Introduction
Are you feeling these stressful times in your body?

Then come experience a gentle, no crack, holistic approach to chiropractic care at Tail of the Sun Network Care, owned and operated by Dr. Luke Schmelzle, chiropractic physician. Dr. Luke’s energetic technique finds the deeper cure, instead of just treating symptoms like many conventional physicians. Dr. Luke is especially good at listening to the body and partnering with patients to make positive shifts. It’s not about just adjusting the spine; it’s about adjusting your life.

Dr. Luke, hello and welcome back to LocalsGuide.
Thanks so much for having me back. I love LocalsGuide.

To begin with, how have you adjusted and continue to serve your patients during this time of Covid?
The current health crisis is a major added stressor for everyone, compounding the trauma patterns that people are already living with and carrying in their bodies every moment of their lives. These stresses often express themselves through pain in the spine, joints, muscles, or tendons. My practice is all about getting down to the root of that pain instead of just its expression, which is a big part of what makes Network Chiropractic Care so much more comprehensive and long lasting than many conventional modalities. Improving your health is essential, so I’m here for you.

I imagine that your care is essential to the quality of life for many of your patients.
I hear that from my practice members a lot. For example, I treat a 90-year-old woman who tells me regularly that this work makes her life more livable and expansive, when before my treatment her life was becoming unbearable. Chronic pain is incredibly oppressive, dulling and diminishing the sufferer’s whole outlook. Increasing adaptability and energy efficiency opens entirely new dimensions in how the patient views and interacts with their world.

Dr. Luke can you please introduce us to some of the key principles and tenants behind your work here in Southern Oregon.
After a rewarding career in education, I decided to pursue my dream career in the healing arts in my dream community of Ashland, Oregon. I opened Tail of the Sun Network Care clinic in 2017 with the mission of providing this community with a deeper and more comprehensive level of healing. It was during my training at Sherman Chiropractic College that I became a patient of network chiropractic care, a revolutionary technique for liberating stored stress energy from the body. Network Care combines the traditional tenants of upper cervical chiropractic with quantum healing. The complete transformation that network care brought me was truly a miracle, creating a lasting ease to my entire life and my family’s life. I had to share this miracle with others.

Going into more depth can you please provide us with an overview of the services you are providing out of your clinic?
My goal for all of my practice members is sustained, re-organizational health. This means going way deeper than just the pain or discomfort a patient may be experiencing and healing the source of that pain or discomfort on an energetic quantum level. For instance, if someone is experiencing irritable bowel syndrome, we focus not only on the relief of symptoms, but the release of the stored energy that’s causing it. If someone is experiencing chronic pain in their joints or back, it may be a result of past trauma. I strive to connect to that stored negative energy created by trauma and I release it, which can often relieve a myriad of conditions that the patient didn’t even realize they suffered from because they’ve been living with the trauma for so long.

This work progresses to creating new strategies in the nervous system. It impacts the greater expression of the person’s soul in this life. It’s about moving toward greater wholeness, connection, and maximized living. Network Care is very specific and incremental in its approach. I also incorporate breath work called Somato Respiratory Integration as an important tool.

During this time of crisis, what are the most important messages you are sharing with your patient base?
Stress is an unavoidable part of life. But the negative health conditions that result from that stress can change, as long as the patient is willing to go deeper, beyond short term solutions that often make the problem worse over the long term, and address the issue at a foundational level.

Listen to your body. This goes beyond responding only to pain. It is currently estimated that only 10% of nerve cells have pain receptors. This is a time requiring more care and attention, not less.

This is a time when everything is amplified. Embrace the opportunities for exciting changes as they present to you.  It is time to upgrade your nervous system.

Dr. Luke will you share a little bit with us about the types of relationships you seek to form with your patients?
I spend a lot of time both listening and talking with my patients and getting to know them well and why they are seeking my help. This is time and attention to detail that cannot be found from many other practitioners and it’s a big part of what makes my work so effective over the long term. Pain is a language and my work is about translating that language. This often means that my treatment becomes a form of dance with the patient to understand and to clarify what the pain is telling us.

You enjoy working with the entire family and in fact, you offer care for children under the age of ten for free to these families.
Yes, I treat the young children of my practice members at no cost, because I find that healing the entire family unit in harmony can bring lasting physical and emotional health to their whole household. This is one of the most rewarding parts of my work because creating collective family wellness is so critical in making our world a more peaceful place.

Dr. Luke, your practice serves all ages. Please say more.
I have practice members from babies to great grandparents. The kind of care I offer is so gentle. It is highly effective for people of all ages because it focuses on the nervous system rather than solely the skeletal structure. Scoliosis, for instance, is a condition that I’ve had a lot of success treating in patients young and old. Now, conventional diagnosis offers little chance for improvement, especially after entering adulthood. But the adverse effects of scoliosis can be greatly improved. With network care, I address the energetic genesis of scoliosis rather than the skeletal effects, and this principle of targeting the source applies effectively to a myriad of other conditions.

Children, in particular, are highly responsive to chiropractic treatments. Why is this?
The energetic source of a negative health condition is often more apparent in a young person and the child has less layers of defense physiology. With an older person who is dealing with a health condition created by a past trauma that they experienced decades ago, then that energetic cause can be more hidden. There are more layers to work through. It doesn’t mean I can’t locate that source, it just can require more time and patience than it would with a younger patient.

What is some of the feedback you receive from your customers?
For the practice members who have been in conventional chiropractic care, they usually tell me what a relief it is to have their condition treated with a gentle, no crack, approach to healing that doesn’t create a dependence on hard adjustments. For practice members who have been in the care of a conventional physician, they usually tell me what a life changer it is for them to have less dependency on pharmaceuticals for relief, and how much more long term my brand of healing brings them.

Dr. Luke you are also very involved in the community of Ashland. Can you tell us about some of the activities you are participating in?
My wife and I are involved in the community and sponsor many local events in our unique office space. I am a parade official with the Ashland 4th of July parade, and I have enjoyed that immensely. I am a supportive member of the Chamber of Commerce. From the day I moved my family to Ashland I knew that I needed to get involved with what makes Ashland an amazing place to live.

For any of our readers wanting to learn more about your services what is the best way for them to contact you?
For a limited time, I offer a 2-hour consultation to any prospective patient for only $40, which is a $180 value. So, for anyone who is experiencing a health issue for which conventional methods of healing have proven unsatisfactory, come into my clinic and let’s work on a deeper solution together. I understand that every patient is unique, which is why I dedicate so much time to finding the source of the issue, rather than just temporarily relieving the pain.

Finally, are there any last thoughts or comments you would like to share with our readers?
Traditional western medicine is dedicated to restorative care, which amounts to, “Relieve my pain now.” Restorative care only addresses the symptoms, which is why it’s so often unsuccessful in curing the illness. Network chiropractic care is essentially a remodeling of your nervous system in order to reconfigure the energetic source of a health issue. This is why the health and wellness that I offer is such a game changer.

Learn More: =============================

Tail of the Sun Network Care
567 Fair Oaks Ave.
Ashland, OR. 97520
tailofthesunnsa.com
541-816-1911

March 23, 2020

NOTICE:

Neither the Governor’s Office, nor the OBCE, is ordering chiropractic clinic closures at this time.

Governor Brown has issued Executive Order 20-10 that conserves personal protective equipment (PPE), postpones non-urgent health care procedures, and restricts visitation. “Procedures” and “non-urgent procedures” apply to chiropractic care. The intent and purpose of this order is to conserve much needed PPE and to limit COVID-19 exposure for healthcare practitioners, patients, and the public.

Tail of the Sun, a chiropractic clinic, is currently open, but on a restricted basis, for urgent care only, with reduced hours.  Tail of the Sun is committed to complying with all government mandates and orders. Call if you have any questions or concerns 541-816-1911.

Spring Cleaning by Dr. Luke Schmelzle

Spring is the season of renewal and fresh beginnings. It’s the ideal time for clearing out the old and making way for the new. In Ayurveda, spring is typically known as a Kapha season.

Spring Cleaning Your Environment

The key to spring cleaning is really to reduce trash and clutter, ridding of anything that is worn out, broken, or has served its purpose. Your energy will feel lighter as you turn next toward your inner work.

Spring Clean Your Diet

Because the Kapha season is heavy, wet, and cool, Ayurveda suggests pacifying these qualities within yourself by consuming light, dry, and hot foods and beverages. Grilled, baked or lightly cooked foods with hot spices will increase your energy.

Spring Clean Your Nervous System

Be sure to tend to your true nature by incorporating self-care rituals that support cleansing and mindfully directing your energy.

• Let go of old trauma patterns, limiting beliefs, and stuck energy. Network Care can really help with this.
• Exercise daily, especially in the spring.
• Set new goals.
• Connect yourself with nature.

Breath, movement, and touch are interconnected. We naturally hold our breath when are distressed and breath more deeply and fully when relaxed. While we may be able to lie to ourselves through thoughts and words, we cannot hide the truth from our touch, our breath, or our movement.

When we are not well, our nervous system holds onto a dominant defense pattern. In our bodies, dysfunction and pathology hang out in the least available areas. This defensive pattern, in its attempt to wall off any further damage, creates a disconnect in the mind-body awareness.

The good news is that we can change. We can move away from pain, and then progress toward greater consciousness. Healing is available through breath, movement, and touch. I would love to speak with you in greater depth about how I can assist you on your road to healing. Call 541-816-1911.

What are your personal goals for the new year? Do you desire to be pain-free? Are you striving for greater balance in your life? Perhaps worry and stress are your constant companion, and your body is not responding like it used to in the past.  If your life needs an adjustment, you may likely feel discomfort or pain in your body. Perhaps an outside perspective is needed.

Begin the new year with greater alignment to the wisdom that lies within. I can facilitate your journey away from pain toward a greater mind-body connection, introducing new strategies to your nervous system. I employ a unique, gentle healing approach that is personalized to the way your body naturally works. We start with pain reduction and move into deeper levels of change and healing, releasing the bound energy of old trauma patterns. Together we can create an arena in which your life propels forward toward your highest potential, passions, and purpose.

I am happy to meet with you, to listen to your heart, and to thoroughly exam the patterns of your body and nervous system. Network Care is a quantum approach that is very gentle, yet very effective. Let me help you to make a shift in this new year.

A significant study, “Mediation of the acute stress response by the skeleton,” was published Sept. 12 in Cell Metabolism. “It completely changes how we think about how acute stress responses occur,” reported senior investigator Gérard Karsenty, MD, Ph.D

When faced with a predator or sudden danger, the heart rate goes up, breathing becomes more rapid, and fuel in the form of glucose is pumped throughout the body to prepare an animal to fight or flee. These physiological changes, which constitute the “fight or flight” response, are thought to be triggered in part by the hormone adrenaline.

The researchers found that almost immediately after the brain recognizes danger, it instructs the skeleton to flood the bloodstream with the bone-derived hormone osteocalcin, which is needed to turn on the fight or flight response. Osteocalcin is linked to metabolism, fertility, muscle function, and even brain cognition.

Implications

It is important to establish a balance in the nervous system between the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches. If this balance is lost, a cascade of negative health effects is unleashed. A simple test called heart rate variability can measure this balance is just a few minutes. At Tail of the Sun, we have the equipment to measure this. Most importantly, Network Care is a proven modality for restoring balance to the nervous system. It really works. Call me today for a comprehensive exam and initial session.

Last month I wrote about our family turtle, Lady BoBo. She is a box turtle that has been in the family for over 40 years. We’re now in the second generation of humans caring for this gracious, gentle creature. At one point, we gave serious consideration to finding her a nice place to reintroduce her to the wild. Upon deeper research, however, we discovered that Lady BoBo is a species of turtle with a particularly keen sense of home. Her homing beacon is so strong, that if turned loose, she would immediately start the trek back home, not eating or drinking or stopping until reaching the place where she was born. Our family ancestor rescued her from attacking dogs while on a camping trip somewhere in the Midwest. As we estimate her point of origin is likely several thousand miles from the Rogue Valley, it is not feasible or responsible for us to turn her loose. She is permanently part of our family and will be for the entirety of her life. Given the chance, she always heads east, longing to return home.

As humans, we also have a longing for home, for our roots, for connection, and for wholeness. Illness, trauma, separation, and stress will eventually take a cumulative toll upon our nervous systems, our bodies, and our overall state of wellness. In the work I do as a network chiropractor, I see my overarching goal as helping each person to achieve a greater level of ease in mind, body, and soul. I desire to assist each person in the quest for wellness and for the “returning to home.” Why not take your first step toward home and call me today?

The vagus nerve is the tenth cranial nerve and interfaces with parasympathetic control of the heart, lungs, and digestive tract. It is the longest nerve of the autonomic nervous system in the human body, comprising between 80% and 90% of afferent nerves, mostly conveying sensory information about the state of the body’s organs to the central nervous system. The vagus nerve affects all the organs, from the neck down to the colon. The right vagus branch innervates the sinoatrial node of the heart. In healthy people, parasympathetic tone from these sources are well-matched to sympathetic tone.

Why Is This Important?

Among other things, vagal nerves mediate the raising and lowering of the heart rate. Our heart rhythms can be affected by unhealthy stress. We can overload our nervous system with excessive screen time, making poor food choices, losing sleep, endlessly sitting, or accumulated trauma energy. When we lose balance in our nervous system, inflammation is engaged, our immune system is compromised, and elevated, prolonged levels of anxiety are produced. This can lead to excessive worry, feelings of impending doom, and a state of inner tension. Once balance in the nervous system is lost, it is difficult to regain.

What can be done?

I utilize a screening tool which allows me to scan a patient’s Heart Rate Variability, giving insight into the vagal tone. The results are then graphically displayed to show any imbalances in the nervous system. This tool also is utilized to objectively measure changes resulting from a treatment plan.

Network Spinal, or simply Network Care, is a highly researched chiropractic technique for restoring the nervous system to a more balanced state. Tension, anxiety, and blocks can be removed with the gentle touches made from Network Care. Call me today at 541-816-1911 to make an appointment.

Most people do not think about their health until something goes amiss.  Then, suddenly their body has gained full attention of their mind.  Then the person will take action, based upon the beliefs about disease and healing.  There is also a chance the person has been told one of the following healing myths: 1.  Disease is something separate from the body to be killed and expelled.  2.  We are victims of our condition, blaming “it” for our problems in life.  3. All illness can be traced to a physical cause.

Disease is not typically something foreign in the body.  Rather it is a manifestation of trauma, long-time poor eating habits, lack of exercise, or can even result from suppressed events.  What if we name our disease?  What if we tell our friends, “Oh, that is just my ___ giving me trouble”?  Then we may be actually inviting it to stick around.

We do not have to choose to be a victim of our ill-health.  Routinely patients are told that a certain event caused the issue.  What if our body’s reaction is a result of what we think about what has happened to us?  How would we begin to break up a faulty thought pattern?  Network Care uses gentle touches along the spine to open gateways and release tension from the nervous layer.  This allows for release of years and decades old stress traumas that we have been holding on tightly to.  Once these old traumas are released at the cellular level, the person feels relaxed, free, and more motivated and energized.

New studies have shown that our emotions play a significant role in our health.  The old saying, “It’s not what you eat, but what’s eating you,” may be affecting us down to the cellular level.  Diet and exercise are very important, but so are the thought patterns we believe about ourselves.   

So now what?  How do we un-invite our disease to stay? How do we let go of an event that has embedded itself deep in our unconscious thought patterns? How can we heal from an accident that happened years ago?  Most of all, how can we let go of “what is eating us?” 

Network Care can work gently on all these issues.  It works to aid healing from the inside out. “Healing is the outward manifestation of our inner journey of discovery…even when we may not understand the experience itself.”  – Donny Epstein.

Call for a $40.00 initial session today and see what it can do for you!