Sensory Processing and Chiropractic Care

Do you have a child that is...

- constantly moving all day every day

-has extreme reactions to every scenario

-seems to have outbursts for no reason

-can't handle loud noises or certain environments

In the world of pediatric chiropractic, we know that their body may not be adapting as well to stress as they should be. These littles are stuck on "the gas pedal" meaning they are in sympathetic (fight or flight) dominance.

There is hope as we can naturally calm the brain and create balance within their little body.

Ready to see how chiropractic can benefit your little one and the entire family? Give us a call at 208-357-1949 to see how we can serve you!

7 Steps to Becoming a Healthier You

Are you tired of feeling sick and tired, but not knowing where to start?

Check out our S E V E N tips to becoming a healthier YOU!

At Elevated Life Family Chiropractic, we encourage you to dive deeper into all 7 of these to see how you can adapt better to your lifestyle.

#elevatedlifefamilychiropractic #healthieryou #southeastidaho #idahochiropractor #idahofalls #idahomoms #ammonidaho #rigbyidaho #wyoming #montana #blackfootidaho #getadjusted #joyfulmovement #wholefoods #sleeproutines

Breath Work and How it Affects the Nervous System

Did you know that utilizing breathwork can tap right into our nervous system?

When we use our full diaphragm to breathe, it activates our Vagus Nerve. Our Vagus Nerve is a powerful cranial nerve that triggers our parasympathetic nervous system allowing our body to relax.

If our body is constantly in a state of sympathetic overdrive (this is called fight or flight), our physical and emotional states are under stress and imbalance.

By breathing deeply with a slow and steady inhalation-to-exhalation ratio-- our breath can signal our parasympathetic nervous system to calm the body down and get out of a state of "stress."

Try taking 5 to 10 minutes out of your day to breathe intentionally and let us know how you feel below!

#breathwork #nervoussystemhealth #vagusnerve #anxiety #stress #depression #elevatedlifefamilychiropractic #idahochiropractor #idahofalls #idahomoms #eastidahomoms #webstertechnique #postpartum #pregnancy #mountainwest #ammonidaho #blackfootidaho #southeastidaho

Benefits of Getting Outside

During these colder months, we find ourselves inside more often. Did you know that enjoying nature and getting sunshine has great impacts on our health? The winter months make it harder to do just that.

The lack of vitamin D can make it harder to sleep and we can begin to notice ourselves and our family getting sick more often. GET OUTSIDE WHEN THE SUN IS OUT! Take advantage when you can and try to wear as little clothing as you can get away with while still staying warm. Even if the sun isn't out, try to take a short walk outside. It can be a game-changer when you're having a rough day.

Check out the graphic above for some health benefits of getting outside. We encourage you to get outside this week and tag us @elevatedlifefc in your favorite ways to get outside during the winter! BONUS if it's with your little ones!

#getoutside #winteroutdoors #montana #wyoming #idahomoms #idahochiropractor #southeastidaho #mountainwest #idahofalls #rexburgidaho #ammonidaho #blackfootidaho #chirokidsrock #chirokids

3 Ways to Set Your Week Up for Success!

Who doesn't love to start the week off completely ready and refreshed?

Check out these 3 great tips for setting your week up for success! 💪🏼

What do you do every week to help your Monday mornings flow better? Let us know in the comments! 👇🏼

#elevatedlifefamilychiropractic #idahochiropractor #southeastidaho #mountainwest #idahomoms #idahofalls #ammonidaho #blackfootidaho #rexburgidaho #chirokidsrock #chirokids #postpartumlife #weeklysuccess

Secrets to Living a Happier Life

Guess what….these aren’t really a secret. But it is helpful to read again to get them familiar in our brain!

1. Focus on the Positive.

To find long-term happiness, you need to retrain your brain from a negative mindset to a positive mindset. Try these things: 

- Spend one to two minutes looking for positive in your life. Do this three times a day for 45 days, and your brain will start doing it automatically.

- Choose a positive mantra for the day-something you will repeat to yourself, such as

“Today is beautiful” 

or 

“I feel grateful for all I have.” 

- And when things go south, take a moment, and try to see it from a positive light. Never underestimate the importance of recognizing the silver linings in life.

2. Celebrate little victories.

Life is full of ups and downs, but in between we have a lot of little victories that go unnoticed. Take a moment to celebrate these small wins. Did you check off the things on your to-do list that you’ve been procrastinating on? Yay! Did you finally clear out a thousand emails that have been filing up in your inbox? Woohoo! Take pleasure in these little achievements. They add up!

3. Find your work-life balance.

Work takes up a lot of our day, but it shouldn’t be the only thing we do. It’s important to pursue activities and interests beyond our job. Do you have hobbies? Are you spending time with  friends and loved ones? Are you getting exercise? Creating balance in your life will reduce stress and give you other outlets to express yourself and have fun.

4. Practice Mindfulness.

Mindfulness meditation works by bringing your awareness and attention to the present moment. It’s about being nonjudgmental and accepting how you are feeling. Practice mindfulness means being present, aware and curious. Accepting what we are going through decreases stress and helps us see situations for what they are. Through mindfulness, we can find peace and affirmation in ourselves.

5. Be Creative.

You may thing of artists as being moody and depressed, but studies show that engaging in creative activities on a regular basis actually makes you happier. Those who spend time using their imagination and being creative have more enthusiasm and are more likely to have feelings of long-term happiness and well-being. Such creating activities can include writing, painting, drawing and musical performance.

6. Accept imperfection.

Many of us strive for perfection-we desire to push ourselves to be our best. But in order to be truly happy, you must embrace the imperfection that is part of life. Perfection is impossible, and holding ourselves and others to these standards is futile. We will always end up feeling let down. Accept that life is imperfect and recognize that there is beauty and grace in that imperfection.

(Originally posted at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/315636)

How to Elevate your life with: Essential Oils

Essential oils contain the nutritive values and healing properties of plants in a very concentrated form. They often heal the body, mind and spirit, while regenerating damaged tissue and bringing oxygen to deprived cells. The use of essential oils also seems to improve overall immune function. (LaRee Westover, Butterfly Express) Oils are antibacterial, anti fungal, antiviral, antiparisitic and antiseptic.

Oils can heal physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

I believe that oils work in an energetic way, carrying a frequency that our bodies may need to heal. 

To explain, every organ of the human body has a frequency at which it operates when healthy. When we are sick, that frequency drops. Essential oils carry the frequency of the plant that can then raise the body’s overall frequency or stabilize the frequency of the part of your body that is struggling. 

Sometimes, it’s not even a body part. It can be emotional. Sometimes, we are carrying grief, sadness, pain, etc. An oil can provide a healing and higher frequency to help our body and mind adjust and we can feel better.

How to Use Essential Oils

Oils can be used as singles or blends. The oils in blends work together to achieve a product that can reach the various levels of spiritual, physical and emotional healing.  There are a few ways to use oils, aromatically or topically. We will use them in diffusers, in massages, or applied directly to the effected areas. For example, when I have gallbladder pain, I’ll rub the oil over my gallbladder directly or on the gallbladder point in my foot. (That’s going more into foot zoning and reflexology points which we can talk about later.)

Quality Matters!

Many oils and smells can be manufactured by men. We need to be sure the oils we are getting are pure and directly distilled from the plants they advertise. They could also be diluted with vegetable oils. BLEH! My biggest tip is to not buy an oil in a grocery store. Those are more likely perfume or diluted and the quality not great. Because they can sell them in stores, they are able to mass produce and most mass produced products are made cheaply and quickly. Find a company that is transparent, one that shows they care about quality, starting from the seeds-that will eventually grow to the plant the produce the oil from. Look for a company that can guarantee their products. It may mean you will pay a little more, but you know that you are getting the best quality oil for your therapeutic needs.

We have personal favorites but have used companies like Butterfly Express, Young Living and Plant Therapy. 

To learn more:

I highly recommend getting this book:

Click on book to order!

It is very comprehensive. It will teach you about the oils, how to use, where to use, when to use. It gives the physical, spiritual and emotional benefits of the oils and blends (disclaimer, the blends they share are their own but they do list the ingredients so you can know what’s in them.) You will be able to confidently use oils with your family!

Quick tips:

• Start small. Don’t go buying all the oils at once. Become confident with a few and then you can expand your “farmacy”.

• Find a company you like! We like Butterfly Express and Young Living best. Some benefits include free samples/products with every order, subscriptions and credits for future purchases.

• Make sure you study an oil before you use it. Some have contraindications for pregnancy and with children or for certain health conditions.

I hope this helped you learn a little more and perhaps take the leap to begin using oils with your own family!

Next, we will dive into specific oils and their therapeutic properties.

***Disclaimer*** We only endorse things we’ve personally used or come highly recommended by trusted peers. If you grab anything we mention using our referral links, we may get a small commission. However, there’s no extra cost to you!

What is Health?

I’d like to teach a bit on health and what it truly means. Many people assume they are in excellent health but when digging deeper, they believe they are healthy because: 1. they do not have an illness or disease or 2. they rarely get sick. But the WHO specifically says that health is "not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Just because you aren't sick, doesn't mean you are healthy. 

During this time, the media and everyone on social media is preaching how NOT to get sick. What outward precautions to take. But we believe that we need to teach how to stay healthy! From the inside out.

I’d like you to take a look inside and ask: how is your physical health? Are you eating unhealthy snacks/junk food all day? Are you sitting on the couch binging shows/movies? Are you going for walks outside? Are you exercising? Are you eating plenty vegetable/fruits? Are you limiting your processed sugar intake? What are you doing to maintain, or better yet improve, your physical well-being?

How about your mental health? Are you feeling anxious/fearful? Are you looking forward to the future? Do you believe in the power of your body to fight illness? Are you meditating, journaling, or using another avenue to better your mental health? Are you seeing a therapist or other practitioner that assists you in have a better mental well-being?

What about your social well-being? I know that this one is struggling for a lot of people. And it's a huge factor in your health! Social interaction helps stimulate the Vagus nerve. Never heard of that? Well, it's become a hot topic among a lot of health professions. It plays a major role in your parasympathetic nervous system which helps to regulate many systems in your body. “Face-to-face social connectedness fortifies the "tend-and-befriend" parasympathetic response and engages your vagus nerve. This improves vagal tone and counteracts stress responses associated with "fight-or-flight" mechanisms. Social connectedness has also been clinically proven to improve heart rate variability (HRV), which is the measurement of variations within beat-to-beat intervals and indicates a healthy heart (From psychologytoday.com).” Are you having limited to no social interaction during this time or are you searching for ways to still have social interaction?

This period of time is allowing people the opportunity to reassess what is needed in their lives and what is not as important as what they once thought. Health may have once been far down the totem pole for many but is quickly rising in the ranks to being a top priority. If you’re wondering how you can make health a priority and how you can take charge of your health, please reach out. There are many ways to improve your health and many practitioners that can help but ultimately the responsibility it yours.

There’s a statement in chiropractic philosophy of Above-Down, Inside-Out (ADIO). What this means is that the brain (Above) is the control center of the body. The control comes from the brain (Above) and goes to the body (Down). As it goes down it begins “Inside” and travels “Out.” As it travels out, you not only are affecting yourself but are able to help others. 

How does ADIO philosophy relate to the principle of health? Health doesn’t come from an outside source. Health is already programmed inside all of us. Our bodies can and will fight off illnesses. You are designed to do so and far better than any outside source has the ability to fight off illnesses. The responsibility for you to achieve health doesn’t come from an outside source. Can outside sources help? Absolutely. Some examples in each category can be as follows:

Physical Well-being:

• Chiropractic: allows your nervous system to function without interference thus allowing for improved function of the body.

• Personal Trainers: provides an exercise program that best suites your needs

• Dietician/Nutritionist: assists in coming up with a well balanced food lifestyle that best suites your life.

There are many other examples of outside sources that can help elevate your physical well-being but it is still your responsibility. The Chiropractor can help but YOU must go to their office. The personal trainer may assist you in an exercise program but YOU are the one that does the exercise. A dietician/nutritionist may provide you a food lifestyle but YOU have to buy the food and choose to follow the plan.

Mental Well-being:

• Therapist: provides an avenue to properly process experiences of your life.

• Alternative healers: provide many different ways to assist in your mental well-being. 

• Friends: provide a safe place for you to vent and discuss what’s going on in your life.

• If you’re religious-God: prayer provides a way for you to discuss your needs with God and “let go and let God.”

You may have other outside sources that assist you in elevating your mental well-being but it is up to YOU to use them if you need. It is your responsibility to feel/deal/heal from mental struggles or hinderances in the present or past. 

Social Well-being:

• Friends: there is no better “face-to-face social connectedness” than interacting with a close friend.

• Mindset groups: provides an avenue to discuss goals and interact with people that want to achieve elevated levels of success and help you to achieve your goals.

• Sport leagues: for many sports are an avenue to not only interact with others socially but also provides an opportunity to improve their mental and physical well-being at the same time. 

• Hobby Groups: an avenue for people to interact with like minded individuals doing something they love.

Social well-being is one category that relies on others more than the other two. However, it is still YOUR responsibility to reach out and interact with others. You may be an introvert (like Dr. Randy) and think you do not need to have any interaction. However the interaction is needed. It may not look like an extroverts interaction, e.g. big parties or being around a lot of people. It may be one on one interaction or a large group for a short duration of time. But the more we realize how important our social well-being is to our overall health, the more we will seek opportunities to elevated our social well-being.

We at Elevated Life Family Chiropractic know how important it is to ELEVATE your health. We have been reminded, during this time, how important it is for us to educate and provide a safe place for people to not only learn but also to experience true health. We do our best at providing an opportunity for you to elevate your physical well-being through chiropractic adjustments.  While in our office we hope you feel comfortable enough to share your needs, not only physically but also mentally and socially. We opened Elevated Life Family Chiropractic in Shelley, ID because we want to be an asset to this community and provide a place for people to feel connected to others enough to help each other in their paths to elevating their health. 

We love hearing from you! Find us on social media: @ElevatedLifeFC, comment below or shoot us an email: info@elevatedlifefc.com