Dr. Ashyanna Keli Rodríguez, DC

The meditation cushion that I designed is on its way. I just received four beautiful prototypes in the mail. It's time to stuff them with buckwheat hulls and give them to four meditators to "test drive".

I have designed my own meditation cushion. I will announce more about this later! In the mean time, it is time I go test it out...

My book was recently reviewed by my local bookstore and I am now featured as one of their local authors. Check it out! So exciting.

Believe it or not, the number one injury I treat in my healing center is from sleep. I call them "sleep injuries"... people sleeping on their side, or worse yet, on their bellies. This causes the soft tissue to stretch in horrible ways as you spend hours in these positions. Pay attention to how you sleep. Laying on your back is by far the best posture you can be in for your resting time. Place a pillow on your belly for comfort if you like ~ it's what I do. I used to be a... side sleeper and loved how it felt all cuddly and protected. The pillow on my belly covers my stomach and chest and I cuddle with it all night. I now have shoulder problems because I didn't know better and slept on my side for so many years. I transitioned to sleeping on my back by putting pillows beside me so I couldn't turn over in my sleep. As preventative medicine, sleep on your back! Sweet dreams tonight... See more

Check out my latest blog: What is "chiropractic" and what does it really mean? http://drkeli.com/blog/ Chiro means "hand" and praktikos means "practical". Chiropractic translates to be "done by hand". Chiropractic is a healing modality in which the practitioner uses the hands to help the body move into better alignment. Chiropractic works directly with the nervous system as well. The brain sends messages to all of the organs in the body so it can function properly. Nerves l...eave the brain and exit the spinal cord and travel straight to the organs. There are other nerves that are sending information from the organs back to the brain. The brain processes this information and sends the correct information all over the body to help everything function at it’s optimal potential. If a vertebrae is misaligned and fixated, this presses on the soft tissue around it which in turn compresses the nerves entering and exiting the spine at that level. This means that information coming from the brain to the organs is impeded as well as the communication coming from the organs to the brain. If this communication is not clear then the function will not be optimal. The brain also coordinates our muscular contractions. Have you ever heard that you only use 10% of your brain? The other 90% is dedicated to holding the body up against gravity of moving it through space to do what we want it to do. In each joint there are special nerves called joint position sense nerves. These nerves are constantly sending your brain information about where the joint is in space and how it is gliding. The brain synthesizes this information and uses it to correctly control the muscles surrounding that joint. If a joint is out of alignment and fixated, and this includes any joint in the body including one of the many joints in the feet or the knees, then the messages coming from the joint are in a constant feedback loop to the brain telling it that it is stuck. When this happens the brain will inhibit certain muscles around the joint and cause others to be in spasm. This creates abnormal muscle function and asymmetries in the body. The chiropractic adjustment is used to free up these joints so that the correct information is being sent to the brain and the muscles can work correctly, hence moving your body towards better alignment and better function. It is a very powerful medicine that can help your entire body function at it’s optimal potential.