Network Spinal
Introduction to our Care
Network Spinal
I remember one of my biggest sources of curiosity when I first began receiving this care as a client was in knowing more about this strange and interesting new chiropractic technique.
As an important caveat, I don’t necessarily think you have to know or “understand” more about Network Spinal for it to work for you though! I have plenty of clients who benefit greatly from this care who probably don’t even know who Donny Epstein is!
But if you’re the kind of person who likes to dig deeper, which is how I was when I started this care, read on.
I remember one of my biggest sources of curiosity when I first began receiving this care as a client was in knowing more about this strange and interesting new chiropractic technique.
As an important caveat, I don’t necessarily think you have to know or “understand” more about Network Spinal for it to work for you though! I have plenty of clients who benefit greatly from this care who probably don’t even know who Donny Epstein is!
But if you’re the kind of person who likes to dig deeper, which is how I was when I started this care, read on.
Network Spinal, as it is currently known, is also sometimes called Network Chiropractic, Network Spinal Analysis, NSA, or Network Care.
Whew! Why does it have to have so many names?
It has so many names because the care was created in the 1980s as “Network Chiropractic,” and it has morphed through various iterations since then, as the work has grown and changed.
Network Spinal was created by Dr. Donald Epstein, who I will henceforth refer to as “Donny” (since that’s what us doctors call him)
Donny was a chiropractor, practicing traditional chiropractic techniques in New York in the late 1970s and 1980s. He had a big, successful practice, with lots of patients who loved him and thought he was great. But, he wasn’t happy.
He found himself wondering, “Why do all these people need to come back to me, week after week, to get the EXACT SAME ADJUSTMENTS? Don’t they ever get better? Or is the moment they get adjusted simply going to be the healthiest moment they’ll have all week (after which time they will gradually get worse until I see them again)?”
Especially for those of us who have ever worked a job that we hated, didn’t like, or simply found fairly unfulfilling, this may seem like a trivial concern. People loved him and kept coming back, so what’s the problem?
The problem was that Donny’s experience as a chiropractor fell short of his expectation, given the original premise of chiropractic as articulated by the Palmers and others in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
For many chiropractors, chiropractic is not just about moving bones around or “cracking the back.” It’s about restoring functionality and health to the nervous system! It’s about allowing communication, information, and energy where it was previously blocked from being present!. It’s a modality of magic, health, and human possibility!
So for Donny, his week to week experience in his office was falling short of the magic, health, and human possibility that he believed were the true promise of chiropractic care.
What was causing these patients’ (constantly recurring) subluxations, or misalignments in the spine, he wondered?
Donny was a master of several chiropractic techniques already. Plus, he was interested in and studied various other theories in healing.
He actually originally named his new technique “Network” because it was to be a “network,” or a combination, of what he believed were the best techniques and practices in chiropractic at that time.
This seemed pretty strange to me, when I originally learned about this.
How could Network Spinal be a “combination” of other chiropractic techniques, when it seems soooooo different?
A chiropractic technique or technique system consists of two elements– an analysis or a way of determining how to adjust the person, and then the application or the actual adjustment itself.
Much of the ANALYSIS that was originally part of Network came from other chiropractic techniques. The APPLICATION, or the adjustment itself, is the most different thing about Network and has changed and evolved the most over the past 30 years.
This should make sense to you if you’ve experienced this care already, as clearly most chiropractic care out there does not involve adjustments to the spine that feel like light touches! Far from it, in most cases.
Why this is important is not simply in the different feel of the adjustments. It’s the different RESULT that these Network Spinal adjustments create, compared to traditional chiropractic care.
For many chiropractors, chiropractic is not just about moving bones around or “cracking the back.” It’s about restoring functionality and health to the nervous system! It’s about allowing communication, information, and energy where it was previously blocked from being present!. It’s a modality of magic, health, and human possibility!
So for Donny, his week to week experience in his office was falling short of the magic, health, and human possibility that he believed were the true promise of chiropractic care.
What was causing these patients’ (constantly recurring) subluxations, or misalignments in the spine, he wondered?
Donny was a master of several chiropractic techniques already. Plus, he was interested in and studied various other theories in healing.
He actually originally named his new technique “Network” because it was to be a “network,” or a combination, of what he believed were the best techniques and practices in chiropractic at that time.
This seemed pretty strange to me, when I originally learned about this.
How could Network Spinal be a “combination” of other chiropractic techniques, when it seems soooooo different?
A chiropractic technique or technique system consists of two elements– an analysis or a way of determining how to adjust the person, and then the application or the actual adjustment itself.
Much of the ANALYSIS that was originally part of Network came from other chiropractic techniques. The APPLICATION, or the adjustment itself, is the most different thing about Network and has changed and evolved the most over the past 30 years.
This should make sense to you if you’ve experienced this care already, as clearly most chiropractic care out there does not involve adjustments to the spine that feel like light touches! Far from it, in most cases.
Why this is important is not simply in the different feel of the adjustments. It’s the different RESULT that these Network Spinal adjustments create, compared to traditional chiropractic care.
The most important thing I want you to take away from all of this is that Network Spinal was created to transcend some of the shortcomings of traditional chiropractic care by addressing the nervous system itself. Research suggests that this care does just that!
In doing so, we not only benefit in terms of spinal alignment, posture, reduced pain, and feeling relaxed (all potential benefits of traditional chiropractic care), but we get access to other benefits that help us even more in the day to day.
A deeper, fuller breath that happens automatically, greater spinal and body awareness, effortlessly better posture, greater ability to focus on and adjust your own posture and alignment during and between adjustments, and greater ability to manage and adapt to life’s stressors are the hallmarks of Network Spinal care.
I used to have a mentor in chiropractic school who would say, “Don’t ever think that you want to become a chiropractor because you want people to ‘feel better.’ If you want people to feel better, become a bartender.”
The point is that our process with this care helps you beyond being able to walk out of New Day feeling better. We are actually helping your nervous system gain access to a whole new you, a you that you also get to have when you’re off the adjusting table and in your day to day life.
Thank you for taking the time to read my take on Network Spinal and a brief history of its creation!
As a reminder, I publish a weekly blog for the New Day community that I send out as an email. My blog is a great place to go if you want to continue to get more of an in-depth understanding of Network Spinal, New Day, and more about me.
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Learn More
Benefits
The secret of why this care works for so many different people is that we are getting to the root cause of many people’s pain, tension, stress, and misalignments in the spine.
What to Expect
A Network Spinal adjustment is a process of seemingly light adjustments to the upper and lower spine.
Additional Tools
I also work with clients using Somato Respiratory Integration (SRI), BEMER, and Essential Oils.