Since we live in a free society, I want to take a minute to remind you that ONLY you are responsible for your health. Tonight while watching Lou Dobbs on CNN, I was blown away by the subject matter. One of the topics focused on the corrupt partnership between the FDA (the Food and Drug Administration) and the pharmaceutical companies.

In a nutshell, the people on FDA panels who decide what drugs will be approved for sale, actually have positions in the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the drugs that are up for review!

So for example, a recent independent study showed that a Cox-2 inhibitor drug, called Vioxx, doubled heart attack and stroke risk when taken for at least 18 months. Merck & Co., the pharmaceutical giant and maker of Vioxx, immediately pulled Vioxx from the market.
But last week, Merck & Co. Inc. made a surprise announcement that it would consider selling Vioxx again if a FDA panel decided the cardiovascular risks were similar to those of related prescription pain relievers. However, the people on this FDA panel actually work for Merck! Guess who’s back in the game! Vioxx!

Naturally most people take the word of the FDA to be true. I am suggesting you become radical when it comes to your health. The main agency that approves today’s drugs doesn’t have our best interest in mind. It is all about profits!

The United States of America should be the healthiest country on the planet with all our riches. Although we are the most technologically and pharmaceutically advanced country in the galaxy, we are ranked the 17th healthiest country in the world.

Drugs aren’t the answer. The answer lies inside you. It begins with your life force! Health begins with honoring and cultivating the circulation of your life force. You’re only as strong as the energy that courses through!

Chiropractic opens the channel. Then you need to move with intelligence and awareness to make sure the energy get deposited in the right place and in the right amount! Try yoga! Or tai chi! Or chi gong! Or aikdo! Just get the force circulating.

Let’s start the wellness revolution on the inside, get strong and take the power back!

As many of you may know, I have been blessed with the opportunity to be an apprentice to Ashtanga Master, Chuck Miller. As his apprentice I have assumed the role as an “environmentalist,” making sure that flow is maintained in the asana room.

My biggest excitement lies in being able to have the permission to walk around the room and observe the intensity and integrity of the yogis’ practice.

For those that don’t know about Mysore Ashtanga yoga, Ashtanga yoga is a sequential, scientific form of yoga know as vinyasa, and is self-led. That’s right…no teacher. You control your cadence.

Vinyasa correlates breath with motion. Specific inhales or exhales fluidly link the entering into and exiting out of an asana or posture. The style of breathing known as ujjayi, steadies the mind and creates internal heat to release toxins and give the body more pliability.

Natural alignment and strength are natural byproducts. However, it all sounds great on paper….now the practioner has to turn that philosophy of fluid breath and movement into practice.

I jokingly coined the term, “Russian vinyasa yoga” (no offense to any Russian yogis) for those rushing their yoga practice. In asana practice, there exists a tendency for one to overextend and over exert. A certain amount of restraint is necessary to ensure that the yogi does not injure themselves….on purpose.

Vinyasa also means to move step by step. The concept of each movement and breath as part of whole dynamic process is symbolic to how we lead our daily lives.

Some times we all need to check in and make sure we’re not moving at 186,000 miles per second (the speed of light). In Los Angeles it is very easy to be like a rhinoceros in a rose garden. It may be healthier to be like the bee smelling the roses.

So just a suggestion… slow down. You may actually become conscious of some of your unconscious behaviors and patterns that are causing you to become subluxated in the first place.

By living a conscious life we are able to move healthier in our bodies, think more clearly, and connect to our innate intelligence.

So get adjusted to clear your channel…. Move your body skillfully to make sure your container is strong….Breathe consciously so the energy circulates… and make sure the food and thoughts entering the body are pure!