When I think back to my childhood I realize that health was on my radar from a very early age
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Why A Chiropractor?
Sometimes I get asked what led me into the field of healthcare and why I chose to become a chiropractor. When I think back to my childhood I realize that health was something that was on my radar from a very early age.
I also remember in grade 5 when other kids were writing their school speeches on topics like Neil Armstrong landing on the moon and the Titanic, I wrote mine on obesity. The foundation for a career in healthcare was obviously there when I was young.
My Father’s Healthy Lifestyle
Growing up my father was a high school physical and health education teacher so the importance of a healthy lifestyle was a part of my upbringing. I still fondly remember him taking me and my siblings to the track to run laps with him when we were pretty young. I am grateful because physical activity was instilled in me as something that is just a part of your every day life. It didn’t occur to me that other families weren’t like ours and didn’t incorporate regular exercise and activity into their daily lives.
My Mother’s Battle
I also developed a keen interest in preventive health through my mother’s battle with breast cancer. As a youth I watched her battle the disease valiantly only to succumb to the illness when I was 14 years old. The experience developed a curiosity in me and I had all kinds of questions that I wanted answered. Why did she get sick? Was it something pre-programmed in her genes or was it something in her lifestyle that she could have done differently to prevent her outcome? Was there some other form of intervention that could have made a difference in her healing?
Looking At Healthcare
I think from this experience I always knew that I was going to be involved in health care in some capacity. I also knew that I wanted to focus on a more holistic, preventive approach to health. Our current health care system does an amazing job treating sickness, alleviating suffering and prolonging life for those in crisis. However, I’ve always felt that treating sickness is a backwards approach to healthcare and it’s the reason why we as a society are getting sicker and sicker year after year. Cancer, heart disease and diabetes are rampant, and in my opinion, the cure is to be found in prevention. Not enough people understand all of the lifestyle habits and behaviours that can have a tremendous impact on reducing the risk of these and countless other afflictions that seem to dominate the healthcare landscape in Canada and much of the western world.
Orillia & Family Roots
Having been born and raised in Orillia, it was an easy decision to come back home to practice and give back to the community that I love. After high school, I did my undergraduate degree at Western in London before the four year Doctor of Chiropractic degree in Toronto. When I graduated in 1999 my wife Jennifer, who also grew up in Orillia, was pregnant with our first of two daughters and she was definitely excited about coming home with our families close by. It’s fun to see my daughters being taught by some of the same teachers that we had in high school!
A Bit Of Philosophy
I love the quote by the great American inventor Thomas Edison, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease”. This health care philosophy has always resonated with me, and chiropractic really is an extension of this approach. The basic, underlying tenet of chiropractic philosophy is that the human body is a self-healing organism. The nervous system (brain and spinal cord) is the master system of the body and controls the function, healing and repair of every single organ, tissue and cell in the body. In essence, your body will only function, heal and repair as well as your nervous system is functioning.
Focus
So our focus at Grace Chiropractic goes beyond just helping people feel better. We want our patients to be comfortable, but beyond that we want them to be as healthy as humanly possible. The purpose of the spine is to protect the healing power that is located in the spinal cord. If someone’s posture is off and their spine is misaligned and degenerating, it will inevitably start to choke and compromise the millions of messages that are being transmitted from the brain to the body and back through the spinal cord and the 33 pairs of nerves that leave the spine. Chiropractic by definition is as holistic as any healthcare practice can be, because we work with the one system that controls the whole body. By improving the function of the nervous system, we improve the function of the whole body.
Challenging Beliefs
Every Wednesday evening at 6:15 pm, I provide a spinal workshop for all of our new patients as well as for those in the community that are looking to learn about chiropractic and how it can transform their health. In addition, we provide workshops on nutrition, weight losss, nutritional cleansing and detoxification. I’ve also spoken extensively throughout the community because I feel it is really important to reach out to people that are not aware of the benefits of chiropractic. I love to be able to challenge people’s traditional healthcare beliefs and paradigms and shift their thinking to a more preventive, proactive approach. I am proud of our amazing, compassionate team of chiropractic assistants, Michell, Jenn and Sharon.
