I have been in the health field for almost 25 years. I focus on the whole person to get them well as soon as possible utilizing gentle upper cervical chiropractic, nutrition, ortho-bionomy, and applied kinesiology. I currently practice and have recently started teaching QSM3 (Quantum Spinal Mechanics³) which is an offshoot of NUCCA (National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association).
By Dr. Michael Polsinelli, D.C., Advanced Spinal Care Center
Katrin, one of my teachers in massage school would say,
“There should be three solutions to every problem.”
I regularly return to that quote. In my more than twenty years in the healing arts, I’ve come to realize that it is a core belief of my philosophy. I am constantly trying to find several ways to address a particular problem with people, be it disc herniations, muscle problems, headaches, nutrition or adjusting the spine.
At first, it was a way to address similar problems with different clients. For example, my 93-year-old grandmother with arm weakness is going to need something different than an athlete with arm weakness.
Later, it became a way to address the same problem with a single person. Many times I can get identical results using different approaches such as, active resistance, positional release, gentle traction, or energy work. For example, I had a patient who broke her clavicle and was not able to lie on her side for an upper cervical correction. I thought outside of the box and created something within ortho-bionomy (a gentle positional release procedure). And, I successfully got her atlas back in alignment and significantly reduced her pain.
As I kept coming back to the original concept, I started to add “elegant” to the phrase.
“Having at least three elegant solutions to every problem.”
Why? Because, that is what I want: elegant solutions, solutions that are appropriate and superior, not clumsy or band-aid solutions.
It’s liberating not to be stuck in one mode of thinking. To be truthful, I don’t yet have three elegant answers for every problem, and sometimes I’m lucky to have just one. As I grow and mature as a holistic practitioner, it’s nice to have more than when I started in practice. (There is a reason that we call this practice.)
I’m not there yet, but I am creating the possibility. My next step is to apply this idea to other aspects of my life.
Yours in health,
Dr. Michael
Katrin is a practitioner of the work developed by Moshe Feldenkrais. I always attributed the quote to him, and it has always sparked my imagination. Katrin said it in the context of movement as body workers, so that we would always be thinking of different ways to perform our techniques so that we wouldn’t injure ourselves.
If we have (at least) three choices at all times, we would never be locked into being able to do something only one way.
