We’re just about a month in to being quarantined. The news is driving us mad. Working from home is more stressful than you could ever imagine, especially if you have students suddenly learning online and you have no idea what they are learning to be any help. Maybe you’ve lost your hours at work. Maybe you’re wondering if that cough is pollen or plague. Whatever it is, there will eventually be a stress explosion. If it hasn’t happened already, it will.

I know I’m guilty of it. I’ve yelled at my daughters, my husband, the dogs, the cats, the t.v. and even myself. It’s all ENERGY and that energy needs to get OUT.

We call emotions energy in motion. When we can’t release that energy or that emotion in an efficient manner, it becomes stuck in our body. The muscles and organs hold various emotions. Often during massage or chiropractic, I can touch a tense muscle and when the energy is right, healing and safe, the emotion comes up to be released. Sometimes it’s released as crying, coughing, laughing, talking, moaning… I could go on. Just know that it leaves the body in some way, shape or form.

You’ve got to be able to acknowledge that dark and scary stuff. Some may call this your Shadow Self or your Trials and Tribulation. It’s all those negative emotions that most people don’t want to deal with. There’s a saying in the healing world: That which you resist, persists. You don’t have to name it or blame it. Just FEEL it.

Journaling Set aside about 20 minutes with just you, a pen and some paper. Start writing. Start writing whatever comes to mind. Don’t worry about spelling, grammar or penmanship. Write down all those pent up feelings, no matter who dark and grim they may be. Just GET IT OUT. When you’re done, you can either re-read it, tear it up and toss it, burn it, save it, share it. It doesn’t matter. Just do it. With the darker or negative emotions, you have to allow yourself to acknowledge them, but not dwell on them. Do this writing experience 3 times per week, until you feel you can manage those emotions better. You can still journal the other days of the week, but the shadow work needs to be limited to 3 times per week.

Car Tunes Have you realized yet just how therapeutic driving used to be? For me, that’s when I crank up the tunes and sing, loudly (and usually very off key). So if you have nowhere to go during this quarantine time, just go out in your car, turn up the music and sing. Singing activates the Vagus Nerve, which is the main nerve of the Parasympathetic (rest and digest) Nervous System. The louder you sing forces you to really contract your core muscles and gives your diaphragm a work out. All things that help you relieve stress.

Ground yourself Now is the perfect time to go outside and just BE. Doing yardwork can be highly therapeutic because you’re moving your body and you’re outside. Walk barefoot in the grass. Better yet, lay down or sit in the grass. Just connect with the earth beneath you. There’s a reason so many people are flocking to the parks – just PLEASE keep your distance from the other people, or better yet, go for a walk around your neighborhood. Amusingly, because my husband and I have been doing a lot of yardwork in the backyard, we’ve established ‘over the fence conversations’ with our neighbors.

Reach out If you’re feeling so overwhelmed that you cannot manage your own emotions, please don’t hesitate to reach out for help. Telehealth with your therapist. I’ve been told co-payment have been waived during this time when you use Telehealth. Reach out to me if you need someone to just talk to. I can direct you to the appropriate resources if needed.

Be Patient Be patient with yourself and others. You might notice some people pushing your buttons just to have an argument. That’s their way of trying to release pent up frustration and you just happen to be the pawn. You might be picking on someone just to engage in an argument. These are all those signs that you need to release your feelings. Do your best not to engage in an argument. Or find someone who will allow you to rant and not take things personally.

Fusion Chiropractic remains open during these challenging times. Chiropractic is not just about the physical body, but also the mind and the spirit. Patients are seen by appointment only and scheduled so that there is enough time between people to maintain safety, social distancing and time to disinfect according to CDC guidelines. Stay Safe. Stay Healthy. Get Adjusted.

Quarantine Fatigue

We have been in a Quarantine for 7 – 8 weeks now. We had to adjust to a “new normal” of sheltering-in-place to slow the spread of the virus and not overwhelm our healthcare systems. At first, we had plenty of celebrities entertain us on our computer or phone screens, and we even had some people to entertain us with everything from home exercise programs and cooking.

The one thing no one has really mentioned is the mental health aspect of being part of a global pandemic and what do we do to keep our sanity. Most people are highly resilient to tough and challenging times in our lives. There is always that sense hope for the future and the strength to persevere despite all the challenges we may face.

But this is different…

Continue reading→

Aromatherapy & The Empowered Patient Series

The Empowered Patient Series is held every 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7pm. Snacks & drinks are provided. You do not have to be a patient in the clinic to attend, in fact, please feel free to bring your friends and family.

Back in the year 2000, I was still pretty new in my massage therapy practice when I became pregnant in November. I had received some aromatherapy training during my massage school, so I knew there were some properties in essential oils that would not be safe to use during pregnancy. Thank goodness for the internet back then and I was able to find out which essential oils (eo’s) I needed to avoid. Apparently my favorite massage lotion had Sage eo in it, and Sage (Salvia officinalis) is known as an abortifacient, which means it causes an abortion. Well I certainly didn’t want that!

I also had high blood pressure during my pregnancy, so that meant I could not use anything that could potentially raise my blood pressure such as rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) or juniper (Juniperi communis). Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea) is also an essential oil that needs to be avoided during pregnancy because it acts on the body just like estrogen.

Have you noticed that every time I write out the name of an essential oil, it’s followed by a name in parenthesis? This is the scientific or Latin name of the essential oil. It is always written in italics with the first name capitalized but not the second. Why is this important?

Most people are quite familiar with the benefits of Lavender essential oil. But how many different types of lavender are there? Quite a few. The Lavender that is most commonly used is Lavandula angustifolia also known as true lavender or common lavender. This type is what gives us those wonderful properties of the essential oil that we all love so much. There are other types that are less potent and less expensive, so any time you want to purchase Lavender eo, make sure you see (Lavandula angustifolia) after the name.

My favorite story to tell about essential oils, and the history of how essential oils became the healing products that we know today, is the story of a French chemist and perfumist, Rene Maurice Gattefosse. In 1910, Monsieur Gattefosse was burned in a laboratory explosion, which left untreated would have caused gangrene. He applied the “essence of Lavender” to his hands which he claimed “stopped the gasification of tissue”. He later wrote a book in 1937 called Aromatherapie, which was the first time the phrase aromatherapy was used.

To this day, Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) essential oil is always kept in my kitchen so that it can be applied to a burn instantly. Try this the next time you burn your hand on the toaster or oven. Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and Tea Tree (Mellaleuca alternifolia) are the only two essential oils that can be applied neat, meaning directly to the skin without needing a carrier oil. Carrier oils are used to dilute essential oils so the eo’s can be applied directly to the skin. These are usually extracted oils from nuts, seeds or kernals of plants such as almond, olive, coconut, etc. For massage oils in a pinch, I’d use the olive oil from my kitchen cabinet and blend the eo’s directly from there. This is the easiest, most readily available, however, olive oil, including extra virgin olive oil, still has a mild scent to it and can therefore, effect the desired scent of the essential oils. My personal favorite now is to use extra virgin coconut oil, which sometimes still has that scent, but I like it better.

Now, because I’m “old school” with my aromatherapy teachings, I still hold true to these two oils being the only oils I would apply neat to the skin. Almost 20 years later, it seems that everyone is willing to apply essential oils neat to the skin. Young Living is an essential oil company who created an entire Raindrop Technique which applies quite a few of the savory essential oils neat to the skin along the spine. I am NOT in favor of this, nor do I recommend this, however many people swear by this.

I am rather a connoisseur, okay let’s face it, I’m a SNOB when it comes to essential oils. I tend to really resonate with the rather expensive and rare oils and resins and I know what to smell for when judging the appropriateness of an essential oil. I guess I am a bit of a sommelier (wine steward) of essential oils. I also love to tell the stories about how some of the oils came to be.

I had an aromatherapy company in the early 2000’s where my partner and I would do “Home Fragrance Parties”. Similar to a Pampered Chef party or a Tupperware Party, we would have a hostess invite all of her friends and we would tell the stories about the essential oils to include the physical healing properties, emotional and even spiritual properties. We made products such as whipped body butter, lotion bars, anointing oils, etc. When the tsunami of 2004 hit Sri Lanka and the Pacific Rim, many of our raw materials became too expensive to buy and make products, so we closed the company and I focused on my massage practice instead.

I have finally decided to partner with DoTerra oils because I like their oils and how they are cleanly cultivated. Unfortunately, their oils are on the more expensive side compared to what you can purchase at Whole Foods, or now even Target sells essential oils. The old adage of “you get what you pay for” plays an important role in this. You are getting a rather high quality product, enough that I am impressed to provide these oils in my practice.

Disclaimer. Integrity is one of my highest values and I do not believe it is appropriate for a doctor to be involved in what is essentially a multi level marketing company. I have no problem selling products directly to my patients, but I will not ever try to sign up a patient to sell products under my name. Unfortunately, this is the only way that these companies do business, therefore, it’s utterly important to me to find an individual who knows just as much, if not more, about essential oils as I do. I have found this person. She is Brenna Gregg.

Brenna will be presenting in the next Empowered Patient Series on Wednesday, September 19, 2018, 7pm, at the Fusion Chiropractic office. This is a free event and there is never an obligation to purchase anything at these events. The Empowered Patient Series is all about educating people about their options and communication in healthcare. Brenna will be available to tell her story and how you can use essential oils in your life. If you are interested in further information, we will have that information available for you so that you can meet with Brenna at a future time if you are so interested.

Please invite your friends to this event. You do not have to be a current patient to attend these events. Snacks and drinks will be provided. If you are interested in how to make some of these essential oil products such as whipped body butter or lotion bars, just let me know and we will schedule that class as well.

The Empowered Patient

The Empowered Patient

The patient that is highly in tune with the subtle energies of the body is an empowered patient.

We tend to wait until our symptoms are overt and overwhelming before we seek assistance.

By this time we are deep in the throws of ‘need of care’ and recovery can seem overwhelming and often impossible.

By teaching people how to tune in to the physical and emotional side of the human body, we can often address issues well before they turn into full blown emergency states.

Knowing the body and taking account of your daily, weekly, monthly ‘body status’ not only helps us nip issues in the bud, it helps our care givers have a more accurate starting point for diagnosis and treatment.

The result of which can be multi-fold….

Reduced need for unnecessary testing.
Reduced misdiagnosis
Reduced unnecessary treatment modalities.
Reduced ineffective treatment modalities.
Increased efficacy of treatment
Reduced overall costs of treatment
Increased speed of recovery.

Don’t worry…tuning into the subtle energies of the body won’t make you ‘Psychic’. You won’t quit your job and become a Medical Medium. You’ll simply know your body better and find a strength in empowerment that can lead to faster healing and more effective personal change.

Knowing your own body, your own biological needs is something that everyone has within them, we just tend to ignore this process and defer to experts. No wonder why we hate going to the doctor so much…intuitively we know they are often looking for a needle in a haystack.

But what if we could help them pinpoint a specific area that the needle was located? What if we could eliminate a significant amount of guesswork in the diagnosis process? What if we could see ourselves as an energy system and determine at least, which areas of that system seem stagnant or simply not functioning at full capacity? We’d be empowered and two steps ahead of the standard process…which as mentioned, can result in many benefits.

So how do we do this? Do we need to take classes on spiritual development or train with some sort of guru? Do we need to go to medical school? NO. All you need to do is slow down, tune in, pay attention and learn to become aware of your body’s rhythms, norms, standards and make note of anything that is not in your definition of 100% healthy and effective.

This process will give your care giver a much more detailed portrait of you to start with. We like to blame doctors for not knowing what’s wrong with us by just glancing at us or running a few tests, but the truth is, we are so complex that giving them a leg up with detailed information on our energy (no matter how subtle) can only yield more effective results.

So let’s get to it! Let’s start with very simple processes of ‘tuning in’ to ourselves.

Simple processes include….

Daily observation and attention.

Logging and charting.

Learning to describe subtle body differences and simple ‘body scanning’.

You should keep a journal of your observations.

Each person’s health goals will help determine what they should be paying attention to and what they should be logging.

The empowered patient isn’t just empowered because they know what’s ailing before the doctors do, they are empowered because they are paying attention to, and keeping a log of all things that are effecting their health, from stress levels, to nutrition, to environmental exposures, to simple every day things like the way we sit in our vehicle or carry our handbag.

The Empowered Patient Series is presented by Dr. Cynthia Seebacher, D.C. and Samantha Hall, psychic medium and women’s empowerment coach.

Please feel free to invite guests.

Snacks and Wine will be provided.

This is the first of the Women, Wine & Wellness on Wednesday series.

R.S.V.P. is appreciated. Simply text your name and how many people you are bringing to

Dr. Cynthia @ 404-838-8985.

Human Barometer

Are you a human barometer? Have you ever wondered why you have a unique talent for knowing when a storm is coming? Do your joints ache when it’s cold and rainy outside? You may be a human barometer.

Barometric pressure is the effect of air on the environment. Think of this as a heavy blanket exerting downward pressure on everything when the barometric pressure is low, or dropping. We like to say that a cold, rainy day is “good sleeping weather”, to just stay in bed and hibernate. It is true that lower barometric pressure causes us to seek sleep mode. Strangely enough, as the barometric pressure drops, the air we breathe drops the level of Oxygen, so less O2 in our blood and going to the brain makes us feel sleepy. The pressure on our bodies causes fluid in the joints and blood vessels to expand. Remember back to elementary school that hot air rises, cold air is denser and pressure gradients always shift from high to low in order to create balance. This is why we have so many aches and pains when the barometric pressure is dropping. Any old injury you have may express itself with a vengeance, particularly if you have arthritis or have had surgery to a joint. Everything inside expands.

On the other end of the spectrum from achy joints is the awful storm approaching migraine. If you’ve ever noticed when weather patterns collide and create massive thunder storms or possible tornado activity, the human barometer can sense that rapid drop in pressure. There is some speculation that the electrical charge in the air is what effects the body’s chemistry. Other weather related activity that can spark a migraine or pressure headache include: changes in temperature, high humidity, high winds, extremely dry conditions (causing dehydration), sun glare.

What can be done about this? The primary goal of the nervous system is to adapt to the environment, both inside the body and outside pressures on the body. It is perfectly okay to crawl back in to bed on those cold and rainy days when you are able to do so. For the migraine sufferer, you may need some extra assistance to help you adapt. Getting a regular chiropractic adjustment helps the nervous system function at it’s optimal level so that these swings in pressure don’t effect us as dramatically. The sooner you can come in at the onset of a migraine, the better chance of stopping or at least significantly reducing your symptoms.

Here are some of my “go to” relief remedies I have in my tool box:

Migra-Eeze – This came highly recommended from my neurologist to take as a preventive measure. I can attest that this works very well when taken on a daily basis and it significantly reduced the severity of my migraines.

Intensity 10 TENS unit – using a TENS unit on those muscles that are in spasm is an excellent way to relieve pain associated with migraines and barometric pressure changes. Dr. Seebacher can help you find the right fit for you, as well as ordering the TENS unit with insurance approval.

Migracap – I will admit that I have not used this yet. In the midst of a migraine, cold temperature works best due to the rapid expansion of blood vessels. This cap covers the eyes and provides that extra comforting pressure when you feel like your head is about to explode.

Hydrate – A good rule of thumb is to drink 1 oz of water for every 2 pounds of body weight. As an example, if you weigh 180 pounds, you need 90 oz of water daily. You’ll need more if you’re physically active. When the environment is dry and drought conditions persist, the human body needs more water. You can add a pinch of salt to the water to provide extra minerals and to retain some of the water needed by your body. I prefer Pink Himalayan Salt as it has more mineral content to help balance the electrolytes in your body.

Epsom Salt Bath – You can find epsom salts at any grocery store. I recommend to my Fibromyalgia patients the Fibro Detox Bath: 1 package (2-3pounds) of epsom salt in the hottest water you can safely handle; add 1 box of Baking Soda (8oz), 1 tbs of ground ginger. Warning, ginger makes this a stimulating bath, but it reduces pain significantly. Soak as long as you possibly can. For relaxation, try adding lavender essential oil or any soothing blend to replace the ginger.

Chiropractic + Therapeutic Massage: Chiropractic adjustments are designed to help the nervous system restore balance in the body. Therapeutic Massage helps to release trigger points so that your body does not hold patterns of spasm. Combining the two together gives you the best of both worlds. Keep in mind, neither one is intended to be a one time cure-all. It took a long time for your body to build up the stress and toxic environment that is created by barometric sensitivities. Dr. Seebacher provides the chiropractic adjustment and the therapeutic massage all in one visit. Click here to schedule your chiro+massage appointment.

Tag Archives: healing

Human Touch

Human Touch

Stress Explosion

Stress Explosion

Quarantine Fatigue