Barry Krost Featured in Podcast on Family Constellations

Posted by: The Balancing Center

Yesterday, Barry Krost, one of our bodyworkers extraordinaire, was featured in the podcast "Ancestral Roots," hosted by Rosalba Stocco. 

Barry practices "Constellation Bodywork" in order to help people resolve issues that might not even be their own. Just as we inherit our hair color and nose shape from our parents and grandparents, we might unwittingly inherit the emotional entanglements of our ancestors. It's hard to enough to solve and resolve your own problems--imagine trying to resolve the problems of past generations without even knowing that they are from the past!

This is where Family Constellation systems can help. Barry focuses on meeting clients where they are--mentally, physically, and emotionally--in order to best facilitate their sessions. With thirty years of training in various modalities of bodywork, Barry brings something extra to his constellation sessions.

Barry offers constellation appointments at our office and they are a wonderful complement to the more physical care. You can call the office to find out more about his work and availability!

And you can listen to the entire podcast here: http://bit.ly/18Ue4NC

Live to be 100 Years Old!

Posted by: The Balancing Center

How would you like 4 quick, proven, you-can-do-them-all-today ways to increase your chances of flourishing until age 100?

Dan Buettner and National Geographic teamed up to study the areas of the world that boast the most centenarians. They called these areas and this project “Blue Zones.” All the communities of the world that celebrate multiple 100th birthdays share 9 characteristics in common. You can watch the amazing talk Dan Buettner gives for the full picture and visit his website for the full breakdown of the “Power 9.”

In the meantime, here are 4 things that you can integrate into your life today!  

1. Move Naturally

What if I told you that you don’t have to exercise to live until 100? Shocking, unbelievable, almost blasphemous to say, right?

In each Blue Zone of the world, centenarians don’t exercise in the way we are familiar with. They don’t jog, do Pilates, Crossfit, or visit the gym. They do, however, incorporate lots of natural movement into their daily lives. How? By “deconveniencing” their lives.

In Okinawa, Japan, people don’t have furniture for sitting and end up doing 30 to 40 squats every day just by sitting down and getting up to perform daily tasks. Sardinians walk, on average, 5 miles a day as they go to work and pick up groceries.

Try substituting walking for one leg of your daily commute. Walk to the grocery store and use the natural weight of your groceries to build your muscles. Sit on the floor while you watch TV--you’ll have to exert more energy each time you want to get up. Forgo a seat and stand while you’re on the train or bus to sustain good posture and increase your blood and energy flow.

2. Downshift

Stress is a killer, most people would agree. One way to live longer and better is to take time to destress. By just taking ten to fifteen to thirty minutes each day to unwind--with no distractions, no cell phone, no email--you can increase your lifespan and your enjoyment of it.

What’s your favorite way to have fun? What is guaranteed to make you laugh? Pets are shown to decrease stress and if you don’t have one, here’s a video of an adorable corgi in a losing battle with a tennis ball! Have a glass of red wine tonight and simply sip and enjoy. (Incidentally, moderate and regular alcohol consumption is another thing you can do tonight to increase your longevity!)

3. Hara Hachi Bu

The Okinawans repeat this phrase at the start of each meal to remind themselves to stop eating when they are 80% full. The benefits to this are plenty.

For one, this will give your brain the time it needs to register that you have enough food in you to function. It takes about twenty minutes for the signals to get from stomach to brain and stopping before you think you are 100% full can provide you with that necessary time.

For another, you end up eating less, which leads to less wear and tear on your body overall. Fewer calories means you can maintain a healthy weight with more ease, and I hardly need to repeat the reasons why a healthy weight is, well, healthy.

4. Honor a loved one

Centenarians live in communities that put their loved ones first. Grandparents and the elderly live at home, children are nurtured and nourished, and people make lifetime commitments to their romantic partners.

These are lifetime practices, but the practices of a lifetime can begin at any time and today is always the best time. Take a minute to call up a loved one, arrange a dinner for your friends, hug your children, or go for a walk with your spouse. Added bonus? These activities are opportunities where you can practice hara hachi bu, destress, and add some natural physical movement into your life.

At some point, the number of your age doesn’t matter. But wouldn’t it be wonderful to live a better, richer, and flourishing life for whatever time you are on the planet?

Check out the full Power 9 and see what you can integrate. We wish you a long and lovely life.

Spotlight on Barry Krost

Posted by: The Balancing Center

Therapeutic bodywork is a wonderful complement to chiropractic care. The advanced techniques of practices like Ortho-Bionomy, craniosacral, or Neuromuscular release, (just to name a few), can enhance the body’s innate ability to heal itself, especially in tandem with regular adjustments. If chiropractic keeps the roads straight, clear, and flowing, bodywork increases and deepens the connections made on those roads.

If you’ve been a patient of ours and want to see great acceleration in your healing, consider scheduling an appointment with one of our skilled bodyworkers. This week’s spotlight is on Barry Krost, a.k.a., the Psoas Whisperer.

Barry has over 30 years of experience in bodywork and energy healing, specializing in Ortho-Bionomy and Family Systemic Constellations, among several other techniques. He has an incredibly deep bag of skills and calls upon any and all of them when he is working with a client. Barry tailors his session to match each client’s unique needs.

He is known as the Psoas Whisperer because he has extensive experience working with the psoas muscle, a muscle that is located in the lower back and flexes the hip and spine. As Barry states on his website dedicated to the psoas, “Back pain frequently results from a dysfunctional psoas muscle. When the psoas becomes contracted due to injuries, poor posture, prolonged sitting, or stress, it can alter the biomechanics of the pelvis and the lumbar vertebrae creating intense pressure on the lower spine.”

So, basically, have you been experiencing lower back pain? Pain in your hip or leg? You might have a stressed psoas muscle and you might not know it!

And Barry’s talents just begin there! He is also a skilled Family Constellation facilitator, and helps people heal their bodies, minds, and spirits by way of Family Constellation therapy. This modality centers on untangling you from the intricate web of your family, past and present. Have you ever felt stuck, lost, confused, personally or professionally, no matter how many techniques you try? You could be caught in the unresolved tension present in your family and even your ancestors.

Barry just returned from the US Systemic Constellation Conference 2013, a four-day conference in Seattle. He had the opportunity to meet and breathe with indigenous Maori tribesman, participate in profound constellation sessions, and deepen his connection with the work. And he also completed a year-long immersion course in Family Constellation facilitation training, mentored by Suzi Tucker, a prominent author in the field.

Barry is a warm light at the office, offering his perspective and wisdom on both healing and office flow. He offers appointments from Monday through Saturday and his schedule complements the chiropractors’ schedules so patients can heal at optimal times for them!

Call for an appointment with Barry to relieve your lower back pain, untangle yourself from your family web, and accelerate your innate ability to heal. And visit one of his many websites for more information on his modalities and techniques.

Our Fall Updates

Posted by: The Balancing Center

The seasons have changed and taken us along for the ride! New systems, new promotions, and new employees--here’s what’s new for Fall at The Balancing Center!

Going Green:

Transitioning to our electronic records system continues. Despite some early glitches, we are running more smoothly every day. It’s been a period of real learning, challenge, and growth for the chiropractors, bodyworkers, and front desk associates. And it’s also been a time of change for our patients, whose patience we greatly appreciate!

November New Patient Promotion:

From November 1st until November 30th, we are featuring a special “New Patient” promotion. New patients can receive $50 off their first visit! We are handing out promotional postcards with all the details to our wonderful existing patients. If you know someone who could benefit from our care, this is a great way to give him or her the gift of health.

Monthly In-house Raffle:
Also starting November 1st, we are running a monthly raffle. If you are an existing and active patient, you can be eligible to win one of our monthly, changing prizes!* This month you can win a $100 gift card to Whole Foods! Ticket entries are based on your presence at and engagement with The Balancing Center.

How can you increase your chances? Here is the breakdown:

Action	Tickets
Complete an appointment at the office	1
Like, share, or comment on our Facebook, Twitter, or blog	2
Complete your monthly care plan	5
Leave us an online review (Yelp, Google+, Citysearch, etc.)	5
Refer a new patient	10
Provide a written or video testimonial	10
Graduate between stages of your treatment plan	10
Invite one of the docs to give a FREE health talk at your office!	25

Our first raffle drawing will be on November 25th. We love our patients and want to show it! Look for more information about this raffle coming soon.

New member of our office family:

We would like to formally welcome Jackie to The Balancing Center as our newest front desk associate and patient advocate.

 

Jackie Woodruff graduated with a psychology degree from Duke University, which she loves to put to use by better understanding and meeting the needs of the Balancing Center’s patients. She has a deep understanding of the power of thought and belief, and greatly enjoys learning more about the connection between the brain and body. Her passion for wellness and service come together perfectly at the front desk, assuring the best quality of assistance for our patients.


November Hours:
To accommodate for being closed on Thanksgiving and Black Friday (Nov. 28th and 29th), we have extended hours on November 27th from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm. Dr. Dan will be working the Saturday shift on November 30th from 8:30 am until 1:00 pm.

That’s all we have for you for now! We wish you all a most happy Fall and hope to see you soon!

Meet the Docs - Dr. James Tickel

Posted by: The Balancing Center

Dr. James Tickel, one of six children, grew up fighting for his food. We joke in the office about how he still inhales his lunches, as if his four brothers and one sister are hiding around the corner. Dr. Tickel says, "The dinner table was a battlefield."

That big family is rooted in chiropractic: Dr. James’ father, mother, older brother (and his wife), and younger brother (and his wife) are all chiropractors. The late Dr. William Tickel was a foremost chiropractor and philosopher on the practice of chiropractic. You might say that it was inevitable that Dr. James himself become a chiropractor.

But he’ll be the first to tell you that while he was born into chiropractic, it wasn’t until college that he discovered he had a true passion for it. As a young adult, Dr. James disliked school and decided to finish his undergraduate degree as quickly as possible and then his chiropractic degree as quickly as possible. He wanted to figure out, as quickly as possible, if the field was right for him.

While attending Life University’s College of Chiropractic in Atlanta, Dr. James found out that he loved chiropractic, while making some of the best friends of his life. Seven years later, he brings his skill, passion, and healing intuition to The Balancing Center every day.

Did you know that Dr. James was a patient at The Balancing Center before he became an associate? He lived in the city at the time, and would visit Dr. Ken to get adjusted on his commute to his chiropractic office in the suburbs. Now he lives in the suburbs and commutes to the city to work--the one thing that has remained the same is that he still sees Dr. Ken (and Dr. Dan) for his weekly chiropractic adjustments!

Dr. James and his wife, a psychiatrist, plan to open a holistic healing center offering psychiatric resources and chiropractic corrections. We love working with Dr. James and witnessing him grow into an even better chiropractor and healer.

In the meantime, Dr. James and his wife enjoy a variety of eclectic hobbies, including the production of their own wine! Dr. James is about ready to bottle wine that has been already aging for a year and the first bottles will be ready to uncork in about six months. They have also imported some grapes from Lodi (a vineyard just south of San Francisco) to begin a new year of zinfandel.

You can ask Dr. James about his wine, and about anything else (since he swears he’s an open book) during your next appointment with him!

Our New Affiliate: Abe's Market

Posted by: The Balancing Center

We at The Balancing Center are thrilled and honored to have connected with Abe’s Market, an online marketplace for natural products and holistic services. From granola to gift wrap, Abe’s Market discovers and promotes products that are eco-friendly, ethical, sustainable, organic, good to you and good for you, your family, and your community. As a recent addition to their wonderful website, Abe’s Market now offers recommendations for services, including nutritionists, yogis, and now The Balancing Center!

Abe’s Market provides an awesome incentive program as well if you purchase services through their website. When you buy a service online, you receive money back as a reward, 15% back that you can use for other products on their site!

As your one-stop shop for natural goods and services, visit our splendid, new, partner-in-health Abe’s Market. And while you’re there, check out our videos and schedule a visit to our office to receive credit for more Abe’s Market products. You can treat yourself to some organic cookies to go along with your chiropractic care!

The Checklist of Care

Posted by: The Balancing Center

Gravity never forgets to pull down. (At least it hasn’t yet in recorded history.) Our body’s natural resistance to gravity is what gives our muscles definition and tone, what strengthens our bones so we can walk, work, and play.

But if you’re out of balance, the uneven connection you have with the ground makes it harder for your body to function easily. Your left leg might have to work harder than your right leg, causing your muscles, bones, and joints to work unevenly. Gravity might never forget to pull down, but your body can forget what it’s like to properly pull up.

However, if we can restore that connection and your innate balance, your body can start to work with gravity instead of against it. You can turn off your emergency response systems, decrease your stress level, and feel more relaxed. How do we restore that connection? By building upon a checklist of care to discover what combination of tactics can create the best strategy for health for each patient.

1. We promote a different perspective on health: you are designed to be well and health issues arise because of interferences in that design. Health issues are multidimensional and require multidimensional solutions.

2.  We discover if your upper neck is misaligned. If it is, we realign it with our precise upper cervical technique.

3.   We check for any secondary structural issues in the rest of your spine and body. If we find any, we clear and correct those.

4. We check for underlying emotional or mental patterns of trauma that might be interfering with your body on a level separate from structural issues. If we find any, we release or recondition those patterns using kinesiology techniques.

5.  We teach you our unique exercise program, a series of simple movements that help you hold your spinal adjustments longer and more effectively. Practicing these movements also retrains you to sit, stand, and move better.

6.  We determine what kinds of supplements and products will best support your healing process through all its stages.

7.  We have you take ownership of your healing experience. When you are an active part of your healing, you can achieve better results and more clarity.

Though we work off of this basic skeleton, the details of your care might change every time you visit because you are a dynamic and flexible being. The right combination of techniques at the right time can restore your connection to the ground so you can work with, and not against gravity.

Adapt to the Normal You Want

Posted by: The Balancing Center

The first week I lived near the El, I thought I would go crazy from the constant, disruptive rumbling. The second week I lived near the El, a guest asked me, “How do you sleep with that noise?” and I answered, “What noise?”

Humans are fantastic at adapting to their environments and mental, physical, and emotional circumstances. We tune out background noise, adjust to the fluctuating temperatures of the seasons, and can live fully without the full use of our bodies. The human capacity to adapt is remarkable--so remarkable that we often take it for granted and do not even remark on it!

Humans also adapt exceptionally well to pain and discomfort. When we are in a suffering state for long enough, our bodies come to accept that suffering as normal as part of its remarkable survival mechanism. If my body thinks it is under a constant threat, then my constant state of emergency response will become my new normal. I won’t look for an alternative solution because why would I? According to my body, everything is just fine. If I haven’t been able to stand up straight for over half my life, then that crooked view would grow to seem normal.

Which is your "normal?"

Having a misaligned spine is an example of a threat to your body. And you might not even know you are under a threat if you have been misaligned long enough. But even if your body thinks everything is fine, the stress of that misalignment is taking its toll.

Increased stress leads to increased cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone that regulates countless bodily functions, including blood pressure, blood sugar, and the immune system. Too much stress and too much cortisol can lead to high blood pressure, hyperglycemia, suppressed immune function, thyroid troubles, weight gain--you might have heard this list before. At some point we might even grow accustomed to hearing that list of “bad things” thrown at us from every healthy corner of the Internet.

We have certainly grown accustomed to using medication to ease us into normalcy. But that’s not the point. Neither is the point the laundry list of scary things that can happen because of increased stress. The point is, you might ask yourself what pains or discomforts in your life and your body have you come to accept as normal? And is that really the “normal” you want or need? If so, then awesome. But if not, then what kind of normal do you want? What can and will you do to create that new and (hopefully) better normal for yourself?

One option would be to see if your neck is out of alignment and if you have been living under the low but constant level of stress that can cause. Getting back into alignment and balance can help unravel several other issues and problems that appear in your life--clearing the way for your body to relax and heal itself from the inside out. Now, what if that were your new normal?

Connect to Health, Connect to Life

Posted by: The Balancing Center

How many connections did you make yesterday? Not only in the networking sense, but how many times did you seek out a way to connect to something or someone? Yesterday, my attempts to connect to the Internet easily ran into the double digits. I also texted several different people, caught trains, chatted with family, and basically spent my entire day, in some fashion, making connections.

This is how a day goes for many (if not most) of us because humans have an almost innate need for connection. We are born crying out, waving our hands in the air in the attempt to make a connection. As we grow, we seek to sustain and enhance the connection we initially craved.

When we lose our connections, whether to people or places or the Internet, it is frustrating or sad or painful. Considering how easy it is to lose the most obvious connections, it is no wonder we often overlook one of the most understated, yet important, connections we have ever wanted and needed: our connection to the ground beneath our feet.

Often we’re not even aware that we have lost connection to the ground. An accident or trauma, (whether physical or emotional), can cause damage to our spine so that our nervous system becomes locked, tight, or confused. Such trauma might be painful or uncomfortable, but underneath the pain and discomfort lies something even more harmful. When our spine is locked, damaged, or confused, the rest of our body compensates to make up for the trauma. This compensation often, if not always, causes our body to fall out of balance. For instance, if your neck becomes locked, your hip might tighten and your leg might shorten to keep you standing upright.

An imbalanced body means we have an uneven connection to the ground. Losing this connection causes our body to become even more confused as it seeks out an even and balanced relationship with the earth. But our bodies have amazing abilities to adapt to uncomfortable situations and we come to accept this imbalance and disconnection as normal. Our body has to now fight against gravity to maintain its locked position; we have to fight to keep our hip tight and our leg short.

And this is how many (if not most) of us go about our day! We’re generally not frustrated with this loss of connection because we’re not even aware of it. But even if we don’t notice it directly, that disconnection interferes with our energy and health in many significant ways.

Are you connected to the ground? At The Balancing Center, we help you answer that question. Whether you are or you aren’t, we work to improve your balance to get you even more connected to the ground. What was once a weak signal, one flickering bar, can become a full broadcast, five strong bars of connection.

So come on in, get balanced, and satisfy your lifelong search for connection!

Dr. Dan's Chiropractic Story

Posted by: Dr. Dan Fedeli


Anyone who knows Dr. Dan Fedeli and the innovative healing work he does at The Balancing Center might think that he was just one of those people who always knew he was going to be a Chiropractic healer. On the contrary, Dr. Dan’s chiropractic journey began unexpectedly when he was a junior at Penn State, studying to become a veterinarian.

Growing up Dan Fedeli’s main interests revolved around horses. Throughout his childhood he experienced chronic back pain, and though he was athletic he avoided intensive sports because of the pain. One day almost by accident he met with a chiropractor who lived down the street. While he didn’t notice any drastic changes in his back, immediately his sinuses drained, his allergies cleared up, and his headaches went away! This was the moment when he realized the effect the nervous system has on the body, and how so many symptoms could be traced back to imbalances in the spine. He remembers wondering “Why hasn’t anyone told me about this?!”

The course of his life had now been altered. Dan had enough prerequisites to transfer to Palmer College of chiropractic, and thus began his chiropractic journey in the summer of 1978.

But it wasn’t quite so simple. Dr. Dan was feeling better, but he couldn’t help but wonder why he kept having to get readjusted all the time. He pursued the missing piece and discovered the National Upper Cervical Association (NUCCA). This was a brand new perspective on the relationship between the head and neck and the body’s self-correcting mechanisms, and it worked!

After graduating from Palmer Dr. Dan spent six years working as an associate in an office that specialized only in NUCCA. Still, something was missing. It wasn’t until he incorporated Bioenergetic Synchronization Technique (BEST) into his practice that he realized in order to feel full freedom and functioning in his body, and to make that freedom available to patients, his practice would have to evolve constantly; one technique on its own would never have the effects he knew were possible. Without sacrificing the power of what is already in place, it is this innovative combination of techniques that has made The Balancing Center such a success.

The Balancing Center has now been helping people live healthier more energetic lives since 1987. To this day Dr. Dan’s favorite part of the job is helping people look at health from a different perspective. He feels passionate about offering individuals and their families the tools and resources to manifest their potential. He also enjoys witnessing the transformations that occur when patients choose full health instead of only getting treated for pain.

The care Dr. Dan and his associates provide here at The Balancing Center is part of Dr.Dan’s vision of a more harmonious world in which people are no longer in conflict with their own bodies, and are therefore better able to get along with each other. Not only is Dr. Dan frequently invited to speak to diverse audiences about his work and his philosophies, but he has made it part of his mission to train other doctors to make a profound difference in the world.

A couple of things most patients probably don’t know about Dr. Dan: he has been practicing meditation for over 30 years, and he is an excellent marksman! 

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Dan Fedeli, or with one of his associates call (312)787-7222.

Madelyn's Chiropractic Story

Posted by: Madelyn George

My first time visiting The Balancing Center I had no intention of receiving any kind of chiropractic care. I was meeting with Dr. Dan Fedeli to talk about administrative tasks and goals. I was in great shape and perfect health...or so I thought. Having trained extensively as a dancer, and taught others about holistic wellness for years, I exercised regularly, took my supplements, and had no complaints. Then doctor Dan had me step onto “The Anatometer” and I discovered that one of my hips was way higher than the other!

To be honest, I wasn’t surprised at all. When I thought about it, I had been noticing differences between the left and right sides of my body since I was a young girl in ballet class. I had simply assumed that imbalances were a fact of life, and if I wanted to succeed I would have to learn to work through those imbalances on my own. I had no idea there was anyone out there who could help! Over the course of my dance training it was fairly normal to sit out of class every now and then due to minor injuries. Often the pain was intense enough that I might ask a teacher to recommend some kind of specialist. Physical therapy and massage were frequently recommended, but nobody told me that chiropractic could also help. It makes sense in retrospect; I had no idea that I was out of alignment, so I never thought to visit a chiropractor!

After my first adjustment, I have to admit I felt funny. My body was so used to living with imbalance that for a few days I felt like one of my legs had suddenly grown a few inches longer. One day I even tripped over it! I experienced some soreness, but it didn’t bother me because I had been told that my muscles would have to learn to support my newly balanced body. I couldn’t help but wonder how my dance training might have gone differently if I had been in balance all along. How many injuries could I have avoided?

I’ve been offering administrative support at The Balancing Center for about six months now, and the care I receive is a huge benefit. I love being part of the amazing Balancing Center Team and spending time in a healing environment each week, but every day I see patients coming back in after long stretches of time because they are in pain. I see patients checking out after their visits and making the decision not to reschedule until they are in pain again. When I began my care at The Balancing Center, I wasn’t in pain at all, and I am amazed out how great I feel, how free I am in my body, and how capable I am of using my body for all the various activities that make me feel more alive. I want you to know that the care provided at The Balancing Center could take you and everyone you know to the next level of health. Like me, you may be shocked to find out what you are capable of!