Soft Paws: Rescuing Donny: A tale of hope

By Dr. Elizabeth Boomhower

For Capital Region Independent Media

Editor’s Note: The Greenville Pioneer is excited to welcome new columnist Dr. Elizabeth Boomhower to our paper! Dr. Boomhower, who operates a health and wellness center here in Greenville, will present a monthly column entitled “Back to Better Health,” with tips and advice on improving your health and well-being. Welcome, Dr. Boomhower!

Trying to be healthy in a world that seems to make it easy to be sick and stressed is a challenge, to say the least. It’s my job to be a beacon of hope and guidance in the frustrating, confusing, and overwhelming journey to be as healthy as we can.

As a chiropractor, my doctorate status is unique and allows me to function within a holistic, conservative care approach to healing the body. Chiropractic is the science, philosophy and art of adjusting the body into its most optimal function and form through working directly with the nervous system, which controls everything.

The Central Nervous System is your brain and spinal cord. The Peripheral Nervous System includes all other nerve tissue in the body controlling movements and sensations. Specifically, movement can be either voluntary or involuntary, for example, reaching to grab your phone versus breathing or blinking. Involuntary patterns have been inherited through generations of our human ancestors. These involuntary patterns are dictated by sympathetic and parasympathetic responses to stimulus — I’m sure we’ve all heard of “fight or flight” and “rest and digest,” which refers to these responses, respectively.

The sympathetic and parasympathetic balance is essential to our body’s optimal function. If you have any wearable tech such as a smart watch, whoop band, or Oura ring, you will be able to visualize your Heart Rate Variability (HRV), which is the measure of your balance. Too often we are in a sympathetic state, and have a lower HRV. Running from one meeting to the next, fueling with excessive caffeine, not eating enough, eating poor quality food, eating while driving, multitasking, overexercising, using phones and television in the evening hours… Are you stressed just reading this?! I certainly am.

In the 21st century technological age, we tend to be unbalanced, with the scales tipped to the sympathetic systems being in overdrive. We have an invisible lion chasing us that is our overburdened calendar, nonstop email inbox, and endless to-do list and we cannot heal when we’re being chased by a lion. This is the danger of chronic stress. Whether it be mental or physical, we must keep our body’s perceived stress in balance so that we have the opportunity to heal.

Here are my top recommendations:

• Prioritize your sleep. Getting to bed consistently is better than early one night and late the next. Pick a reasonable bedtime and try to stick to it. Practice good sleep hygiene, which can look like no blue light two hours before going to sleep, developing a wind- down routine that includes relaxing activities, and perfecting your environment with the temperature, light and noise that you prefer to sleep to. Try to get at least seven hours of sleep, which optimizes your chance of getting into REM and slow-wave sleep states, which repair both your mind and body.
• Pause before meals. Those who choose to pause in prayer before their meal may not realize the health benefits of that devotional practice, however you don’t have to be religious to tap into your health here. Taking a minute before you begin eating to take a deep breath in, filling your lungs entirely, then exhaling all the way, and maybe doing this a few more times, will help prime your body to drop into a parasympathetic or “rest and digest” state. Bonus points for doing it after your meal as well. This is optimal to properly digest your food. If you struggle with bloating and gassiness after eating, this is one thing to try and see if you recognize any noticeable differences!
• Come to Catskill Valley Chiropractic: A Center For Wellness! Massage, yoga and chiropractic can all help to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. Engaging in and prioritizing relaxing activities regularly can help your body more easily drop into a parasympathetic state. It’s essentially like building any habit – the more you do it, the stronger the neural pathway gets, the easier it is for you to get there. Any regular relaxation practice or combination can help fortify this pathway. My favorites are definitely massage, yoga and getting adjusted, but also walking, spending time in nature, reading and journaling are some other practices I enjoy.

Adding in small practices such as tuning into your breath, going to sleep 30 minutes earlier, and prioritizing some relaxation can go a long way to facilitate healing in the body.

Until next time, I wish you less stress so that you can be at your best!