As one of Canada’s most highly regarded musculoskeletal experts, chiropractor Dr. Dwight Chapin spends every workday spreading the gospel of fitness, injury recovery and health optimization to his patients at the award-winning High Point Wellness Centre in Mississauga, Ontario.
In addition, he regularly treats some of the country’s most elite athletes as the longtime team chiropractor for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.
Needless to say, his days are pretty full.
But as he writes in his new book — “Take Good Care: 7 Wellness Rituals for Health, Strength & Hope”, which was published last month — the pandemic changed both his, and his patients’, priorities in profound ways: “My patients are telling me they have zero interest in returning to their frantic pre-pandemic pace and are proactively seeking guidance and support to gain a performance edge and elevate their health. They want to feel better, move better, think better — be better. The trend emerging is a strong desire to push the limits of our biological potential and chronological age by leveraging the advances in lifestyle medicine.”
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And that’s why, he says, “I took up the challenge of writing a wellness performance playbook to show them how to get there. It is based on the leading scientific research, my 24 years of clinical experience, and the health journeys of 21 remarkable Canadians.”
The people profiled — he refers to them all as “mentors” — run the gamut from current and former elite athletes to corporate executives to business owners and everyday nine-to-fivers.
Through their stories — as well as his own research and expertise — Chapin provides myriad useful insights, including the following:
- Three important fitness goals you need to have after 40.
- Seven energy-boosting practices to better fuel your body.
- Three disciplines to focus on for optimal health.
- The most important thing you can do to slow down aging.
- The difference between a habit and a ritual and why it matters for your health journey.
- Nine steps to help you optimize your sleep.
- Three principles of consuming healthy fuel.
As he explains, the book is broken down into seven sections that are designed to be “your playbook for better health, strength, and hope.”
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Chapin’s seven rituals for better health and more
No. 1: Prioritize sleep, rest, and recovery
There’s no overstating the importance of high-quality sleep. That’s because sleep is a complex, dynamic process that affects every organ, tissue, and system in our body.
“In sleep we tap into our healing potential,” he writes. “Failing to prioritize this daily reset puts you on a fast track toward burnout and chronic disease. Wellness Ritual #1 is fundamental to good health.”
No. 2: Consume healthy fuel.
Chapin says that hidden within our DNA is the genetic blueprint for healing and that “our dietary habits will either help our body unlock this code and promote good health or suppress it and put our body on the defensive. This is all about developing an appreciation for how our diet influences health and performance.”
Unsurprisingly, he recommends consuming a variety of nutrient-dense foods and that you “eat in response to hunger in a time-restricted window that allows your body to mobilize calories efficiently and minimize chronic inflammation.”
No. 3: Fight for your waistline.
Chapin says that the waistline ritual gets a lot of attention because it appeals to our vanity as well as our health.
As he explains, “One of the reasons that maintaining a healthy weight is difficult is that evolution favored those with the reserves to weather unexpected adversity; in other words, a little extra fat stored when times were good might mean you had a better chance to survive a difficult season when resources were scarce.
That’s why he advocates learning to eat less, avoid processed food and to practice “mindful” eating so that you’re chewing slowly and truly tasting every bite.
No. 4: Move to stay young.
The older and busier we get in our adult lives, the less we may prioritize simply being active — and that’s a grave mistake, notes Chapin.
“When we challenge our range of motion, balance, coordination, and strength by moving often, we improve the quality of our movement and slow the aging process,” he writes. “To enjoy the ability to move well, we must practice moving [because] stiffness and poor movement are not inevitable consequences of aging.”
No. 5: Protect your strength.
As you age, the importance of strength-training to maintain muscle mass becomes paramount, Chapin says.
“Resistance training is essential to healthy aging,” he writes. “Not only will it keep you strong, but it will also help improve sleep, energy levels, insulin sensitivity, and weight management.”
And he emphasizes that it’s never too late to start.
No. 6: Nurture mental fitness.
In today’s stress-filled world, Chapin urges everyone to prioritize their mental health just as much as they do their physical health.
As he explains, “Stress decreases activity in areas of the brain that handle high-order tasks and stimulates more primitive parts focused on our emotional response and survival. If you are stuck in a fight or flight stress response all day, you are training your mind to constantly look for threats. Choosing to operate from this position will cut your life short.”
No. 7: Play with purpose.
Chapin urges us not to forget the importance of simply having fun — however you define it.
“Play is an integral part of developing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle,” he says. “Studies have shown a direct link between play and improved creativity, imagination, energy levels, problem-solving ability, stress resiliency, cognitive function, mindfulness, and enhanced relationships.”
Making time for play and fun will also help optimize your mental health because, as Chapin says, “playful people are happier, and happiness boosts health.”
“Take Good Care: 7 Wellness Rituals for Health, Strength & Hope” is currently available on both 7wellnessrituals.com and amazon.com.
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