Skip to content

Principles for Living: Just call me Mama

The young lady in front of me was in her late 70s.
9992lakecowichanjustcall
Principles for Living

"Just call me Mama. Everyone else does," she chirped.

The young lady in front of me was in her late 70s. She was four foot nothing with that wrinkly, wizened look of the Star Wars character Yoda. She emanated the quiet wisdom of the matriarch that she was.

I already knew her story because I was adjusting most of that family. In fact, it had taken that whole family and especially her grandson, a recently graduated massage therapist, years of arm twisting before she came in to have her spine and nervous system checked.

Now she sat in front of me. Over the years, her heart and lung health had been rapidly deteriorating. We both knew in that unspoken way that chiropractic was a last resort. And Mama was known as a very stubborn person. I heard later that the odds among her family were strong that she would not return for a second visit.

It took roughly six weeks of adjustments before she looked me in the eye and said, "I'm breathing deeper. Think it's anything you're doing?"

After four more weeks she asked if it was possible that her heart could beat stronger and that she could have a more youthful zest for at least a day after each adjustment? I reminded her that, yes, the nerves from the spine play a strong role in sending healthful messages to her organs. But rather than attempting to fix her heart, I was adjusting the subluxations in her spine in order to send a stronger and more healthful nerve supply to her heart. I also told her I was glad she was under medical care and that those regular checkups could help save her life.

I continued to adjust Mama until February of 2005 when I left practice in Ontario. She swore that despite her advanced heart disease, the adjustment led to at least a week of renewed energy that was dramatic. It was also medically impossible but that didn't stop life's longing for itself as the adjustment assisted her body to rebuild and make itself well.

"I'm too stubborn to die" I can hear her say clearly now like that first day so many moons ago. Thanks for the lessons Mama. I was lucky to have known you.