Last week I was invited to an event by one of the local Chiropractic practice in the city and dutifully yet honourably accepted the invite. When I arrived I was greeted with a refreshment by a generous waiter and a smile by a beautiful lady. “Welcome to Vida Chiropractic. I´´m Asia,” the lovely lady said. “Help yourself to the buffet and then come and join us for a chat,” she said.
When I went inside to pick up a cheese sandwich from the table, a man stood next to me and did the same. “Hey, I’m Tom. What’s your name?” He welcomed.
“I’m Anneka, nice to meet you.”
Tom and I fell into conversation with ease and he told me all about his job as a Chiropractor at the clinic. I felt inclined to quiz him generously about what that meant, when he suggested that I come back to the practice the next day to try out an adjustment. I begged no questions and returned as he suggested.
The following day I arrived feeling somewhat heavy from the summer heat. Tom sat me down, handed me some water and told me to get ready to learn some lessons about my spinal column and how it affected my entire being and way of life.
As daunting as it sounded, his ultra friendly tone put me at ease and opened me up. It was an invitation to continue with my generous questions from the evening before.
“So Tom, what brought you here to Barcelona as a Chiropractor?” I went.
“Well, I’ll have to take you right back to the beginning.” He said.
That was obviously very ok with me so I gave him the floor.
“When I was a child I was deaf. I was also bullied a lot and other kids would pull on my ears. It gave me a lot of trouble with ear infections. And in general I was a very sick child with a lot of autoimmune problems. Then when I become a teenager I was overworked and stressed which took its toll on me emotionally and physically. I had a lot of back pain and was taking lots of pain killers which caused a lot of chemical stress. I got to a point where my body couldn’t take anymore and I ended up really sick. I was in bed for two months with a bad fever and a serious chest, throat and ear infection. I was loosing life and had to stop everything. No amount of doctors could give me a diagnosis. Instead they gave me antibiotics which caused jaundice and raised liver function. Nothing was working. Then one day my mum took me to Chiropractor. That’s when ‘everything’ changed.” Tom told me with a depth of will.
Drawn in with his story, I picked up my glass of water and waited for the rest. “Most of all I felt like someone was finally listening. I felt a real connection. Then when I received my adjustment I felt an indescribable energy exploding through my system and my vision turned white. I just knew something amazing happened. It was like waking to life again.” He said, sounding like a man that had been through a huge transformation.
“It seems to have moved you in a powerful way.” I mentioned. “So what happened to your symptoms after your sessions?” I asked again.
“My symptoms were getting better as the flow of vital energy improved across my spine which allowed healing to occur across my nervous system. I was fully recovered in 18 months. I even got my hearing back. But as well as that, I just knew I wanted to be a Chiropractor. I found my life path.” Tom said as if he was talking about a past life regression.
I felt a chill of amazement as I heard the expression of his healing journey so asked him about his route into the profession.
“I really wanted to study Chiropractic in Barcelona so sold my car in London, packed a rucksack and off I went. I found a place to live on the first day I arrived and stayed ever since. That was in 2011.” Tom explained.
He seemed so cool yet committed to his profession and I was keen to know what happened after that day he arrived in Barcelona.
“I studied and went through hundreds of hours of training in all the ologies and adjusting peoples spinal columns before I set up my own practice in Sarria. Now I also coach seminars and have taught at Barcelona College of Chiropractic. Then more recently I made a new partnership with a man called Boo at Vida Chiropractic.” He declared.
I noticed his dedicated spirit and felt inspired by his enthusiasm. “So do you think it’s in your heart and soul for the rest of your life?” I nudged.
“Yes, I felt like Chiropractic chose me. It’s a cool job but I must also stress that the art of Chiropractic is a very serious one. Adjusting people’s spine and removing nervous interferences allows them to express life better, at their fullest potential.” He offered.
“So what happens when you adjust someone’s spine?” I asked innocently.
Tom had no qualms in thrusting forward with his expertise. “When the bone is misaligned it causes interference in the nervous system (we call it a subluxation) and reduces mental impulse. In turn this reduces electro-chemical impulses, energy and information through the nervous system. When the nervous system is clear, the brain and body will have more connection and function better and can change the persons perspective of their environment. They can change their habits and gene expression and transform their lives. Adjusting a subluxation can change everything.”
I was incredibly curious by this point about my own adjustment and needless to say, Tom felt the calling and went through the procedure with me. First he gave me the low down on the science behind the spine, the nervous system and all the organs of the body before he introduced me to a little tool that he called a Nervoscope that would help measure where I may have subluxations in my spine. The he did a motion palpation of my entire spine to check how well it moved and exactly where he was going to adjust the subluxation.
“We want perfect motion in the spine. Motion is life.” He said to encourage me. “It’s like having a guitar. If one string is out of alignment then the entire melody becomes out of tune.” He added.
He did a few more checks on my spine, height, posture and weight before he got ready to make two adjustments.
“Is this going to hurt?” I perked up at the last minute.
“No. When it’s done properly it shouldn’t hurt.” He added.
That’s when I gave myself permission to relax, close my eyes and hand the moment back to Tom. He did the adjustment, my legs kicked, my mind stopped and my energy centre spoke. For a brief moment I felt as if I’d purged something from my body. Then my back began to wriggle as a snake of new energy entered through it and worked its way upwards. I was amazed and guessed that’s what he referred to as life energy.
“Holy heck!” I semi yelled. “What happened?” I felt light and clear in my mind. “Why didn’t anyone tell me about this before?” I added.
Tom smiled and gave me some moments to come round before he spoke.
“Energy is at the centre of your being. It’s so important to take care of it. I think people are missing the education about it. We live in a society that is shut off from nature and their real selves and don’t understand the power of connection, the power of energy and the power of the human body to heal and restore itself.” He added with a power I could feel below my neck.
Tom told me he still has adjustments even after ten years. That really inspired me to be more aware of my health, more kind to my body and more connected to my own energy centre.
“So what’s one of the most powerful case studies you’ve seen recently?” I asked him.
“A man recently came to have sessions with me for back pain and when I met his wife I understood that she’d suffered from breast cancer. Although the cancer had been treated, she was left with major health issues from the heavy treatments she was undergoing and never really recovered from it. So I gave her an adjustment to see if it would help her.
After the first week she was tentative to tell me because she couldn’t believe the changes after just one session. Strength had came back in her hands where she had none, her right eye always had vision problems and that had healed itself, she lost her reoccurring vertigo and she could feel the chemicals from her lymph nodes cleansing themselves out. Her face went from grey to colour! You could see the life had entered her face and body. It was amazing after just one session.”
And there it was, the proof in the pudding. The proof that the art and philosophy of Chiropractic was not just of Socrates imagination, nor a fancy term, it was a powerful healing tool that was accessible to each and every one of us.
If you too would like to hear more about it or connect to Tom and Boo, they are accessible through their own practices:
But what’s more surprisingly clear about their roles and missions on earth is that they’re dutifully and honourably putting on another fantastic event to share the art of Chiropactic further. They will be at WellCo on the 7th of July with talks, food and an opportunity to know more about the team, the spine and the benefits of saying yes to life.
You can find the event here!
With love
Anneka and Teresa
P.S. They speak in both Spanish and English and will be on hand to help guide you through the procedures with care.