We want to go into a little more depth about the window in adjusting. Basically what we’re looking for is an invitation from the body, rather than slamming our way through resistance and getting something to move. A lot of times, you’ll see chiropractors have people breathe in and breathe out and “crunch,” doing something to them (as opposed to doing something with them). What we’re looking for is that moment where the body just opens and says, “yes.”
Sometimes the window is open for a while and sometimes it’s a very short window, but in order to feel the window, you need to be using fingertip contact. That’s using the tips of your fingers and your thumbs. You have a lot more proprioceptive input there. We’re feeling for those intrinsic muscles of the spine. We set our contact; everything’s molded; everything’s soft. And then we’re micro-tuning… feeling underneath our fingers that those muscles just let go for a moment…that’s when we’re ready to go.
(Watch video for demonstration)
I found the area that I’m going to adjust. I have just a fingertip there, but as we talked about, I mold that tissue, and all I’m doing is finding where does his system let go. It’s not just crashing into it, but rather waiting and almost feeling “pulled through.” But in order to do that, you’ve got to have a lot of surface area, very specific contact, and you’ve got to wait it out.
What occurs is very deep and very comfortable at the same time. When chiropractors come to our seminars they are blown away by the adjustment. They say “I didn’t even feel your hands and then it just exploded from the inside out. It was super comfortable and deep.” That is what we want. We want people to have that experience that they didn’t even see coming.
So try that this week when you’re in practice. Start to feel for where you get the most relaxation and rather than thinking about how much tension you can create, feel where they’re body just says “yes” and tune into that.
