Life to Years, Years to Life
The signs of life are evidence of the intelligence of life. All living things grow, repair, excrete, replicate/reproduce, and adapt. This is true on the macro scale of organisms and the micro scale of individual cells. In 2009, the Noble prize in medicine was awarded for the discovery and description of telomerase, the enzyme that maintains the length and integrity of chromosomes as they divide. This is a critical, though probably not the only, mechanism that regulates aging.
Aging is a potent reminder of the passage of time. Our bodies change over time and one of the ways these changes manifest is the shortening of our telomeres. Like everything, I think there are both quantitative and qualitative aspects to this. There is an innate desire to add years to life, to postpone biological aging, to keep our telomeres long. Yet this desire is incomplete without its complement, of adding life to years. The epigenetic influences that regulate how genes are expressed, which enzymes get activated, and which proteins our cells build reflect quality and tone more than amounts. These qualities are related to choices we make about how we spend our time, our energy, and our attention.
There is a principle in chiropractic - “there is no process that does not require time.” Sometimes we forget that biology unfolds at its own pace. An acorn does not become an oak overnight. Tissues heal at different speeds in response to injury, unraveling long-standing patterns of stress does not happen immediately, and the invitation to step just beyond ourselves is a step in the long walk of our lives. The instant perception changes, a new pattern becomes available, but the process of cultivating it requires both time and tending.
When we give ourselves the opportunity to look into, get to know, and practice new ways to be in our bodies, we find more space in which to respond and open up to life. This is the goal and the scope of chiropractic. Supporting the natural function of all of the body’s systems, without drugs, jabs, or surgery, we see miracles happen and the quality of life improve. To be clear, medical modalities have a time and a place. My point is that chiropractic offers something qualitatively different in both the principle and practice of helping people grow, age, and be well.
In the grand scheme, any time we have is bonus time. Here, heading into winter, I am again reminded of “The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver.
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?