The Metaphysical and Spiritual Roots of Chiropractic and the Nervous System

“I align spines and minds with the divine, I make people feel fine, I practice galactic chiropractic and I accept only space cases.”

John DeMartini, D.C.

OVERVIEW:  Chiropractic evolved from metaphysical and philosophical concepts developed primarily by the founder of chiropractic DD Palmer, and his son BJ Palmer. The philosophy of chiropractic has consistently evolved since its inception with DD in 1895.  Some aspects of chiropractic, though, remain unchanged.

BJ Palmer illustrates the essence of chiropractic beautifully, “We Chiropractors work with the subtle substance of the soul. We release the imprisoned impulse, the tiny rivulet of force that emanates from the mind and flows over the nerves to the cells and stirs them into life. We deal with the magic power that transforms common food into living, loving, thinking clay; that robes the earth with beauty and hues, and scents the flowers with the glory of the air.”

The preceding statement is an acknowledgment that a power exists that is greater than us human beings.  That power oversees all life, and is responsible for the intelligence that exists within us.  That intelligence is energy, and is the key to healing.

Energy is always in flux and it is chaotic.  What we call chaos is actually the order that exists in the universe, beyond our intellectual minds.  Energy techniques work with that eternal order.  Currently, too much of the field of healing is mechanistic, allopathic. That means the world of drugs and surgery. There is more than enough of that model. Today chiropractic has the opportunity to transcend allopathic mechanism by focusing on a return to its energy roots.

Yet, chiropractic is deeply divided between those who would remain practicing in the old model, and those who wish to gain the rights of medical doctors. For chiropractic to be relevant in the crowded field of health and wellness it must distinguish itself from the allopathic world of healing. To do that it must continue to evolve as a form of energy medicine.

CHIROPRACTIC THEORY:  Several founding functional theories of chiropractic suggest its elemental bent toward an energy identity over a mechanistic identity.   A primary chiropractic principle is that we are born with knowledge that enables us to remain healthy by adapting to stress.  Another is that the nervous system oversees that knowledge. When there is interference to the nervous system the ability to heal is diminished.  Then, the body and mind move toward a state of health being diminished.  Growth is stunted.  It is impossible to be simultaneously in a state of growth, and in a catabolic state of breakdown.

The nervous system is susceptible to physical, chemical, and emotional stresses. When those stresses become more than the body, the mind and the nervous system can comprehend there will be no constructive adaptation, That means stress is not dissipated. The Law of Entropy states that all energy in a system can change, but the total energy never dissipates. Stress must go somewhere, so it when it is not dissipated it often becomes a physical entity in the body, somaticized stress. Somaticized stress is like a black hole that gobbles up constructive energy and causes increasing interference to the nervous system, to the emotions, and to the spirit.  Then the self-developing, self-maintaining, self-adapting; thus self-healing nature of a human being at birth is interrupted.

The nervous system’s job is to express universal vitalistic nature.  The nervous system is the hard drive to the computer that controls every cell in our body, and consequently controls our health.  When the computer is overloaded it crashes, leaving us vulnerable to a state of dis-ease, illness.

SUBLUXATION; Another chiropractic concept is vertebral subluxation. The vertebral subluxation is a common cause of nervous system interference in the body.  Subluxation of the spine is the underlying cause of many of our ailments/dis-ease, and is the thing most chiropractors treat. Chiropractic does not treat conditions.  It only seeks to restore the body’s innate healing wisdom. Some combination of physical, chemical and mental stresses is the cause of vertebral subluxations. Chiropractic can positively affect the trauma, thoughts and toxins that cause dis-ease by relieving interference to the nervous system.

When we are subluxation free the nervous system is free to communicate with the rest of the body. That communication is the key to our inherent ability to heal and adapt. DD Palmer noted, “Pressure on nerves causes irritation and tension with deranged functions as a result.”

Ask yourself, “Am I healthier when I function at a higher level?”  Hopefully the answer is obvious.

Part of the confusion people today have regarding chiropractic is that the subluxation can be initially observable in different systems of the body. This has led to the development of varying chiropractic techniques.  They fit into 3 models that can be differentiated from one another based on whether they center on the skeletal system, the postural or muscle system, or the nervous system.

1. Skeletal approach evaluates the skeletal system first, then the nervous system, and then the muscle system.
2. Postural or muscle system approach evaluates the muscle system first, then the skeletal system and then the nervous system.
3. A tonal or nervous system approach involves looking at the nervous system and how it affects a person’s physiology first.  With this kind of system the primary objective of a chiropractic adjustment is to affect the nervous system first, which affects the muscle system, then finally the skeletal system.

A tonal approach, by virtue of addressing the nervous system first, is the most energy focused chiropractic approach. With a tonal approach a chiropractor is using the innate knowledge of the body communicated through the nervous system to assess a situation. Demonstrating improved function in the body is then used to determine whether the adjustment has affected the nervous system.

When a subluxated segment of the spine loses its dynamic oscillatory vibration, or begins to oscillate too fast, communication to the nervous system is altered. Increased vibration is as harmful to the organs, glands, cells and all other structures in the body as decreased vibration. Every cell jumps in and out of quantum states, giving off light.  We are a light receiving and broadcasting system, and the quality of light we generate affects us and those around us via the nervous system. Thus a subluxation is an impediment to an optimal energetic vibratory state. A chiropractic adjustment can be a solution to that impaired sub-optimal state.

TOXINS, TRAUMA, THOUGHTS AND SUBLUXATION:  When the spine is subluxated the nervous system lacks the ability, at that moment, to comprehend some combination of trauma, toxins, and thoughts in a constructive manner.  The lack of comprehension results in a failure to adapt to the stress.  This triad of stressors is another principle of chiropractic.

A subluxation can be due to trauma, which is a physical stress, such as a fall.  Some are due to chemical stress such as  eating poorly, or ingesting toxins.  Our emotions can also cause a subluxation. Chiropractic and other therapies that utilize touch on a person have the possibility of reconciling the mind, the body, and the emotions. While some memory is stored in the brain, some subconscious messages are simultaneously stored in the body.  To relieve these they must be accessed through the subconscious, and that can be done with interventions that affect the body with touch. Often the subconscious must be accessed in order to change the physical body. This is why the act of talking out our problems on a conscious level often fails.

INNATE AND UNIVERSAL INTELLIGENCE:  The terms Innate Intelligence and Universal Intelligence are possibly the most important founding chiropractic theories. They are also likely the biggest reasons behind the split in modern day chiropractic.  Interestingly, they are also the two philosophical tenets that best demonstrate the energy medicine character of chiropractic.

Quantum physics dictates that we are nothing but energy existing in an infinitely vast field of energy called Universal Intelligence by chiropractors.   Innate Intelligence is an energy within the body, mind and spirit; and it always has access to Universal Intelligence.  Our job as human beings is to open ourselves to Universal Intelligence, and be aware enough to take advantage of the always available energy that is manifested within us as Innate Intelligence.  The less open and aware we are, the more challenged our health, our well-being, our lives will be.  When Innate is flowing freely in the river of Universal Intelligence, then our emotional, chemical, and physical well-being is strong and healthy.  That strength and health comes from the ability of our nervous system to adapt in a constructive manner to the challenges in the emotional, chemical and physical realms.  Adaptability of our nervous system through Innate Intelligence is a fluidity that directly reflects Universal Intelligence. Energetically, Universal Intelligence is pure love, and it is always available to us, in fact we are a part of that pure love.

All humans, though, have programmed values that often outweigh our innate inner wisdom that is reflective of Universal Intelligence. Universal Intelligence knows no polarity. It exists in a state of love and grace. Humans, however, can become divorced from the state of love and create polarities. Fear and guilt may cause us to assume that we have caused, or may cause in the future, more loss than gain, more negative than positive, pain than pleasure in ourselves, or in others. We then restrict ourselves to lower frequencies of light. As we limit ourselves we shrink, as if pulled down by gravity, out of the present and into the past. This gravitationally creates our lives for us in a sucking manner.  It sucks the healthy vibrations of actuality that is Universal Intelligence out of us. Our value system, filtered and prejudiced by reality we create, distorts the fabric of space and time; the actuality that is Universal Intelligence.

We can do better than that. The mind has the possibility to approximate the infinity of divinity. Divinity is the actuality of Universal Intelligence, and the source of all shining emanations of light.  As the mind moves toward divinity it attunes to ever-greater levels of actuality, Universal Intelligence. That attunement increases the vibration of our reality.  When we attune to actuality, then our physiology is normalized and we become healthier. This is the goal of principled chiropractic.

VIBRATION;  One of our jobs as a human is to attune to healthy vibrations.  The duty of every energy practitioner is to help people attune to the higher vibrational frequencies. The universe actually has nothing missing.  It is changing form incessantly as dictated by the physics theories of chaos and entropy.  We become a master when we live and thrive in a world of transformation.  Then we replace the illusion of gain and loss we have created because we attach to forms of pure love, gratitude, compassion and forgiveness.  It is not necessary to be in constant harmony with higher vibrations, however, the more time we spend in higher vibrational energy states, the healthier we become.

Signs and symptoms are an automatic feedback mechanism. They signal a dissipated force within the body that attempts to bring awareness to the incongruities in a person’s life.  We keep breaking down until we gain awareness and humble ourselves to the higher vibrations of the universe.  When a person can say, “Please guide me”, they are ready for the healing process to begin.  The more we tune in, the more we receive.

When the vertebral subluxation is corrected, a healthy vibrational energy flow resumes in the body. This allows the possibility of eliminating the physical, chemical, and emotional stresses that caused the vertebral subluxation to manifest. It allows the nervous system to observe the external world from a new perspective point.  When the stresses that caused the subluxation, and the subluxation, are removed, we have the possibility of enjoying a greater state of wellness.  That state of wellness can be a healthy vibratory frequency that resonates with the frequency of the universe.

Until our stress overcomes our ability to adapt, our vibration is that of Universal Intelligence; self-maintaining, self-developing, self-adapting and healing.  Named diseases and conditions are inhibited vibratory frequencies. They are usually present for a period of time prior to the expression of the symptoms.  Health and wellness are the maintenance of vibrational harmony with the universe.   When we come ready to take advantage of a resonant vibration within us that matches that of the universe we invite harmony from the inside out. Genius is the ability to humble ourselves and be open to a Universal Intelligence we cannot measure, see, or understand completely.

TONE:  Tone, another chiropractic principle, is related to vibration. It is the product of the frequency of vibration that exists in any object.  For every object there is a perfect tone.  Our universe and all the objects that exist in this universe are similar to musical works of art.  In a musical piece different tones meld together to make a work of art that is bigger than the individual tones. The musical piece is the universe and the notes or tones are the objects that inhabit the universe.  They are all interrelated.  Tones can contribute to the harmony of a tune, or lend dissonance.  So it is with humans in the universe.  Our frequency can contribute to the overall harmony of our existence. When our vibration is out of tune/tone it creates a friction with the resonant frequency of the universe, and with the inhabitants of our world.  That friction disturbs harmony and can create harmful emotions and actions.

Tone provides a bridge between the concepts of Innate Intelligence and subluxation.  The nervous system interprets and mediates the vibration of each cell in the body and expresses that vibration as tone in all of the cells in the body.

When we fail to adapt in a constructive manner to the trauma, thoughts and toxins of everyday life our tone is changed into a dissonant force.  The dissonance of one person changes the tone of the world we inhabit.  Dissonant tone within a person contributes to a lessening of the frequency of love and compassion that are embodied in Universal Intelligence.  The tone of a person, a family, a community, a city, a county, a state, a nation, a continent, the world, and out into the universe is the result of the ripples that begin in our cells and spread out.  At some point the ripple effect of our cells is synced with the ripples of other cells and forms a wave.  Personal responsibility is the starting point in the determination of whether the wave becomes destructive, or whether the wave flows rhythmically in the ocean of Universal Intelligence and contributes to a constructive universe. Chiropractic can be a method for tuning the instrument that is you to emit a healthy tone.

WELLNESS AND CHIROPRACTIC:  Chiropractic does not treat specific conditions; however, it does treat the nervous system of people with all sorts of conditions.  In reality there are no diseases.  There are only biologically predictable reactions to the body’s changing physical, mental and chemical environment. The environment is tone based on vibration. Universal intelligence expressed as Innate Intelligence is always present at 100% in all living systems. The problem for us humans is that, the ability of Innate Intelligence to express itself fully within a living system can be compromised.

Pat Dougherty DC

[email protected]

www.spokane-chiropractic.com