Author: Dr. Shannon Patterson
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Emotions and your Nervous System
We often think of emotional regulation as something we do—changing our thoughts, reframing a situation, or “calming ourselves down.” While these tools can be helpful, they overlook something fundamental: our ability to regulate emotions is deeply shaped by the state of our nervous system. Before we can respond thoughtfully, our body must feel safe enough to do…
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The Power of a 30-Minute Walk: Small Step, Big Shift
In a world that constantly pulls our attention in every direction, a simple daily walk can feel like a breath returning to the body. Yet this humble practice is one of the most powerful ways to support your health, energy, and emotional balance. Just 30 minutes of walking each day can create a ripple effect through your…
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Grip Strength: A Small Measure With Big Meaning
When most people think about health markers, they picture blood pressure, cholesterol, or maybe how many steps they take each day. But there’s another simple, powerful indicator that tells us a lot about the whole body: grip strength. Why Grip Strength Matters Your grip is more than hand muscles — it’s a reflection of overall nervous system…
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Cooling the Inner Fire: Stress and Inflammation
Inflammation and Stress: Understanding Your Body’s Signals Inflammation and stress are two ways your body tries to protect you. They’re not “bad”—they’re part of your natural healing system. But when life gets busy or overwhelming, these systems can stay activated for too long, and that’s when you may start to feel run down, tense, or…
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Some of the science about the Network Wave
Within your nervous system are intelligent networks called Central Pattern Generators (CPGs) — built-in rhythmic circuits that naturally coordinate movement and breath without needing conscious control. These are what allow your body to walk, breathe, or move in a smooth, flowing rhythm. They’re like the body’s inner music, guiding movement and balance from deep within. During Network Spinal…
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Gut Feelings: How Serotonin & the Vagus Nerve Support Regulation
Serotonin is one of the main messengers that helps your gut and brain talk to each other. Most of it is made in the gut, not the brain. When your gut cells release serotonin, it activates the vagus nerve—the main communication pathway between the body and the brain. This nerve carries signals upward, letting your…
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Understanding Neuroception: Healing Through Awareness
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When we’ve lived through ongoing stress or trauma, our body’s natural radar for safety—known as neuroception—can become distorted. Instead of reading the present moment accurately, the nervous system continues to interpret life through the filters of past pain or danger. This creates a neuroceptive mismatch: the body feels unsafe even when safety is available. We…
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Stress and your genes
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Chronic stress has a powerful influence on the way our genes express themselves—this is the field of Epigenetics, where the environment and our internal experiences can literally shape how genes are turned “on” or “off.” When we experience stress over a long period, it triggers cellular signalling patterns that alter the chemical markers on DNA…
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The Network Waves
Healing Comes in Waves! It is becoming increasingly known and discussed that people under NetworkSpinal (NS) Care experience unique movements – like Healing Waves – while receiving NS Care. Research is showing that these waves are unique to Network and they are associated with a self reported doubling of people’s quality of life, the ability…
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Change your body… change your mind
Our relationship to our body, in part, reflects our relationship to the world. Do fear, shame & powerlessness overcome us when we think about our body? Are the messages, cues and symptoms of the body things that need to be numbed or stifled with the latest lotion or potion? Does science know more than the…
D. Shannon Patterson, Chiropractor 