Good Neighbor Podcast: Fort Collins
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Fort Collins. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Nick George helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Fort Collins, Colorado.
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Good Neighbor Podcast: Fort Collins
E18: Body Mechanics: Simple Daily Habits for Lasting Spinal Health
Ever wondered how a spinal injury in eighth grade football could transform someone's entire life direction? That's exactly what happened to Dr. Morgan Oaks, who now brings 21 years of chiropractic expertise to his practice, Ascend Chiropractic.
Dr. Morgan shares his fascinating journey from mechanical engineer to chiropractor, explaining how his personal experience with injury recovery showed him the profound impact of spinal health on overall wellbeing. Rather than just focusing on in-office treatments, his approach mirrors the dental industry model – providing excellent care during visits while empowering patients with knowledge they can apply at home. "The biggest gift I give is teaching you the things you can do at home to stay healthy," he explains, noting that often just 5-10 minutes of daily attention can transform your health.
The conversation tackles common misconceptions, particularly the myth that chiropractic creates dependency. Dr. Morgan laughs this off, comparing it to other beneficial health routines – people continue because they experience tangible benefits in sleep quality, immune function, and even digestion. While he specializes in treating active Coloradans who enjoy outdoor pursuits, he points out our evolutionary mismatch with modern work environments: "We were designed to be hunters and gatherers. We weren't designed to be office dwellers." This sedentary lifestyle creates unique challenges that proper chiropractic care can effectively address.
Perhaps most compelling is Dr. Morgan's candid reflection on nearly failing during his first year in practice. This humbling experience taught him to seek specialized help and support – a philosophy that now informs his approach to patient care. As he puts it, "I was the glass ceiling I was bumping into." Whether you're dealing with chronic pain, recovering from injury, or simply want to optimize your body's function, Dr. Morgan's patient-centered approach at Ascend Chiropractic might be exactly what you need. Check out https://www.drmorganoaks.com/chiro to learn more about how simple daily practices could transform your health journey.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Nick George.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a reputable and effective chiropractor? One such practice might be closer than you think. Today, I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, dr Morgan Oaks, with Ascend Chiropractic. Dr Morgan, how's it going? Yeah, doing great. Nick, how are you Good? We're excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us about your practice.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I've been a chiropractor for 21 years and what I've really focused on is, if you think about like the dental industry. Yes, you go to the dentist to get your teeth cleaned up, but the big thing they've taught us is how to brush and take care of our teeth at home. And so, yes, I'm getting people adjusted and working on them in the office, but a big thing that I really do is try to empower people with maybe the exercises, stretches or changes in ergonomics that they can make so that they stay healthier in between visits.
Speaker 2:How did you get into this business?
Speaker 3:I had a spinal injury in eighth grade playing football, got hit on top of the helmet on a kickoff return and, you know, by the time I got home I couldn't turn my head left or right and the next morning I went and saw my family's chiropractor and got my first adjustment and went off to school and did great and over the course of a lot of football games, a lot of rugby games in college. Chiropractic is what kept me healthy through all my sports. And I had become a mechanical engineer through undergrad. That was where I thought I wanted to spend my life and at a certain point I realized I didn't want to be stuck in a cubicle doing that work and it just ended up making sense for me to transition over to chiropractic.
Speaker 2:What are some myths or misconceptions in your industry?
Speaker 3:You know, the first one that comes to mind is that if you get adjusted, you'll always have to get adjusted. And I always laugh and I think, yeah, it's kind of like you know when you brush your teeth you know how good it feels and you want to keep doing that. When you know you keep your mind happy and healthy, that feels really good. So you tend to do things that keep you feeling good on that level. And I would say the same is true for chiropractic. People will tend to come and continue coming, just because they notice the difference in how their body feels, how they sleep, how their immune system is elevated. Some people have improved digestion, so you don't have to keep coming. You can come and just get out of pain and use it that way. But a lot of people will treat it more like maintenance and prevention, like you would on your car.
Speaker 2:Who are your target clients and how do you attract them?
Speaker 3:You know I love working with active people. You know there's a ton of those people in Colorado, so it's easy to focus on people. Whether it's you know skiing and snowboarding in the winter, whether it's you know hiking, you know things on Horsetooth Reservoir, different things like that during the summer, but ultimately, probably what's toughest on the human body is office work. We were designed to be hunters and gatherers. We weren't designed to be office dwellers and so, although I love working with athletes, a lot of times it's office work that'll bring people in.
Speaker 2:Outside of work. What do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:A lot of the same things I named. I love being up on horse tooth paddle boarding. I grew up in Southern Wyoming so I'll spend a lot of weekends in the summer up there camping and I'm just really focused on personal growth. So I end up taking a lot of classes. I do a lot of meditation, a lot of spiritual growth and ceremony.
Speaker 2:Nice, let's switch gears. Can you describe a hardship or a life challenge that you overcame and how it made you stronger? What comes to mind?
Speaker 3:First thing that came to mind was my first year in practice.
Speaker 3:You know, I got into chiropractic and really loved what I was doing, so I went out and opened my own practice in 2004. And by the spring of 2005, I was really struggling. You know, it was the first time in my life that, just you know, being passionate about something and throwing a lot of time and effort into it wasn't working out. It's really the first time in my life that I had to get specialized coaching. I needed help, you know, managing those parts of the business that were outside of my skill set, and I, you know, I really figured out at that point that I was the glass ceiling I was bumping into, and so, although it was an incredibly difficult time in my life, it made me realize the how effective it is having people support us, you know, whether it's a chiropractor, a business coach, a counselor, a different healer. So that, yeah, it was a big difficult time, but it also really helped me lean into getting the support I've needed in my life for the last 21 years.
Speaker 2:Dr Morgan tell our listeners one thing that they should remember about Ascend Chiropractic thing that they should remember about Ascend Chiropractic.
Speaker 3:I think what happens for you and to you in the office is amazing. I think the biggest gift I give is teaching you the things you can do at home to stay healthy. You know we can't spend all day at a workstation or on a couch or doing the things we're doing and expect to be healthy. But it doesn't require two hours at the gym. A lot of times it's a simple five, 10 minute thing a day that you can do that they'll keep your body happy and healthy.
Speaker 2:How can our listeners learn more about Ascend Chiropractic?
Speaker 3:Yeah, if they want to go online, they can go to ascend-chiropracticcom, and on social media it'll show up the same way.
Speaker 2:Well, Dr Morgan, I really appreciate you being on the show. We wish you and your practice the best moving forward.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thank you so much for having me on. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpfortcollinscom. That's gnpfortcollinscom, or call 970-438-0825.