With a growing number of Canadians interested in self-care as we transition from the pandemic, Dr. Dwight Chapin, the OCA’s Chiropractor of the Year in 2018 wrote: "Take Good Care: 7 Wellness Rituals for Health, Strength and Hope." To bring evidence-based research to life, he engaged 21 influential Canadians, such as Jann Arden and Michael "Pinball" Clemons, to share their unique approaches to self-care. In this episode, Dr. Chapin discusses how they shaped this book, as well as how patients and chiropractors are using it to foster the self-care rituals to support improvements to their health and well-being.
With a growing number of Canadians interested in self-care as we transition from the pandemic, Dr. Dwight Chapin, the OCA’s Chiropractor of the Year in 2018 wrote: "Take Good Care: 7 Wellness Rituals for Health, Strength and Hope." To bring evidence-based research to life, he engaged 21 influential Canadians, such as Jann Arden and Michael "Pinball" Clemons, to share their unique approaches to self-care. In this episode, Dr. Chapin discusses how they shaped this book, as well as how patients and chiropractors are using it to foster the self-care rituals to support improvements to their health and well-being.
Topics Covered:
Key Links to References/Resources Discussed:
About Dr. Dwight Chapin:
Dr. Dwight Chapin is an award-winning chiropractor, owner of a large multidisciplinary wellness clinic, Team Chiropractor for the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts, onsite clinician and Health Advisor for The Globe and Mail, and author.
He has co-authored workplace wellness e-learning modules for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety-CCOHS, was awarded the 2018 Chiropractor of the Year by the Ontario Chiropractic Association and is a two-time Grey Cup champion as a member of the Toronto Argonauts’ medical staff.
In his first book titled, Take Good Care: 7 Wellness Rituals for Health, Strength & Hope, he brings the science of prevention to life with a behind-the-scenes look at the self-care formulas of 21 influential Canadians.
Episode 16 – Fostering Self-Care for Healthier Lives
Introduction:
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Welcome to ON Spinal Chat, where we explore what O-C-A is doing or supporting to help enhance your patient care, grow your practice or advance the chiropractic profession.
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Since the rise of the pandemic, Dr. Dwight Chapin, who was O-C-A's 20-18 Chiropractor of the Year Award winner, has noticed his patients seeking to improve their relationships with health, work, family, and diet. So, building on this interest, he authored Take Good Care, to help patients ritualize their approach to self-care and give their chiropractors a tool to support their health journey. To bring research to life, he engaged 21 influential Canadians like Jann Arden and Michael “Pinball” Clemons to serve as mentors and share their unique approaches to self-care.
In this episode, Dr. Chapin explains how chiropractors can and are using his book to help Canadians adopt the evidence-based self-care rituals they need to enjoy better health, strength and hope. Learn why more than ever, he says Chiropractors have a tremendous opportunity to lead the transformation toward healthier lifestyles and lifespans.
You'll also hear how Dr. Chapin's experience in a multidisciplinary practice as team chiropractor for the Toronto Argonauts football team and health advisor for The Globe and Mail shaped his book and what he learned from its mentors. And be sure to check the show notes for links to practical resources we discuss in this episode.
Main Interview:
Leslie Hetherington:
Thank you, Dr. Chapin, for spending the time with us today. How do you briefly describe your book Take Good Care, to someone who hasn't looked at it yet?
Dr. Dwight Chapin:
Thanks, Leslie. It's a privilege to have this time with you and I appreciate it. Take Good Care is a passionate call to action. It's a book that highlights the impact that our routines and habits have on health, performance and longevity and is written in such a way as to show readers how to ritualize their approach to self-care. And what I've done to try to bring the research to life in an inspiring and entertaining way is, I've focused on seven particular self-care strategies, which I call wellness rituals, and I've shown those in action through the life stories of 21 influential Canadians.
Leslie:
Okay. So, what criteria did you use to select the 21 influential Canadians or mentors in your book?
Dr. Chapin:
I wanted to work with individuals that were at the top of their game, a group that was well-balanced, but have had to work a little harder at defining their formula for self-care. I wanted individuals that weren't going to set an unrealistic standard, so not masters of clean living, and that's where the seven wellness rituals came from. I didn't just want to present the research and strategies for self-care. I wanted people that had fallen down enough and dusted themselves off and figured out the best approach for them to maximize their health and performance.
So, it's a group of leaders from business, media, sport, entertainment, healthcare, education. And they all needed to be willing to invite me in and let me study their lifestyle, their approach and discipline to self-care and their strategies for overcoming adversity and their approach to preparing and recovering from peak performance events. The year that I spent studying these mentors was like a masterclass in life. Each of these individuals were kind, open, honest and wanting to share, and if they could help lift up the health of Canadians through their storytelling, then they were all on board.
Leslie:
Wonderful. So, tell me about the science behind your book and how it relates to evidence-based care.
Dr. Chapin:
Sure. Evidence-based care is the standard that frontline healthcare practitioners strive for. We're looking to combine the leading research and have that direct and guide us in our decision-making and in the care that we provide. And we're also tying into our clinical experiences and the values and preferences of patients.
It's always been a dream of mine to write a book about self-care that ties all of those elements of evidence-based care together. So, I spent the better part of two and a half years researching self-care strategies, leaning into my 25 years of clinical practice, studying the mentors' lives, drawing from experiences that I've pulled from my patients and from my years working as a health advisor at The Globe and Mail, and also working with the professional athletes that I do, to bring together this evidence-based approach to self-care.
With each of the seven rituals, there's the science of the ritual, the evidence behind how and why this is important, but then I give a section called Chapin's Clinical Corner and Ritual Activation where I'm leaning on clinical experiences. That section of the book is designed to be more like you and I having a conversation in a treatment room. That's where I think the powerful call to action for patients reading it lies and where clinicians may find there's value to change some of the conversations that they're having in their treatment rooms.
Leslie:
Okay. And who's the audience for this book?
Dr. Chapin:
It's made for individuals that want to have a better understanding of how to take good care of themselves. So, clinicians can use it as a tool guide to help themselves and their own personal journey. I learned a lot writing this book and have changed my formula as a result of the research I've done.
You're going to have individuals that are in the early part of their careers looking to lay down best practices to try to elevate performance and get out in front of the curve. You're going to have those in the middle of their career that are dealing with children, maybe aging parents, demands at work, and finding that they're just losing their edge. They want to get control back over their health and performance. And then, there are those fighting the onset of degenerative diseases that are looking to tap into the body's healing potential. The book is applicable to all of those different groups.
Leslie:
So, for listeners who haven't read your book, what motivates you to strive for optimal health and wellness?
Dr. Chapin:
I've always been amazed by the human body. It's rare a day goes by in practice that I'm not somehow inspired by the human body's ability to adapt, to heal, and to forgive. Those individuals that come to you looking for guidance and who are disconnected from the impact that their daily routine is having on their health and performance are the individuals that I'm passionate about helping. And I'm sure all of the chiropractors listening can relate to the fact that most of our day is spent helping people whose challenges are rooted in their daily routines.
So, that clinical curiosity, getting into the weeds, helping people dissect and understand how their habits are impacting their health, has always grabbed my attention and I wouldn't be much of a doctor if I wasn't applying that curiosity to my own lifestyle as it relates to my ability to put this research and practice to work. I'm 51 and I'm in the best shape of my life. I am fighting a genetic predisposition to heart disease in my family. So, I'm determined to do everything I can to not only make sure I'm walking the walk, but also I'm doing what I can to alter the expression of my genes and live a long and healthy life.
Leslie:
Okay. And what's the response been from some of your patients who are working to reconnect, as it were?
Dr. Chapin:
When this book was released into the world, I had to let it go, and as I did, it went to number one bestseller on Amazon in the health and wellness category within the first couple of weeks. And as patients and then readers outside of my network started to read it, I started to engage in conversations with others that were participating in a discussion around self-care that I'm trying to spark across this country.
One of the interesting things that's come out is that some patients are drawn to the book because they know they have a deficiency in their self-care strategy, right? They're falling short with their diet, their binge stress eating, their sedentary practices, or the way stress can ramp in their life. So, they're naturally drawn to that particular section of the book.
Other individuals go right to the storytelling because they want to learn what Jim Treliving does, what Silken Laumann does, or what Jann Arden does, and then through the storytelling they become interested, "Oh, that's how Jann practices mental fitness, but this is how Silken practices it." Some are coming to it through the mentors and some are coming to it through the science of the wellness ritual. I wrote the book with that intention so that it didn't necessarily have to be read from cover to cover. You could come in and out of it as it relates to where you are in your stage and where your program or your formula may be.
There are stories of profound changes in terms of quality of health and life, weight loss, increased activity, improved sleep, and people getting a better handle on their stress response curve. There have been many stories of patients getting their diabetes under control, of losing the weight they've been trying to lose, of finally achieving that 5K walk they wanted to do, to their father or mother in embracing physical activity.
Powerful stories, but it's really the ones of the individuals who had lost faith in their health and their body's ability to heal. It's watching them get it back. It's watching them become excited about the healing potential of the body and learning how they can tap into that and doing so with a holistic approach. Those are the stories that are the absolute best. And being a champion for individuals who are learning how to make these small micro changes has been something that I've been drawn to as the book's been released and I'm seeing its impact.
Leslie:
So, what about your work with patients such as pro athletes as well as Globe and Mail staff, how did these patients help shape your book?
Dr. Chapin:
Yes. I'm the team chiropractor for the Toronto Argonauts, and when I'm working with football players, they are in incredible physical shape, which really allows me to push the limits of my clinical ability and the limits of chiropractic and see just how it influences performance and healing in a very inspired way.
And as you get to know these individuals and help them week in, week out, you begin to study their lifestyle practices and their formula for self-care. Pro athletes bring a discipline to their formula that we can apply in general practice. It's the idea of can I get 1% better today? Can I learn from the challenges and the struggles or the failures from days past? They don't let those disappointments define them. They learn from them, they embrace them, they push them aside, because they get to play the game again tomorrow. Those are techniques and strategies that I've tried to bring in my practice with my patients, but also you'll see reflected in the book, and that's bringing a little more kindness and forgiveness to self-care.
And the whole idea of layering these techniques, stacking these wellness rituals and then stepping back with confidence and just letting our biology take control, is really one of the techniques that I've learned in working with pro athletes that I try to bring forward.
Leslie:
Were they forced to actively pursue these rituals more so than the average person whose life may not be quite as demanding?
Dr. Chapin:
I think it's really a learned behaviour. I think of “Pinball” Clemons, he's such an inspired individual and a real gift for me to have had the time with him. And he says to the locker room on more than one occasion, "Listen, gentlemen, we all have in life one of two paths. We can choose the path of discipline or we can choose the path of regret, but the path you choose will define your life."
So, for self-care for Michael, it's that simple. He takes steps now to ensure that he is at his best, whether he is doing his community advocacy work or when he was performing as a football player. Or, will he take the easier path? And he knows that that won't lead to the level of performance he's after. So, I guess it comes back down to intention, discipline, and approach.
I think of James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, and he talks about how important it is to recognize the impact lifestyle has, but listen, the healthy choices, the healthy wellness rituals that we can begin to stack now, that comes with the discipline that's required to maintain this intentional purpose to self-care, but the cost of poor habits and the path of least resistance is often down the road.
As it relates to The Globe and Mail, I've been with them for over 20 years, and about 10 years into my role there as an onsite clinician, I helped a health editor with a back problem. From there, I was asked to write an article, and that led to an opportunity to step up as a health advisor and submit many columns over the years on a variety of different topics. That gave me exposure to very talented editors and writers and a feel for writing and research that I really enjoyed. I don't know if this book would've happened had I not had those relationships and experiences that I did at the Globe.
Leslie:
How relevant is health and wellness to chiropractors in our post-pandemic world?
Dr. Chapin:
This is, I think, the most important topic for us to be talking about in a discussion around self-care. The current theories on aging is that it's not genetically or biologically predetermined. Longevity experts are now looking at aging as being triggered by a decline in health and biological systems that are largely influenced by healthy lifestyle practices or choices that we make on any given day.
Thanks to wild advances in the science of aging, we're soon going to be able to identify, measure, and influence those biological factors that are found way upstream from the onset of disease. And in doing so, influences health span and lifespan in a significant way. And so, as neuromuscular skeletal experts, we are positioned to help lead that transformation.
I noticed at the end of 20-20 that patients were coming into my practice with a very different mindset. There was a determination and a strong interest in changing their relationship with health, with work, with family, with diet. They wanted to be better, feel better, look better, move better, and were looking for guidance, leaning into self-care. I'm sure the chiropractors listening can relate to seeing that in their practice.
Leslie:
Absolutely. And we commissioned some research at the O-C-A, which aligns perfectly with that as well.
Dr. Chapin:
Yeah. So, what we're seeing is mainstream medicine is under tremendous pressure. There's high stress, they're under-resourced, and they're forced into a more reactive model of care. And so, we have Canadians leaning into self-care, looking for guidance, but they're walking away frustrated with lack of access. So, as chiropractors step into that, as they join a healthcare team and they show up with passion, with an integrity, with evidence-based care, and they lead in self-care, it stands out as extraordinary in today's world.
The gate may be that patients come to us with neuromusculoskeletal conditions when they're in pain, and when we help them through that experience, it's no longer enough just to patch them up and put them on the road. In that journey to them moving better and reducing pain and improving performance, there's a tremendous opportunity for us in post-pandemic healthcare to help Canadians realize just how powerful these strategies are.
Leslie:
Okay.
Dr. Chapin:
And I think an obligation to educate, inspire, and begin to have these conversations about sleep, food, energy management, weight management, activity, mental health, resiliency, and the importance of play and happiness and joy. When we're leading by example and we're bringing the evidence behind those rituals to the table, I believe that chiropractic care will stand out as an extraordinary experience.
Leslie:
Is there one ritual or section of the book that you think is particularly relevant to O-C-A members? And if so, why?
Dr. Chapin:
I think all seven wellness rituals have a place in a patient's self-care formula. They all need to be there. We'll lean on them at different times in our life. As it relates to chiropractors or O-C-A members, wellness ritual four, which is move to stay young, and wellness ritual number five, which is protect your strength, naturally fall into our scope of practice. But the opportunity to provide that leadership and that inspiration, the education around self-care as a chiropractor and coordinate the collaborative effort to support a patient in their self-care formula and strategy is, I think, of a particular importance.
So, O-C-A members can look to not only lead in terms of self-care but also help to coordinate a multidisciplinary collaborative approach. I have a patient who I'm discussing the impact that their diet may have on inflammation, may have on their pain level, may have on their tissue recoverability, on their energy levels. I'll then refer that individual to our dietician or to a naturopath to have an actual discussion around how they may change their diet. So, it's important to begin to have these discussions in our consultations and in our treatments with our patients.
Leslie:
Okay. And once O-C-A members or other chiropractors have read your book, is there a way they can use the content or repurpose it to help their patients and team members enjoy better health, strength and hope?
Dr. Chapin:
So, my goal is that for readers the book's a powerful call to action, it inspires people to want to lean in a little harder, make these rituals a little stickier. I hope that for the chiropractic profession, it's another tool that they may find useful in sparking those conversations, whether that be integrating it into the questions that are asked in a consultation or setting up referrals and building a network.
I know chiropractors that are using the seven wellness rituals and the content in the book in all kinds of different ways. Setting up discussion boards, using them in newsletters, featuring one ritual a month, sharing stories of patients that are putting the rituals to work, in much the same way that I shared the stories of the 21 individuals. They have their mentorship guide to their community.
And I think what's most important is for us to change behaviour, we have to help our patients become inspired. We have to help them connect to what their why, what their purpose is. And once we link to that and provide the instruction and the understanding of how powerful these techniques can be, here's the research behind it, here's the power that you have and the choices that you make every day. Then the behavior starts to become a little stickier, and that changes the attitude and the energy, and the passion in a clinical practice in a powerful way.
Leslie:
Great. Among your patients, are you currently seeing any trend toward one of your seven wellness rituals maybe falling shorter than the other?
Dr. Chapin:
I think what catches patients off guard is first, the biological power and the value of sleep, rest, and recovery. A third of Canadians are not getting enough sleep, and depending on what report you read, somewhere between 50 to 70% report poor quality sleep. So, recognizing that initiating sleep, winding down the nervous system. It's not like a light switch. We need to invest time and effort in cultivating a pre-bed routine to wind the body down and prepare for sleep. And as we do that, as we start to ritualize that behaviour and lock in a sleep routine that's more consistent, that there's a massive boost in benefit of health. The foundation to building a good self-care strategy for many starts there.
And another one that catches people off guard is how important resistance training is. By the time we reach 40 years old, our muscular strength is already a decade into decline. And resistance training is not just about building a stronger body, but it impacts our sleep quality, our energy, our weight management, our insulin sensitivity, the amount of visceral fat we have, our heart health, bone health, and brain health. It has a massive ripple effect with a very small investment of time required to tap into the health benefits. Those would be two areas that as people get into the book, tend to catch them off guard.
Leslie:
Great. So, you've done the book, what's next in your mission to care for, educate and inspire others in their journey towards optimal health? Another book?
Dr. Chapin:
Perhaps. I've been approached about writing another book, and I've always got my mind on how I would take Take Good Care and move that conversation forward, but for now, I'm enjoying trying to maximize the ripple effect of this message and want to see self-care lean into that momentum that Canadians seem to be picking up on, coming out of the pandemic. That's my true passion and focus at the moment.
Leslie:
Okay. Is there anything else you would like to share with OCA members about health and wellness, your book, or your own journey?
Dr. Chapin:
A couple of things. The importance of the difference between habits and rituals and leaning into helping patients understand what it is that's going to motivate them. When you look at the seven wellness rituals, it's not going to shock anybody that sleep is important, that healthy fuel is important, weight management, energy management is important, movement is important, stress resiliency is important. But if you look at the list of wellness rituals as a list of healthy habits, habits are defined as regular settled tendencies. They're not sticky enough. We need these wellness rituals to stick, and what these mentors have done is cultivated an approach to self-care that's constantly being evaluated and tweaked.
For example, one of the experts and the mentors in the book is Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe. She's a stress resiliency expert, and she's done a lot of work on the importance of sleep. Her own practice is not to fixate too much on getting a good night's sleep, "I've got to get to sleep." Because when you're pushing and driving all day and now you're stressed about getting sleep, that could increase anxieties. She looks to try to get her sleep quality and sleep time where she wants it on a three-day average. So, if she misses a day, if she's busy with kids or giving a lecture or traveling and she falls short on sleep one day, then she's making sure that over the next three-day average that she's getting back to where she needs to be.
It's little techniques like that, and it's what she incorporates into her pre-bed routine with discipline, regardless of whether she's on the road or not, that really can help people improve quality of their rest and recovery. I work with a lot of executives that push themselves to the point of exhaustion, and there is a long list of health issues that come out of that strategy, versus the mentors who embrace sleep as a secret weapon. They use that to recalibrate their stress response, to help the brain detoxify, to elevate mood, to inspire their creativity. And so, it's the intention and the discipline behind how they layer these seven wellness rituals that I found to be most inspired.
I find leaning into helping patients understand what it is that's going to motivate them is the best way to begin a conversation about self-care. Once that door is opened and patients are expressing a frustration or an interest in making a change, for some individuals that may take the second or third time they show up with a similar problem before you really get their attention. But with every interaction with patients, I'm looking for an opportunity to take them up to that next level. It's that pro-athlete approach of trying to get 1% better every year. It's been my experience that this is what patients are looking for now.
It's an exciting time to be a chiropractor. We have tremendous opportunity to be leaders in this particular time while health care is changing dramatically. And also use that platform to reach out to other professionals, build our networks, and showcase that our skills go beyond just helping with back and neck pain. We can take it to the next level and help people live a happier and healthier life through this evidence-based strategy.
I am going to be speaking at the N-C-T '24 C-C-A (Canadian Chiropractic Association) conference in April. To any listeners that are at the conference, I'd welcome an opportunity to continue this discussion, so please come and seek me out. In addition to the book, there are a host of resources and supportive tools that can be found at 7wellnessrituals.com. Readers and/or listeners can go to that website for additional material.
Outro:
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Thank you, Dr. Chapin, for sharing your experience writing Take Good Care, its key takeaways for chiropractors and how it's changing its reader's lives. Thanks also for explaining the value of rituals over habits and how to make them stick. We look forward to following your ongoing mission to educate and inspire others in their journey toward optimal health.
We'll be back in a month or so with another episode of pragmatic insights and tips to help you and your practice. I hope you'll join us.
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