Author: Dr. Shannon Patterson
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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
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
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…
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My Mindful Math Teacher
Who knew that my math teacher in high school was a Buddhist monk? I certainly didn’t at the time and often wondered about Mrs. Clark’s strange exercises that she would have us practice just prior to exams. Shouldn’t we have been focusing on algebra, trigonometry or calculus? Wouldn’t we have been more likely to improve…
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Forest bathing
No claw-footed tub in the woods needed or romantic shower under a waterfall. (Sorry to disappoint… as I love the idea of both) Forest bathing, as it has been dubbed, is actually a studied medical practice. In Japan, the research is spawning a whole new dimension of patient treatment called “forest therapy.” Forests, like other…
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The Science of Empathy
Mirror Neurons… what are they? Mirror neurons are special brain cells that fire both when you perform an action and when you see someone else perform that same action. Discovered in the 1990s in monkeys, they’ve since been identified in humans, particularly in areas involved with motor function, emotion, and empathy. How Do Mirror Neurons…
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Heart Rate Variability
What is Heart Rate Variability (HRV)? HRV is the variation in time between each heartbeat. A high HRV means your nervous system is adaptive and resilient. A low HRV may reflect stress or overwhelm. HRV is one of the best indicators of your body’s ability to shift between rest, action, and recovery. What is Coherence?…
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Hold Your Head Up
Your Brain Will Thank You (And So Will Your I) Ever notice how everyone these days looks like they’re bowing to their phone overlords? Heads hanging low, shoulders curled forward, eyes glued to glowing screens. We even gave it a name: Text Neck. Sounds harmless, right? Wrong. Forward Head Posture (FHP)—that forward tilt we adopt…
D. Shannon Patterson, Chiropractor 