Throughout my life, I’ve been blessed with an eclectic set of friends and Nori (she doesn’t care for honorifics) is among the very best I’ve had the honor of calling friend. As you can imagine, there aren’t many I can speak to in a certain manner and not elicit raised eyebrows. Recently, she invited Lowcountry Weekly via Wholly Holistics into her noodle to see how a vastly-studied healer operates internally. I hope the readers will be as fascinated and as educated as I am by her.
What made you decide to leave your career in nursing and start a career as a chiropractor?
I became a chiropractor after injuring myself at work. This injury, or epiphany, however you look at it, instructed me that a chiropractor could help me in a simpler way without only treating symptoms.
What is NET?
NET (Neuro Emotional Technique) takes the emotional component of the healing triad into view. My belief is for people to truly heal, we have to be willing to look at, and rule out, how the emotions affect a person, as well as their physical and biochemical components. They all come into play when we are trying to heal versus treating symptoms. My feeling is, if there is an underlying emotional issue affecting the physical symptoms, and we don’t help to address that first, the physical symptoms will return.
NET is based on Chinese Acupuncture meridians. Each meridian in the body is a very specific energetic pathway. Each pathway is governed by a specific organ while each organ is affected by specific emotions.
If we are triggered by said emotions while ignoring our feelings, the pathway becomes congested causing physical issues. NET allows me to find where the congestion is, where we release the memories of that feeling.
The emotional trigger may still be present, but doesn’t have to be experienced as a symptom. We can then circle back to the physical or biochemical components to see if they still exist. Often, we find the symptoms have dissipated.
Would you please tell us about energy testing and how it came about for your practice? When I initially became a chiropractor, I felt it important to take a stand: do I adjust the vertebrae because the muscle pulled the bone or does the bone misalign, causing the muscle to shorten in response?
I studied applied kinesiology. Its premise? The idea that muscles move bones.
The belief is that every spinal nerve that exits between 2 vertebrae have a specific pathway and that specific nerve energy will send the messages to a specific organ, muscle, and back to the spine and brain. Anywhere on that reflex where the function is off, will affect the entire reflex.
We can test the function of a muscle, and if we find it to be either too strong or too weak, we can assume the nerve is either over or under-effective.
My philosophy? Until we balance the muscle function with adjustments along with points to send the correct messages to the nerves, we won’t be able to balance that nerve’s energy.
What, as a certified Kundalini Yoga instructor, do you employ in your practice?
Most of what I employ from Kundalini Yoga is breath work. Breath is life. If you’ve ever watched a child breathe, you can see their bellies expand on the inhale and relax on the exhale. Most adults breathe in the opposite manner.
Can you speak to running a successful business as a single parent?
Business is certainly not my strong suit. That said, I decided I would be the best I could be if I built my practice through referrals. It took longer, but by spending time giving patients tools to help themselves understand their bodies in ways previously overlooked.
There were times I missed dinner with the kids, or even a homework assignment, but there was also an outgoing message stating, “If you’re calling between 6-9 pm, please leave a message as I’m busy with my family.”
As a small person (4’11”), please talk about how you had to focus on the finer points of chiropractic technique as opposed to a larger chiropractor. Frankly, you’ve made me biased toward small chiropractors. Fair or not fair?
My first professor in chiro college said, “Not only are you a woman, but you’re a small one, at that.” He clearly thought I would never make it through school. I was determined to prove him wrong.
I realized that by finessing the body, I could get as much, if not more, done. I learned the problem with this is it takes a longer visit, which did not allow me to see as many patients in a day.
I could do this first by balancing the muscles thru Kinesiology, and unraveling the nervous system with some network chiropractic along with some cranio-sacral integration. The body then knows what it needs. It’s like I’m a mirror for the nervous system. This then allows me to offer more gentle cues, allowing for the needed changes to occur.
I still use structural adjustments, but same can be accomplished with less force.
I don’t think it’s about size as much as a different perspective, I think our life experiences mold our choices no matter our size. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been treated by very large men with very light touches!
What biases as a Greek Jewish woman from New York, have you faced?
Sadly, the biggest bias in my professional life have been people saying, “I’d like to see you, but I don’t want to have to come back every week.” I usually do not see my patients that often. I find the results of what I do, take the body time to acknowledge and respond to.
My family settled in New York from Greece in the 1900’s. Work ethic was my biggest take-away from my family. And if hard work didn’t do the job, then, and only then, ask for help.
Top three things you tell your patients?
I explain why I look for and rule out all three facets of healing: emotional, structural, and biochemical. I remind patients that if the problem has been there for a while, it will often take time to heal. Think marathon, not sprint. Hydrating from a healthy source is vastly underrated.
A learning moment from a patient that stuck with you?
When I first began using NET in my practice, I had a gentleman with shoulder issues we couldn’t resolve. I suggested this “new” technique to address the emotions buried in his shoulder. We discovered someone had taken him by the hand when he was young and spun him so his feet left the ground. He said he remembered at first, feeling like he was flying, but shortly felt discomfort, but couldn’t ask the person to stop. He felt out of control. Once we cleared that emotional piece, he never had a shoulder issue again for as long as I saw him.
Education, experience, and a caring touch are a given with you, but what are the intangibles of what Nori does?
I believe you must start by meeting a person where THEY reside. I feel it allows me to be that mirror for them. They then can employ the needed changes in their lives. I so often hear, “I didn’t really know what I needed until that ‘thing’ presented itself.”
I think that’s true for all of us. I facilitate rather than force. The choice is always up to the individual. I never take credit for a person’s improvement. That’s up to the individual. The body is amazing at recognizing the needed change once aware of it.
Please share a little-known fact or quirk about yourself.
People always assume I take good care of myself and so often when I see a patient out while I’m having a glass of wine, or eating an ice cream sundae, they’re surprised.
I am a real junk food girl. That said, I try to keep it in moderation. I believe most things are okay in moderation. A balance must be struck. Enjoy a luscious ice cream Sunday, but don’t make it habitual.
Nori, thank you for being my friend and sounding board. Best wishes in the Upstate of South Carolina. I’m glad I taught you how to say Clempson before you moved.
