I hate pain.  I hate pain so much I make my livelihood out of relieving pain.  I know that not everyone hates pain.  Dancers and professional athletes embrace pain as part of their profession.  Boxers obviously must love pain to choose a career centered on getting beat up.  Then there are those weight lifters that tell me they "love the burn."  What is that about?  "The burn" means tissue is being damaged.  When I point this out they say "Yeah, you gotta tear down the muscles to build bigger ones!"  That makes no sense to me, but the point is they believe that the p ain is part of the means to an endpoint they desire.

Is this true?  Are the believers in "No pain, no gain" right?  Like everything in life, the answer is not that simple.  What is "right" and from one level of understandings does not work at another.  Let's take the boxer for example.  For a young uneducated street tough, fighting is an obvious skill that will enhance his status and survivability that fit easily into his existing mindset.  He might even get good enough to make some money for a while before he becomes too damaged to participate any further.  From the mind set (state of consciousness) of that young person, the pain in fighting is necessary for him to survive and thrive.

Could this young person get a minimal education and then get into business or stock brokering?  Yes he could.  The same aggressive fighting instincts that worked to help him survive in the streets are the same instincts necessary to succeed in business.  Additional skills of communication and connection would have to be added (thus raising and expanding his functional capacities).  And from this raised capacity the physical pain in fighting is completely unnecessary in achieving increased status and survivability.  Take George Foreman as an example - he makes a much better living selling grilling machines than he did as a boxer, without the pain.

So does that mean we should avoid pain?  No, not exactly - I have had many patients that simply wanted their pain to go away.  "Just give me a pill that will take the pain away forever." they would cry.  I then ask them "If you can't feel pain then how would you know when you were hurting yourself?"  If you really want no more pain then simply contract leprosy.  Leprosy is a disease of the pain nerves that stops them working so you have no more pain.  The consequence is that parts of your body get injured, infected, rot, and fall off without you even noticing it because you can't feel the pain.  So "no pain" is a bad idea.

I have other patients that proudly tell me they have a high pain threshold.  They can take a lot of pain so if they say they are hurting then they must really be injured.  I suppose that in a "do or die" survival situation a high pain threshold would be an advantage.  But in everyday life it only means you damage yourself more - not an advantage.  (Just to be clear here, damage to your body is not a good thing.)  So once again "no pain" is a bad idea.

I have a third group of patients that avoid pain at all costs.  I see this a lot in older folks.  If a particular movement hurts at all they will vow never to move that way again.  If they feel unsteady on their feet they immediately grab a cane or walker to make sure they feel safe.  Once the fear of pain reaches this level, these people deteriorate quickly.  The body has a primary rule: "Use it or lose it."  When fear of pain stops you using any part of your body, that body part quickly stops functioning.    

But I hate pain.  What is the appropriate relationship to pain?  The healthy relationship to pain involves a little of each approach.  To be healthy and fit we must challenge our body regularly.  Our bodies are very conservative.  We tear down and recycle anything we are not using.  We only keep what we need.  This is true for muscles, bones, everything - even brain cells.  If you put a perfectly healthy person into a bed and tell him or her to stay there for 2 weeks, they will lose 50% of their muscle tone, and no matter what you do you never get it all back.  This study has actually been done on people who were then followed for 30 years.  Even 30 years later the effects of 2 weeks of bed rest could still be measured.  Bottom line - staying comfortable is very bad for your health.

So you must stress your body - challenge it - to be healthy.  But as all of you know, it is easy to go to far and injure yourself creating tissue damage that can also leave permanent residual problems.  So overstressing your body is bad for your health.

The trick is to occasionally push your body right to its limits - right to the edge of pain - without crossing over into damage.  That means you have to pay attention.  Your limits change minute to minute and hour by hour.  You can not follow a set of rules, a training schedule, or chase a particular goal on a daily basis.  Your strength can vary as much as 50% from one day to the next.  Pain is your friendly guide.  You have to pay attention to that fine line between discomfort and overt pain.  Occasional discomfort is good for you while overt pain is not.  This is just as true for your mind and emotions as it is for your body.  To stay mentally healthy you must stretch yourself to learn new things, adapt to new situations or tackle the old ones in new ways.  

 

Good Journey,
David     
  

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 Growth Without Pain?

     Yes!  My belief is that growth is the fundamental reason we exist on this planet.  Growth is what makes us either a success or a failure.  But usually this is a "school of hard knocks" where personal growth is slow and painful.

 

     Why is that?  Because we have no road map to show us the way.  We don't even know whether we are on the road or off heading cross country straight for a cliff.

 

     Do you want a loving fulfilling close relationship?  That requires growing up.  Do you want courage and freedom?...Another growing up piece.  How about simple peace of mind?...more growing up. 

 

     All the really good stuff we want in life comes from growing up, but we are largely clueless about how to go about doing that.

 

     What if somebody created a road map for growing up?..something personalized and custom tailored for each individual... something where you chose the destinations you want and you chose the route you want to take to get there? 

 

     Well it exists!  The Pain Free Path 

We are organizing a FREE class to begin teaching this revolutionary growth process.

 

If you are interested, email me at

david@fairoakshealth.com 

and I will let you know when the first class will be.

to learn more go to Pain Free 

 

 

Kitchen Alchemy part 3: Healthy Pickless

What's better than a cold, crunchy pickle on a hot day? How about a pickle that's full of healthful, living micro-organisms instead of one that is exposed to high heat and vinegar? Lacto-fermented pickles are how pickles used to be made before we had refrigeration and pasteurization. The end product keeps its living enzymes and aids your body's health instead of taking away from it like acidifying distilled vinegar and cooked boiled veggies. It's far easier to do than regular heat canning and can be done with almost any vegetable or pepper. With our tutorial, you'll be making fresh pickles in no time! Visit and bookmark BubblingBeasties

Visit my blog here 

 

david@fairoakshealth.com

Warning: FDA Says Heartburn Meds Can Increase Your Fracture Risk

     Finally, the FDA is admitting what I have been telling my patients for the last 20 years - heartburn meds weaken your bones and increase your risk of a fracture.  Stomach acid is not an unnecessary option in the body - it is vital to your health in many ways.  You must have it to absorb your minerals, digest your proteins, and protect you from food borne illnesses.  They actually cause gut inflammation, because they block the first step in your digestive process.

     We are talking about your favorite's like Prevacid, Prilosec and Nexium.  These drugs are only designed to be used for a maximum of 3 weeks while you recover from a bleeding ulcer.  They are powerful drugs and are not intended to simply make you more comfortable while eating foods that don't agree with you.  

Heartburn Meds

 

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~ Jeremy Taylor

"The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything."

~ Edward Phelps 

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About Dr. DeLapp

Dr. DeLapp has been a philosopher, non-force Chiropractor, medical intuitive, and health innovator for over 30 years.  He began experimenting with  medical intuition in 1972 while studying physics at UC Davis.  In addition to physics he designed and completed an individual major in the philosophy and psychology of education.  Shortly after he choose to pursue a career in the only truly health oriented profession available at that time, Chiropractic.  He graduated with honors in 1981 with his doctorate and opened a private practice. 
Since that time he has continued his research into the effects of consciousness and learning on health. 
He developed the Biomagnetic Retraining system for correcting movement abnormalities. 
Since 1991 he has focused on developing a powerful system for uncovering and assisting the mind-body connection in health and personal growth.  The in-depth coaching, guided by the subconscious direction from the body, is called Heartflow and the simpler mind-body retraining for health and unfoldment he has named Gracework.  Both are available at Fair Oaks Health.

Dr David DeLapp DC
Chiropractor

Ellen Flowers FGM
Spiritual Life Coach

 

Vita-Mix