April 3, 2025 • 18 mins
Dr. Aryn Gabai, Life University Alumnus and Owner/Chiropractor for Pennington Family Chiropractic, takes a truly global view at the potential impact that chiropractic can have. Toward the end of school, he traveled with one of the first groups of students to deliver chiropractic care in a Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Zigong, China. Following his work in China, he interned at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland in the Department for Traditional Medicine working on documents that set standards for care in multiple fields of traditional medicine including Ayurveda, Thai Massage, Naturopathy and others. He treats the world as a never-ending classroom and playground, eager to learn and teach and grow.
This podcast episode is part of Thriving Chiros Podcast, an Alumni & Friends Chiropractic series part of the Living Life at Life U podcast. This long-term series goes into deeper detail about what it means to succeed in practice and outside of the four walls of the chiropractic office. This is Season 2, Episode 7 of Thriving Chiros hosted by Dr. Austin Cohen- Life U Alumnus, Chiropractor & Founder of Corrective Chiropractic. Season 2 was recorded Live at LVE- Life Vision Extravaganza, Life University’ s annual continuing education seminar event.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:00):
This is thriving chiropractors, where chiropractors, supporting chiropractors, and talking
to chiropractors that are thriving beyond the four walls of
their practice.
S2 (00:15):
This is Doctor Austin Cohen with thriving chiros. Welcome to
season two. Uh, and we're so excited because season one, man,
we really appreciate everyone who's been reaching out and the
feedback and the comments we've gotten on a lot of
the great guests we had. But this season is cool
and I love it because we are doing live from LVT,
where we are basically having guests and friends of ours
and some of the alumni come out and some of
(00:36):
the speakers as well come out and really just share
with us some of the stories and the journeys that
they've been through. And so today I'm honored because not
only do I have a colleague here, but I actually
have a good friend who's on our podcast today, and
this is Doctor Aaron Gabay from another 2009 grads, just
like myself. So welcome to the podcast, man.
S3 (00:52):
Thank you. It's great to be here.
S2 (00:53):
Yeah. So, uh, you know, one thing, and I and
I prepped Doctor Aaron for this, where, you know, we
don't go straight into the story of give me your
life's journey and how you got here, right? And what
what matters to us is we do a lot of
tactical conversations in these podcasts that we do. Sure. And
so we kind of just go straight to the jugular, man. And, uh,
you know, the first question we ask and I think
(01:13):
this is such a important one because so much information
comes out from this question is, you know, if you
look back, you didn't practice for 15 years. Uh, if
we don't include, like, all the times you worked for
your dad, he's a chiropractor as well before that. Um,
if you go back 15 years and you think of
a couple, 1 or 2 pivotal moments where you think
that was a moment that defined my career, whether it
was like you went through a really hard time, um,
(01:36):
whether it was a transition, whether it was a relationship,
whether it was a book you read, a podcast, a speaker,
like whatever it was, I, you know, had people on here.
There was a hurricane that took out their practice. Um,
what could you share as a pivotal moment, you would
say the last 15 years that have happened that has
transformed who you are today?
S3 (01:50):
Well, I want to start with just acknowledging the fact
that chiropractic didn't start as a profession for me 15
years ago. It started when I enrolled in 2006 at
Life University, and my pivotal experiences started at Life University.
As you remember, we had a lot of shared pivotal
experiences in just being on campus and the transformative experience
(02:14):
of becoming a chiropractor, whether it was in the enterprise weekends.
For me, one of the really transformative experiences was in 2009,
I did an internship at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland,
and that was like the capstone of my chiropractic education
and transfer into my career and just kind of seeing
that organization from inside of it and what a global
(02:35):
operations of healthcare system look like, or really was just
disease and sick care and, um, corporate buyout of healthcare
on a really large level. Um, that was a hugely
influential to me because it really it defined the the
real struggle that I knew I was going to have,
which was actually teaching people to have the mindshare of
(02:59):
a true healthcare approach and then putting chiropractic in it.
So it wasn't even just like, hey, here's chiropractic. It's
how do you approach the world? And so I would
say one of the more pivotal experiences then as a
practicing chiropractor, I took over my dad's practice. I practiced
as an associate of his for a bunch of years.
And then I took over that practice, and I practiced,
if you will, in that model for a bunch of years.
(03:21):
And it took me about ten years to really start
to get to the how do I want to practice
amongst all the other ways in the world. And I
shaped my own approach to chiropractic, having studied many different techniques,
having worked in it long enough, been in it my
whole profession. And so even just learning to define chiropractic
in a way where I was delivering on not just
(03:42):
the results of chiropractic care, but the life transformation that
is possible when you start to open your mind to
something so much bigger things just getting adjusted, but how
that adjustment integrates you and all the things that you
do together in life and then actually packaging that as
a thing you could buy in a certain care plan
and all that takes a ton of work and effort.
(04:03):
And that has transformed how I even relate to people
on a day to day level, that I would consider
the recreation of what I have to offer for humanity
as probably one of the biggest transformative experiences. I mean,
you talk about hurricanes, you can talk about pandemics, you
can talk about, you know, having to work with my
dad as a boss and my dad. There's all these
(04:24):
things in there. But I think really transforming what I'm
able to produce as a result for people in this world,
that's been one of the most powerful things.
S2 (04:32):
Let's go back. So you said that when you took
it over, you kind of it kind of shaped like
you as a chiropractor, like your your maybe vision was
a little bit different than his. Maybe. Or, but you know,
what were some of the things that if you could
share like some of the things maybe you did or
some of like the beliefs maybe you had while you
were with him that you had to break through in
order to kind of get to that next level.
S3 (04:51):
Well, so one of the things that really made a
difference for me was was wanting to be able to
have the space and time to cover the conversations on
a visit by visit level, and that was just kind
of not the model that we were working under. We had,
if you will, 3 to 5 minute scheduled for a patient.
And then they were doing some prehab or uh, pre
(05:11):
work or post work and, and then really that small
amount of time, one of the things that I really
found is that I wanted to talk with them more.
I wanted to like, interact. I wanted them to get
that light bulb moment. And so when I really transformed
my practice, I had to go out of network. I
had to leave all these pieces because the thing I
wanted to do more was teach them. I wanted to
like spend time. And those questions actually like getting that
(05:35):
moment of, wow, this thing. I could live my whole
life and look at the rest of my life differently
if I just learned something more about myself, and I
just didn't find the space for that in the way
that we were running a practice. But I didn't really
know that until I went and did it a bunch
of years and said, hey, wait, there's something missing for me.
And there's a thing that's really, really important for me.
And that thing became so important for me that I
(05:55):
actually left private practice. And now I teach at a
chiropractic school because that is really where my passion is, is.
S2 (06:01):
So you're teaching now?
S3 (06:02):
I am teaching at.
S2 (06:02):
Chapman, and it's interesting your journey though, man, like to talk.
I mean, literally you were talking about how like your
favorite thing to do is educate and share, and it's like,
you knew that though, but it was like 2014, 15, 16, 17.
And now here we are, 2020, and now you're actually
in education.
S3 (06:16):
That's right.
S2 (06:16):
Which I love. By the way, and I've told you
this a hundred times, like the students need you. Like
they need people like you, man, to teach, be teaching
them like I love it. You've been an experience. I mean,
just I love it. It makes me so happy to
know there's people like you out there that are in
the education right now, by the way. What are some things,
like when you think of, like, I'm sure you've thought
about this before, right. You're going into now teach at Sherman.
I'm sure there's a thing like in your mind. Like.
(06:38):
All right. These are the concepts I would love to
impart on these students. Like, there are certain concepts and
philosophies you probably have. And when they graduate, these students
knew that and had that information. They can be so successful.
Make an impact professionally. Do you think about some of
those concepts?
S3 (06:54):
Well, I am new in the chiropractic educational world, right?
So I have to really kind of put a little
buffer around that and say, here's what I've learned so
far about this. One thing that I find incredibly important
is that people understand at least three different techniques. They
have an upper cervical technique, they've got a tonal technique,
and they've got a structural technique or a postural technique
(07:14):
of some sort. Because at least in those three models
of understanding, you can get such a spectrum of understanding
of what your peers are doing or what's possible. It's
doing what you really love. And I think, especially from
a chiropractic educational perspective, while you are in school for
just this little period of time, at least get one
in each of those categories would put you in a
(07:36):
really great place. Um, but I think a thing that
really it's, it's more difficult now for a lot of ways.
But one of the ways I think is, is that
there's so much information to be learned that your why
becomes more important. It's not just what you learn anymore.
And there's so many great classes and there's so much
(07:57):
to learn. I mean, how many credit hours and how
many tests did we take and like, how much did
that really retain? But when you get a understanding of
a why, why am I making this adjustment? Why am
I giving this care plan recommendation? Why am I taking
on this patient? Why am I telling this patient to
come back? There's a why element that isn't really something
(08:18):
taught in a class. It's a part of who you become.
And so really, I think chiropractic education is two parallel things.
And we learned this in school when we were doing this.
There's what you do in the classroom. That's 50% of it.
You got to really do that. You can't become a doctor.
But there's also this who do you become in the
process of becoming a chiropractor? And that is a personal
(08:40):
journey that can really become of why would you want
someone to go see a chiropractor? And I think the
development of that, why on a chiropractic educational level, it's
not a thing that we could teach someone. We could
teach you anatomy. I can't teach you your why. I
can show you the doorway. You're going to have to
go through it yourself.
S2 (08:56):
Yeah. I look back at it as you sharing this,
I'm like, I'm thinking about what did I learn when
I was in chiropractic school from an education standpoint? And
you know what I remember? I remember the stories the
chiropractor shared with me. And through that time and through
those stories, that's the type of stuff I feel like
that shaped my why. And I look back at it's
like you're talking about technique. I think of if I
was if I was going to teach like what would
(09:17):
be something I would want people to walk out with and,
and to your point, like if they have the technique,
like if they know their why, then they'll they'll never
really burn out if they can maintain like a strong
like burning flame on that. Why? But also like if
you're strong in your technique, you have confidence. Yeah. And
confidence breeds success. I mean, if you have confidence, like
you can do anything, you can sell it as much
as you want as a care plan. I mean, I mean,
(09:39):
you have confidence, of course, in your technique of chiropractic. Like,
you know, it works and you're willing to sell care
plans and like, or whatever it is you need to do, right?
Have this conversation with people. I mean, what are you
seeing now, man? Are you seeing like, is there a
lack of confidence, or are students more confident now than
they've ever been before?
S3 (09:54):
Students are just different now than they've ever been before,
and I don't. You probably have some perspective students or
some current students that are listening to this. I would
say that the academic environment is more challenging than it
ever has been before. I mean, for us, it was
you had the physical books around. You didn't have the
physical books. We carry most of the stuff on an iPad.
You do a lot of things through videos online. If
you're not a person who learns online, well, I hope
(10:15):
you find a study group to get through it. So like,
there's really there's a whole different set of tools of
what it means to actually get through something so comprehensive
of chiropractic school. But the thing that still rings true
is that these schools are full of people who are
passionate about teaching others. Like, that's what brings me to Sherman.
It's certainly not the pay. It's certainly not the like, uh,
(10:39):
the impact that you get when you're adjusting people, I mean,
patients just patient care is amazing. I want to just
say that, you know, education is the only thing. I
love adjusting people. It's a phenomenal, transformative experience for the
patient and for me to give away all of that
and to go work with students is really because I
love them. And so to be in an environment surrounded
(11:00):
by administrators and staff and faculty and all these students
with a singular mission is to really make sure that
chiropractic continues to burn bright. As the only one who
works with vertebral subluxation, who's really this master of learning
how to allow the nervous system to evolve itself, to
expose itself as compared to us, control it or tell
(11:21):
it what to do. Like that type of involvement. Teaching
a student to become the master, not do this, to
be a master. It's just it's a very different thing
than what most people expect from the educational program.
S2 (11:35):
You know? So let's go back into I want to
bring this conversation actually back a little bit. Sure. I
want to go back to this why conversation? Because a
lot of this is like tying into that where if,
for example, if I went to the doctor right now
and the doctor said to me, hey, Austin, um, you
need to only eat raw vegetables for the rest of
your life because you have stage four blank. And if
you don't eat raw vegetables and you will die. I
(11:58):
would change my diet to eat raw only for the
rest of my life. But my wife is like, you know,
I want like I am so emotionally connected to, like
walking my daughter down the aisle one day. Like I
am like like I almost get tears talking about because, like,
I'm so emotionally connected. I'm there, man. Like, I am
so emotionally connected, like my kids and like experiencing moments
with them. We have date nights regularly. We do one
(12:18):
on one trips every year. Uh, my wife and I
want to travel. My kids graduate from school. Like, there's
experience in moments that we want to live for. And,
you know, it doesn't have to be like people always
think of. It has to be these, like, lavish, like,
crazy things, which it really doesn't. Like literally just my
kids graduating school and be able to go for a
walk with my wife every morning around the park would
be like a great experience. Yeah. And so the why
is strong. And can you share? I'd be interested to
(12:40):
know in here from your perspectives like how do people
find like their purpose. Like how do they find their
why and how do they get clear on it? How
do they build it? To build that flame? To make
it stronger? Because if it was strong enough, the action
would follow behind it. And they would. There'd be a purpose.
Like what? What are some things you could share about this?
S3 (12:56):
Well, so the study of how you find your why
is a thing of many YouTube videos, of many celebrities,
of many different opinions throughout many different years. I mean,
John Maxwell, uh, is um.
S2 (13:08):
Is that a.
S3 (13:09):
Simon Sinek? I mean, you could we could go on
back and forth.
S2 (13:11):
About.
S3 (13:11):
What to name a bunch of people who will teach
all classes on this. Um, one of the things that
I say in a chiropractic realm that might be helpful
is I've been recently exposed to this thing called a
neural transduction theory, which is that the brain itself is
a two way or bidirectional transducer. We have an interface
with an immensely intelligent force inside of us that only
(13:35):
wants 100% good for us, right? When we when we
heal a cut, how do we heal it? Okay. Or
like as best as we can. Like as best as
we can. Every time. So the innate intelligence in us
wants the absolute best for us at all times. And
so BJ Palmer, in his in his writings, comes along
and eventually starts talking about we not just me anymore,
(13:55):
but we him and the innate intelligence of his own body.
And so I think somewhere in our why, when we
go deep enough into the interface of that power, primordial
in us of positive good energy, there are things that
when we do them or when we speak to them,
or we start to just like get involved in it,
it brings out that juice. The more that we can
(14:19):
cultivate that practice, the more tangible those ideas. So when
you do it, it evokes a really deep response in you.
The field of you knows no matter what I do this,
why is there? Because it lives in much more than
just your neocortex. It lives in every part of you,
as does your innate intelligence. So I would say in
(14:41):
the chiropractic world, really tying in to Into who I
am as an expression of my innate intelligence. If we
can find how that interface is actually something that lights
us up. Man, I'm doesn't matter the age or the capacity,
I'll find a way to adjust a person.
S2 (14:57):
And what are there any like exercises or mind tricks
you have for people to like? If they're like, I
don't even know where to start with that.
S3 (15:03):
I mean, I would say, listen to Joe Dispenza. We
were listening to Joe Dispenza this morning, and he's.
S2 (15:09):
Immediately.
S3 (15:09):
Going to something like that, meditation in the correct meditation
practice and the teachings of those, uh, those are some
ways there are many ways. And I don't believe there
is one way. You know, one of the things that
you and I did when we were in school, we
did these retreats where we would have different students be
leading groups on things that have worked for us, time
management or team building or communication and stuff like that.
(15:30):
And in these practices, what we were really attempting to
do is bring out something in each of these people
that they say, wow, this meant something to me. So
if you only got one thing from that weekend, it
was worth it, right? And so in all the practices
in our explanations of how do I connect to innate intelligence,
how do I know that that vibrationally is true in
(15:51):
my life? The answer is you have to participate. You
have to go do it and find enough of those
things for what resonates for you. Because we are our
own unique matrix, there's not one thing that works for you.
You're one diet and my one diet. No way. Your
exercise routine and my exercise routine. You know, we're totally different, right? Um,
and that's great because actually the universe wants diversity. The
(16:13):
universe wants an innumerable different experiences. But we all have
the same core principle.
S2 (16:18):
And it's so funny, like in our season theme, by
the way, is live from Lviv and literally Doctor Dispenza
this morning was talking about this all morning, which is unbelievable. Now,
the last question I always like to follow up with
is this is if you could go back to 2009
and Aaron Gabay is walking across that stage, they can
guide his hand. But the 2024 version of Aaron Gabay
(16:38):
is on the other side of the stage. What would
that 2024 version of Aaron Ehrengabe I share with that
O9 graduate to help him out.
S3 (16:47):
The O9 graduate in me. Um, one of the things
that I would, would really ask myself is to consider that, um,
my process, my process of how I deliver, adjusting, the
process of how I communicate. Adjusting is so small compared
to what it can be to like, really refine the
(17:09):
communication skill, the connection skill, and just keep working on that.
And that was like a path I was already on.
So I have a few, you know, tidbits that I've
learned for the previous versions of me, but there's this
really interesting where we expect we get to a certain
point where, like, I've graduated now I know this, or
like I've practiced 15 years, and so now I have
this type of mastery and one of the really crucial
(17:32):
elements that I've been able to deduce from people who
I would consider to be really true masters is you're
never done learning. You're never actually at that point of expertise.
And in fact, the more expert you become, the more
you realize how much there more is to know. And
I think one of the tracks that we get into
is really thinking, well, I have found my way. And
(17:53):
then we forget that we change, and then that way
becomes stale and it becomes a prison and it becomes a. Well,
now my shoulder blows because I've done the same move
for 30 years, when it could be a dynamic that
constantly changes. As long as that pursuit of more and
deeper understanding is there.
S2 (18:09):
And if people want to connect with you, where would
they go to connect with you?
S3 (18:11):
Um, Facebook's a really great place. That's the one constant
in all of my social media. Uh, have a very
interesting spelling. My name Aaron Gabai. So I'm pretty much
one person in the world. If you Google me, uh,
it's easy to find.
S2 (18:22):
And we will put your, uh, if it's cool with you,
we'll put your Facebook profile in the show notes. Is
that great? Hey, thank you so much for doing this today, doctor. And, uh,
thanks so much for season two of live from Lviv.
S3 (18:32):
It's great talk.
This is thriving chiropractors, where chiropractors, supporting chiropractors, and talking
to chiropractors that are thriving beyond the four walls of
their practice.
S2 (00:15):
This is Doctor Austin Cohen with thriving chiros. Welcome to
season two. Uh, and we're so excited because season one, man,
we really appreciate everyone who's been reaching out and the
feedback and the comments we've gotten on a lot of
the great guests we had. But this season is cool
and I love it because we are doing live from LVT,
where we are basically having guests and friends of ours
and some of the alumni come out and some of
(00:36):
the speakers as well come out and really just share
with us some of the stories and the journeys that
they've been through. And so today I'm honored because not
only do I have a colleague here, but I actually
have a good friend who's on our podcast today, and
this is Doctor Aaron Gabay from another 2009 grads, just
like myself. So welcome to the podcast, man.
S3 (00:52):
Thank you. It's great to be here.
S2 (00:53):
Yeah. So, uh, you know, one thing, and I and
I prepped Doctor Aaron for this, where, you know, we
don't go straight into the story of give me your
life's journey and how you got here, right? And what
what matters to us is we do a lot of
tactical conversations in these podcasts that we do. Sure. And
so we kind of just go straight to the jugular, man. And, uh,
you know, the first question we ask and I think
(01:13):
this is such a important one because so much information
comes out from this question is, you know, if you
look back, you didn't practice for 15 years. Uh, if
we don't include, like, all the times you worked for
your dad, he's a chiropractor as well before that. Um,
if you go back 15 years and you think of
a couple, 1 or 2 pivotal moments where you think
that was a moment that defined my career, whether it
was like you went through a really hard time, um,
(01:36):
whether it was a transition, whether it was a relationship,
whether it was a book you read, a podcast, a speaker,
like whatever it was, I, you know, had people on here.
There was a hurricane that took out their practice. Um,
what could you share as a pivotal moment, you would
say the last 15 years that have happened that has
transformed who you are today?
S3 (01:50):
Well, I want to start with just acknowledging the fact
that chiropractic didn't start as a profession for me 15
years ago. It started when I enrolled in 2006 at
Life University, and my pivotal experiences started at Life University.
As you remember, we had a lot of shared pivotal
experiences in just being on campus and the transformative experience
(02:14):
of becoming a chiropractor, whether it was in the enterprise weekends.
For me, one of the really transformative experiences was in 2009,
I did an internship at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland,
and that was like the capstone of my chiropractic education
and transfer into my career and just kind of seeing
that organization from inside of it and what a global
(02:35):
operations of healthcare system look like, or really was just
disease and sick care and, um, corporate buyout of healthcare
on a really large level. Um, that was a hugely
influential to me because it really it defined the the
real struggle that I knew I was going to have,
which was actually teaching people to have the mindshare of
(02:59):
a true healthcare approach and then putting chiropractic in it.
So it wasn't even just like, hey, here's chiropractic. It's
how do you approach the world? And so I would
say one of the more pivotal experiences then as a
practicing chiropractor, I took over my dad's practice. I practiced
as an associate of his for a bunch of years.
And then I took over that practice, and I practiced,
if you will, in that model for a bunch of years.
(03:21):
And it took me about ten years to really start
to get to the how do I want to practice
amongst all the other ways in the world. And I
shaped my own approach to chiropractic, having studied many different techniques,
having worked in it long enough, been in it my
whole profession. And so even just learning to define chiropractic
in a way where I was delivering on not just
(03:42):
the results of chiropractic care, but the life transformation that
is possible when you start to open your mind to
something so much bigger things just getting adjusted, but how
that adjustment integrates you and all the things that you
do together in life and then actually packaging that as
a thing you could buy in a certain care plan
and all that takes a ton of work and effort.
(04:03):
And that has transformed how I even relate to people
on a day to day level, that I would consider
the recreation of what I have to offer for humanity
as probably one of the biggest transformative experiences. I mean,
you talk about hurricanes, you can talk about pandemics, you
can talk about, you know, having to work with my
dad as a boss and my dad. There's all these
(04:24):
things in there. But I think really transforming what I'm
able to produce as a result for people in this world,
that's been one of the most powerful things.
S2 (04:32):
Let's go back. So you said that when you took
it over, you kind of it kind of shaped like
you as a chiropractor, like your your maybe vision was
a little bit different than his. Maybe. Or, but you know,
what were some of the things that if you could
share like some of the things maybe you did or
some of like the beliefs maybe you had while you
were with him that you had to break through in
order to kind of get to that next level.
S3 (04:51):
Well, so one of the things that really made a
difference for me was was wanting to be able to
have the space and time to cover the conversations on
a visit by visit level, and that was just kind
of not the model that we were working under. We had,
if you will, 3 to 5 minute scheduled for a patient.
And then they were doing some prehab or uh, pre
(05:11):
work or post work and, and then really that small
amount of time, one of the things that I really
found is that I wanted to talk with them more.
I wanted to like, interact. I wanted them to get
that light bulb moment. And so when I really transformed
my practice, I had to go out of network. I
had to leave all these pieces because the thing I
wanted to do more was teach them. I wanted to
like spend time. And those questions actually like getting that
(05:35):
moment of, wow, this thing. I could live my whole
life and look at the rest of my life differently
if I just learned something more about myself, and I
just didn't find the space for that in the way
that we were running a practice. But I didn't really
know that until I went and did it a bunch
of years and said, hey, wait, there's something missing for me.
And there's a thing that's really, really important for me.
And that thing became so important for me that I
(05:55):
actually left private practice. And now I teach at a
chiropractic school because that is really where my passion is, is.
S2 (06:01):
So you're teaching now?
S3 (06:02):
I am teaching at.
S2 (06:02):
Chapman, and it's interesting your journey though, man, like to talk.
I mean, literally you were talking about how like your
favorite thing to do is educate and share, and it's like,
you knew that though, but it was like 2014, 15, 16, 17.
And now here we are, 2020, and now you're actually
in education.
S3 (06:16):
That's right.
S2 (06:16):
Which I love. By the way, and I've told you
this a hundred times, like the students need you. Like
they need people like you, man, to teach, be teaching
them like I love it. You've been an experience. I mean,
just I love it. It makes me so happy to
know there's people like you out there that are in
the education right now, by the way. What are some things,
like when you think of, like, I'm sure you've thought
about this before, right. You're going into now teach at Sherman.
I'm sure there's a thing like in your mind. Like.
(06:38):
All right. These are the concepts I would love to
impart on these students. Like, there are certain concepts and
philosophies you probably have. And when they graduate, these students
knew that and had that information. They can be so successful.
Make an impact professionally. Do you think about some of
those concepts?
S3 (06:54):
Well, I am new in the chiropractic educational world, right?
So I have to really kind of put a little
buffer around that and say, here's what I've learned so
far about this. One thing that I find incredibly important
is that people understand at least three different techniques. They
have an upper cervical technique, they've got a tonal technique,
and they've got a structural technique or a postural technique
(07:14):
of some sort. Because at least in those three models
of understanding, you can get such a spectrum of understanding
of what your peers are doing or what's possible. It's
doing what you really love. And I think, especially from
a chiropractic educational perspective, while you are in school for
just this little period of time, at least get one
in each of those categories would put you in a
(07:36):
really great place. Um, but I think a thing that
really it's, it's more difficult now for a lot of ways.
But one of the ways I think is, is that
there's so much information to be learned that your why
becomes more important. It's not just what you learn anymore.
And there's so many great classes and there's so much
(07:57):
to learn. I mean, how many credit hours and how
many tests did we take and like, how much did
that really retain? But when you get a understanding of
a why, why am I making this adjustment? Why am
I giving this care plan recommendation? Why am I taking
on this patient? Why am I telling this patient to
come back? There's a why element that isn't really something
(08:18):
taught in a class. It's a part of who you become.
And so really, I think chiropractic education is two parallel things.
And we learned this in school when we were doing this.
There's what you do in the classroom. That's 50% of it.
You got to really do that. You can't become a doctor.
But there's also this who do you become in the
process of becoming a chiropractor? And that is a personal
(08:40):
journey that can really become of why would you want
someone to go see a chiropractor? And I think the
development of that, why on a chiropractic educational level, it's
not a thing that we could teach someone. We could
teach you anatomy. I can't teach you your why. I
can show you the doorway. You're going to have to
go through it yourself.
S2 (08:56):
Yeah. I look back at it as you sharing this,
I'm like, I'm thinking about what did I learn when
I was in chiropractic school from an education standpoint? And
you know what I remember? I remember the stories the
chiropractor shared with me. And through that time and through
those stories, that's the type of stuff I feel like
that shaped my why. And I look back at it's
like you're talking about technique. I think of if I
was if I was going to teach like what would
(09:17):
be something I would want people to walk out with and,
and to your point, like if they have the technique,
like if they know their why, then they'll they'll never
really burn out if they can maintain like a strong
like burning flame on that. Why? But also like if
you're strong in your technique, you have confidence. Yeah. And
confidence breeds success. I mean, if you have confidence, like
you can do anything, you can sell it as much
as you want as a care plan. I mean, I mean,
(09:39):
you have confidence, of course, in your technique of chiropractic. Like,
you know, it works and you're willing to sell care
plans and like, or whatever it is you need to do, right?
Have this conversation with people. I mean, what are you
seeing now, man? Are you seeing like, is there a
lack of confidence, or are students more confident now than
they've ever been before?
S3 (09:54):
Students are just different now than they've ever been before,
and I don't. You probably have some perspective students or
some current students that are listening to this. I would
say that the academic environment is more challenging than it
ever has been before. I mean, for us, it was
you had the physical books around. You didn't have the
physical books. We carry most of the stuff on an iPad.
You do a lot of things through videos online. If
you're not a person who learns online, well, I hope
(10:15):
you find a study group to get through it. So like,
there's really there's a whole different set of tools of
what it means to actually get through something so comprehensive
of chiropractic school. But the thing that still rings true
is that these schools are full of people who are
passionate about teaching others. Like, that's what brings me to Sherman.
It's certainly not the pay. It's certainly not the like, uh,
(10:39):
the impact that you get when you're adjusting people, I mean,
patients just patient care is amazing. I want to just
say that, you know, education is the only thing. I
love adjusting people. It's a phenomenal, transformative experience for the
patient and for me to give away all of that
and to go work with students is really because I
love them. And so to be in an environment surrounded
(11:00):
by administrators and staff and faculty and all these students
with a singular mission is to really make sure that
chiropractic continues to burn bright. As the only one who
works with vertebral subluxation, who's really this master of learning
how to allow the nervous system to evolve itself, to
expose itself as compared to us, control it or tell
(11:21):
it what to do. Like that type of involvement. Teaching
a student to become the master, not do this, to
be a master. It's just it's a very different thing
than what most people expect from the educational program.
S2 (11:35):
You know? So let's go back into I want to
bring this conversation actually back a little bit. Sure. I
want to go back to this why conversation? Because a
lot of this is like tying into that where if,
for example, if I went to the doctor right now
and the doctor said to me, hey, Austin, um, you
need to only eat raw vegetables for the rest of
your life because you have stage four blank. And if
you don't eat raw vegetables and you will die. I
(11:58):
would change my diet to eat raw only for the
rest of my life. But my wife is like, you know,
I want like I am so emotionally connected to, like
walking my daughter down the aisle one day. Like I
am like like I almost get tears talking about because, like,
I'm so emotionally connected. I'm there, man. Like, I am
so emotionally connected, like my kids and like experiencing moments
with them. We have date nights regularly. We do one
(12:18):
on one trips every year. Uh, my wife and I
want to travel. My kids graduate from school. Like, there's
experience in moments that we want to live for. And,
you know, it doesn't have to be like people always
think of. It has to be these, like, lavish, like,
crazy things, which it really doesn't. Like literally just my
kids graduating school and be able to go for a
walk with my wife every morning around the park would
be like a great experience. Yeah. And so the why
is strong. And can you share? I'd be interested to
(12:40):
know in here from your perspectives like how do people
find like their purpose. Like how do they find their
why and how do they get clear on it? How
do they build it? To build that flame? To make
it stronger? Because if it was strong enough, the action
would follow behind it. And they would. There'd be a purpose.
Like what? What are some things you could share about this?
S3 (12:56):
Well, so the study of how you find your why
is a thing of many YouTube videos, of many celebrities,
of many different opinions throughout many different years. I mean,
John Maxwell, uh, is um.
S2 (13:08):
Is that a.
S3 (13:09):
Simon Sinek? I mean, you could we could go on
back and forth.
S2 (13:11):
About.
S3 (13:11):
What to name a bunch of people who will teach
all classes on this. Um, one of the things that
I say in a chiropractic realm that might be helpful
is I've been recently exposed to this thing called a
neural transduction theory, which is that the brain itself is
a two way or bidirectional transducer. We have an interface
with an immensely intelligent force inside of us that only
(13:35):
wants 100% good for us, right? When we when we
heal a cut, how do we heal it? Okay. Or
like as best as we can. Like as best as
we can. Every time. So the innate intelligence in us
wants the absolute best for us at all times. And
so BJ Palmer, in his in his writings, comes along
and eventually starts talking about we not just me anymore,
(13:55):
but we him and the innate intelligence of his own body.
And so I think somewhere in our why, when we
go deep enough into the interface of that power, primordial
in us of positive good energy, there are things that
when we do them or when we speak to them,
or we start to just like get involved in it,
it brings out that juice. The more that we can
(14:19):
cultivate that practice, the more tangible those ideas. So when
you do it, it evokes a really deep response in you.
The field of you knows no matter what I do this,
why is there? Because it lives in much more than
just your neocortex. It lives in every part of you,
as does your innate intelligence. So I would say in
(14:41):
the chiropractic world, really tying in to Into who I
am as an expression of my innate intelligence. If we
can find how that interface is actually something that lights
us up. Man, I'm doesn't matter the age or the capacity,
I'll find a way to adjust a person.
S2 (14:57):
And what are there any like exercises or mind tricks
you have for people to like? If they're like, I
don't even know where to start with that.
S3 (15:03):
I mean, I would say, listen to Joe Dispenza. We
were listening to Joe Dispenza this morning, and he's.
S2 (15:09):
Immediately.
S3 (15:09):
Going to something like that, meditation in the correct meditation
practice and the teachings of those, uh, those are some
ways there are many ways. And I don't believe there
is one way. You know, one of the things that
you and I did when we were in school, we
did these retreats where we would have different students be
leading groups on things that have worked for us, time
management or team building or communication and stuff like that.
(15:30):
And in these practices, what we were really attempting to
do is bring out something in each of these people
that they say, wow, this meant something to me. So
if you only got one thing from that weekend, it
was worth it, right? And so in all the practices
in our explanations of how do I connect to innate intelligence,
how do I know that that vibrationally is true in
(15:51):
my life? The answer is you have to participate. You
have to go do it and find enough of those
things for what resonates for you. Because we are our
own unique matrix, there's not one thing that works for you.
You're one diet and my one diet. No way. Your
exercise routine and my exercise routine. You know, we're totally different, right? Um,
and that's great because actually the universe wants diversity. The
(16:13):
universe wants an innumerable different experiences. But we all have
the same core principle.
S2 (16:18):
And it's so funny, like in our season theme, by
the way, is live from Lviv and literally Doctor Dispenza
this morning was talking about this all morning, which is unbelievable. Now,
the last question I always like to follow up with
is this is if you could go back to 2009
and Aaron Gabay is walking across that stage, they can
guide his hand. But the 2024 version of Aaron Gabay
(16:38):
is on the other side of the stage. What would
that 2024 version of Aaron Ehrengabe I share with that
O9 graduate to help him out.
S3 (16:47):
The O9 graduate in me. Um, one of the things
that I would, would really ask myself is to consider that, um,
my process, my process of how I deliver, adjusting, the
process of how I communicate. Adjusting is so small compared
to what it can be to like, really refine the
(17:09):
communication skill, the connection skill, and just keep working on that.
And that was like a path I was already on.
So I have a few, you know, tidbits that I've
learned for the previous versions of me, but there's this
really interesting where we expect we get to a certain
point where, like, I've graduated now I know this, or
like I've practiced 15 years, and so now I have
this type of mastery and one of the really crucial
(17:32):
elements that I've been able to deduce from people who
I would consider to be really true masters is you're
never done learning. You're never actually at that point of expertise.
And in fact, the more expert you become, the more
you realize how much there more is to know. And
I think one of the tracks that we get into
is really thinking, well, I have found my way. And
(17:53):
then we forget that we change, and then that way
becomes stale and it becomes a prison and it becomes a. Well,
now my shoulder blows because I've done the same move
for 30 years, when it could be a dynamic that
constantly changes. As long as that pursuit of more and
deeper understanding is there.
S2 (18:09):
And if people want to connect with you, where would
they go to connect with you?
S3 (18:11):
Um, Facebook's a really great place. That's the one constant
in all of my social media. Uh, have a very
interesting spelling. My name Aaron Gabai. So I'm pretty much
one person in the world. If you Google me, uh,
it's easy to find.
S2 (18:22):
And we will put your, uh, if it's cool with you,
we'll put your Facebook profile in the show notes. Is
that great? Hey, thank you so much for doing this today, doctor. And, uh,
thanks so much for season two of live from Lviv.
S3 (18:32):
It's great talk.
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