A message that is worth repeating: Now is the perfect time for internal spring cleaning.

As I've found out over the last few days, sometimes, if you want to clean up a mess, you need to make a bigger mess first.

In last week's post, I mentioned that I was going to participate in a sweat lodge and then start a fast to cleanse myself of old energys and make room for rejuvenation and rebirth. Well, the sweat was powerful; it initiated a very deep cleansing process for me, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I actually felt kind of sick for a couple of days, didn't sleep very well and had some really freaky dreams. And the fast, which I began on Monday, magnified the experience. It wasn't until about midmorning on Thursday that I started to feel a bit normal. By early afternoon, I felt fantastic -- lighter and with more energy than I have had for awhile. I got lots of work done and even went on a short trail run to enjoy the beautiful spring afternoon.


A photo I took from the trail

If I didn't understand the nature of healing, I might have been tempted to end my fast as I started to feel worse and worse. Luckily, I knew what was going on; feeling sick was how my body happened to be reacting to the deep cleansing that was taking place. Sometimes, in order to wash old stuff out, you need to stir it up first.

Over the last week, I have had several new clients. Two of them actually felt a bit worse after their first adjustment. To explain why, I used the analogy of cleaning a room. When you do your spring cleaning, part of the process is pulling things out of drawers and closets so you can decide what stays and what goes. Initially, the room that you're cleaning will have junk strewn all over the place. It will be chaos. Then, as the cleanup progresses, the room begins to look neater and cleaner. Fianlly, the job is done, the room is neat as a pin, and there's no more junk hiding in the closets.

Ahhhhhh.....

Sometimes the fog that shrouds the beauty has a beauty all its own.

Do you have a health challenge? If so, be grateful!



We often think of health challengs -- minor or serious -- as something bad, something we need to fight, manage or cure. We feel like they are only getting in the way of how we want to feel and live. But every challenge in life presents an opportunity to grow, improve, evolve and expand. Pain and disease can take us back inside ourselves and show us our beautiful, divine essence. And from there, we can become more than what we were before.

It happened with me; it can happen with you...



Until next post,
Doctor Mark William Cochran
Chiropractor
Coeur d'Alene, and Sandpoint, Idaho

Is there something you want to do, but believe is impossible. You CAN do it. Time to get started!

This past Thursday afternoon, I pulled on my running shoes and Yaktrax, and crunched down a slippery, snowy trail, elevating my heart rate -- and my spirits -- on a grand trail run. As I ran, I reflected that, lately, I've been having a lot of fun doing the impossible.


One of the gretest inventions of all time!

Just a few years ago, the idea of me going for a challenging trail run would have been preposterous. Anyone who knew me would have laughed at such a notion -- and I would have laughed loudest of all.


Steep, slippery trail

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know my story. For much of my adult life, chronic arthritis pain made it difficult for me to even walk, much less run or do anything else physically strenuous. Now, I enjoy running regularly. In years past...impossible!


Happy runner!

A couple of weeks ago, I went snowboarding for the first time ever. It's one of the most fun things I've ever done!!! When we first moved back here to North Idaho, my son took up snowboarding. It looked so fun that I wished I could try it, too. But, alas, my pain made it ...impossible!

Although I've only been snowboarding once, I can harday wait to go again...and again...and again! On that first day, my instructor said he was impressed with how well I took to it. (Yeah, I know, he probably says that to all of his students. But I'm sure he really meant it for me.) Before the day was done, I was doing flips, spins, cartwheels quadruple axles, and stuff they haven't even named yet. None of those fancy stunts were actually intentional, but, hey, I was having a great time!


This is me. (Maybe...someday...who knows? It's possible!)

Is there something you'd like to do, but feel is impossible due to your health? It's possible. It might take awhile but IT IS possible. Give it a shot!

I'll close with this quote from an Adidas ad campaign that ran a couple of years ago:

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it.
Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion.
Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare.
Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary.
Impossible is nothing."

Have a vibrant week!
Mark William Cochran
Chiropractor
Coeur d'Alene and Sandpoint, Idaho

We’re forgetting something. In the food we eat…in healthcare…in exercise…in the way we live. We're forgetting life!

Last Thursday I got high on…breakfast!

Earlier in the day I attended my weekly yoga class where we practiced an especially powerful type of yoga known as Yoga Nidra. After that, I went for a four-mile run on a scenic, challenging trail. The type of running I do is called ChiRunning, which focuses my life force, and brings in the beauty and chi of my surroundings to carry me along the trail. My post-run stretch consisted of more yoga…in the sunshine…next to the lake. Needless to say, by the time I hopped in my car to head home, I felt fantastic!

At home, I made myself a breakfast that included a locally grown organic apple; an omelet of organic eggs, fresh spinach, organic locally grown sweet onion and some locally produced organic goat cheese. I washed it all down with some delicious whole, raw, locally produced organic goat’s milk. There was such a high vibe in that meal that, by the time I finished, I literally felt high!

Yoga Nidra – more life than a cup of coffee.
ChiRunning with Mother Nature – more enlivening than pounding a treadmill while watching TV. More fun, too.
More yoga – more life than not having enough time to stretch.
Fresh, organic, local, unadulterated, delicious food for breakfast – way, way, WAY more life than an egg McMuffin.

Get high on...life!