D.R.E.A.M. Wellness: 5 Keys to Lifelong Health with Brian Stenzler
“Having opportunities to fail allows children to learn from their mistakes, identify solutions, and try again (if appropriate). This builds confidence, resilience, and grit; which will ultimately lead to true success in life.”
—Dr Brian Stenzler
Introducing Dr. Brian Stenzler, Vice President of Operations at KnoWEwell, PBC, co-founder of D.R.E.A.M. Wellness, and bestselling author of D.R.E.A.M. Wellness: The 5 Keys to Raising Kids for a Lifetime of Physical and Mental Health. With over two decades of experience in chiropractic care and wellness, Dr. Stenzler's expertise extends globally, impacting families and individuals seeking holistic health solutions. In his book, D.R.E.A.M. Wellness, he unveils the five essential pillars—Diet, Relaxation, Exercise, Adjustment, and Mental Wellness—that form the foundation of proactive wellness living.
Through insightful discussions on each facet, Dr. Stenzler elucidates the interconnectedness of these elements in fostering lifelong well-being. Drawing from his wealth of knowledge and practical experience, he provides actionable strategies for integrating these pillars into daily life, empowering readers to achieve optimal health and vitality. In this article, we delve into Dr. Stenzler's holistic approach to wellness, exploring the significance of each pillar and unveiling his unique insights on cultivating resilience, balance, and harmony in modern living.
5 Questions About D.R.E.A.M. Wellness
1. Explain your five pillars of wellness and why they're essential for living a better life.
D.R.E.A.M. is an acronym for Diet, Relaxation, Exercise, being in Adjustment, and Mental Wellness. These are the “keys” or “facets” to a wellness lifestyle. All are necessary to truly live a proactive wellness lifestyle. None of the facets are more important than another and they must all be in harmony. Many things that you currently do in life that are good for you will actually have a positive impact on more than one facet at a time.
DIET: Everyone has heard the saying, “You are what you eat”. The truth is, “You are what your body gets from what you eat”. Actually, the whole truth is, “You are what your body gets from what you eat, drink, breathe, see, feel, taste, touch and hear”. In other words, your diet is everything that enters your body’s internal environment from the external world. So, what are you putting into your body on a regular basis? What type of movies do you watch? What type of music do you listen to? What type of books/magazines are you reading? How much time do you spend on social media, and are you exposing yourself to positive or negative inputs? While it is important to breathe fresh air and consume foods and beverages that are rich in nutrients, it is also vital to ensure that what you see, feel, hear and touch is also “nutritious” . The “nutritional value” of your overall diet will ultimately be determined by your body’s ability to process and adapt to its external environment. If your overall diet is not filled with constructive inputs, you will be “malnourished.” Much like the old computer term, GIGO, garbage in, garbage out… if you put “garbage into your body, you’ll get garbage out.
Relaxation is more than just sleeping well. In physics, relaxation is defined as the exponential return of a system to equilibrium (balance) following a disturbance. It can also be defined as a state of refreshing tranquility. We see relaxation as a combination of both. It is a physical, emotional, and spiritual mind-body connection in which each and every cell gets a chance to call “timeout” for repair and regeneration. When relaxation occurs, your body is more likely to adapt to chemical, physical and emotional stressors encountered daily. How well your body adapts to this stress will ultimately determine your potential for wellness.
Exercise can be defined as any activity that requires physical or mental exertion. This “stress” helps regulate metabolism while promoting biochemical balance to the many systems which are responsible for running the human body. All parameters of human performance and function are directly improved through the process of exercise. An individual’s health potential will depend on his/her body's ability to convert the physical, chemical and emotional stress of exercise into constructive energy.
Adjustment. As human beings, we live our lives through our nervous system (brain, spinal cord and spinal nerves). How well the body functions is ultimately determined by the ability of the brain and body to communicate with each other. This delicate system is protected by bones that make up the spine (vertebrae). If any bones shift out of alignment, stress may be placed on the nervous system, thereby interfering with the communication between the brain and body (vertebral subluxation). When this occurs, an individual will always be less efficient at adapting to chemical, physical and emotional stressors. This will likely cause the body to eventually break down and deteriorate regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms. All disease processes begin with the body having some type of dis-ease first. Lack of nerve communication between the brain and body can certainly be considered dis-ease. When a person is in balance mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally; and has a nerve system free of interference, brain-body communication will take place more efficiently so you can perform at your very best. This is what it means to be, “In Adjustment”.
Mental Wellness can be defined as the process of connecting your inner purpose and passion to your outer goals and tasks in all phases of life. It is the process to which creates the ‘you’ that you and other people get to know. Mental wellness is about being right with your self-esteem, self-worth, and self-values. It’s the process to which enables a person to go from, ‘Oh God, it’s morning’ (with a low tone, low energy and bummed out feeling) to shouting with a joyous tone, ‘Oh God it’s morning!’
Having the 5 facets in balance is essential to both avoid and neutralize chemical, physical, and emotional stressors that ultimately lead to dis-ease.
2. What are your five deal breakers in your household?
I believe that the concept of everything in moderation leads to a mediocre life, at best. I believe in excessive “goodness” and a little bit of “bad stuff.” And when you have the choice of certain “bad stuff,” you can make it “less bad” by avoiding certain ingredients that are destructive to the human body.
For example, if you go camping, you don’t need to deprive your children of smore’s, but you can make them “less unhealthy” by using better products to make them. Almost all marshmallows have corn syrup and other destructive ingredients, the chocolate is often not even chocolate and made with processed sugar, and don’t get me started on traditional graham crackers.
That said, if you purchase organic versions of those ingredients, they will not contain my four food deal-breakers; corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, artificial food dyes, artificial sugars. My fifth deal-breaker is not a food item, but it is related to diet (as defined above) and is very destructive; gossip!
3. Like you, I believe in honing our awareness and management of our autonomic nervous system. Talk about the importance of using HRV to measure our nervous system and what factors raise and lower our "HRV Score."
Imagine this… as you sit quietly reading this blog, you hear a loud explosion. How will your body respond physiologically to the unexpected noise? Your heart will beat quickly; your lungs will open and close more rapidly giving you shallower more but frequent breaths; your pupils will dilate; digestion will slow (if not completely stop); and your adrenal glands will produce adrenaline. This is a normal physiological response to stress. The reason that this reaction is called, ‘Fight or Flight’ is because your body is physiologically preparing to fight an assailant or flee a situation. Those physiological changes mentioned above happen because if you are fighting or fleeing, you need more blood to pump through the body, more bursts of air, better visual acuity, more immediate energy and of course you don’t want to waste time breaking down food. Those are completely normal and important reactions to a stressful situation.
The problem is… most people are stuck in ‘Fight or Flight’ when they are not supposed to be, which we refer to as being, Sympathetic Dominant. If the parasympathetic nervous system is not allowing the body to rest, repair and digest, then a litany of issues may arise, such as the ones above.
Heart rate variability (HRV) is a tool used that demonstrates the balance between the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic portions of the autonomic nervous system. When people are exposed to chemical, physical and emotional stressors that they do not adapt to, they will likely have a lower HRV score. This is due to an increased regularity of the heartbeat (which is undesired), and decreased variability. Most people think that the heart should beat with a consistent rhythm, but that is not actually the case. An increase in variability leads to an increased ability to adapt. However, decreased variability can lead to various chronic degenerative health conditions. HRV does not diagnose diseases or conditions, but it is a good indicator of one’s ability to adapt. We have all learned about the concepts of survival of the fittest. However, it’s not just about being fit… the ability to adapt to a changing environment is necessary for survival.
There are numerous natural, non-invasive ways of helping balance the ANS and increase an HRV score which include, but not limited to, cranial sacral work, massage, acupuncture, bio feedback, neuro feedback, sleep, meditation, mindfulness, prayer, exercise and of course, chiropractic adjustments. Over the 25 years that I practiced as a pediatric and family wellness chiropractor, I monitored my practice members’ HRV regularly and saw significant changes to their scores over the course of their care; both children and adults.
4. Sleep is one of those things that's universally acknowledged as vital yet often underemphasized. Briefly talk about how sleep plays a role in our health and some tips to keep it sacred.
It is so important to get adequate sleep as sleep is involved in healing and repairing your heart and blood vessels. Ongoing sleep deficiency is related to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, and even depression and suicide. While sleeping, your brain is preparing for the next day by forming new pathways to help you learn and remember information; therefore, a good night’s sleep improves learning and memory. Sleep also helps you pay attention, be creative, and make decisions. Sleep regulates and maintains the levels of hormones such as ghrelin or leptin which make you feel hungry or full. Sleep affects the level of insulin in the body so the less the sleep, the higher the risk for diabetes. Also, sleep supports healthy growth and development. It triggers the hormone that promotes normal growth in children and teens. This hormone boosts muscle mass and helps repair cells and tissues. The immune system also relies on sleep to stay healthy: the more you sleep, the more likely you will stay healthy.
There are numerous strategies to proactively help sleep, including limiting blue light exposure at least two hours before going to sleep, limiting caffeine and sugar intake, having a consistent wake up time, using a sound machine to drown out other sounds, keeping your bedroom as dark as possible and living the DREAM lifestyle.
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5. As a dad, what unique or counterintuitive approaches do you have in raising a child who is kind, motivated, and resilient?
Raising my son to be kind, motivated, and resilient is one of my main goals as a dad. I would be a fraud if I said I have parenting figured out. I have seen that different strategies work differently on every child and through different stages of their lives. Quite frankly, I find many of the most effective approaches to be completely counterintuitive to what I would have originally thought I should/would do for various circumstances.
I always thought that my number one job as a dad would be to do everything possible to set my son up for success. However, I have come to understand, which was very counterintuitive to me, that one of the best ways to set my son up for success is to teach him “how” to fail. I believe that providing him with opportunities where he will fail, early in life, will teach him how to deal with setbacks in a productive way as he matures. Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled and love to celebrate his successes, but I have also learned that there are tremendous lessons for our children when they are allowed to make mistakes. Having opportunities to fail allows children to learn from their mistakes, identify solutions, and try again (if appropriate). This builds confidence, resilience, and grit; which will ultimately lead to true success in life.
Also, I’ve learned the importance of encouraging and even allowing children to help with household duties at an early age. The natural instinct is to shoo them away when they are little and do the chores ourselves because we can do it faster, cleaner, and more efficiently. However, allowing young toddlers to help in real ways (even if it’s as simple as asking them to put napkins on the table), helps them feel part of the family/community, and builds confidence and empathy. Many of these concepts come from numerous resources my wife and I use, including the book, “Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans” by Michaeleen Doucleff as well as the Love and Logic program.
The DREAM Score
After learning about Stenzler’s book, I took the DREAM Score questionnaire (free) and got an 81. This is lower than I expected but what’s great is that you get an email with recommendations to improve.
Some of my many recommendations were to:
Reduce caffeine
Do more cardio
Stretch more
Have a relationship with a higher power
To learn more about Dr. Brian Stenzler and his work, check out the links below and purchase his book D.R.E.A.M Wellness.
Instagram: @drbrianstenzler
Facebook: Dr. Brian Stenzler