Subject: October @ Oaktree! Women's health, introducing Dr Veronica, draw the doctor contest and more :)
Lots going on in October!
We have lots of info for you this month. Please read to the end!! A contest announcement, a new Chiropractor on our team and an amazing article by our acupuncturist in Stittsville, Catherine Collier. Read on :)
For the month of October, we'll be focusing on Women's Health. And very often, that also means looking at women's hormones. Unlike men, who run on a 24 hour schedule with fewer hormones, women are much more complex. The 'standard' schedule is 28 days, with estrogen and progesterone being at different levels during different times
of that cycle. While most people know that, they don't necessarily understand the intricacies of what exactly that means.
An important point to make sure you understand is that a woman's changing hormones impact every system in her body, not just her reproductive system. In fact, a woman's brain changes roughly 25% throughout her monthly cycle! This means that she is literally wired for different needs at different times in her cycle.
If you're curious about learning more details about the different phases of the cycle and what they mean, let us know and we'll send you an email with our mini-series that we did a while back.
And so this month, we will be sharing the trials and triumphs that come with being a woman, along with things that we can do to support our bodies. Make sure you check out our social media for more information!
-Dr. Marie-Pier, Stittsville Chiropractor
Happy Thanksgiving! All clinics are closed on Monday Oct 10th.
Welcome Dr Veronica!
We have a new chiropractor joining our team in Orleans! Dr Veronica Brynaert has met many of your over the last 3 months downtown and in Orleans and is ready to take on new patients. Please welcome her when you see her! Read her bio below and click link to book an exam with her if you're new to the clinic :)
Dr. Veronica was first led to chiropractic through competitive swimming at the age of 12 - claiming multiple provincial and national titles. Having her fair share of injuries, she had tried all types of therapy before landing on chiropractic. She learned that her pain was not solely caused by her shoulder (where she felt the pain), but also her spine! By addressing both areas of the body, she was able to not only recover, but also better understand how the body is connected – making her a better athlete in the pool!
Dr. Veronica attended the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in Toronto, graduating Summa Cum Laude, after completing her Honors Bachelor of Science degree in Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. She is a member of the College of Chiropractors of Ontario.
Dr Veronica is originally from the Greater Toronto Area but has returned to the community that welcomed and embraced her throughout her undergraduate studies.
Dr. Veronica’s style of care is not only to alleviate pain, but to get down to the root cause to achieve optimal movement and function. Dr. Veronica enjoys working with individuals in all walks of life. Her goal is to integrate proactive approaches to prevent recurrence and empower patients to become active participants in their health.
Outside the clinic, you will find Dr. Veronica trying tasty local restaurants with her fiancé Danny, hanging out with her dog Russell (she’s just a little obsessed!), or at a spin class!
Several years ago we asked all of you to draw your best impression of your Chiropractor or your Acupuncturist. We got some pretty great entries - some were "A for effort" (lol), while others really blew us away. We had a great time and have decided to bring it back!
This week we will post a few around the clinics that we kept from the past to inspire you in your artistic abilities this month! Contest will run for October.
*Adult winner will win a Therapeutica Sleeping Pillow.
*Child winner wins a gift certificate to Chapters!
Let the drawing begin!!
Is your body like a Chinese Bamboo Tree?
By Catherine Collier, Stittsville acupuncturist
Our bodies are constantly trying to talk to us, sending us signals asking us to make changes based on its “discomforts”. Our lives are busy, and somewhere along the way we learned to stop listening to our own body's sensations - asking us to slow down, drink water, breathe, eat something fresh, go outside, etc. When we ignore these sensations - when we are busy, stressed, eat packaged, sugary foods, our body notices that we are in a state of stress and releases stress hormones - cortisol, epinephrine and adrenaline. Since many of us live in this state constantly, our stress hormones never get a break. We rarely get a chance to rest, and digest life around us.
The journey to undo this, to create a harmonious state of balance in our bodies takes time, and it can be a slow journey to deprogram years of stress responses. The nervous system works quickly because neurons fire in your brain at about 5-50 messages per second. The endocrine system, however, sends its signals slowly, as it makes and releases our hormones through the bloodstream. The immediate effects of relaxation and calm you may feel after an acupuncture session can be attributed to the nervous systems response to the needles. Part of the reason we seek treatments for an extended period of care is to reset and re-establish our endocrine system. This means that your body can learn to stop inappropriately releasing stress hormones, and instead to release appropriate levels of hormones that are necessary and responsible for all sorts of functions in the body. These can include fertility, the menstrual cycle, growth and development, digestion and so much more. It takes time.
There were many times throughout my own health journey that I felt stuck, like nothing was working, or like all my efforts were futile. Reading self-help books, seeing health care practitioners, hours of yoga, weekend courses on different healing modalities. At one particular time of struggle I was reminded about the story of the Chinese Bamboo Tree. When the seed of a Chinese Bamboo Tree is planted, the gardener tends to it as it would any other plant – providing sunlight, water, love and nutrient dense soil. For an entire year, nothing happens to that seed. Then in the second and third year, nothing happens. Then, finally, in the fourth year, still nothing happens.
But, in its glorious fifth year of care, the tree sprouts. Not only does it sprout, but in only a five week period, the tree grows up to 90 feet tall. The moral of the story has been used for years to teach us about patience, growth, change and self-care. Was the seed merely dormant for five years before it finally took hold, or was the effort, tending to, and care throughout the journey the necessary steps to produce in a fully mature tree? Someone watering a patch of soil for five years could look crazy to the outside world. But this was a necessary component to change and grow to make lasting change.
Altering our bodies' state does not happen overnight. In particular, the endocrine system needs effort and time to reprogram its current state of homeostasis. Change can certainly feel discouraging when dealing with bodily systems like fertility, and rebalancing hormones. In order to produce real change, time and patience are a key component of the puzzle. Wherever you are on your own health journey, sometimes we need a reminder that all the seeds you are planting today are creating lasting change in your body, mind and spirit, and that each day you continue to tend to your own health, you are one day closer to your own sprouting seed!
