Today, Dr. Don is joined by Dr. Stephen Porges, Ph.D. He is a distinguished university scientist at the Kinsey Institute, Founding Director of the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium at Indiana University, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, and proponent of the polyvagal theory. Dr. Porges is with us to discuss the polyvagal theory in detail and how it relates to chiropractic. Dr. Porges takes us through the beginnings of polyvagal theory and how it can influence bodily function. It’s important to create safety for patients in order to create that vagal response to bring them out of a defensive state.  Dr. Don and Dr. Porges discover some of the many similarities between the benefits of Chiropractic care and the Vagal break as described by the polyvagal theory.    Key Takeaways: How Dr. Porges describes the polyvagal theory. [5:03] What drew Dr. Porges to commit his academic life to this theory. [6:35] Descriptions of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. [8:31] The dorsal vagas and its role as the ‘old vagas’. [9:36] How and why the body exits dorsal collapse. [12:02] Why we don’t remember trauma. [14:00] Navigating defensive states by using vagal activity. [14:53] The Safe and Sound Protocol. [17:46] The long road to creating a theory of neural modulation. [20:58] Returning autonomy to patients through polyvagal manipulation. [22:00] How our society keeps us locked in states of defense. [25:00] Creating a state of ease through awareness. [27:10] Activating the ventral vagal process through neural exercises. [28:00] Explaining co-regulation and how it works. [30:16] Proprioception through Chiropractic care and improving safety. [34:02] Understanding the mind/body relationship and feedback loops. [36:20] Why client interaction is key to creating safe spaces. [39:50] Alleviating the burden of responsibility and creating bodily awareness in patients. [43:10] How Dr. Porges conducts his research. [43:55] Case studies of long hauler COVID sufferers and how vagal stimulation can help them. [47:28] The importance of self-compassion and self-care for Chiropractors out there. [50:51]   The Polyvagal Institute: https://www.polyvagalinstitue.org For more info on the Vitality Shift visit  https://www.thevitalityshift.com/ 

On today’s show, Dr. Don is joined by Jake Steiner, a retired stockbroker who has dedicated himself to improving his own and others eyesight through natural methods. Some topics Jake will discuss are how he became interested in natural eyesight improvement and what pseudo-myopia is. Jake takes us through how he arrived at improving his eyesight through natural methods. Being told he needed to change his eyeglass prescription for the first time since he was a teenager due to genetics didn’t sit right with him. Jake took it upon himself to begin research into the reasons for his vision decline. With our screen time forever on the increase and eye strain commonplace, more people than ever are experiencing some kind of myopia. During his research, Jake discovered that the answer to reversing myopia could be simple.   Key Takeaways: How Jake came to be interested in natural eyesight improvement. [2:15] Why Google Scholar is an amazing resource and how to utilize it. [4:29] What is pseudo-myopia? [5:19] What can you do to ease your ocular muscle strain? [07:09] Addressing the causality of the muscle strain. [8:30] About lens-induced myopia. [9:25] How Jake honed his research and methods. [10:55] How Jake’s method grew and spread. [13:00] Steps to start the process of ocular muscle improvement. [14:30] The timeline to improvement. [19:25] How posture can impact your eyesight and vice versa. [21:00] How Jake’s body has changed since his vision has improved. [25:07] Words of wisdom. [28:40]   Find out more: https://www.endmyopia.com To get more information on our products visit. https://www.thevitalityshift.com/ 

Dr. Don is joined once again by his wife Brandi MacDonald, with whom he co-owns South Side Chiropractic in Edmonton. Brandi is here to discuss 3 frameworks of care, what they are, and how they can be used by Chiropractors in the vitality model. Brandi takes us through the 3 different frameworks of care, their differences, and their similarities. Trauma-informed care was born out of the Vietnam war to help people with PTSD, and the Polyvagal theory looks at how the nervous system interacts with the environment and salutogenesis. Looking to the future, Brandi hopes that Chiropractic across the board will adapt a more trauma-conscious way of working with patients. If we looked at a patient as more than just an issue or condition, think of the healing we could accomplish.   Key Takeaways: About the 3 different frameworks of care. [1:59] Trauma informed care. [3:27] The evolution of trauma informed care. [5:50] Being a trauma informed practitioner. [10:00] The polyvagal theory. [11:23] What is the science of safety? [14:20] Involuntary responses to trauma. [15:55] Creating a state of ease for clients through chiropractic. [16:40] How these theories work and benefit chiropractic practice. [18:50] Making sense of your body and inhabiting yourself and your body. [20:00] Why the future of healthcare hinges on an understanding of humans as a whole being instead of just tissue. [21:10] Working to truly understand your clients. [23:30] Staying curious to overcome the inflexibility of chiro. [25:30] Salutogenesis: Health promotion and drawing on internal strengths. [27:40] How the 3 frameworks work together in chiropractic medicine. [31:09]

On today’s show Dr. Don is joined by Dr. Kelly Holt, a returning guest joining us from New Zealand. If you would like to know more about Dr. Kelly, you can listen back to the last time he joined the show in May 2018. Today, Dr. Kelly joins us to discuss how the pandemic has affected him out in New Zealand, what research he has been conducting over the last few years, and where his research is taking him next. Dr. Kelly takes us through how New Zealand has dealt with the pandemic and how it has impacted both the New Zealand College of Chiropractic and chiropractors at large. Now, Dr. Kelly is looking to the future and planning how practice-based research can help practices in real time. Key Takeaways: An update on how New Zealand is dealing with the pandemic. [2:00] How the school has dealt with adapting to the lockdowns. [4:35] The silver lining of the pandemic for chiropractic practices. [7:00] About the research Dr. Kelly has been conducting in the last few years. [8:18] How the research he has been conducting has been helping people. [12:50] What research has Dr. Kelly had published since his last visit? [14:45] Why Dr. Kelly couldn’t do what he does without funding and how he attained it. [19:35] Why Dr. Kelly is excited about creating practice-based research. [25:00] The benefits of conducting practice-based research. [29:00] What needs to be in place before commencing practice-based studies. [30:40] How chiropractors in the field can help support the research centre. [36:30] Final words of wisdom. [42:00]   Find out more about the New Zealand Centre for Chiropractic Research: http://research.chiropractic.ac.nz/ Find out more about The Vitality Shift: https://www.thevitalityshift.com

On today’s show, Dr. Don is joined by Dr. John Osborne, co-owner of Osborne Chiropractic with his wife Marie in Tipperary, Ireland. He joins us to discuss the breakthroughs he has been making in his vitality shift and the 3 main internal obstacles he has been able to overcome. When he began his vitality shift 4 years ago, John was very much a pain-focused Chiropractor. Since he began the program, John has continued his journey for self, and practice, improvement. There’s always more to learn and more ways to improve. Dr. John takes us through his initial vitality shift and how he has progressed in the 4 years since he started his journey. Since then, he has still felt stuck; like his practice wasn’t growing as it should. John decided to work one on one with Dr. Don and Brandi MacDonald in their 90-day accelerator intensive.  John discusses the work he did, most importantly realizing he was his practice’s biggest problem. He Learned to tune into his own feelings and how his body was responding.  The results of doing this work have been record-breaking milestone after milestone, he said he felt like he finally took the hand break off his potential.  Once you know yourself, you can truly know your practice.   Key Takeaways: Looking for help without knowing what you need. [2:38] How John has progressed from his initial vitality shift. [3:43] The process of realizing you need help. [6:20] Understanding and having realistic expectations for patient progression. [7:15] Learning to pick up on the subtleties of individual cases. [10:45] Becoming more aware of your own feelings and your own body’s responses. [12:36] Overcoming the self-sabotage mindset. [14:00] Understanding how your mental state affects how you show up in practice. [17:01] Learning to be comfortable with your physiological responses. [19:05] Attaching meaning to your goals. [26:52] Creating separate identities with a singular purpose in a joint practice. [33:00] Advice for identifying your own internal obstacles. [36:13]   Find out more about The Vitality Shift: https://www.thevitalityshift.com