Currently viewing the category: "nervous system"

Dry Brush for Health & Beauty

By On · Add Comment · In dry brush massage, dry brushing, epidermis, Erewhon Natural Foods, impurities, lymphatics, nervous system, skin, vegetable fiber brush, vitamin D
I would love to share with you a health and beauty secret practiced in the spas of Europe and Russia, and that I have been doing regularly for years. The first is called dry brush massaging, and it is a stupendous way to care for your skin and other systems.

Dry brush massage, or dry brushing as I call it, is using a dry vegetable fiber brush to lightly scrub the dead skin cells off your body. Very much like a body scrub spa treatment here in the U.S., dry brushing is a way to stimulate the skin and remove the upper epidermal layer, leaving a fresh, rosy complexion to your body.

I like to use a vegetable fiber brush that you can get at most health food stores. In Los Angeles I like Erewhon Natural Foods near CBS on Beverly Blvd., which right down the street from my West Hollywood chiropractic office. You can also use a loofah or a coarse sponge if you have one lying around, but make sure it’s dry.

Starting with the soles of your feet, brush vigorously in rotational motions, and brush your entire body. When first starting the practice, go lightly, as your skin will be sensitive. You’ll want to be extra careful around the genitalia, axilla (armpits), and neck, which are very sensitive; and DO NOT brush the face (dry brush is too rough for the facial skin, and a good exfoliating scrub should do fine here). You want to brush until your skin becomes warm, glowing and rosy.

Five to ten minutes of dry brushing should be fine. The best time for dry brush massage is first thing in the morning or right before bed. I think dry brushing once a month is plenty, but I know some people do it more often. I do, however, think that more than once per week is excessive–moderation is key here.

The skin is the largest eliminative organ of the body (in size, not function). This surprises some to hear, but our skin is specifically designed to excrete impurities (along with its protective, sensory and other functions). When dead skin cells accumulate on the outer layers, the pores of the skin can become clogged, preventing the excretion of impurities and wastes. Further, vitamin D is produced in the deepest epidermal layers of the skin in response to sun absorption, so keeping the outermost layers as desquamated (sloughed off) as possible should help on this end too.

Finally, regular dry brushing can energize the lymphatic and circulatory systems, stimulating the movement of vital fluids. It will also stimulate the nervous system, helping you reconnect with the sensory receptors on the surface of your skin, and act as a vitality rejuvenator. Dry brushing also stimulates oil production from the glandular system, giving your skin a healthy sheen.

Dry brushing is a wonderful health and beauty practice sure to increase vitality, beautify your complexion, and improve your overall health. It’s a powerful natural anti-aging technique that I’ve been taking advantage of for years. Visit your local health food store and purchase a dry brush today. Dry brush for health, wellness and ageless beauty–you’ll be pleasantly amazed at the results.

*I refuse to entertain notions of cellulite removal from dry brushing as the suggestion of such is absurd.

Brain Naps

By On · Add Comment · In brain cramp, brain nap, nervous system, neurons, sleep deprivation

Wait a second…what was I just saying?  Whoa–what was I just thinking?  Probably everybody reading this has had the experience, that moment when you forgot what you were saying just moments before.  It’s called a brain cramp, and new research suggests that it may actually be a brain nap!

When we get sleep deprived, some nerve cells can actually shut off, going into a sleep-like state although the brain as a whole is awake.  I reported on this phenomenon last year, but think it’s important enough to look at again.  This shutting off of the brain was thought to be responsible for falling asleep at the wheel, too.

There was a time when neuroscientists believed that the entire brain was affected by sleep deprivation, as EEGs typically showed brain-wave patterns of either being asleep or awake.  But in a recent experiment scientists placed probes into the brains of rats, and after depriving the rats of sleep, saw areas of ‘local sleep’ despite the animals’ appearance of being awake and active.

There were consequences: The sleep deprived rats made mistakes when challenged to perform certain tasks like picking up sugar pellets (pellets were dropped).  In one experiment 20 neurons were monitored; while 18 stayed awake, two timed-out.

being-alone-513526_640 (Copy)Researchers point out that the brain shows sleep-like activity even before micro-sleep sets in.  So for people falling asleep at the wheel, very likely had neurons shutting off well before the snooze.

Once again, I believe this information is important.  Sleep is essential for proper functioning of the mind AND body, but now we know that even slight sleep deprivation can compromise health, and survival.  So be smart–get as much rest as you can–your life (or somebody else’s) depends on it.

Dinner with the Doctor: Neuroplasticity.

By On · Add Comment · In brain, chiropractic, nervous system, neurological sciences, neuroplasticity, West Hollywood

Spent a great evening with clients a couple weeks ago, talking about the big thing in the neurological sciences today: Neuroplasticity, the ability of the nervous system to shape itself.  We had good food, some laughs (mostly at me) and a discussion about how people control their development in every area through their nervous system.


Neuroplasticity is an unconscious mechanism for most, but we all utilize it whether we do so to our advantage or not; and we are doing it all with the nervous system, particularly the brain.

I discussed how we habituate by doing the same unconscious actions repeatedly.  I also discussed how we can break old habits and create new ones neurologically by practicing some useful and interesting techniques. 

I will be writing much more on neuroplasticity in the future.  Just suffice it to say that our Dinner with the Doctor event in West Hollywood was a success.  With a little chiropractic, neurology and mind thrown in…and, of course, some olive oil…you’ve got the makings of quite an evening.  I’m glad my brain created it.

West Hollywood Chiropractor on Chiropractic Adjustments for Children

By On · Add Comment · In children, chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, chronic pain, kids, nervous system, neurological pathways, pain relief, pediatric, West Hollywood Chiropractor

Most people think of chiropractic for pain relief, and it’s great for that; but chiropractic is also necessary to keep the nervous system functioning optimally. That’s why chiropractic adjustment for kids is essential.

It’s rare for children to experience chronic pain the way adults do, although it does happen. More important, though, is that children are in the developmental phase of growth, and as such they are establishing neural pathways that will shape their future experiences and, thus, their lives. Chiropractic adjustments can aid in that development so that they fight infection easier, handle bumps and bruises better, and experience growth and neurological wellness unimpeded.

The nervous system takes in and processes information from the environment around us. So pediatric chiropractic adjustments, then, allow the nervous system to do what it does best–recognize, analyze and create responses with no interference. Think that is useful for a developing child?

I’ve been receiving chiropractic adjustments since I was seven–thanks mom! And that’s exactly what I do for my children, too–provide them with healthy, optimally functioning nervous systems. If you and your children live the chiropractic lifestyle now–bravo! If not, try it–you’ve got nothing to lose, and everything to gain. It’s safe (watch the videos: those are my most precious treasures, my daughters), effective, and it FEELS GOOD!

Pain Relief and Chiropractic Wellness in West Hollywood

By On · Add Comment · In chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, chiropractor, cracking bones, health, Los Angeles, nervous system, pain, rehabilitation, subluxation, wellness

Some people have no idea of what goes on in a chiropractic practice. “Cracking bones” is what the typical non-chiropractic person says a chiropractor does. But there is no truth to that. Cracking bones is not something we do, neither intentionally nor unintentionally–bones are pretty strong; I haven’t met a chiropractor, yet, strong enough to do that.

In my Los Angeles chiropractic office we focus on pain relief, rehabilitation of injured areas like shoulders or knees, and then we place a major importance on using chiropractic care in a wellness sense. By freeing up stuck spinal joints (subluxations), the nervous system is allowed to function unimpeded, with no restrictions, which allows the body to operate at its most optimal level, and thus enhancing health.

Check out the video to get a better understanding of how I use chiropractic care to help people from Hollywood stars to athletes to accountants get the most out of their bodies, their health and their lives. If you are ever in the Beverly Hills or West Hollywood areas of Los Angeles, and you need a chiropractic adjustment, please come visit my office for highest quality chiropractic care available.

How Drugs Reshape the Nervous System

By On · Add Comment · In drug tolerance, drugs, medications, nervous system, Second Chance--Break Free From Addiction


In this clip I talk about how drugs are neutralized and removed from the body. That process, like all processes–including physical stresses, pleasures, thoughts, ideas, experiences–have a shaping effect on the nervous system. Drugs (this includes the “good” drugs your doctor gives you) and alcohol, then, reshape your nervous system in a way that leads to drug tolerance, which essentially means you need more and more to get the desired effects (getting high, pain relief, loss of anxiety, sleep, whatever). No such thing as “minor effect’ for this reason. Doesn’t mean people shouldn’t take medications–they are useful and necessary at the right time–but they are definitely not benign. And this clip shows why.

Please visit the Second Chance–Break Free From Addiction website if you or a loved one are struggling with drug addiction.

Weight Loss: All in the Mind

By On · Add Comment · In appetite, brains, calories, eating habits, nerve cells, nervous system, neurotransmitter, nutrients, regulation, serotonin, weight loss
Weight loss is all in the mind, you know. Well maybe not all in the mind, but mostly in the mind, it’s true. According to some fascinating new research, your nervous system, not your eating habits have the biggest role in determining whether you are fat or thin.The study conducted at the University of California, San Francisco, looked at serotonin levels in the nervous systems of worms. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, which means it conducts messages across and among nerve cells. The researchers found that serotonin regulates feeding and calorie burning independently of each other. In other words, serotonin regulates not only how much you eat and want to eat (your appetite), but also what your body does with food once it has been consumed.

In worms, serotonin levels are a function of food availability. When resources are low, serotonin levels decrease and the worms go into fat storage mode. Interestingly, low serotonin also leads to decreased appetite in worms. Makes sense, when food availability is tight, worms get less hungry–after all, no food, no need to eat. They also become more efficient at storing energy as fat for the long haul. A perfect feat of optimized neural regulation. On the other hand, when food resources are high, serotonin levels increase and worms get hungrier and become more efficient at burning fuel. If we could only all be so lucky. Humans actually experience the opposite effect: when food resources are low, serotonin levels decrease, which causes appetites to go up and, unfortunately, fat to accumulate.

So why does this matter? This study shows is that although our eating behaviors–what we eat and how much of it–are important, they do not tell the whole story. The body actually has a very sophisticated neurological regulatory system which is more instrumental in our propensity to take in and store fat. The nervous system gauges nutrient availability (really folks, you’ve got to read The Six Keys To Optimal Health, it’s all in there) and determines whether to burn when in excess or hold on to when deficient in nutrients. In plain language, you can starve yourself on tofu shakes all you want, if you are not getting the right nutrients in the proper amounts, your body will increase your appetite–through lowered serotonin levels–to ensure that more nutrients come in.* And low serotonin means increased fat storage.

What makes these findings interesting to me is that I am certain that we have direct control over our neurology. And we have this control through our minds. How is uncertain right now, but findings like these only strengthen my convictions. If the nervous system is the information superhighway between our brains and our bodies**, and if we can find a way to influence serotonin regulation–and I don’t mean through the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, either–through specific mental processes, then weight management could be under our individual control in the near future. I do believe it’s possible, naysayers. Just a matter of time before we figure out how. Findings like these always get my intellectual juices flowing, and I can’t help but imagine what future innovations lie ahead in this regard. Whatever that may be sure looks promising to me.

*Your body just wants nutrients; it can only get those nutrients from food, and doesn’t know whether you’ll be feeding it broccoli or Cheetos; all it can do is increase the appetite and wait.

**And don’t forget that the ultimate way to optimize and maintain your delicate nervous system is through safe, natural chiropractic care.

Delilah Expressing Optimal Motor Function

By On · Add Comment · In adjust, chiropractic, digestion, environment, immune function, information, motor movements, nervous system, optimum, processing, respiration, response, subluxation, survival, survive

Like I’ve told you a million times: Chiropractic maintains the integrity of the nervous system by removing subluxations. The nervous system, when free of subluxations, works at an optimum level, allowing the body to operate the way it’s supposed to–by taking in information from one’s surroundings, processing it, and delivering a response–giving human beings the ability to survive in an often challenging and unforgiving environment.

We rely on our nervous system for every body process–digestion, immune function, respiration, everything–as well as every action needed for survival–like movement, communication, learning. When our nervous system is hampered by subluxations, necessary process are also hampered and the body starts to become out-of-sync. When subluxation free, we have a greater ability to move, to communicate, to learn.

I adjust my daughter Delilah to guarantee that her developing nervous system functions at its highest level. All children should be checked for subluxations and receive chiropractic care when appropriate. I adjust Delilah because I know how much it means to her health.

Check out this video showing my daughter’s incredible ability to control her fine motor movements:

Keep your nervous system–and your children’s–functioning optimally at all times with safe, natural chiropractic care.

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