Located at 108 E. Hersey Street in Ashland, Wellspring Centre for Body Balance brings a new approach to health by empowering patients with new paradigm models of healing and wellness. Dr. Jordan Weeda founded Wellspring Centre for Body Balance in 2010 and introduced our community to specific, gentle upper cervical chiropractic care through the NUCCA technique. Dr. Tim March joined forces with Dr. Weeda this past April and brought with him his NUCCA experience and Koren Specific Technique (KST). Dr. Weeda and Dr. March utilize both techniques, and their patients are enjoying the benefits of the specialized care they offer. Most patients report positive changes in long standing chronic conditions, even after the first adjustment.
Dr. March, thanks for speaking with us today. To begin with, can you tell us a little bit about your background and training.
Growing up, my mom was a nurse so I was influenced from a young age toward the health field, and I was always particularly interested in science and biology. I was leaning toward marine biology, but then met an actual marine biologist in Alaska on a fishing boat. From there I changed my path to the direction of chiropractic school. With a clear focus, I attended Western States Chiropractic College and left with a degree in Human Biology and Doctorate of Chiropractic. My initial practice was working with athletes as I traveled to different sporting events to adjust spines and treat soft tissue injuries. I trained and was certified in Active Release Technique (ART) and Graston, which utilize metal tools and my hands to help repair and lengthen muscle tissue. I also learned Kinesiotaping, which helps support injuries. The chiropractic college I attended was focused in the medical model where I received extensive training in anatomy, physiology, pathology, and biomechanics. It wasn’t until after college that I really started learning about all the other factors that influence health. My own journey and healing brought me to study mind-body psychology and physiology, which have proven to be most useful. Applying the concepts of quantum physics to what I already knew helped bring me to a fully integrated holistic model of care.
Your wife is also a practitioner. Can you please introduce us to her and then tell us how you both came to live in Ashland?
I have the pleasure of working alongside my lovely wife, Timber Hart, who is an Acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine practitioner. She will have much to say about her unique practice next month when you get to interview her, but I will say that working with your spouse is not what people have made it out to be.
At least for us, our relationship continues to grow as we are able to build our understanding of patient needs together. We moved to Ashland last year because this is where we wanted to be. When we first drove through the area a few years prior, we knew we would be living here, and from there we made it happen. This area supports our beliefs about local sustainability, healthy living, and community. If a paradigm shift in health were to happen, I think Ashland would be in the forefront of that shift.
You have then both joined forces with Dr. Jordan Weeda of Wellspring Centre. Please talk about how and why you both have come to work together.
This is a great story; let me tell you how it happened. My wife Timber and I moved to Talent last year and started our practice out of our house. We thought would have a simple practice, make enough to pay the bills, and have a lot of free time to enjoy ourselves. Quickly, we began to get busy and realized doing everything ourselves limited our time toward what we truly wanted to focus on; which was chiropractic and acupuncture, not answering phones, billing, and checking people in and out. We were feeling we had much more to offer and give to our new community. Then it happened. We met Dr. Jordan Weeda and his wife, Heidi, at the Rogue Valley Health Fair in February. For weeks before attending the Rogue Valley Health Fair, we met people who repeatedly mentioned how similar we were to Jordan and Heidi, and that we should meet them. Actually, the week prior to the health fair, we heard it three times. When I finally did meet him, we immediately recognized each other from a NUCCA (National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association) conference we attended in 2008. We were both looking to expand and share our gifts with the world, so we did. I could not think of a single reason we wouldn’t work well together. Let me quickly list the benefits: Sharing ideas, improving approaches toward health, support for time away from work, building relationships, increasing fun and excitement in the office, challenging each other personally and professionally to grow, having someone to support my weaknesses and amplify my strengths and goals. When two or more people come together with a common goal the energy is amplified, and this is our experience.
What services are you offering to patients at the clinic?
I offer tools and knowledge to support people in their journey back to radiant health. We have many techniques and approaches, including our referral network. So if you need additional resources we can send you to the right people. We focus on building the structural foundation of the body to achieve the healthiest function of the nervous system, which controls every part of the body. We then work with each person to stabilize their achievement and alignment by addressing all the dynamics of a fully functioning nervous system. Structural alignment is the first step. The second is to address old traumas that are continually expressed through the tension of the nervous system. Many people have no idea that the traumatic car accident they had 10 years ago could still be affecting their nervous system today. Specific adjustments performed in the mental, emotional and physical state of the initial injury or trauma make all the difference when it comes to healing these chronic issues that people carry with them.
Please talk about an allopathic model of wellness versus a vitalistic model of wellness.
There is much controversy about this, so I will explain my understanding. Samuel Hahnemann, the father of homeopathy, coined the term “allopathic” to distinguish the difference between a vitalistic approach and that of Western or modern medicine. From its Greek origins, allopathic means “other than disease.” Meaning, the focus is not usually on the cause and prevention of disease, but on the treatment of the symptoms of the disease or dysfunction. For example, in the modern medical model, medications might be prescribed to control symptoms of high blood pressure, which does nothing to address why the problem is there in the first place. The vitalistic approach does not attempt to control any process, but looks to work with the body and honor the intelligence that made and heals the body. Vitalism states that there is a force behind the physical body that energizes, organizes and interpenetrates the body. Some would call it Chi, prana, innate, or simply the life spark. To think of this another way we can consider looking at the whole person, or focusing on parts. Sometimes in emergencies we need to focus on the part of us that needs immediate attention, and other times we need to look at the past eight years and consider how we came to where we are with our health. Vitalism also implies personal responsibility for our health by pointing out that our choices with food, exercise, thoughts, and lifestyle have everything to do with our health. Both models are important, but we need to know which model is most beneficial for our particular need. If we need a blood transfusion or a new heart, then we would need the allopathic model to solve that problem. If we are dealing with general health and well-being, someone that specializes in vitalism would be a good fit.
What has impressed you the most about working with Dr. Jordan Weeda and the Wellspring Centre model?
First I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to this man. His focus and compassion to serve his community and humanity is deeply known throughout the valley and beyond. On many occasions I have witnessed him giving up his lunch to help those in needs and getting the last person in at the end of the day when he is physically exhausted from seeing close to 30 patients.
His ability to listen and understand what the person may be going through is where he stands out. I have learned from other doctors in the past but it was often what not to do. Dr. Weeda is different in that he puts his patients first and holds true to his purpose. With that being said, his skill as a doctor, his understanding of health and the results from his adjustments are witnessed everyday in the office and in the community; not to mention the endless amount of people that seem to know who he is and what he has to offer.
How would you describe your own approach to healing and wellness?
Holistic. My experience has led me from my schooling in the medical-chiropractic model to the most subtle things that effect health. My approach was described above but let me add to this. The most important thing that I want people to take away from our interactions is that your body has the most amazing ability to heal itself given the right conditions. I am like the detective finding the most effective way to support people in their unique stage of health. My approach is self empowerment and sharing with them the other causes for their pain that they may not have known existed. It’s easy in our culture to be distracted away from what the underlying cause of suffering is, but by facing this reality we allow ourselves to grow, to heal and to return to the healthiest version of ourselves that is possible.
Please tell us more about the Koren Specific Technique and how you utilize it.
Koren Specific Technique (KST) was developed by Dr. Tedd Koren who is well known for his publications in chiropractic education literature and vaccination dangers. This is the newest chiropractic technique being offered, which I believe came to fruition in 2005. The technique uses the 3 C’s which are: check, challenge and correct.
I check by asking the body using a biofeedback indicator in the back of the skull using my hands, which directs to me a part of the body that needs to be addressed. I then challenge that very specific body part which can be any area of the body. If that area needs to be addressed, I correct it using very gentle impulses in a particular direction to correct the area. The instrument used matches the bio-rhythm of the nervous system and relaxation pathways. Sometimes I still cannot believe how well this works as you can watch the whole body change in front of you. Sometimes the effects are immediate and sometimes the person takes several weeks to incorporate all the changes. This technique is unique in that you are usually adjusting someone in the standing or seated position or in the position of the initial trauma.
For example: If someone was in a car accident, I would have them sit down and hold on to an imaginary replication of their steering wheel and have them remember what they were thinking about at the time of the accident, what music was playing, etc. Then I check the body in that particular stressful state, physical, mental and emotional and adjust what needs to be corrected.
Our models for health in the past have always separated these things, but this technique brings it all together for lasting changes. It’s really quite remarkable as to the specificity and accuracy of this new technique. We are actively involving patients back into their healing process which makes the difference. I have seen the most amazing things happen in people’s bodies when the nervous system heals old injuries in this way. Learning directly from the body has taught me so much more about health then I ever learned in school. All I do is pay attention to what the body is telling me.
Where did you see this first demonstrated?
I was in a car accident in 2011 and I ended up seeing a chiropractor friend I went to school with for my treatments. He introduced me to the technique and I was shocked at how quickly I recovered from my injuries. Beyond that, he was able to address things that I had been working on for years without success. Using KST he was effectively communicating with the intelligence of my body, instead of what my mind thought was the issue. Many of the things we found were things that I knew where a problem, but I was unable to realize how they were connected to my pain. After working with this technique it is clear to me how these things can all be connected.
What has the feedback been from your patients?
Immediate responses are: wow! Then often tears, crying, laughing and everything in between. One patient came in for neck and back pain with a 28 degree scioliotic curve, which is when the spine actually has a bend and twist in it which affects the muscles and movement of the entire body. After one adjustment, the spine completely moved to the opposite side which is almost unheard of. I had given that patient scoliosis exercises that first day to help support the spine, but had to tell him to stop that exercise on the next visit due to the huge changes that had occurred after the first visit. Another patient came in for general pains all over her body. She reported that before she saw me she could be angry about one thing for a week or more at a time, but after her first adjustment she could not stand to be angry for more than a few hours because it was so uncomfortable for her. People come in for pain but what they get in addition to pain relief is increased energy, vitality and an understanding of how to prevent suffering from returning.
Dr. March, can you talk more about the new paradigm models of healing? What are some ways of changing how we view ourselves and our health and wellness that are worth consideration?
You are the answer to your health! Your body will tell you everyday what food it doesn’t like, what exercise works best, what people are healthy to be around, what attitude increases your well-being and emotions. If we would only listen to our bodies, so much would change in the medical world as we know it. This is not a new approach. We just live in a society that is always moving, doing and planning for the next step, without taking the time to pay attention to the needs of the body in the present.
I have had to unlearn many things that were taught to me in school regarding health. The first thing is that pain is good; yes pain is good for you. It tells us when something in our body needs attention, when we ignore the ache and then tension, it will turn to pain, and if we ignore that then it turns to degeneration and then dysfunction which usually leads to surgery of some type. Most people come in for pain relief. My experience has led me to put my attention toward the cause of the pain and the positive effects that can be gained in their lives after the pain is gone, rather than focusing on the pain itself. If I have learned anything it is that what we pay attention to becomes stronger in our lives.
I do want to mention another phenomenon that sometimes occurs in our office as a result of deep healing of chronic issues. It’s called the law of cure, retracing, the healing crisis or simply the process of ridding our bodies of toxins. As the body deals with past injuries, traumas or toxins something happens that causes the person to re-experience some of the original symptoms, aches or pains even if it was 20 years prior. Whether it’s a physical, mental or an emotional trauma/toxin, the body will store it until we are in a healthy enough state to release or deal with those toxins.
You will be offering a lecture coming up at the Wellspring Centre. Will you please tell us about it?
In order to drive these ideas home and create the template for the paradigm shift to occur, we will be offering weekly talks to our patient community starting in October. We believe that the time has come to take action and spread the truth.
Any final thoughts or comments you would like to share with our readers?
In a time of increasing toxins, work, conflict and distraction, our culture has come to a decision point. We can continue to follow the prescribed methods of health and get lost in the age of information, or we can stop, breathe and listen to what our bodies are desperately trying to teach us about ourselves. Why just survive when you can thrive!
Learn More:
Wellspring Centre for Body Balance
541-482-2021
www.wellspringbodybalance.com
