March Madness

It’s that time of year again. The “big dance” is in full swing. Another year filled with upsets and excitement as teams compete for this year’s NCAA men’s and woman’s basketball titles. When looking at a few of the potential champs this year and reviewing previous winners I can’t help but thinking about what comprises a talented, championship-caliber team. I have found a few common threads.  Great teams consist of more than just one or two players who score all the points. Quality teams consist of each player doing his part, contributing his share and most importantly working together and playing as a cohesive unit on the court. There are so many examples of teams with the national player of the year who did not fare well in the tournament because one player does not make a team great. Another common point when looking at great college teams is to look at the coach and his ability to control and coordinate the game through his players. It’s no surprise that teams like Duke (just a little personal bias!), North Carolina, Syracuse, UCONN and Kansas are great year in and year out. They have legendary coaches who can clearly communicate and get the best out of their players. When you think about it, it’s kind of like that with our own bodies and our health. Let me explain…
Just like each player on the team has his role and part to play, so do the various parts of our bodies. Our digestive system, respiratory system, cardiovascular system, lymphatic system, and all the other systems each have an important role to play in maintaining health.  Each one of these systems is intertwined with and dependent on the others, just like players on a championship basketball team. Like the coach with his players, what in our body controls and coordinates these systems and all the functions of the body? The nervous system. The nervous system is comprised of our brains, spinal cords, and nerves which branch out to every cell in the body. The nervous system acts as the coach of our bodies by sending messages down the spinal cord and over the nerves to all the parts of the body. Likewise, the players can communicate back to the coach by sending messages back up the spinal cord to the brain about what they are experiencing. In the game of basketball, when a coach loses the ability to communicate with his team, chaos usually ensues. Many times he calls a timeout to be able to re-connect with his players on the sideline. In the game of health, when the nervous system is disturbed and interfered with, the body always functions at less than 100%. The brain can’t clearly direct and coordinate the rest of the body. Without calling a timeout to re-establish communication and the brain-body connection, health problems ensue.
So what does a chiropractor do? Chiropractors remove interference from the nervous system to restore the body’s self-healing and self-regulating ability. The adjustment acts as the timeout in our basketball analogy. By removing interference and re-establishing the brain-body connection, our bodies begin to heal and move towards their natural states of health. By removing interference, we can get the best out of our bodies just like a great coach can get the best out of his players. Make sure the coach of your body is able to communicate with his/her team and make chiropractic adjustments a part of your healthy lifestyle routine.