Mind Meets Motion: Osteopathic, Chiropractic and Acupuncture Strategies for Optimal Brain and Body Health
Osteopathy, acupuncture and chiropractic care offer powerful, integrative approaches to optimizing both brain and body function. By addressing physical tension, improving circulation, and supporting overall well-being, these therapies help enhance cognitive performance and physical resilience. In this post, we’ll explore how osteopathy boosts brain health, particularly for those experiencing brain fog or concentration difficulties, while chiropractic care supports the body’s natural mechanics, especially for those dealing with prolonged sitting or desk work. Learn how to improve your productivity and well-being with these practical, science-backed strategies.
Osteopathy for your brain:
Think about the brain like a muscle – it needs healthy blood flow and drainage with adequate nutrition and exercise. Just like a muscle contracts your brain also contracts and relaxes. When you study or work you are giving your brain an endurance task. Just like when you exercise you will experience fatigue over a long period of time.
So how can we optimize brain function and concentration?
- Understanding that your brain needs support to function by periods of rest, including no screen time.
- Getting 20-30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise every day.
- Decreasing stress and improving sleep habits and quality.
- Optimizing relation and blood flow to the brain using osteopathy.
Osteopathy helps to decrease tension that is limiting blood flow and drainage to the head and brain. By improving brain circulation and decreasing tension and stress, osteopathy can help to optimize brain function – this is particularly useful for people struggling with overwhelm, brain fog, concentration/attention concerns such as ADHD. With support the brain has the ability to rewire and adapt resulting in improved cognitive function and productivity.
Chiropractic for your body:
Our body is wonderfully engineered for us to be agile and strong. We are creatures of motion. So sitting at a desk for 40+ hours a week is quite a strain on our body. Ergonomics is a term used to describe how to minimize that strain. Our muscles are designed to move us not hold us. So we need to look at ways in which we support the body so the muscles don’t get overworked. Important points.
- Get the screen up so the top of the screen is at eyebrow level.
- Have your elbow/arms supported. The more they are resting on things the less you are lifting them.
- Take breaks – every 45 minutes, get out of your chair for a few minutes to move.
- Use a sit stand desk – again switch between these every few hours.
- Hydrate
- Brugger relief stretch (see image below)
Acupuncture for Cognitive function:
The main culprit of cognitive dysfunction in this day and age is stress (I know this is not shocking to hear but it is shocking to the brain). In Chinese Medicine this is called Liver Qi Stagnation. The liver holds the emotion of stress.
Constantly being in flight or flight triggers our nervous system to release cortisol which causes our brains to run in overdrive. How can we think clearly when the neurotransmitters in our brains are going off at a rapid rate saying there is danger. Thoughts like ‘are the bills going to be paid next month?’ ‘Are the kids eating enough fruits and vegetables? ‘Are my needs being met in my relationship?’ How can the brain remember why you walked into a room or what day that specific event happened last week? It’s okay- we all feel this unfortunately. Stress can be helpful but too much can cause memory loss, confusion, brain fog, anxiety, lack of focus for example.
Giving our bodies a chance to feel safe allows our brains to feel safe. Acupuncture is an excellent modality to trigger the nervous system to relax. This happens by puncturing the skin which releases pain receptors to release anti pain hormones. An hour of acupuncture lasts longer than the session as it stimulates a new pathway for the brain to operate on.
