“If you think you’re going to get cancer or your hair will turn gray at 40 or you’re going to develop an ulcer all because these events affected your parent’s health, guess again, you just might not. Why? All because of epigenetics,” says integrative health specialist Christine Dionese.

Your epigenetic landscape largely guides how your genes will behave, how they’ll adapt to ever-changing environmental conditions, how they’ll protect you, work for you, or, work against you.

You have so, so much control over your genes, their expression… your epigenetic landscape.

The quality of the food you eat, how much pollution you’re exposed to, the physical and mental stress you may encounter- these are the are variables that shape your everyday epigenetic wellness. All things you can control to a very large extent.

How you think, how you eat, how you decide to live your life… H O W you behave is what shapes your epigenetic landscape.

-Christine Dionese, integrative health specialist, friend and colleague to our practice.

There will always be variables coming at you from the environment that you are less apt to be able to control. Dr. Charlie will continue the conversation from here…

S T R E S S O R S will always exist in our lives- some favorable, others not. Your nervous system is the critical component that enables you to accurately assess and adapt to your environment. Any reduction in its efficiency leads to a subsequent change in how you are able to deal with the variables surrounding you.

For you to have control over your gene expression and ultimately your health, there must be a clear connection between the brain and the body. When stressors from your environment are present, you engage automatic adaptive responses to manage their effects.

The “tone” of the nervous system adaptively shifts; leading to physiological changes specifically recruited to deal directly with the stressors. However, this also leads to a shift away from the normal, restorative processes of the body including critical thinking, digestion and immune function.

Structural changes in the spine are associated with the tonal changes present- these associations can reduce your adaptive ability and to lead to a reduction in connectivity between the brain, the body and the environment. As time progresses, there is increased energy expenditure and a systematic loss of neurological coordination, capacity and reserves.

How do we restore and optimize from this loss?

To restore and optimize your adaptive ability and proper gene expression, you must have optimal, unobstructed neurological and structural systems. Before this can happen, you need to know your current status.

Our primary focus is NeuroStructural Optimization. We carefully assess your current neurological and structural state using objective means and upon identifying the external stressors and the internal obstructive situation, we enact a unique and complete process to restore, optimize and protect your ability to manage the stressors. The more appropriately you are able to manage your self, the better you can manage your environment.

Photo courtesy of Unsplash by Joshua Earle