Hello, Dr. John Murray here. I’ve been a practicing chiropractor for nearly 35 years, and I’ve been asked by numerous people to make a little video of what I do as a morning ritual in order to get focused, in order to serve people, in order to stay filled with enthusiasm as you progress through your practice life. My morning ritual consists mostly of being mindful, preparing my mind, and movement. Here’s how it goes….
Nutrition
When I wake up in the morning, I go downstairs and I have a large glass of water and a handful of chlorella. I want to start my day with assimilation. I’m going to put good nutrition in my body so I want to assimilate water and chlorella, two essentials.
Interestingly enough, very soon after that assimilation phase, you’re going to have an excretion phase, two really important things for your health and well being. From Stevenson’s textbook, assimilation/excretion are the first two signs of life, then you’re going to adapt.
Meditation
Once I’ve had my nutrition, then I’m going to take time to meditate and be mindful, and quiet my mind as I go into my day. I typically use either a Catholic rosary or a Buddhist mala, both consist of beads. It’s not about changing your religion, it’s about counting. I will use a Buddhist mala, there’s 108 beads on that, 54 on a Catholic rosary and do 108 repetitive affirmations. It could take 10 minutes, it could take 20 minutes depending upon just the pace of things and how long I want to chill.
That prepares me, and it could be something as simple as an affirmation as “I know bless all aspects of my life, my practice, my health, wealth, my family,” or “I now release and let go of all obstacles and all struggles for attainment.” I actually really like things about releasing.
Movement
Then there’s a movement phase. Movement actually though becomes quite meditative in a way because you’re breathing, and movement and breathing quiet the mind as well. Again, activate your physiology so that you’re ready to take on your stressful day, opens your mind to learning and creativity.
Marching in Place
Here is what I start with. This is really simple and you can do it too. Every day I start off with just a minute of marching in place. Marching in place is like crawling only in a vertical plane. It activates the hard wiring of the brain, activates my central and peripheral vascular system, and it’s just very natural. You can exaggerate the knee lift to whatever degree you want. If you’re lethargic, this will pick you up. If you’re stressed out, it will mellow you out. It will activate your energy.
Windmills
From there, I’m going to go to windmills. I can’t tell you how good these things feel. You’re activating energy, you’re activating memory. For all you folks out there who are into core training, this activates your core. Do 5 in each direction.
Stretching
From there I’m going to interlace my fingers. I’m going to do a stretch that elongates the spine. You don’t need an inversion table. I’m going to inhale, when I come to my face I’m going to invert my hands and exhale. Essentially I’m separating my torso from my waist, visualizing sinking my feet into the ground and reaching for the sky. Hold that for about 10 seconds, elongating, gently rotate to your right, looking behind you with your turning your neck as well, even looking with your eyes over your shoulder. 10 seconds or so, come back. This activates proprio-reception as well. It just feels good.
Simple Calestentics
I then move on to reaching for the sky, breathing. From there, I’m going to go to hip circles, 5 in each direction, make it your own. From there I’m going to go into a squat. Nothing is more elemental than squatting other than crawling. Babies squat before they walk. Keep your head up, back flat, butt out, don’t lock your knees at the top. Do 10 to 20 of these. This will insure that you get on and off the toilet with assistance when you’re 85.
Cool Off
From there, come and shake it out. This just moves energy. As you get older, it’s not your muscles or your mind that are going to let you down. You’ll still be motivated. It’s your joints. Guard them, protect them, get adjusted. If you’re a chiropractor, make sure you’re getting adjusted as you take are of your own patients. Rock back and forth on your toes to heels.
Conclusion
There you have it. I just activated my energy. I’m ready to take on the day. I’m energized. I’m going to tell the story. If you’re a chiropractor, tell this story but you’ve got to take care of yourself. Have a great day.
