First Neck Adjustment!

As you can tell from my last post, I was a little frustrated today. Some of the things going through my head have been:

• Monica has been having her wisdom teeth coming in for the past three months and we haven't been able to pay to have it done.
• Biochem and all that drama
• Am I ever going to be that successful chiropractor? It seems so far away sometimes and out of reach.
• Tons of memorization with these classes. I am finally learning all new information in my classes and can't rely on what I learned in undergrad.

However, I had something to look forward to today. Matt Alexander asked if I wanted to come over on Wednesdays to practice our technique. He finally got a table and since he is 5 quarters ahead of me I was thrilled that he even offered. We talked a lot about chiropractic which helped me get reconnected to why I wanted to be one in the first place, but then we started on adjusting. I was so excited because he wanted to tackle the cervicals.

He showed me some things, but then he had me try. I got so nervous. I started to sweat and I could feel a slight tremble in my hands. "Come on James," I told myself, "you can do this. Be confident." I was able to correctly find his subluxation after a few moments. Then came the scary part. He actually trusted me to thrust on his neck. I couldn't believe that he would even allow me since I had never done it before.

I tried once. "Not enough speed and power, try again." He wanted me to try again after crinking his neck?! If I was nervous before, I certainly was now. I got in position and tried again. "Almost, you just about had it. Try again," he said understandingly.

How could he trust me to do this?! We are talking about his neck here! Sweat beading off my forehead, I tried one more time. Unfortunately I had backed off way too much and was even worse than my first try. For some reason he said that I could go again!

You've got to be kidding me! I have already tried three times. There's no way. He insisted and I willingly obeyed. He helped me setup again. "Come one James. You have this. You can do it. I know you can. Power and speed. You have it in you. Don't hold back." I thrusted and within an instant I could feel the difference. Movement and energy went into his joints and I could feel the excitement of landing a perfect adjustment.

"You did it!" He yelled with excitement. My first adjustment! I could barely believe that I was able to do it. I can feel the confidence come back into my body knowing that this is real and very possible. Thank you Matt. You have no idea how much I needed that adjustment.

Biochemistry 2... Can't get much worse than this

Biochemistry may sound daunting, but when taught correctly can be very exciting. Unfortunately without a great teacher, you left on your own to attempt to understand it by yourself. My whole class is lost. We are now on week four and you can feel the tension inside the classroom. At the end of the class people rack him with questions expressing their frustration in what is being taught.

One side of me feels like we should suck it up and "grab the bull by the horns" like my dad would always tell me. However, the other side thinks that it's ridiculous that he doesn't take the time to really teach us. He'll tell us biochem, but not teach it. The slides go up, there is some monologue, he asks us if there are any questions, we don't even know how to ask a question because the question would be, "I didn't get any of that, could you teach that again please?", then it starts all over again.

I hope that I can pass this thing.

Third Quarter is Here

Finally it's here! I am finally learning how to adjust!! YAHOO!!! I am taking several classes that are still in the hard sciences, but I am also taking Diversified and Toggle.

Diversified is actually practiced by 95% of the current chiropractors. If you have been to a chiropractor, the chances is that you had that type of adjustment. It's easy to understand and do. It's also a full spine technique meaning that they will look at your whole body.

Toggle is the first upper cervical technique that I am actually learning (and have really made contact with). Upper cervical means that it's worried about adjusting only the first two vertebrae in the spine. That area is like the rest button for the body. The adjustments there are very light and have a lot of finesse. The tables are also lower with a head piece that will support the head while you lie down on your side. It's pretty comfortable actually. Kinda cool. We'll see where it leads.

Can't Wait!

At first I was looking forward to a three week vacation, but now I can't wait to get started again! I lasted about a week and then I started going bonkers. Without a job and only free time, you can't help but get bored with playing games or loafing around. We are made to work! My poor wife had to suffer with my drive to work as we did yard work for my brother and other projects. We came to the conclusion that I am my father's son.

My dad would take us on vacation and within a couple of days, he was working on something. Well, I lasted a week before that set in. Maybe it gets shorter with age :)