As another year draws to an end I am prioritizing the time today to sit and reflect on the highs and lows of 2012 — the peaks and troughs, and the cycles of giving and return. What I observe is that I am often quick to skip over the highlights, the victories, rather than taking the time to consciously celebrate these wins…
As another year draws to an end I am prioritizing the time today to sit and reflect on the highs and lows of 2012 — the peaks and troughs, and the cycles of giving and return. What I observe is that I am often quick to skip over the highlights, the victories, rather than taking the time to consciously celebrate these wins…Life Keeps Itself In Balance
Despite the barrage of attack on chiropractic and in particular the care we offer pregnant women and children that many of us have faced this year, there has been an increase in acceptance and requests for referrals to chiropractors. Last week I had approaches from two top magazine editors, two Hollywood celebrities and one government official wanting to know how to access chiropractic care for their pregnancy and children. The number of unique visitors to my site grows by the thousands every few months and each month I directly refer what feels like hundreds of mothers to chiropractors around the globe. I feel so honoured to confidently refer these people to great chiropractors who want the best for these families.
Upon reflection I see that there is always a balance of highs and lows, Simon and I also believe that what you give, you receive in return and we like to focus on providing educational events with guest speakers for our clients and community, talks for schools or we make generous donations to community groups. We also like to acknowledge clients at times with gifts or hampers of food and in return for all of these acts of kindness we have flourished from their patronage and referrals.
Life Gives Back In Many Ways
If I also look at my working week, much of my Well Adjusted time is dedicated to writing for magazines, doing talks or interviews or writing posts about chiropractic and health – if I was to look at my return for these efforts some would say I could spend my time more wisely. Perhaps this is so but I have a deep love for our profession, everything I am today is because of chiropractic. Since I was very small, chiropractic has been my life –it has made me who I am as woman and a mother and as a voice for families. We are so fortunate to have access to the resources this profession provides.
Learning to Give First
Recently I had a conversation with some younger chiropractors who were grumbling that they should be being paid more if principal chiropractors expected that they should do ‘Health Care Classes’. Others were complaining that chiropractic just wasn’t as easy as ‘big shot’ chiropractors had made it out to be when they were students. I asked them, “Tell me how are you going ‘the extra mile’ for your clients?” And after I clarified that I didn’t mean ‘mile high’ I asked them if they were writing random thank you cards, printing off useful information or supporting clients with new habits. It always surprises me when a chiropractor mistakes this profession for a gravy train versus a life of education and loving service.
If I think of the emails I receive from chiropractors often asking Simon and I what history forms and educational tools our team utilise in our practice for pregnant women and also for infants, thenI realise it is time to attach these forms for anyone else who may like to view these or utilize these forms for their clients. Our team have developed these over a number of years and hope that they work well for you and your practice.
Always Grateful
I would also like to thank those chiropractors who send emails, face book messages or call me directly to tell me that they really love how pregnant women waltz into their practice as new patients asking for a visit “to have their subluxations checked and adjusted.” Proudly announcing they have read Well Adjusted Babies.
Even though I receive messages like this most days, each time this type of feedback really does warm my heart because I remember when I first wrote Well Adjusted Babies Simon and I took it to a renowned publisher and they were very keen to publish it but stated that they ‘would need me to soften and to generalize’ some of the chapters. They said that the book was ‘a little too ahead of its time’ in regards to how most people view ‘health matters’.
Maintaining Integrity and Vision
Back in 2007 we sat with their feedback and considered a publishing deal versus being able to provide parents with the complete holistic information on pregnancy, birthing and parenting health topics that Well Adjusted Babies presents. It didn’t take us that long to decide that to maintain our integrity and vision, we needed to keep our books wholesome and integral rather than change them for public acceptance. Some 60,000 books later we are rather glad for the choices we made, I believe more families have adopted the chiropractic lifestyle because we remained true to our vision rather than “falling for” a gravy train publishing deal.
It also delights me to hear chiropractors say that when they have both Well Adjusted Babies and Ticklish available for sale in their practice, that mothers buy these copies and share them with their mothers groups—telling other mothers how they need both these books and chiropractic. Isn’t it beautiful how these women want to promote you?
Resources to Inspire Health in Families
In addition to the history forms and exam procedures attached, in our practice we also use the developmental charts in Ticklish for the paediatric consult. We explain to parents how to use the charts and suggest they purchase a copy of Ticklish so they can learn countless ways to engage with their child and nurture their development. Ticklish is a home exercise log for an infant or child; as it focus’s the family on the child’s neurological development and spinal health.
I remember as a young girl growing up our home practice, my Dad had a mantra “You have to spend money to make money” and again I am a big believer that as chiropractors we have to regularly spend money on self-mastery, on our practice and on our clients to keep the foundations of our practice solid. If you do not have Well Adjusted Babies or Ticklish available in your practice for clients to purchase then I urge you to do so. These books support every conversation you have with your clients. Mothers also benefit as they are keen to buy their own copies and then additional copies for their girlfriends and your practice benefits as these mothers tell others about you and chiropractic. We have seen time and time again that Well Adjusted Babies becomes their bible and reference for years to come.
Some chiropractors have just one or two copies that they lend out to pregnant mothers – however pregnant mothers are sponges for information and like to keep hold of books for months/years. May I ask what happens if your copies are on loan for a number of months? It makes much more sense to have these books available for your clients to purchase. Of course you can gift some to clients, health and maternal nurses and other practitioners in your area but don’t underestimate just how eager pregnant women are to attain solid health information. How delighted they feel knowing they are proactively parenting during their pregnancy.
Giving Fuels Our Soul
My take home point here is that giving fuels our soul. This may mean we need to spend time or money that gives to our practice, to our clients or to ourselves, but in doing so we see close links between caring, compassion and personal happiness – our own or someone else’s.
As always the rewards of the universe are ours when we genuinely give of ourselves.
Please accept my gifts to you below in the Christmas special offers. Blessings and hugs to you all as this year draws to a close, I hope you find rest and happiness over the festive season and a sense of renewal in the new year so that you can continue to be a source of inspiration for so many in 2013.
With love and deep respect,
Jennifer
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P.S. Here are those practice resources I mentioned…
P.P.S. Here are some great Christmas present ideas and specials…
