Marc Weiner, D.C. & Tamalpais Chiropractic

I am both excited and honored to announce that starting this month, I have begun practicing at the Petaluma Wellness Arts Center on Saturday mornings! The PWAC is located at 517 Hayes Lane in Petaluma. Please see www.petalumawellnessarts.com for more information about this great healing center. To set up an appointment, please call 415.531.9994.

I have posted often about the benefits of breath work. It can be incredibly helpful for reducing the impact stress has on our bodies by shifting our sympathetic nervous system out of its fight or flight mode. It is that mode that tightens our shoulders and jaws, that makes people wear their shoulders as earrings as I say. Unfortunately, I know most of you know what I am talking about. I want to share this simple exercise that I not only recommend to my patients on a reg...ular basis, but also practice myself daily. Start by sitting comfortably with proper posture - Sitting up straight with your ears over your shoulders, shoulders over your hips. Rest your hands on your knees or in your lap. Close your eyes (unless you are sitting in traffic ;) ). Take a deep breath in through your nose. If you are suffering from allergies or a cold and cannot breath through your nose then breathing through the mouth is okay. Then exhale. As you exhale, feel your shoulders and jaw drop down and relax. Now here are the two most important parts: 1. breathe into your belly, not your chest, and 2. take at least five deep breaths. Both of these are key to deactivating the sympathetic nervous system. I tell my patients that I would like for them to do this three times a day. Just push back from what ever it is you are doing and breathe! It can also be very helpful during times when we find ourselves caught up in stressful situations. We can’t completely eliminate the stress from our lives, but we can at least lessen its impact on our bodies.

Here in the Bay Area, allergies have been really bad this spring. I myself suffer from them, so I understand how frustrating the almost constant itchy throat and eyes, runny nose, headaches and foggy head can be. If you find yourself waking up with especially bad symptoms, here is something you can try: Wash your hair right before bed and change your pillow case. The reasoning behind this is as we walk around all day, our hair can pick up the same allergens that trigger us. When we lay our heads down on our pillow, we wipe those same allergens all over our pillow case, then rub our faces in it all night! This can also be the case if we have a dog or cat that goes outdoors and also like to nap on our pillow. This may not be the answer to your allergies, but even a little bit of relief can be helpful!