately chemical, physical, emotional stressors that cause us to go out of adjustment. As is pretty much any disease process. And, you know, I hyphenate and I didn't get that B.J. Palmer from chiropractic, you know, always hyphenated dis ease because disease starts with dis ease in the body. And so how do you with the exception of like again, genetic or congenital issues or traumatic issues, it started somewhere with lack of ease, in my case with a chiropractor and lack of communication between the nervous system.

So diet I define as everything that goes into your body from the outside world to the inside world. It's everything you eat, drink, taste, touch, smell, feel, hear all the books you read, all the movies you watch, all the people you spend time with is just as much part of your diet as the food you consume. And if you remember the old computer term, go garbage in, garbage out. When we put garbage into our bodies, whether it's through our senses or through our mouth or whatever, we get garbage out.

And so in order for your diet to be nutritious, we have to be very conscious of everything that goes in, from our external world to our internal world. The R for relaxation is giving your body a chance to call time out to reset, repair, regenerate and rejuvenate yourself. That stay of and tranquility is the opportunity to really reset and repair yourself. It's kind of like, you know, when you chop an ax is all the time is a great story. I have it in my book, you know, talking about the the ax chopping, contest where the guy who ended up winning the contest was one that was resting relatively often, and he was sharpening his ax then E for exercise is any activity that causes physical or mental exertion.

So not only doing exercise in the gym or going for a walk, but also mental exercises can help, you know, keep that mental acuity going and keeping in mind sharp memory loss, perhaps, and just help you enjoying life. We'll skip the A for a second. We'll come back to that. M is for mental wellness. That's connecting your inner purpose and passion to your outer goals and tasks in all phases of life. Being right with your self-esteem, self-worth, self values, and so on and so forth. It's a process of creating a life where when you wake up in the morning instead of being like, oh God, it's morning, like, oh God, it's morning.

Like I'm ready for the day. And I put on that shield because I'm living this lifestyle. When you have a strong dream, you should stay in adjustment, which, as I said before, is being imbalanced mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally, and having optimal brain body communication to the nervous system. So because we live our lives to a nervous system, it's essential to be in adjustment, to have all the advantages of living a healthy, happy lifestyle. Remember that it's such a great acronym.

It's so, well, all encompassing. I mean, it's beautiful. Everyone's got their acronym. That's a good one. I think. I you know, my mind is see, it's a stress environment, exercise, diet and sleep. But, you know, dream is a really good one too. So and it's always funny because it's like, you know, I talked to so many integrative practitioners and, and we all basically said the same thing. It might be a different acronym, might be a little bit, you know, different different words or a little thing here or there that that's not included.

But I mean, if everybody is echoing one thing, it's like the world's gonna start to listen. Like, I know we're all trying to pound the same path here and like, get people to move in a certain direction. And, you know, anyone who's in integrative space really recognizes that we're we're in a disaster at the moment. I mean, our health is is not good and it's getting worse. And there are not there uncomplicated things that we can do

Practical Tips for Diet, Relaxation, Exercise, and Mindset 16:58

to make a big difference. And we see it with our with our patients. And, you know, whether it's from pediatrics, chiropractic, whatever, you know, we all work together. We all see the same patients. We all want the same thing. And it's not complicated most of the time. The things that people need to do to have their kids healthy. I agree, I agree 100%. I don't care about the acronyms as long as you're covering, you know, encompassing everything in the lifestyle that's going to make people change their lives.

So maybe we can finish up with some actionable steps, things you'd want people to do, maybe some tips and tricks for relaxation, helping with stress, or just, you know, some things that you'd want people to take away from this and start doing this week. Yeah, for sure. I think that, if you want well, the first thing let's just say, you know, go to a chiropractor. If you have a kid and they've been to five practices, go get them checked. I'm going to start with that unapologetically. I think that that's very, very important to make sure the nervous system is working right.

I think that I could take something from each of the five keys, but I know for the sake of time, I'll just take something, maybe from diet and something from relaxation and to start. Right. So from diet, I would say, you know, people ask the question of how do you eat an elephant, right. One bite at a time. So if I were to say if you were to cut anything out of your diet, right, that is not going to change your world. If you could just if you just do these things, if you cut out things like high fructose corn sirup, hydrogenated oil, artificial sugars and artificial colors, you're going to be you're going to be off to the races.

That's a great start, because those are for the most common things that are showing up in our daily goods. And they're easy to find because they're in the labels. And if it doesn't say organic or non-GMO, it's very likely has that stuff in it. So, you know, not everything organic and non-GMO is good for you. It's not to be loaded with sugar and other bad things. But, you know, we don't have those four things. You know, it won't have MSG and different, you know, really destructive things like that.

So I'd say cut out those four things to start with, relaxation, you know, because this is about, you know, this whole summit is about for healthier kids, you know, getting kids to be in a relaxed state is super important. And there are certain tricks like, you know, I have an eight year old right now. I mentioned that to you in the pre show. And you know, before he goes to take a test or something like that, I always want to make sure he's set up for success. So we teach him certain breathing exercises. Right.

So if you see a kid is like, about to have a tantrum or they're just nervous about something, obviously deep belly breathing is a good thing to do. Put on some quiet, soft music. The smart thing, touch them. You know, touch their face. That's really good. My wife and I just read this book called Hunt Gather Parent. Awesome book, has some great strategies in there. And then there are some other things that people can do, like when they're in the classroom and they start to discuss that, especially if they're taking a test where if they just sip water or just swallow their own saliva, that that activates the parasympathetic and cranial nerves.

So rubbing your eyes, not because you're tired, but rubbing your eyes to activate the parasympathetic and swallowing are two really easy tricks to just get your body to relax because you know, the sympathetic nervous system is the fight or flight. So when you're in stress mode, you're in fight or flight. So you want to activate certain parts of your nervous system to get you into rest and repair, rest and digest. And that's the power of sympathetic. So doing things like that are great little tools.

And I guess I've run through all of them really quickly. The effect size. Just get your kid moving, you know, have them walk. If they don't really walk anywhere, do some push ups with them. Sit ups, jumping jacks. Just something the lack of schools doing for Z these days, it's just mind boggling. I can't believe it. So parents have to be responsible for that. Already talked about the a make sure they get the nervous system check up you know by a chiropractor and and then for mental wellness as always teach about affirmations.

You know and and speak truth to them. Speak positively to them. Watch your words. You know, when you communicate with them. So if you say you're such a brat, you're affirming that you're a brat. But if you say, you know, I, you know, you might be acting like a brat right now. You're not calling them a brat. And I'm not saying that's the right thing to do, but I'm saying, would you call somebody something and say you're such a this or you're a that? You're affirming that. So first off, speak to what you want.

You're such a great kid. You know, that's really what you want to be saying. And and and teach them about how to say things in the positive.

Book, Dream Score, and Where to Learn More 21:18

So I think that that's good to cover all five keys of the wellness lifestyle right there. I love it. That's very practical. And to the point. And I always appreciate ten with you and you're a wealth of knowledge. So before we go, maybe you can tell people a little bit more about where to find you if they want to learn more. Your book, all that good stuff. Sure. Yeah. You mentioned the book early. I wrote that book, Dream Wellness The Five Keys to Raising Kids for a lifetime of physical and mental health.

You can go to, dream on the Scott, dream on this book. Com or if you want to learn more about me and the dream score, you can go to Doctor Brian stenzel.com. That's Dr. Brian stansell.com. And in fact you can take the dream school for free. It's an 85 question lifestyle assessment tool. It doesn't ask about your height your blood pressure how many hours a night you sleep. It wants to know why your blood pressure is what it is. It wants to know why your relationships are what they are. And that's all about your lifestyle.

And if you do happen to have the book is it comes with the report, which you don't even need the book. But if you do happen to have the book, it can get you through my 450 page book in about 12 minutes. Unless you have really bad answers, if you do it really poorly, then it might take in 20 minutes, but it's kind of a little cheating way to get through the book and the content to improve your lifestyle. So you can get that at Doctor Brian stansell.com or Dream Wellness book.com. I love it. Well well thank you for for being here.

Thank you for for sharing your wisdom and all the help that you given for for families and kids. And thank you for everyone for tuning in. Thank you. Thank you for doing this.