.

This isn’t a lecture on not doing your make-up or texting while driving.  Those are obvious no-no’s but ironically I see people doing it.  After I thought about it for a bit, driving is an excellent example of health care.

We all drive almost everyday.  Nothing bad ever really happens, but there is always a potential for something to happen.  So what do we have… insurance, right.  You almost never need it, but if you do, you’re glad you have it.

I’ve hit 2 deer in my life.  One demolished my front windshield and almost killed me and the other was nothing more than a big bump in the road that just rocked the truck.  We kept going and nothing happened.  Both were instantaneous and unavoidable.  Boom…there it is.

Next time you hop in your car you can get a health lesson.

1.  The primary thing you probably think about when owning a car is how much fuel does it take, and you might even ponder what kind.  Over all thou, your choices are pretty limited.  If you put diesel fuel in an unleaded vehicle, you have problems.  Now, it is the wrong fuel.

Your body needs the right fuel.   Veggies, fruit, fats, meat.  Things like processed cereal, bread or many of the sugar items are the wrong fuel.  Would a Ferrari owner ever put bad fuel in their car?  You can’t expect your body to perform at a peak level running on processed food, soda, and anything nuked in a microwave.

One more fuel thought.  A year ago gas was $2.26, today it is $2.89.
Two years ago, it was $4.11, the highest recorded price in America.

Did you buy gas at $4/gallon?  I did.  My car needed the right fuel.  I wasn’t happy about it, but I did it, but I also used less.  You body needs the best fuel you can buy.  Did you know? There is more nutrients in organic food and no chemicals.  If you eat better quality food, your body will need less.  Processed food will taste great on the lips, but because the real nutrients have been stripped out of it, your body is constantly hungry for the missing nutrients.  Did you know?  Oreo’s are graded on 90 different characteristics, taste, texture, color, blah, blah, blah.  Manufacturers go to amazing lengths to hook you on their crappy food.

Fight back by buying from your local farmers, then organic food.  Put the best fuel in your body and start running like a Ferrari.

    2.  Oil changes... Why do you do that?  Prevention, right?  You want your car to keep running smoothly.  I like to think of prevention a little differently than  most doctors.  The only real recommendation you’ll hear is to get your early screenings.  To “prevent” bigger problems.  That’s not really prevention.

Does an oil change guarantee you’ll never breakdown…no.  Does eating organic food and exercising guarantee you’ll never get cancer…no.  Does getting an oil change hedge you bets that you’ll keep cruising down the road?  Sure, otherwise you wouldn’t do it.  Do I eat organic food because I believe it will help prevent problems in the future.  Absolutely!  The list of problems pesticides have been shown to cause is longer than I care to write today.  Eating pesticides is like driving every day.  You can do it for years and years, but some time those deer jump out in the middle of the night.  Stop taking a known risk with pesticides, go organic.   For the women, pesticides contribute to hormone problems.  This is one of the single largest health problems for women that is preventable.

  3.  Dash lights…most of the time they aren’t on.  But if a little light does pop on, it gets your attention right away.  These are early warning signs, like pain or any other symptom, for example:  can’t sleep, diabetes, heart disease, fatigue, acid indigestion, and over 600 other things.  I have this handy dandy little book listing all these early warning signs and how to potentially fix them with Standard Process supplements and herbs.  Take those warnings seriously and remember medications only put tape over your dash board lights.

4.  Fix the little stuff…if your car starts to smoke you don’t let it keep smoking.  Smoking leads to more serious problems, right.

5.  Ever leave your headlights on? …There is only so long that you can leave the lights on without the engine running.  If you do, your battery will be dead in the morning.  Ever have a hard time getting out of bed?  Your battery is dead.  It is a dead give-away that you are leaving the lights on and too stressed or working too hard or staying up too late or just plain have too many irons in the fire.   I’ve been there and speak from experience.  Take it seriously and change your lifestyle.   It is called adrenal fatigue.  It plays a significant role in heart health.  We’ll talk more about that later this summer.

6.  Use it…or lose it.   If you park your car and never use it, it will slowly become worthless.  It will rust or the gas will go bad or mice will make a nice home inside.  If you don’t exercise your body, you will lose it.  You know what I mean.  Cars need some highway time to clean out the gunk from city driving.  Your body needs the same.  A good sweat will go a long way.  If you are really out of shape don’t start doing a lot of exercise, ease into it.

7.   Insurance... You don’t dare drive without it.  To me health insurance isn’t from a company. Yeah, I have it in case a really bad accident happens, but health itself is determined by your habits.   Eating good organic food, getting sleep, taking Standard Process whole food supplements, exercise, chiropractic adjustments, thinking good, and not polluting  body with chemicals or even negative people.  God forbid something really bad happens, do you think you have better chance of survival if you are strong, energetic, and wildly healthy going in to it or tired, over-weight, crabby, and out-of-shape?  You need to work for health insurance, you can’t buy it.  You buy accident insurance.  Real health comes from within.

Women’s health week is coming to a close.  The governments site has some good info and reminders.

•     Eat well

•     Get your exercise

•     Get your sleep

•     Reduce your stress

•     Don’t smoke

•     Get some preventative screenings, just be careful with this one.  Read Bruce West.

That sounds a lot like my car story.  I’d like to add one more piece.  In my opinion, one of the single greatest health problems facing women today is hormone imbalances.  They are getting worse and harder to deal with.  That will take another whole article, watch for it soon.

-Dr. Altman

-To order Standard Process  Call 612-Be-Great or email docaltman [at] gmail [dot] com

-To order probiotics.  Now this is new!  You can set-up your own account using our office.  Just create a patient account here.  This is the 90 count probiotic that we order, Pro-flora concentrate  (PR123).  You also get a 5% discount doing it this way.  Any problems let me know.  Just put in Dr. David Altman and 507-359-3123 for the phone number.

When you work you are a flute through whose heart
the whispering of the hours turns to music.  To love
life through labor is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret.
All work is empty save when there is love, for work is
love made visible.
-Kahlil Gibran

Can you get up and smile about what you are doing tomorrow?

Are you loving what you do?  Can you feel the music of your work?

Kahlil calls this “life’s inmost secret”.  This is often hard to do and sometimes impossible at some moments.  I think if you work in Haiti right now this would challenge you.  Through out my life I haven’t always had the jobs I long for, but I have always worked towards that.

Life is too short to hate what you do for work.  Just think about spending 8 hours with mental negativity and mayhem going on in your brain everyday.  That is tough on the body.  Remember health comes from a good mind, body, and spirit.  So what do you do?

You only have two choices:

#1 Get going and do what you love to do.  The money will follow.  Your mind “health” craves this.

#2 If you can’t change your job right now, you must change how you “think” about it.  Don’t waste another minute hating it.

If you don’t do one of those two things you are sacrificing 1/3 of your health.  Would you throw 1/3 of your money away.  Get the matches and strike them up and start burning your dollar bills.  What if you’re stuck?  Can’t find a direction?  Can’t find your purpose?

A few tips for you:

#1 Change your routine.  Get off the treadmill of life and just sit still and be quite and keep your environment quite for just 5 minutes.  That’s it.  Let your brain run wild and let it go.  Don’t stop it, don’t control it, just let it wander.  Give it time and you’ll be surprised.

#2 Prepare for rain.  If you want to be a weather man, you need to study clouds.  If you want to be an artist, you need to spend some time drawing.  Spend some time everyday on what you want.  Watching T.V. doesn’t count unless you want to be a potato or a an actor.

When you are inspired by some great purpose,
some extraordinary project,
all your thoughts break their bonds;
Your mind transcends limitations,

….You discover yourself to be a greater person
than you ever dreamed yourself to be.
-Patanjali

Love what you do one way or another.  Your health depends on it.

The Secrets of slow motion and making life better

How to add the Matrix slow motion to your life.

When the bullets are flying, wouldn’t it be great to be able to see them coming and bend left, then right, and watch them fly by in slow motion?  To do that you need to learn some secrets of slow motion.

Is it possible to live a slower life and actually enjoy it.  Absolutely.  Now, it wouldn’t be fun to actually live and move in tree sloth time.  What I want is the perception of time to downshift into a lower gear.

Time, itself, slows down when you do.

Talk to almost anyone older than you and they all say the same thing.  “The older you get the faster time goes.”  I would say that most of the retirees that I know are busier now than when they were still working.  On the flip side, if a retiree sits in the rocking chair and does nothing, they quickly degenerate and die.  It’s true that “a rolling stone gathers no moss”, but what if the stone is rolling too fast?  Chaos can quickly ensue with an out of control boulder.  “Rock Slide”

It is hard to do less.

Every part of our lives to built around being as productive as possible, or at least as busy as possible.  Everyone feels more important if they are busy, or appear to be busy.  I’ve seen elementary kids with planners.

If you don’t have much experience in simple living and slow living you may just have to take a vacation to kick start a new out look on life.

“Doctor’s orders”

Now, any time off will be great, but you need at least 5 days, preferably longer, to let your brain begin to slow down.  For the first 3 days you will likely be antsy and wanting to do something, resist it. On a “vacation” don’t plan anything.  That’s right…NO plans.  You’re on the non-plan plan.  Some of the best trips and most memorable were never planned.  The patients I prescribe a vacation to need to do nothing and let their minds and bodies rest.  You don’t want to have to take a vacation after your vacation.

If you are taking a R & R vacation my suggestions would be to the mountains or the ocean.  Both of with have a lot of power, energy, and the ability to humble you with their grand scale.  I realize you can get peace anywhere but humans have always gravitated to these places, they offer that little bit extra.

Now if you are really in need of peace and reflection you could sign up for a month of meditation in a Katmandu monestary.  Since that kind of isolation would break most people, me included, go for the ocean or the mountains.

If you are really strapped for time a lake or a forest will do if you don’t live close to the big ones.

A few other suggestions to SLOW life down and enjoy it.

• Go to a foreign country- you will be forced to slow down with unfamiliar surroundings and language barriers.
• Turn off your phone and computer.
• Have no plan
• Travel light - Walking on the cobblestone streets in Mexico I saw this poor guy dragging 2 huge suitcases along while he followed his female companion.  I thought “poor #$%^&*”  Don’t drag burdens around with you.

Benefits to you:

• You sleep better
• You feel less pain
• You have more energy
• Life can take on more meaning than to-do lists and bills.

But “I don’t have time…I have this to do…and that to do”

If anything close to those words just came out of your mouth…you must go.  Everyday you wait , you rob yourself of life.  All your stuff will be waiting for you when you get back.  Remember, you’re leaving things behind and not checking a bag.  The only exceptions to this rule are a bride and groom or if you are choosing a cold weather retreat, or have an unusual medical condition and need to bring lots of stuff.

My mom went to Spain for 10 days in a purse and a carry-on bag.  She didn’t think it possible until my wife got a hold of her suitcase and packed it as a traveler would.  Traveling is a skill just as packing a suitcase efficiently is a skill.

Tomorrow’s post I’ll show you my backpack.

I see this behavior every time I drive. Young, old, car, truck, even mini-vans… doesn’t matter.

Try this the next time you are driving. If you are a block away from a red light, let off the gas and start coasting up to it. You will make a nice easy stop. Most likely someone will whiz by you just to be sitting at the red light while you pull up next to them laughing. They’ll mash the gas and take off to the next red light.

What if life wasn’t moving that fast? Have you ever driven down a street 100 times and all of a sudden notice a house you’d never seen before? I know I have.

A few of the benefits of slowing down.

1. Less stress

2. Better appreciation of the world around you

3. Greater peace of mind.

Peace of mind may be the best reason of all. “But, doc, I relax.” Did you know that you can’t just go and relax? Try it, go relax right now. Come on, I’m waiting. Trying to go relax is like trying to force the sand to settle in the ocean. Now scoop up some sand and water in a jar and leave it alone. The sand will settle out without you doing anything. In fact, you have to do NOTHING for the sand to settle.

One of the best things I learned on vacation was to do nothing. Your mind can only be clear when it isn’t processing a million facts and projects and deadlines. There is a time and place for those things. Number crunching has to take place every once in awhile, but so does nothingness. I know it sounds very zen-like, and no, I am not wearing robes in the office now.

Here’s how it may help you. Many, many people are very stressed right now about money, their jobs, their future, and a host of other things. I understand. But trying to race around and solve problems can be counter-productive. Creativity and problem solving comes from within you, much like inspiration. Some of my best newsletters are written in one sitting, because I have this flood of instantaneous creativity that I have to write down immediately. Those inspiring moments are not while I’m watching a football game or making supper. My best inspiration comes from quiet time, in the shower, in church, and even in the middle of the night.

Your brain works on problems all the time, but when it is so preoccupied with task after task, the solutions stay behind the curtain.

Want to solve a problem?

Don’t think about it. Don’t make a list of pros and cons. Tell your brain you need an answer by a certain time and put all your issues in a pot and stir them up. Put them on the back burner of your brain and let them simmer. Don’t try look at them or the answers won’t happen. Like trying to watch a pot boil. It takes longer. Your brain will work on them while you carry on life. When the answers are done cooking, they will come out in a QUIET moment. All the ingredients will settle to the bottom.

Find a quite moment every day for 5 minutes and do NOTHING but listen to your breathing, and then be amazed at the thoughts that come flooding through your brain.

I can tell you from personal experience that a solution can exist right under your nose, and with the hustle and bustle of activity, it is easy to miss.

I was the clod who didn’t realize our adjusting table was slowly breaking down over 10 years. And yes, it was due to a misalignment, how funny is that? I was so busy adjusting people I missed any early warning signs. I actually had a patient point out how ironic it was that my table broke because of a misalignment. Luckily, the table is made of metal and it could be welded. I pulled the hydraulics apart, realigned them, and voila, it works smoothly again.

There were interesting lessons in this misadventure.

#1 Misalignments take years to show up. It took our table 10 years and thousands of up and down trips to wear through the metal enough to break. For those of you who took a ride on the table in the last month, you may remember how rough it was and sounded like metal scraping. And that was after I got it welded.

The spine acts the same way. It takes 10-20 years of wear and tear on misaligned bones before they start to show signs of stress on the joints. Some key things to watch for:

…Tingling in the hands. Nothing gets people’s attention

more than their hands falling asleep.

…Shooting pains-across the back or down the legs.

…Grinding noises anywhere- Your joints are just like our misaligned table. They are deteriorating and getting rough. Don’t wait until everything goes haywire. These are warning signs.

…Alas, the spine isn’t metal. You can’t weld it back together. It has to heal from the inside out. All health comes from the inside, so it can take time to heal. Our table got welded in a couple hours, but the spine may take a couple of months to heal.

I got adjusted yesterday, and I am still amazed at how good I feel afterwards. I didn’t feel bad before, but I feel even better now. 

I Almost Forgot…

The second lesson.

#2 Free weight workouts helped.

This was a full body, all muscles working effort to line the table up. It only moved a few millimeters at a time, so this took minutes of sustained effort. Rarely, do you ever use every muscle you have… It was kinda’ fun.  I was thankful that I exercise.

If you need to save a little here and there, this list might help you.

I stumbled upon an interesting article from a guy who lives a good life and is fairly frugal.  I would say that we are very similar.  He doesn’t live in the US. so I thought I’d try and get a feel for what people are spending on some basic things that could be improved or eliminated if needed.  I got some great responses and I averaged the expenses to get some numbers.  you may not spend that much or you may exceed these numbers.  The point is to look at ways to save money and not necessarily live in a box.

#1 Cable TV.  Ours is essentially FREE.  It makes our internet cheaper.  The only thing I need is the internet.  If my internet and cable were separated I could easily live without T.V.  I rarely watch TV.  We watch mostly movies on DVD or T.V. Online.  This is a booming new way to watch movies, and T.V.  They are a day old but I could care less.  My favorite site is www.hulu.com all the major networks have their shows online as well.  Watch what you want when you want.    Average reader cost $62.60 / month.

#2 Going to plays, shows, Opera.   I love to go to plays, but if you are trying to save money it is a extra expense you can easily skip. Average reader expense $75 / month. 

#3 Going to Movie Theaters.  The last movie I went to I took my kids to see BOLT.  It cost me $40.  Luckily the kids enjoyed it.  This is where DVD’s are king.  Average reader expense $30 / month.

#4 Groceries.   We don’t buy soda, or almost anything from the middle isles of a grocery store.  I think people can save a bundle here.  I think fruits and veggies are more expensive but you eat less and because you are not only saving money not buying junkfood but you will also be saving on insurance and doctor bills.  That’s tough to quantify but I know it can be hundreds if not thousands.  Average Reader Grocery bill $84.21 per person.
We average $85 / person so we can call this one a wash, this difference will be in insurance and doctor visits.  Skimping on quality food isn’t something we do because so many other things depend on nutrition and this is the foundation of health.  Health is not an area to skimp.  Everything you do in life depends on your health.  If you can buy from a local farmer / farmers markets even better.  You get better food at a lower cost, plus, you help the environment.

#5 Gym Membership.  Most people don’t need one.  You can get a great workout at home for free.  Average reader expense $35 / month

#6 Cars.  By the demise of one of our cars, we are down to one mini-van.  We decided to not replace it unless we needed to.  As a family of 5, we moved to a home/office we don’t need one yet. Most readers didn’t have a car payment.  Obviously one way to save some dough is buy a more efficient car versus a truck or SUV.
Average reader payment was $166 / month
Average reader gas was $73 / month  could save more with more efficient car.
Average reader Insurance was $60 / month
Total / month if you can eliminate one car $299/month

#7 Smoking, Alcohol, Coffee shops.   It clearly helps if you don’t do any of these, but there is some health benefits to red wine.  My father-in-law tipped me off to this gem after one of their wine tasting events.  If you are looking for a good “cheap” red wine, the Crane Lake Malbec is very good for the price $5.  Tough to beat.  For the majority of us who are not wine afficianatos you would be hard pressed to tell the difference from an expensive red.  If you drink coffee you can save a bundle by making it at home.  I now prefer good home brewed organic coffee to anything in a coffee shop.
The average reader who smoked cost $150 / month.
The average reader alcohol cost $81.68 / month.
The average reader hit the coffee shops cost $19 / month. 

#8 Medical Doctor and Insurance Costs.  Unfortunately, this can vary wildly.  It completely depends on your health.  Which ultimately comes back to what groceries you eat and if you exercise.  The average readers insurance cost was $120 / person / month.
Family of four = $480 / Month  You can’t really drop insurance, but you may be able to shop and find a better rate or go with a HSA.
Doctor Visit average $112 every 3 months = $37.33 / month with paying out-of-pocket. This can vary a lot depending on your deductible. I carry a very high deductible because I don’t get sick and I can’t remember the last time I went to a medical doctor.  I realize that isn’t the norm for most people so we will add a little expense every 3 months.

#9 Shopping to Shop.  Buying impulse items just to go buy something.  The average reader $70 / month.

#10 Eating lunch or dinner out.  This is an area you can save a bundle.  I know many people who eat out for lunch everyday.  For one it is unhealthy and two it is expensive compared to brown bagging.  Bring food from home and your health and wallet will thank you.   The average reader spent $85 / month.

#11 Stop your magazine and newspaper subscriptions.  Most news is available online for free.  I don’t read the paper.  Even in the small town I live in, I don’t read the paper.  If anything big happens someone will tell you.  The average reader spends $37 / month on magazines and newspaper.

#12 Travel / Vacation  This is a tough one.  If you need to save money this is a place to cut back because it isn’t essential to life, but…  There is a huge benefit to getting away.  Your brain, your relationships, your body all get a rest and improve.  For example, before our last trip I had a lingering hip problem that was quite serious for about 2 days.  One of those days I had to cancel and reschedule patients.  After 4 days doing nothing and I mean doing nothing but watching the ocean and making sand drawings, I came back 100%.  There is a cost to taking vacations and a cost to not taking them.  So the trick may be to take inexpensive vacations to local destinations, bring your own food and if you have the ability to camp, even better.  My wife and I started camping before Chiropractic school and we traveled for a month for about $500 before we had kids.  Being in nature is a wonderful way to keep inner peace and practice simplicity.  I was in a lecture with Denis Waitley a number of years ago and he was reflecting on his 60+ years of life and what he would do differently.  Denis is most famous for being Mary Lou Rettons psychologist plus a whole host of other celebrities.  The one thing he wished was that he took more 3 and 4 day “vacations” than just one big 2 week vacation.  That can be an extra day just walking in the woods.  Try www.budgettravel.com for other ideas.  It may be time for a good old fashion road trip with the kids.
The average reader spent $707 dollars on vacations last year.

#13 Look at your cell phone plan.  The last issue of Consumer Reports did a big spread on plans.  Check the Library.  The average couple could save over $200 a year by going with a pre-paid phone.  A pre-paid phone costs about $30.  For the vast majority of people a complicated “smart” phone takes time and complicates life rather than simplify it.  For the younger generation I know texting is a must, but for many of you it is irrelevant.  I know some will argue that they must have every bell and whistle and that may be true, but analyze whether it is really saving you time and money for that matter.  It’s O.K. if it isn’t.  Just find something cheaper.  The average reader spent $55 a month.  For argument sake lets save $25 by going pre-paid.

#14 Land-line phones can often be gotten rid of.  The average reader spends $27.83

Total = $13,120 a year in savings for either changing or stopping many of the above suggestions.  Some of you spend less than the above numbers and others spend much more.  These are only averages and possibilities.  This is not for everyone and some people can’t make changes, but there be some ideas that you can incorporate.  By no means do you need to live in a box to still live well.  Sometimes, when push comes to shove, you need to save some money somewhere.  I hope this helps some of you.

Bonus Ideas
-Cutting back at the vending machines
-Keeping tires properly inflated
-Add insulation to the Attic
-Buy a smaller house
-Use the library more
-Walk more / Bike
-Do errands in one trip
-Don’t use credit cards ever!

It can be done if you want to.  In one year, I went from commuting 45 minutes to a second office to living in a home/ office.  We sold a house, a business, a car, and moved to a central location in town and now lead a vastly simpiler life.  I thought I’d go crazy, but it is one of the best things we ever did.  I see my kids a lot more and we walk to most of their activities.