Motherhood as muse...

I hope you had a joyful Thanksgiving holiday!

I recently spent a beautiful morning at the Concord Center for the Visual Arts taking in the show Motherhood as Muse. I was compelled to see it not only because my dear friend Alicia Ethridge is one of the artists exhibiting in the show, but also, to witness an entire art show devoted to the topic of Motherhood.

I was so moved by the pieces, and also by so many of the artists’ statements. Some Artist Mothers spoke about how art brought them back to themselves after becoming a Mother. Many discussed how traditionally, Mothers had to hide that part of their identity to be a successful artist, and how revolutionary it is to bring Motherhood into the studio, and for it to be the central theme of the art itself.

This traditional expectation to keep quiet about one’s Motherhood to ensure success is true is virtually every profession. Often women are expected to work as if they have no children, and mother as if they have no other work.

Yet, Motherhood is woven into our beings, even when we are at work. Indeed, I see my Motherhood muscles as a strength rather than a weakness in almost all settings. I love that this show celebrates embracing the very role of Motherhood itself, and highlights what that role does to a person along the way.

This amazing show is up through December 21st in charming Concord Center, surrounded by shops, historical sites, and restaurants. Below you can see just a few of my favorite pieces. Please go see the show while you can to support local art, enjoy a beautiful local setting, and reflect on the raw, intense, and beautiful muse that is Motherhood.

Warmly,

Dr. Lizzie

🦴 Lessons from our bones 💀

One modern Halloween ritual that I personally appreciate as a chiropractor is adorning homes and gardens with bones and skeletons. Bones truly are a fascinating and underappreciated part of our body.

Living bone is a dynamic, always evolving organ. Our skeleton is constantly remodeling itself through a beautiful ebb and flow of osteoclasts (pac-man like cells eating up old and damaged bone tissue) and osteoblasts (builder like cells who create and lay down fresh new bone tissue). This process continuously strengthens and repairs our skeleton, while simultaneously helping to maintain a perfect balance of minerals in our bloodstream. Without this cycle, our bones become brittle, fragile, and prone to fractures.

I love reflecting on this constant remodeling and renewal of our bones, the miracle of how our skeleton is literally always rebuilding itself in the subconscious background.

This ongoing bony process is a profound reminder that every day our bodies experience and play out the constant cycle of birth and death, creation and destruction, that defines life.

To evolve and move forward, to be strong and sound, we must let go of what is no longer serving us and continuously remodel and renew ourselves, just like our skeletons. Otherwise, we too, will become fragile and break.

This spooky season, may you be as strong, wise, and ever-evolving as your bones.

Warmly,

Dr. Lizzie

The family that camps together…

This coming weekend my family is heading to New Hampshire for our 4th annual camping trip with my brother, sister-in-law, and niece.

On our honeymoon 10 years ago, surrounded by families at our campsite in Acadia, my husband and I decided that we wanted to be a family that camps. I’m so proud that we’ve followed through on that promise and that we’re raising kids who love to go camping with us.

I know it’s is not something that appeals to everyone, but if it is, here are a few tips that have helped us on our camping adventures.

Go with another family. 👪

This tradition has been such a beautiful way to connect with my brother’s family. We get adjoining campsites which not only makes our campfires more cozy and fun, but extra hands and eyes help with so many logistics from food prep, to firewood runs, to having backup supplies on hand.

Invest in a family tent. 🏕

We bought a giant tent (advertised to fit 9-10 people) for the 4 of us. This tent fits 3 air mattresses (or 2 mattresses and a pack’n’play our first year) and is tall enough for us to stand up in. It's truly enormous, obviously only appropriate for car camping, and allows us to be close to our kids if they need us overnight while still having a little bit of space.

Consider Autumn. 🍁

Our first camping trip with the girls was in August and after losing most of our body weight in sweat that trip we decided to give October a try. The comfortable days and cool nights are perfect for camping, and we’ve also found the campsites to be practically empty, making it a much more pleasant experience overall.

I am so excited to escape to the forest for a couple of days with my family. It gives us a chance to unplug, gather around the campfire together, and reconnect with the rhythms of Mother Nature right here in our little corner of the world.

Have you ever gone camping with your kids? Does this inspire you to give it a try? Or solidify that you are not a family who camps? Feel free to write back and let me know!

Warmly,

Dr. Lizzie

My hopes & dreams for the school year ahead…

This coming week, my daughter Rosalind enters 3rd grade, my daughter Ione (who was born in the thick of the pandemic) starts kindergarten, and my husband Paul starts his 18th year teaching. Of course, my mind is thinking about the transition to the new school year and all that it brings.

Here are some of my hopeful wishes for the school year ahead.

May my children…

Find joyful, supportive, and meaningful connections with their peers and teachers.

Act with kindness, respect, and curiosity.

Learn concepts and ideas that excite them and help form a greater understanding of our world and their place in it.

Wake up and move through our morning routine with ease and willingness.

May I, and all parents,…

Find the balance of supporting our children while also giving them space to figure things out for themselves and grow.

Discover deeper connections to our community.

Not over-schedule our children and give them unstructured time to play, rest, and make their own plans for their time.

And if nothing else, please please please may we all finally stop witnessing this horror show of school shootings.

Wishing a happy new school year to all who celebrate. I hope the transitions are smooth, the sick days are few, and the smiles are big.

Warmly,

Dr. Lizzie

like two peas in a pod 🫛

You know that famous quote about the dance team Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers?

“Sure he was great, but don’t forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did...backwards and in high heels.”

This is how I feel when I meet parents of twins! Parenting one baby is probably the hardest job we will ever do. Even so, every day I see parents doing such an amazing job despite being overwhelmed, exhausted, and busy.

NOW, imagine that bone-deep exhaustion and overwhelm times two. Two times the diapers, two times the spit ups, two times the nighttime wake ups, two babies to feed, clothe, bathe, fill out forms for, etc. All the pizzazz, grace, and skill of Fred Astaire but somehow even more impressive because it is just that much harder.

In the past few months, I’ve welcomed a stunning outpouring of different twin families into my practice, and I am in awe of them all and what they do every day.

I love supporting twin families with the unique challenges they face in pregnancy and early parenting. Growing two babies at the same time is not for the faint of heart (or spine)! Being pregnant with twins means carrying about 10-14 pounds of babies, a few pounds of total amniotic fluid, plus a few pounds of total placentas. That’s a lot to carry around in one’s womb and can be really uncomfortable (understatement of the century). Chiropractic care can help optimize the babies’ positions and their parent’s pelvic bio-mechanics to ensure birthing two babies during the same labor goes as smoothly as possible. No matter how they are born, feeding and caring for two newborns on the outside is never ending and incredibly physically taxing.

What about those little twin babies? As you can imagine, it’s a tight squeeze sharing a uterus with your sibling! Over the years, I’ve supported twins with narrow newborn skull shapes, hip dysplasia, and general body tension as they work to unravel from these tight quarters in utero. Plus all the regular challenges that all little ones face as they adjust to life on the outside.

Unsurprisingly, these families need a lot of support emotionally and logistically too. I love hearing all their unique stories, meeting all their unique babies, validating their unique experiences as twins and twin parents, and helping connect them to all the resources they need to thrive.

Having so many twins moving in and out of my office doors these days feels like a double dose of chiropractic cheer. And that is something I’ll always be happy to have in abundance.

Warmly,

Dr. Lizzie

P.S. Yes, my Grandma was a twin, but sadly, she had a pretty fractured relationship with her twin sister. While their twin relationship is not one to try to emulate, working alongside so many twin families now does make me appreciate their mother, my Great-Grandmother, and all the challenges she must have faced so much more.

3 simple things that help parenting go smoother…

Summer is here! I’m taking next week off to spend time with family in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware soaking up the sun on the beach, strolling the boardwalk, and settling into a slower pace for a week. I hope you are also able to take some time off this summer to relax and recharge.

This month, I thought I’d share three simple things we’ve embraced in our family that help the logistics of running a family go a little smoother. Because even simple things can be profound in their impact.

1. Family email address

   My husband and I created a family email address for all things related to the kids and household: school communications, camp sign ups, dental appointment reminders, etc. This helps keep all the family business in one place (and not buried in our individual personal or work inbox). More importantly, this gives both of us equal access to the information about our kids, spreading the mental load out between us.

2. On-call days for sick kids

   My husband and I each have specific days of the week that we know we are “on-call” if a kid is sick and needs to stay home from school. This helps prevent stressful morning conversations deciding who is the least impacted by having to cancel their day to take care of one of the kids.

3. Make friends with your neighbors

   Being friends (or at least friendly) with your neighbors can have so many benefits, big and small. We’ve leaned on our neighbors over the years to bring in a package, check on our cats, bring over pedialyte, and one time even get our older kid to school when I needed to take my little one to the ER. Our kids love having spontaneous play dates, walking to school, and trick-or-treating together. We checked in on each other and shared supplies from waffle irons to paper towels during the pandemic.

   While maybe making friends with your neighbors isn’t as easy as setting up an email address or an on-call system, it is simple in its concept. 🙃 And can be such a wonderful and important relationship to nurture.

Each one of these actions has had a profound positive impact on my family in big and small ways.

I invite you to spread out the mental load in your household, plan ahead for the inevitable sick day beforehand, and find ways to lean into the support of your local micro-community outside your home.

Keeping it simple can still have big impacts.

Warmly,

Dr. Lizzie

Why I quit social media….

For the past few years I’ve had fun building my social media presence on Instagram and connecting with a delightful and dedicated following of clients, colleagues, family, and friends. Plus some people who only knew me through social media.

However, in January, I decided to quit and leave the platform after feeling like it was no longer serving me. It’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made in a while.

Here are the top three reasons I quit and why I don’t see myself returning.

1. Time

   Social media is designed to capture our attention, and capture my attention it did. I was spending so much time on the platform, thinking about my posts, filming, editing, captioning my posts, commenting on others posts, responding to comments, and yes, mindlessly scrolling. Time is the most precious resource we have, and this habit was taking significant amounts of it away from my rest and leisure, my family, and my work. And rather than giving me additional income, my unpaid labor and the energy going into creating content was helping make even more money for billionaire Mark Zuckerberg.

2. My mental health

   Despite some beautifully positive things on social media (more on this below) Instagram is also filled with tragic graphic videos, disturbing headlines, an onslaught of hateful opinions, scams, and constant invitations of comparison with other’s vacations, bodies, businesses, homes, and children’s accomplishments. For me, these small sparks of joy are buried in an onslaught of this other burning garbage, much of which noticeably contributed to my levels of anxiety and depression.

3. My children’s mental health

   Reading The Anxious Generation really sealed the deal for me. In it, Jonathan Haidt lays out extremely clear, compelling, and horrifying research on how early smart phone and social media use has caused an epidemic of mental illness in children, especially girls. My husband and I are committed to our daughter’s enjoying childhoods free from smart phones and social media. One of the best ways I know how to do this is modeling life without social media and intentional, brief phone usage like taking a picture or looking up directions rather than scrolling as a pastime. I highly recommend reading The Anxious Generation if you haven’t already, and also checking out the author’s initiative Let Grow for fostering phone free childhood independence in the real world. You can download a free summer experience guide to do with your kids this Summer!

Of course there are some things I do miss about social media. Mostly you all! All the lovely people who stayed in touch and shared kind words, knowledge, cute pictures, and stories that helped us stay connected. Still, I’d rather meet one friend for tea or lunch a month, or even send an individual text or picture than connect with hundreds of people each month with an emoji or an exchange of a few words. And I can stay informed about the world in ways that are less triggering to my anxiety, such as reading or listening to a trusted news source once or twice a day.

Maybe this doesn’t resonate. Maybe you’ve never been on social media. Maybe you have great boundaries with social media and it continues to serve you well in your life. I realize that social media is here in our world and will never go away. And I think it serves us all to bring a little more intention into our social media habits, or any relatively new technology that we find ourselves spending hours a day consuming.

At the very least, take a break. Put down the phone and take a walk, paint with your kids, or just go to sleep 20 minutes earlier. Who knows? You might enjoy it more than you expect.

Warmly,

Dr. Lizzie

Ripples of goodness

When the world feels chaotic and overwhelming, I try to focus in on small actions I can control and envision the ripples of goodness those small actions create.

The other day a new parent of one of my pediatric patients shared,

"Thank you so much for helping him, he really does seem like a happier, more comfortable baby.

After two gentle adjustments in the first months of his life, this little person is now able to turn his head more freely, digest more comfortably, and generally feel more at ease in his body. This small but mighty action will have lasting positive impacts on his gross motor growth and development, sleep health, head shape, as well as the emotional dynamics and well-being of his entire family.

This is why I have the best job!

What small actions can you do that can create lasting positive impact?

• plant native species in your yard

• walk or bike instead of driving

• bring your neighbor some muffins

• start composting

• donate to a fundraiser

• shop small and local

• tip generously

• vote in local elections

• send an old friend a postcard

What else can you think of? Lean into your own strengths and passions! These small actions add up, and create ripples of goodness in our own spiritual and emotional health, the well-being of our communities, and humanity at large.

Warmly,

Dr. Lizzie

“The past is the present, isn’t it?…

As many Millennials can surely relate, I loved American Girl dolls as a child. I spent hours in my room playing with my Molly doll for years of my girlhood. As I got older, and my interests inevitably turned to other pursuits, I carefully packed up Molly and all her accessories in a big trunk and stored her at the top of my closet in my childhood bedroom.

Fast forward about 30 years to a family friend gifting both my daughters new American Girl dolls for Hanukkah. Seeing how much they both loved playing with them, I finally got my trunk from my parent’s house with Molly and all her accessories and opened it up with my girls.

At first, I was hesitant to let them play with it all, still feeling protective and responsible for these toys all these years later. “These are expensive! They might break them!” said an anxious voice in my head.

Then, I reminded myself that all this has literally been sitting in a box for decades. What could possibly be a better opportunity to have saved these for than my own two daughters, thrilled to play and engage with these fabulous dolls of my childhood. They are loving these toys as much as I remember loving them, braiding and upbraiding their hair, changing their elegant clothes, dropping them off at pretend school, and cuddling up next to them to fall asleep, and it all brings me more joy than I could of imagined.

The joy of a full circle moment. Of reconnecting with and sharing my inner child with my two daughters who are becoming more in tune with their own inner selves each day. The joy of having the perspective to cherish these precious moments with my daughters and our shared dolls, knowing all too well that in just a few years the dolls will likely get packed up again as my girls grow up past this stage and inevitably move on to other pursuits. Until then, Molly and I will be soaking this up.

Warmly,

Dr. Lizzie

P.S. Of course, I want to know if you had an American Girl doll growing up, and which one!

Can you guess my specialty???

One of my teachers in chiropractic school shared, “You don’t choose your specialty, your specialty chooses you.” While I definitely chose to build a perinatal and pediatric practice from the very beginning of my career, more and more, I feel like the sub-specialty that is “choosing me” is tongue ties.

(Unsure what a tongue tie is? Learn all about them in my free guide, OR in this post I wrote, OR if you are a Nurture by Naps member you can watch my recent Tongue Ties 101 webinar!)

On Monday I welcomed 4 babies and their parents to my office as the newest cohort of my Tongue Tie Babies Group. These babies all have unique challenges, but also striking similarities in their tongue tie journeys. Bringing all these families together in community to support and learn from each other created such a palpable, beautiful energy in my space that felt so uplifting.

Personally, it’s now one year after my own tongue tie release, and I have been reflecting on all the changes in my physical body since then. Most notably, the frequency and intensity of my headaches I’ve been experiencing since I was 12 years old have reduced dramatically, to only once every few months. This change alone is absolutely life changing and one that I am cautiously celebrating as it becomes my new normal. I also am no longer grinding my teeth at night. After years of wearing a mouth guard to bed to protect my teeth and gums, it’s now collecting dust in my bedside drawer. And in my weekly yoga classes, I no longer feel an uncomfortable tugging between my shoulder blades when I extend my arms out in child’s pose, something I continued to feel even after practicing yoga for more than 20 years.

I may not have believed you if you had told me in chiropractic school that I’d be talking about tongue ties on a daily basis in my practice, because I don’t remember ever even hearing about tongue ties growing up, in chiropractic school, or even in my early pediatric postgraduate training. It wasn't until about 10 years ago that I heard the term for the first time from a Mom bringing her baby into my office. And each year since then I feel that I personally, and we collectively, have learned more about ties and their impacts. Being able to apply this knowledge to myself, my children, and the hundreds of people who come through my office doors for guidance and healing is something I have become uniquely qualified to do. It really does feel like tongue ties chose me.

Warmly,

Dr. Lizzie

the art of wintering.❄️

“Doing those deeply unfashionable things—slowing down, letting your spare time expand, getting enough sleep, resting—is a radical act now, but it is essential. This is a crossroads we all know, a moment when you need to shed a skin. If you do, you’ll expose all those painful nerve endings and feel so raw that you’ll need to take care of yourself for a while. If you don’t, then that skin will harden around you.”
― Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

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Perhaps my favorite thing about living in the Northeast is the seasonal shifts that guide us through our year. Like our monthly cycles, each season brings an invitation of new energy, pursuits, and intentions.

In the brisk, gray, and bitter cold, lessons abound all around us on the art of Wintering.

Creatures around us like bats, bears, and snakes slow their heart rate, stay holed up in their dens for months at a time, and do, quite literally, as little as possible to survive until warmer weather.

The deciduous trees around us shed their leaves in preparation for Winter to protect themselves from damage, to recycle nutrients back into their roots, and, above all, to conserve energy.

We are, of course, creatures too, subject to the rhythms of Mother Nature, and we therefore should not expect the same productivity and outward energy from ourselves or others throughout this season. We, too, are meant to rest, slow down, pause for inward reflection, and “shed some leaves” to protect our precious energy.

As much as some days I wish I could, obviously, we cannot stay in our beds and stop our body’s metabolic processes until Spring. But we can make little choices to rest and restore this season that can have huge impacts on our nervous system. We can go to bed early, fill our kitchens with nourishing warming foods, take meaningful pauses from major energy sucks in our daily lives like social media or the constant news cycle, snuggle up on the couch with a cup of tea and a good book, do some gentle stretching, and make time to truly restore and rest.

And so, among the greater chaos of the world and the literal and figurative Winter we are all in right now, I hope you all are finding some moments of peace, warmth, and replenishment.

Warmly,

Dr. Lizzie

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If this first month is any indication of what’s to come, we’re all gonna need some Wholesome Healing in 2025:

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My one-of-a-kind small Tongue Tie Babies Support Group combines clinical pediatric chiropractic care, hands on education about ties and their impacts, and emotional support for families working through oral feeding restrictions.

My next cohort starts February 24th and is limited to only 6 pairs of babies and their parent.

Be sure to sign up for the waitlist now so you are the first to know when registration opens and to get a discount off the registration price.

It's Officially Winter.❄️

It’s hard to believe we’re in the last few days of 2024!

I am currently taking some time off from my practice to be with my family as we mark the Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s Eve. And do our best among alllll these festivities to relax, and slow down a bit from regular life’s intense pace.

Resting and slowing down does not always come easy to us, especially those of us who grew up in America thinking that our biggest purpose in our life is to be productive. I recently started working with a new Mom who is Russian who is shocked at how quickly she and her husband were expected to get back to work after the holidays, as in Russia people usually never return back to the office until about Jan 10th at the earliest. 😲

When our work is essential, or we have a passion for it, or we are the only one who does our job, I would argue it is even MORE important to take a real break. Rest, relaxation, and joyful moments with family and friends are fundamental parts of being human. Most of our paid work is just not. And I’ve never met someone who regrets taking their full vacation time, especially if you’ve earned paid time off!

I hope each and every one of you gets some meaningful time at this year end for a relaxing, peaceful, and joyful break.

Warmly,

Dr. Lizzie

What Moms really want this holiday season...

I’ve been getting a lot of gift guides in my inbox recently as the holiday season starts in earnest. With all you amazing Moms in mind, I came up with my own. Feel free to share with loved ones who are looking to get you something you really want! Most are free!

What Moms Really Want

• We want your promise to never knowingly vote for or politically support someone who sexually assaults women or children. Full stop.

• We want paid leave from work when caring for children and family members, subsidized child care when we return to our careers would be great too!

• We want our partners to take on the burden of birth control.

• We want to have someone we love take pictures of us with our kids without us asking and then send it to us.

• We want society and everyone in it to lower their expectations of what a ‘good’ Mom does.

• We want summer camp registrations to start after the holiday season.

What Moms Really Do NOT Want

• We do not want you to comment on our bodies or ask when we are having another kid.

• We do not want to be shamed for bringing our children into places they deserve and we paid for them to be, like airplanes.

• We do not want you to expect us to clean our home before you come over. If it’s clean that consider that a bonus/stroke of luck.

• We do not want a scented candle and some bubble bath marketed to us as ‘self care’. We want the time and mental space to take care of ourselves.

• We do not want to be denied life saving medical care when we are miscarrying.

• We do not want your opinions on how wrong our parenting choices are.

What am I missing? What do you really want or not want this year?

Wishing you all a joyful and peaceful Thanksgiving!

With gratitude,

Dr. Lizzie

I'm walking for perinatal mental health!

Part 1

Tomorrow, Sunday October 27 from 11am-12:30pm in Newton, I’ll be participating in The Climb, an event raising awareness and money for perinatal mental health through the amazing work of Postpartum Support International.

This is a cause so personal to me, as I experienced postpartum anxiety and depression after the birth of both my children. Even as someone who had worked in the perinatal field for years before becoming a Mother, it still was hard for me to notice all the signs in myself, and harder still for me to accept the help I needed once I did.

Every week in my office I meet parents, mostly Moms, who are struggling with the radical shifts in their identity, sleep patterns, marriage dynamics, bodies, and every single thing about their lives as they are adjusting to life with a newborn.

Becoming a Mom is SO hard. And with the wild expectations that we set for ourselves influenced by the world around us, social media, our friends and family, and our own desires to be the very best parents we can be, it becomes even harder. Layer on the stress of the wider world: war, gun violence, loss of bodily autonomy, rising cost of everything, etc, and it gets even more intense (please don’t forget to vote!)

This is why I’m so excited to be a part of this event, and to be inspiring others to donate to this amazing cause. Feeling inspired yet?

I set the very ambitious goal of raising $1800 for Team Boston.

As of the time of this writing, I’ve raised $785.

Will you please help me reach my goal by tomorrow, Sunday Oct 27th????

If you are able to, and believe in this cause as I do, I would be so grateful for your contribution.

With so much gratitude,

Dr. Lizzie

P.S. If I do reach my goal of $1800 by 11:59pm on Sunday I am going to do my first ever cold plunge, and film it for you all to enjoy.

Part 2

Thank you SO much to each and every one of you who contributed to my recent fundraiser for Postpartum Support International.

It was so moving and exciting to get notification after notification that someone else had ‘answered the call’ and generously donated to this amazing cause. And answered the call, you did!

Thanks to so many of you, I reached my ambitious goal of $1800!

Collectively, Team Boston raised just over $12,000 (!) which is the highest amount that any Climb Team raised nationwide! And my fundraising team specifically was the 6th highest individual team nationwide! I am so grateful to all of you (and my Instagram followers who put up with my persistent days-long-campaign that rivaled some NPR pledge drives).

I am so proud to have been a part of this event and to be surrounded by such a beautiful community of you all amazing, compassionate, generous people.

The emotional and uplifting event, and witnessing so many of you give to this important cause, filled me with hope and optimism, two amazingly precious feelings these days.

Mothers truly can save the world. Now let’s go vote.

With so much gratitude,

Dr. Lizzie

P.S. I did reach my goal! Which means, as promised, I will be doing my first ever cold plunge on camera for you all! Stay tuned, will be putting it on my calendar very soon.

my business is a tween! 🥳

Wholesome Healing Chiropractic turns 12 tomorrow!

It’s wild for me to reflect on owning and nurturing this practice over these past 12 years, not only on how much has changed, but also how much hasn’t changed.

I was 28 years old when I started this practice, and had just graduated from chiropractic college about 6 weeks earlier. I opened Wholesome Healing on a shoestring budget: using my folding portable table from school and renting a tiny room from a massage therapist in the Back Bay. This room was so small! I remember when my patient Becky and I were both expecting our first babies (due the same week as each other), and as we got toward the end of our pregnancies we literally couldn’t pass by each other on the same side of my treatment table because we did not fit.

While I absolutely loved this little room with a view of Newbury Street, sharing the space with this massage therapist meant I could only see children and babies during specific times of day when my office mate wasn’t working, and as I started to get busier and my pediatric practice grew, it just couldn’t work anymore.

Because, one thing that has stayed the same since Day One:

I’ve always wanted to work with perinatal and pediatric clients.

I remember early on getting advice that I shouldn’t focus too much on pregnancy and babies in my messaging, marketing, and networking because I might exclude other types of clients. Luckily, I ignored this advice, knowing that I truly only did want to serve expecting and new families, and also knowing there were very few other providers serving new families well.

This mission has guided nearly all of my decisions about my practice for the past 12 years. Perinatal and pediatric topics have been the subject of virtually every single continuing education course I’ve taken yearly. It pushed me to take the leap to open my own solo office space in Needham almost 2 years ago, a space that was not just tolerant of babies and kids but truly welcoming and comfortable for them. One that worked for new families logistically and energetically.

Another constant that has stayed the same since Day One: how amazing, fulfilling, and truly fun it is to work with all of you for these past twelve years and counting. Some of you have been with me since that very first little office, and you still come in for adjustments regularly. That trust, support, and loyalty you give me as your chiropractor is one of the greatest honors of my life.

Thank you so much. Looking forward to many more beautiful years ahead.

Best,

Dr. Lizzie

“The odd uneven time.”

“August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.”
-Sylvia Plath

We really squeezed in a lot this Summer! And, we had a blast.

The big highlight was our trip to Spain, which was truly amazing, memorable, and joyful. My favorite thing about the trip was that we were able to just be together as our family of four with no pressing needs or chores to take care of. In the most enchanting and magical setting, we were able to explore, engage fully with our children, walk, swim, rest, eat, drink, and enjoy each other's conversation and company.

While we can’t escape to Spain year round, I want to intentionally hold onto some of those vacation vibes as the school year begins (my youngest started pre-K today and my oldest starts 2nd grade tomorrow!). It is so easy to over-schedule and over-commit ourselves and our kids. This Fall, I want to intentionally protect some time just for ourselves. For slow mornings, puttering around the yard, taking couch naps, going out for a meal, or spontaneously exploring a new place as a family of 4 with no agenda besides being together.

Wishing you a smooth transition into the new September routines. Hopefully with some Summertime vibes sprinkled in as needed.

Best,

Dr. Lizzie

old friends and new adventures💃🏻💃🏻

Last week my oldest childhood friend came to stay with us for a couple of days with her husband and 2 of her 3 children. Tahlia and I met when we were just 2 years old and spent so much of our formative years side by side, playing, talking, pretending, laughing, creating. Our relationship feels so beautifully constant and familiar, even if we live across the country from each other and don’t talk very frequently anymore.

Our children are similar ages to each other, and watching them play and interact together felt surreal and also the most natural thing in the world. What a blessing to have a life long friend. What a gift to see your children have fun connecting and playing together.

Time and energy for maintaining friendships are something I took for granted when I was younger. As adults, we really have to prioritize people and friendships that we want to maintain. Even a random text or picture can mean so much. A phone call, or if you’re lucky, a rare visit can fill my cup till it’s pouring over.

Hope you find time this Summer to see your loved ones and enjoy good hugs, sincere laughter, and eager conversation.

Best,

Dr. Lizzie

🌞Summertime vibes🌞

The Solstice has passed, school is officially out, temps in Eastern Massachusetts have been hot, SUMMER IS HERE!

For my family, Summer is a very special time when my husband gets to live a stay-at-home Dad life for a couple months, I get a little break from the morning and evening drop off/pick up routines with the kids, and as a family we get to both slow down a little, and also have some exciting family adventures.

One of my favorite writers and podcasters, Gretchen Rubin, always offers such a great reminder to ‘Design Your Summer’. Although it can be a magical time of year, it really does fly by! As fun as it is to have spontaneous summer days, if there are certain things you KNOW you want to do this Summer, go ahead and pick a weekend/text your people/buy the tickets/make it happen now.

All Winter were you dreaming of having a picnic dinner at an outside concert or Shakespeare on the Common? Go ahead and look up dates and times now!

Have you been meaning to take your kids to an amusement park? Which weekend are you going to go?

Do you want to go strawberry picking this Summer? Well, make sure you look up farms and what weeks they offer pick your own!

You get the point, don’t let this season pass you by without making time for those Summer bucket list items. At this moment, when the whole of Summer still lays before us, is the time to start making those dreams a reality.

Best,

Dr. Lizzie

Check out my new look!👀

Earlier this month I had new photos taken for my business for the first time in 7 years!

The photos I had been using were taken in 2017 in my very first office, a tiny little room I rented from a massage therapist at the corner of Boylston and Berkeley streets in the Back Bay.

The Baby I’m adjusting in those photos is my oldest daughter, who is now 7.5 years old!

I had so much fun during this month’s photo shoot! My bright and beautiful office was filled with so many bright and beautiful faces from my practice and community. Ana from Lovely Pictures Studio did such an amazing job capturing the vibes and energy of me and my practice.

It is so satisfying to grow and evolve my practice alongside my own family and yours!

Which picture is your favorite??

Best,

Dr. Lizzie

total eclipse of my heart🌚🌞

Even though the April 8th eclipse was widely discussed for weeks, months, even years before the date, I still was completely unprepared for this event the morning of. I didn’t even have eclipse glasses!

Then, serendipitously, many different pieces fell into place. My last appointment of the day cancelled that morning. My friend and neighbor, Jocelyn, happened to have extra eclipse glasses with her at her workplace just a few minutes from my office. And my daughter’s school passed them out to each student.

I was able to pick up my 1st grader right as the eclipse was starting. We walked towards our home with our glasses on and stopped at our local park on the way along with many of our neighbors to witness this bewitching phenomenon together. At one point, she said to me, “Mom, I’m going to remember this forever.”

Although I have watched eclipses before, this one felt different. Maybe it is the perspective gained with age and parenthood, or experiencing it through my daughter’s wonder and hilarious comments, or because I was so excited that I unexpectedly could behold this most supernatural of natural events, but that afternoon felt magical.

The eclipse gave me such a beautiful reminder of our tiny little place in the Universe, and how the Earth and Moon will continue to continue spinning despite all the mess and havoc we humans have wrought.

Lessons I learned from that celestial day:

1. Magical things can happen even if you don’t plan ahead.

2. Even so, pay more attention to when eclipses are happening and maybe next time get the glasses and time off in advance.

3. Eclipses are absolutely remarkable and worth chasing.

Will I become an umbraphile? Stay tuned…I’m looking ahead to August 2026 in Iceland or Spain.

Best,

Dr. Lizzie