January2012 

                Happy New Year!  By now many of you have chosen your New Year’s Resolutions and some of you have already given up on some of them.  I want to encourage and inspire you to do something even greater this year… Revolutionize!

                2012 is the last year of the Mayan calendar. The winder solstice, December 21, 2012 is predicted to be the end of the world as we know it and the beginning of a new age.  According to the Chinese calendar, January 23, 2012 marks the beginning of the year of the mythical dragon.  Whether you believe this or not, 2012 is an auspicious time for BIG changes.

                Instead of vowing to lose 10 lbs, eat healthier or quit smoking, chose to love yourself and your body.  Love yourself so much that you won’t poison it with junk food or nicotine. Love yourself so much that you choose to live life to the fullest – exercise so you feel alive, get out and breathe the fresh air, laugh with friends, LOVE the loves of your life (ie. spouse, family). Really experience life…don’t hide behind addictions to medications, caffeine, TV, or videogames…Build your legacy by following your calling… be excellent in all that you do, strengthen your bonds of friendships, make a difference in the lives of others, especially those most in need. Make the world a better place, for yourself and for future generations.  Make this year memorable!

                For us here, 2012 is when we announce our mantra “Healthier people today for a healthier planet tomorrow” and we’re making our mark in the clinic, in our community and for the world. In the clinic, we’ve already begun revolutionizing our practices and procedures to provide you even better services, improving our communications and education, and improving our accountability.

                If you haven’t had a progress examination lately, we encourage you to request one. This progress examination will give us a chance to see your current condition and will give you a chance to give us feedback on your care to date.

                Next, we will be holding our first “Optimal Wellness Workshop” on Thursday, January 26th at 6:30pm. This free one hour talk is recommended for all our patients (and prospective patients) to learn about how to maximize your chiropractic experience and optimize your health. Please bring a guest to introduce them to the chiropractic lifestyle and optimal health!   Please sign up at the front desk (or call us) to reserve a seat for yourself and a guest! That night is pretty much booked up, but there will be more opportunities.  The next dates are Friday February 3^rd at noon and Monday February 13^th at 6:30pm.  In February, we will begin with monthly advanced health, workshops with rotating topics.  The first is our “Advanced Posture Exercises” Workshop on Monday February 20^th at 6:30 pm.  Since space is limited, please call or sign-up at the front desk.  Guests are also welcome to this free event.

                On January 9^th, I was a panellist at a Sleep Symposium for health professionals at Vancouver General Hospital, sponsored by the OASIS Osteoarthritis group.  I spoke on how chiropractic can help with sleep problems.  For the handout from this event, please check out my website (www.DrChenSee.com) under “Articles”.  Coming soon is a booklet I am preparing on “A Holistic Chiropractic Approach to Reversing Osteoarthritis”. 

                Our Christmas promotion continues to the end of January, so if you have someone in mind to use the special gift certificate, please don’t delay. Our Food Bank collection has already reached the ceiling and we’ve begun a second pile. Thank you so much for your generously donations. The Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society will be picking up the food donations in early February, so if you would like to add more to the collection, we will graciously accept any more food you’d like to donate. No family in the beautiful Great Vancouver area should go hungry.

                Also for our community, I will personally go to a downtown Eastside site (location and start date yet to be confirmed) on a monthly basis to adjust less fortunate people.   I know that Ioving chiropractic care can help give people hope for a better future.  Subluxations in the spine make life more difficult for everyone and we as a society are only as good as how we take care of our most challenged.

               We will also be present at the 20th Annual Vancouver Wellness Show from February 17th - 19th at the Vancouver Convention Centre.  We'll be giving the public the opportunity to get a free posture check-up and answer questions about chiropractic on-site.  Come by our booth #111 and enter in a draw for a Balance Disc gift package!

On a global scale, I am pledging to charity $10 per new patient visit and $10 per pair of orthotics sold, beginning January 1^st, 2012.  Yes, we now fit for orthotics.  If your orthotics needs replacing or if you think you might need orthotics, let us know. Even if you don’t have them fitted in our office, please make sure you’re well adjusted prior to your fitting elsewhere so the orthotics can stabilize your body in a good biomechanical position, rather than a poor position.  All monies will go to CARE Canada towards projects that will fight poverty by empowering the world’s most vulnerable and greatest agents for change: women and girls.

Healthy people make decisions to make a healthier world, because we can’t help but see the bigger picture.  Join now in our revolution to improve the health of ourselves, our families, our community and our world.  I can’t do it alone, but with your help, our change can be revolutionary!

Our food drive collection

It's the middle of December and 3 weeks into our annual food drive.  The stack is already 7 feet tall and we're continuing to collect until the end of January!  Thank you to our wonderful patients for bringing in their generous contributions! 

Dr. Chen-See will be taking some time off to spend with family in the coming weeks.  We will have regular hours up until Friday December 23rd.  We wish you all a loving and joyous holiday season and a great start to a healthy new year!

Holiday hours are as follows:

Tuesday December 27th from 7:30am to noon.

Thursday December 29th from 2pm to 6pm.

Monday January 2nd from 2pm to 6pm

Friday January 6th from 7:30am to noon.

We return to regular office hours on Monday January 9th.

***  New hours for 2012  ***

Mondays   4-6pm

Tuesdays  7:30am - noon, 2 - 6pm

Thursdays 7:30am - noon, 2 - 6pm

Fridays      7:30am - noon

Want to learn more about Dr. Sabrina Chen-See and her personal chiropractic story?  Click to read for yourself!

On November 1st, I visited Blessed Sacrament School to talk with the teachers about backpack safety so they can relay the information to the children in French (as it is a French Immersion school).  The same information went home to the parents so all parties concerned can help these young children use their backpacks properly to prevent back pain.  Interested for your own children?  Click on this link for the Backpack Safety handout and contact our office if you'd like a presentation to your child's school.  Dr. Chen-See's mission is to improve the health of the entire community and regularly goes to schools and other organizations to give health workshops as community service.

September is often a time for fresh starts after a re-invigourating summertime.  The decor in the office is in the process of changing, with some fresh bursts of colour, new artwork, and even a change in lighting.  What will stay the same, however, is our commitment to serving you and our community to promote the best of sustainable health and wellness. 

Look for us at community events such as the PosAbilities Wellness Fair on September 15th at Heritage Hall on Main at 16th Avenue, Douglas Park Community Centre's "Share Our Wealth Festival" on September 18th, Mommy Connection Meeting on October 11th at Round House Community Centre, and the Vancouver Health Show on October 29th and 30th at the Vancouver Convention Centre. 

1- Don't expect to maintain too many changes all at once.  It's difficult to adapt to too many changes at the same time, and failure in one area may discourage progress in the others. 

2- Pick different start times for each change.  Running outdoors every morning may be more realistic for some when daylight begins before it's time to head off for work.  Gradually change your diet for the better, for example:  January - cut down on junk food and replace with fruits and veggies; March - cut down on coffee and replace with water; May - cut down on processed foods and cook from scratch more; July - portion control; etc.  

3- Reward yourself along the way for mini-successes.  It helps to have mini-goals to be able to measure these mini-successes.  The rewards can be tangible, like a new pair of jeans when you've dropped a dress size, or an imaginary pat-on-the-back for the recognition of a job well done.

4- Compromise is okay.  If you wanted to quit smoking cold turkey and it works for a few weeks, then you slip up, don't beat yourself up over it.  That's a few weeks your body had to clean out some of the toxins and that's better than before.  Just don't give up.  Start again and see if you can go longer than a few weeks this time.   Similarly, if you are too financially strapped to start that gym membership in January, that's okay.  Find a less expensive option, like walking, cycling, or following an exercise video.  The gyms are overcrowded in January anyway.  By March, the gyms aren't crowded and hopefully your Christmas bills are paid off.  Or you find you don't need to a gym membership to get your exercise.

5- Announce your commitment to someone.  Basically, make yourself accountable to more than just yourself.   Having the support of a friend or family member, especially if they have similar goals, means you can motivate each other when times get tough, and it will at times.  Even putting your goals and plans on paper can help.

6- Consider getting help if you're having a tough time.  If your debt is scary big, a financial coach can help you figure out what you've been doing wrong and how you can rescue yourself and your financial future.  A lifetime of poor eating means you've got a build-up of toxins in your body.  A naturopath can help you clean out your insides and eat better so you can feel better, too.  Similarly, chronic pain, stress, and fatigue can be the signals of spinal misalignments and nerve stress.  Starting the year with a chiropractic health check can mean that impediments to healing can be identified and readjusted.  People who get regular chiropractic adjustments tend to experience less pain, illnesses, irritability and anxiety, and have better relationships, sleep, coordination, concentration, self-image and energy.  It's counter-productive to prepare for the SunRun if your knees hurt when you walk more than 10 minutes.  Get help for your knees (and possibly feet, ankles, hips, etc) first, so when you train for that 10K, you're not damaging your joints further.

Good Luck with the New Year!  Here's to a year of many successes, both big and small.

Speaking of successes, please enjoy pictures from our Grand Opening Celebration on November 17th, and our Food Bank collection.  Congratulations to grand prize winner of a weekend in Whistler, Judy Zhu!  We'll be bringing the food donations to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society at the end of January, so if you're motivated to add to the collection, it will be much-appreciated. 

Questions about how chiropractic can help you in your health goals?  Please feel free to contact Dr. Chen-See over the phone (604) 566-9088, or by email: drchensee@gmail.com. 

       Sabita (Pacific Spirit Wellness) leading a meditation     Sarah Poon of GraceNotes           Dr. Sabrina and the refreshment tableFood collected for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society                                 

Dr. Sabrina Chen-See will be offering a weekend at the luxurious Mountainside Lodge this winter in Whistler.  The room accommodates up to 4 people, has a kitchenette and swimming pool, and access to the best skiing in the country!  The room is valued at approximately $600, or more, since it is now all booked up for the ski season on weekends. 

Sabita will be offering a grand prize of 3 one-hour sessions of life coaching (total value $285).  To learn more about what Sabita can do for you, please come to our Grand Opening Celebration and meet her in person, or check out her blog: http://PacificSpiritWellness.blog.com

Joseph Eliezer, author of the book, Simply Spirit, will be giving away his book to lucky winners, with a personal message.

Many more great prizes will be announced on the day.  But there's more to this than the prizes.  The musical talents of Lothar Zahler on the Chinese flute and Sarah Poon on the cello will be a treat in themselves.  And then there's the delectable refreshments...

No purchase necessary to enter the draw... just join in our celebration and meet us!  We would also appreciate any donations of non-perishable food for the Vancouver Daily Bread Food Bank.

I look forward to showing you the new office and having you experience the great energy associated with it.  My friend and associate, Sabita (of Pacific Spirit Wellness) has also conducted a Feng Shui consultation on the space.  Perhaps you will already start feeling uplifted when you enter the space. 

If you can, please join us for our Grand Opening Celebration on Wednesday November 17th, between 11am and 4pm.  Details are as follows:

My mission is touch people's lives, and in doing so, to help make their life experiences fuller and better.  How?  By listening, relieving discomfort, improving the way their bodies function, both biomechanically and neurologically, such that it is possible to reach and expand their potentials.

My passion for chiropractic healing is fuelled by all the successes my patients are experiencing.   Although results will vary from person to person, positive, even dramatically positive, changes are typical.  I'm optimistic for a better world for my family, friends and community and I know that by helping people feel and be better, it is possible.

Read on about what makes chiropractic a natural choice for health care and healthy living, and what makes me a unique healer in chiropractic. 

Thank you for caring,

Dr. Sabrina Chen-See