5 Life Lessons I've Learned from My Children as a Chiropractor

Being a chiropractor, I see everything through the lens of health and wellness and natural healing that is congruent with nature. Nothing has reinforced this principle more than being a mom. From pregnancy to birth to watching and guiding my babies as they turn into little humans, they are a constant reminder of how intelligent our innate is. My 2 and 4 year old teach me something new that reinforces what I know to be true about the human body's movement needs and they inspire a lot of recommendations that I give to patients. Here are the top 5 that I think everyone should embrace for a happier healthier life.

1. Have a Pre and Post sleep ritual. I have always heard that children love structure, and my older one is the epitome of this. One time, my husband said "okay, it's late.. let's brush and go straight to bed." Edison wasn't having it. He quickly responded with "No, daddy. It's play, read, brush your teeth THEN go to sleep." We both looked at each other in shock and said... "Can't argue with that! You're right buddy." That's what we've been doing (without explicitly saying so) and so that's what he was used to, so that's what we did.

   We also co-sleep with our kids, and so every morning, I notice that the first thing that they do when they wake up is roll around and stretch in a big, deep, sustained extension from their nose all the way to their toes. I can't tell you how often I recommend and remind patients to stretch and move in bed, even before they get up, especially if they feel stiff in the mornings. It is so simple, but so important to set the tone for the rest of the day and they do it naturally! Another thing they will do is roll on their bellies and do a push up to seated instead of doing a sit-up from laying to sitting. This also to me makes more sense, because doing a sit-up will increase pressure on the back. The first thing I teach any patient is that they need to roll on their side and push themselves up every time they get up from laying position to wake up their muscles and joints without added pressure on their backs.

2. When in doubt, tire yourself out! Sometimes I feel like I need to have eyes in the back of my head to watch the kids while I am also doing mom jobs like tidying, preparing meals/snacks, and house chores. If you have ever spent time with toddlers, they want your attention, they want to play, they are constantly moving in and out of view... basically do whatever they want. In times where I feel like I am being pulled every which way with them, I find that I need to take a break from what I am doing, and tucker those little bodies out. I'll ask if they want to walk around the block, we have a little indoor slide that I will encourage them to go on, and cycle them between that and jumping on a mini indoor trampoline we have sitting in the corner. Edison and Zinnia both do pee-wee activities like kung fu and ballet, so we will "practice" what they do in class together, like bear crawling in a little circle and toe-tapping to music. Sometimes we even just pile on each other which alone is a bit of a work out, especially when they want mommy to be a pony. The magic is that they are burning their excess energy, we are spending quality time together, and once we are done, they can rest while I go back to whatever chore I was doing. Exercise really does help with mental clarity, focus, and calms them... temporarily at least.

   This also plays into gaining strength and movement patterns that are better for your core and coordination than static exercises in the gym. Plus it's pretty fun!

3. Allow yourself to be in awe. One of my favorite things to see is when they see or experience something that gets them excited or makes them say "wow." It is the best serotonin boost for me. I love how Zinnia, my youngest will just stand and stare at something, big or small, and just go "wow." It teaches me to be in the moment and express gratitude. Something that I think we unlearn as we get older is how to just sit in appreciation and in awe. That is also the very thing that helps reduce stress and takes us out of a fight-or-flight mode. So much of new research along with every guru out there from health to manifestation to business emphasizes the importance of present time consciousness and power of gratitude on lifespan, and quality of life. We definitely need more of her "wow" in our lives.

4. Lean into the power of pretend. I think some of this gets touched on when we make exercise fun, but there's another big piece of pretend that all of us need, regardless of age. Pretend to me is another word for exploring creativity and imagination. Children have an endless capacity for creativity and imagination. So much so, that sometimes when we are playing pretend, I'll ask them a question and the answers make me go "I never thought of that! I love how clever you are!" This I thnk is so essential to hold on to that it was one of 4 major tenents that Jay Shetty spoke of on the attributes of top CEO thought leaders and how to become more like them yourself. He said "have the fresh eyes of a child" to spark innovation and a creative problem solving.

5. Stretch and move whichever way feels good to you whenever possible. This is different than when they get tired from activity in that often in moments of still play (like drawing, playing with playdough, or building blocks), I often will see the kids randomly go from sitting, to laying to all fours, laying on one side, the other side, one foot out and tilting and any which way. They are never sedentary. Even during screen time, I think they move or shift around every so often. Again, they are never told to, they just do.

   Being in Silicon Valley, everyone's an engineer, everyone's got a desk job in tech, and they are working 8-9, sometimes 10 hours a day. Can you guess how often they move or take a break? Not enough. And yes, they go for walks and exercise periodically, but the biggest problem that we face today is sedentary lifestyle. We are meant to move! So much so that our muscles and ligaments are designed to have some degree of movement every 15-20 minutes, or else they will lose their flexibility and will get rigid and stiff. Not only that, but they will become rigid and stiff in whatever position that we are in for that long period of time-- whether it's good or bad. Have you heard of tech neck? It runs rampant around here. And it doesn't take much to prevent... literally all you have to do is a stretch in all your ranges every 20 minutes. You could tilt your head left, right, look up, look left, look right, stretch your arms and back like you would (or should) getting out of bed and that's enough! It would take less than 15 seconds to save yourself and your ligaments from chronic stiffness and tightness. "But Dr. Zhu... I don't have time, I get in the zone, I forget..." I'll say this... If my kids can do it, you can do it! They don't even have to think about it. You probably did as a child too, and you didn't have to think about it! You probably were taught not to fidget or move, and stay still while going through school, but if you learned to stay still, you can also learn to move periodically! It's literally free preventative treatment for your health and longevity.

The biggest takeaway I hope that you get is that we innately know what we need to do for our bodies. It's ingrained in our nature. Modern living has increased stress and disconnected us from that nature. Our babies and children don't have stresses of modern living imposed upon them yet. They give us glimpses of what we should be doing, if we are aware enough to see and appreciate it. Instead of teaching them not to do things, maybe we should be doing those things with them! I know when I do, I feel better and happier.

I'm curious though, for my parents and friends with nieces and nephews, what observations have you seen that you could take a lesson from? Have you seen the same behaviors in the children around you?