“Michael Michael Motorcycle”

It’s hard to know how or when this expression began, but it’s NOT hard to figure out why they used “motorcycle” instead of any other kind of cycle. For example, Michael Michael unicycle does use the same repeated ‘M.’ And Michael Michael bicycle doesn’t have the same ring. Still, there are other cycles that could have been used, and there are lots of cycles in life in general.

There are many cycles happening around us every day. The constantly changing states of water (gas, ice, and liquid states) make up a cycle that interacts with our environment and provides a key component necessary for all life forms. There’s also the flow of oxygen and carbon dioxide wherein respiration from animals and photosynthesis from plants create another critical cycle for life that has been continuing for countless numbers of years.

We also see cycles in life that are spread out over greater periods of time. For example, the rising of the sun to its setting creates the cycle or rhythm of a day. Seven individual days form a week, weeks turn into months, and months into seasons. Of course the tilt of the Earth controls the variations we see in days and weeks and seasons in any part of the world. But all have their own cycle. The world is organized, and organization bespeaks intelligence.

We see cycles in our lives as well, periods of time spent in relationships, friendships, or environments that eventually come to an end. You may be in the beginning of another school year right now, but you won’t be here forever. This time will end, and you will begin another cycle in your life as a working adult.

Our AMAZING bodies also have their own cycles. One of the most significant is called circadian rhythm which is a 24-hour cycle and part of your body’s internal clock. It controls multiple processes in the body including alertness or sleepiness, appetite, and body temperature. It is naturally synced to day and night and is why people who stay awake at night can suffer from poor health.

There are other cycles in the body as well. Some are shorter than 24 hours such as sleep cycles which average around 90 minutes. When you sleep, you alternate between two phases of sleep: rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep. The cycle starts over every 80 to 100 minutes and in a good night’s sleep you might get between four and six cycles. Other cycles are longer than 24 hours, for example women’s monthly menstrual cycle. All cycles, however, are under the control of your AMAZING body.

Cycles are evidence that your body is organized, not random, and it knows what it’s doing. Your body is smart!! You have an intelligence within you that you are born with that is constantly organizing and reorganizing you every moment of your life. It uses your nerve system to communicate and coordinate. Your family chiropractor checks to make sure that your inborn wisdom is expressed as fully as possible. They do that by checking that the bones of your spine aren’t disrupting the function of your nerve system. The clearer your nerve system, the better the communication, the better you can cycle along. Have an AMAZING school year!!

—By Judy Nutz Campanale, DC, ACP