How many of you, in an attempt to take in everything life has to offer, have ever used the phrase – I’ll sleep when I’m dead? In honor of the end of Daylight Saving Time this weekend, yes it’s time to turn the clocks back, I wanted to share my take on the importance of sleep.

I have always been one to make sure that I get my minimum 8 hours of sleep during the night. I was not a night owl growing up. Always to bed between 10-10:30pm. I was always amazed at my friends that were able to stay up late enough on Saturdays to watch Saturday Night Live. I can remember many attempts only to wake up on the sofa having missed the whole episode and longing to be curled up in my nice, warm bed.

What my experience has shown me is that when I don’t get enough sleep my attitude sucks! I’m not a happy person to be around. I’ve also noticed that when I’ve had to force myself to have a stretch of nights where I get less than 8 hours of sleep, I usually...

My belief in the philosophy of the healing power of the human body has become more solid with each passing year. This idea about the power that made the body, heals the body was first introduced to me by my brother who was instrumental in my journey into the world of chiropractic.

Over my thirty plus years of practicing chiropractic I have heard story after story of people who have sought allopathic help for their health issues. In the end, they have been left with no resolution of their symptoms. Many went on to find alternative health options such as; chiropractic, homeopathy, acupuncture, naturopaths, health coaches, etc. They were able to manage or completely rid themselves of the symptoms that had once kept them from living their lives to their fullest.

I do believe there is a time and a place for allopathic medicine. If I broke my leg, I would certainly consult a medical doctor to set and immobilize my leg until it healed. And there are other instances where I feel that...

^{Part Four of Four}

After returning home, I felt safe again.  Safety, security what beautiful sensations in my body.  I felt safe in my bones.  And now that I had a sense of safety in my life I could move forward with healing and personal growth.

After a day or two of being home, I thought to look at my calendar with the help of my sisters.  I realized that I had registered for a two-day, 20-hour seminar prior to my hospitalization.  It was in one week.  Ugghhhh.  Could I do it?  Should I do it?  I waited until the day before to make my final decision and figured I wanted to give it a try.  It was an hour and a half away in the Minneapolis/St Paul area.  Jim drove me up there since I had not driven in a long time and I was not comfortable at all behind the wheel.  He would be returning on Sunday evening to bring me back home.  I went into the seminar with my overnight bag to begin day one of the seminar.  My sister...

^{Part Three of Four}

I want to say that it was the morning after connecting with my mom that I woke up and looked around my room and for the first time I thought to myself – I think I’m in the hospital.  And when Jim got there that day, we had a conversation where I was asking him why I was there?  And he would answer with statements like, “I would tell you if I could” or “we don’t know why this is happening”.  Both very appropriate answers for the question I asked.  However, you must understand that I was coming out of this blackness with very little recollection of the past weeks and my world was not how I remembered it.  A better answer from my husband would have been something like, “I came home from work and you weren’t yourself, we came to the hospital to check you out and we have been trying to figure it out for the past weeks.  Do you remember any of that?”

This exchange is one that I...

Bibliotherapy is the use of books to encourage healing, improve emotional wellness and treat mental disorders. The concept is not new. In ancient Greece, the library of Thebes was considered “a healing place for the soul.”

In 1916, Atlantic Monthly published an article called “A Literary Clinic” where the author shares a conversation with friend, Bagster, who ran “Bibliopathic Institute: Book Treatment by Competent Specialists.” Bagster explained that not all books have a therapeutic effect, but some he considered “stimulants” which “do not so much furnish us with thoughts as set us thinking. They awaken faculties which we had allowed to be dormant. After reading them we actually feel differently and frequently we act differently. The book is a spiritual event.” 

Johns Hopkins University School of Education indicates that bibliotherapy applies to using fiction, but Welsh psychiatrist Neil Frude expands that...