You are an expression of your lifetime of experiences. How you move, think, and eat all contribute to your current level of health and how your body is expressing itself. Often people don’t realize that all the physical, mental, and emotional experiences (or traumas – including the little ones) get stored in your body. This creates an accumulated load that impacts your health and healing, and if left unaddressed often develops into illness and disease over time.

We help teach you how to take control of your health. As Chiropractors, we look for the interference that is developed as a defense mechanism within your body to experiences or traumas, whether they be small or large, which the body is holding onto. Because you’re still holding on, your body goes into self-protection as it tries to protect its most sensitive systems (nervous system, brain, spinal cord). It goes into a form of lockdown as if the threat is still present when in reality it isn’t.  

Here are some examples of how this can present:

In adults, we often see short tight muscles, swelling, spasms, weakness, loss of function, etc).  In teens, it can look like appetite changes, sleep changes, or challenges in focus and motivation. In babies it often presents as fussiness, crying excessively, latching issues, holding their body rigid, not being cuddly, or not liking tummy time.  In athletes, it creates muscle imbalances, a higher likelihood of injury, or performance issues.

This is a very limited list, but what you need to understand is that your body starts to redirect and block communication between the brain and the body and the body has to adapt to that which is exhausting. This blocked communication expresses itself not only in pain but very subtly in other areas first, some of which are described above.

Your body has to get out of these states to begin healing. Our approach to this, after beginning with a thorough assessment, is adjusting the neuro-spinal system to reset your system and restart communication with the brain and the body to heal, repair, and replace cells. You have within you the ability to heal yourself from the inside out – we support you in reconnecting with the power that is within your body to help you heal and function at your best, every time without exception. 

Your health journey, including the rate and speed at which you heal, is dependent on your commitment to yourself. We partner with you each step of the way, but ultimately it’s up to you to do the work required to support healing and reach your health goals.

Let’s add life to your life.

My Approach to Chiropractic: Why No Two Adjustments Are Exactly the Same

By Dr. Wendy Coburn
One Village Family Chiropractic Community

One of the questions I am asked most often is:

“What technique do you use?”

The answer is both simple and complex.

I am trained in a variety of chiropractic techniques including Diversified, Thompson Drop, Sacro Occipital Technique (SOT), Torque Release/Tonal approaches, Activator Methods, Integrator, pediatric chiropractic techniques, cranial work, and pregnancy-specific approaches including the Webster Technique.

But the truth is that my focus is not on the technique itself.

My focus is on the person in front of me.

Every adjustment is designed around the individual’s needs on that particular day.

Because no two people are exactly alike.

And even the same person is not exactly the same from one visit to the next.

You Are Not a Diagnosis

One of the challenges in healthcare today is that many people become identified by a diagnosis.

Low back pain.

Sciatica.

Migraines.

Neck pain.

Pregnancy discomfort.

Stress.

Fatigue.

But people are much more complex than a diagnosis.

Every person who walks into our office has a unique history.

A unique nervous system.

Unique stressors.

Unique goals.

Unique strengths.

And unique challenges.

My job is not simply to find a symptom.

My job is to assess how your body is adapting to life.

Because life places demands on all of us.

Physical demands.

Chemical demands.

Emotional demands.

And our bodies are constantly responding and adapting.

Sometimes those adaptations help us.

Sometimes they begin to create compensation patterns that interfere with optimal movement, communication, and function.

As chiropractors, we call these patterns subluxations.

Our goal is to identify and reduce these areas of interference so the body can function more efficiently.

Why Every Adjustment Can Look Different

Many people are surprised when they realize that their adjustments may not look exactly the same every visit.

That is intentional.

Some days your body may require a more gentle approach.

Some days your nervous system may benefit from lighter tonal work.

Other days a specific joint restriction may require a more traditional adjustment.

Some days I may use a drop table.

Some days an Activator.

Some days cranial techniques.

Some days a combination of several approaches.

The pressure, speed, depth, direction, and location of an adjustment can vary significantly.

Not because we are guessing.

Because your body is constantly changing.

Pregnancy changes the body.

Training for a race changes the body.

Stress changes the body.

Sleep deprivation changes the body.

Injuries change the body.

Growth and development change the body.

Healing changes the body.

My goal is to meet you where you are on that day.

Not where you were last week.

Not where you were six months ago.

Where you are today.

Gentle Does Not Mean Ineffective

Another common misconception is that a stronger adjustment is automatically better.

In my experience, that is rarely true.

The nervous system responds best when we provide the appropriate input at the appropriate time.

Sometimes that input is very gentle.

Many babies sleep through their adjustments.

Many pregnant women are surprised by how comfortable their adjustments feel.

Many adults who have previously feared chiropractic discover that chiropractic can be incredibly gentle.

The goal is not force.

The goal is communication.

The goal is helping the brain and body reconnect and function more efficiently.

Sometimes that requires very little pressure at all.

Chiropractic Is Only One Piece of the Puzzle

One of the most important things I tell patients is this:

I cannot heal you.

Your body heals you.

Healing is an inside job.

What I can do is help identify areas where your body has developed protective patterns and work to reduce interference within the nervous system.

But lasting change requires partnership.

Health is not built during a five-minute adjustment.

Health is built through the choices we make every day.

That is why education is such an important part of our office.

We discuss movement.

Strength.

Posture.

Sleep.

Nutrition.

Stress.

Breathing.

Recovery.

Mindset.

Connection.

Because these things matter.

A healthy nervous system requires healthy inputs.

The adjustment is important.

But so is what happens during the other 167 hours of the week.

Strength, Movement, Mindset, and Nutrients

At One Village Family Chiropractic Community, we believe that health is built from multiple pillars.

Movement is essential.

The body was designed to move.

Strength is essential.

Strong muscles support healthy movement and resilience.

Mindset is essential.

The thoughts we repeatedly think influence how we experience the world.

Nutrients are essential.

Our bodies require quality building materials to heal, repair, and function.

When these pieces work together, remarkable things can happen.

Not because chiropractic is fixing people.

But because people are creating an environment where healing can occur.

A Team Approach to Health

One of my favourite things to tell patients is this:

“We are on the same team.”

I am not here to do health to you.

I am here to work with you.

You bring your effort.

Your consistency.

Your movement.

Your mindset.

Your nutrition.

Your willingness to grow stronger.

I bring my training.

My experience.

My assessment.

My adjustments.

My guidance.

Together we create momentum.

Together we build resilience.

Together we support your body’s incredible ability to adapt.

Because health is not about perfection.

It is about becoming more adaptable.

More resilient.

More connected.

And more capable of expressing the life that is already within you.

That is my approach to chiropractic.

And that is why no two adjustments are ever exactly the same.