Dr. Kelsey Dobesh, DC, ATC, MS

02/13/2026

What word would you place in the line from "health" to "chronic illness"?

The answer is 🌟 HABITS🌟

That picture could also say "health" --> longevity" and the arrow would represent 🌟 HABITS🌟

I want to specifically talk about a mindset shift that I see often in women (especially in their 50-60's): the invisible timeline of habits.

I don't think it's their fault, but rather it's a product of the icky marketing and media that they've consumed during their lives in regards to health and nutrition.

There's this invisible timeline where they tend to think that their health problems will get better " if they can just buckle down and do the thing for 3 months, 6 months, etc. " I'm not convinced I even know that they have this mindset. But they will see things to me I really make me think that THEY THINK there's an end date on making good healthy choices.

Here's the thing, we can all do really intense things and change a ton of habits at once.... For a period of time.

It's called using dopamine and the reward system of the brain.

But that doesn't change ANYTHING because the reliance on this "invisible timeline" gives the human brain this idea that once the timeline is over, all the goals have been met and it's time to "relax. "

There is no invisible timeline. It doesn't exist and it's a lie.

When women start to adopt this false idea about health, THEY WILL HAVE WORSE OUTCOMES. This is the epitome of the yo-yo dieting that leads to worse metabolic health.

So, what's the answer?

Small, daily changes that don't feel heavy and burdensome at first.

🟢Don't sit down to eat in front of the TV
🟢 Clean the kitchen after supper completely before you sit down
🟢 Daily walks
🟢 Water intake to half your body weight in ounces
🟢 Stop all soda intake (diet soda is not better. The artificial sweeteners trick your brain to WANT MORE sugar, but it hasn't gotten any sugar, and you will eat more sugar in the day).
🟢 Mobility/stretching for 10 min. A day

Make NEW habits that don't have a timeline.

If you have any questions, please let us know!

02/10/2026

Have you heard of the phrase "Practice the Pause?"

It sounds simple, but it’s actually a nervous-system skill. 🎯

➡️It means creating a brief, intentional gap between a stimulus (something happens) and YOUR response. This gap is where regulation lives and neuroplasticity is developed!❤️

Here’s what’s happening in your brain and nervous system and why it builds real stress resilience:

1. The pause interrupts automatic survival reactions
➡️➡️ When something stressful happens, your brain’s threat and emotional system fires faster than conscious thought.
That triggers:
➡️Sympathetic activation (fight/flight)
➡️Adrenaline + cortisol
➡️Muscle tension, shallow breathing, narrowed attention

❌Without a pause, you react from reflex. ❌

The pause buys time—milliseconds to seconds—for the logical part of our brain to trigger. That’s the part of the brain responsible for:

✅Perspective
✅Choice
✅Emotional modulation
✅Meaning-making

You’re not suppressing emotion—you’re changing which part of the brain is in charge. 🔥

2. Pausing shifts the autonomic nervous system
A pause almost always includes some form of:
Stillness
Slowing the breath
Sensory awareness

These cues signal safety to the 🌟 Vagus 🌟nerve.

Physiologically, this:
🟢Reduces sympathetic drive
🟢Increases parasympathetic tone
🟢Lowers heart rate variability spikes
🟢Softens muscle guarding

Even a 3–6 second pause can begin shifting the body out of threat physiology. 🧠🫶

3. The pause prevents emotional escalation
Emotions ❌amplify ❌ when they feed forward unchecked:

Thought → sensation → interpretation → more sensation

Pausing breaks that loop.
You create space to notice:
“I’m activated”
“This is discomfort, not danger”
“I don’t have to resolve this immediately”

This reduces:
Reactive speech
Impulsive behavior
Emotional flooding
Shame cycles after the fact

Over time, your nervous system learns that activation does not automatically lead to harm. ❤️

4. Pausing builds interoceptive awareness
Every pause strengthens your ability to sense internal signals:
❌Tight jaw
❌Elevated heart rate
❌Holding breath
❌Heat, pressure, or restlessness

That awareness is key to regulation because:
🌟🌟You can’t regulate what you can’t feel. 🌟🌟

People who “practice the pause” catch stress earlier—before it becomes overwhelm, pain, or burnout.

5. The pause trains stress resilience (not avoidance)
Stress resilience is not “staying calm.” It’s recovering efficiently.

Each pause teaches your nervous system:
🟢Activation is temporary
🟢I can return to baseline
🟢I have agency inside stress

This builds:
🟢Faster down-regulation after stress
🟢Less cumulative nervous system load
🟢Greater tolerance for uncertainty and discomfort
🟢Improved emotional flexibility
🟢Resilience grows through repetition, not perfection.

6. Pausing restores choice and meaning
In the pause, you regain:
🟢Choice of response
🟢Ability to reframe
🟢Alignment with values rather than impulses

This is why pausing is associated with:
Better communication
Reduced conflict
Clearer decision-making
Lower perceived stress—even when stressors remain

7. What “practice the pause” looks like in real life
It doesn’t have to be formal meditation, but I DO HIGHLY ENCOURAGE PRAYER MEDITATION daily.

It can be:
✨One slow exhale before speaking
✨Pausing your body before standing up
✨Feeling your feet before responding to a text
✨Placing a hand on your chest for two breaths
✨Softening your jaw and shoulders intentionally

Small pauses, practiced often, retrain the system.

It’s not about stopping stress—it’s about teaching your nervous system that stress is survivable and manageable.

02/08/2026

Rose will be at the clinic this Thursday (February 12th) for Thermography appointments!

We are also making appointments for her for Thursday, February 26th)!

Call to schedule!

02/06/2026

You become who you surround yourself with ❤️

When we focus on serving others, there is no time for drama, jealousy, hate, or bad vibes.

Surround yourself with others that can hold you accountable for when you stumble! That's LOVE. Tough conversations are loving, because they show us that the other human KNOWS we can show up/act better.

For our patients, this may mean bringing up the fact that the recommendations Sara and I give to patients, are for their betterment! It's for their recovery and their healing.
➡️We want you to get better!
➡️ We want you to be more active to enjoy your life!
➡️ We want you to show up as your best self to do the things you need to do!

This is part of the EMPOWERMENT in our mission statement.

At Dobesh Chiropractic, our focus is You

Empathy. Education. Empowerment.

02/05/2026

I've posted on the topic of ADHD nutrition and lifestyle habits recently, but I also want to show you this resource.

A friend of mine started to do this program with her husband for their child and is very pleased with what they are learning.

This online program is a 🌟PARENTING program🌟 for parents of kids with ADHD kids. It was created by a licensed counselor because he found himself in the same position and not getting the guide he needed to help his child.

This can be a battle for parents that leads to a lot of emotions and stress, but the biggest take away here is that it's a re-framing of teaching parents how to work with their kids *superpower* rather than fight it.

This online program costs $24/month. Most parents have spent hundreds and maybe even thousands to help get their child the care they need.

(I have no affiliation with this program or the creator: I just want to share this resource with you)❤️

https://www.adhddude.com/membership

02/03/2026

It sounds so simple to understand, but change IS change.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.

For my stressed out friends, what are you doing daily to support your body?
What are you carrying that's not yours to carry?

It's interesting when I'm talking to friends, family, patients about stress management and then I bring up meditation as a solution. I'm either hit with two responses: "help me learn more and teach me" OR "that won't work. This is just my life."

The most powerful healthcare advice that I can give to the general population is this: If you don't believe something will help you, it won't.
If you don't believe that you can get better, you won't.
If you believe that "You've tried everything," But you're not willing to literally sit still and breathe..... You won't get better.

💥YOUR thoughts and limiting beliefs about *you* or *your condition* are powerful. 💥

If you're not happy with how you feel, start asking yourself about your own limiting beliefs on your path to healing. If you feel that you cannot wake up early to exercise, then that is not the time of the day to exercise for you. If you're worried about time in the morning to be able to eat breakfast, have some boiled eggs ready. It's important that we meet ourselves where we are!

Grace is NECESSARY always, but especially when we are incorporating change. 🤘

01/31/2026

Pop quiz: what joint can completely change the trajectory of the gait cycle?

The answer: all of them....but specifically in this case, let's talk about 💥 THE BIG TOE💥

Mobility of the great toe is absolutely mandatory to having efficiency in our movements!

I find textbook by Dr. Michaud to be so helpful to learn and explain this to patients. There's a synchronous movement that must occur so bones do not jam into one another (see green lightening bolt).

Bone spurs...are the result of inefficiency (and lack of appropriate nutrition to these joints) And can develop because by this "jamming" effect. The body wants to protect itself so it lays down more bone= arthritis.

Now we get into the fun part: your ability to push off your big toe is directly connected to hip extension when walking ➡️which affects your pelvis ➡️ which affects your lumbar spine.

Whole body movement= greater than its individual parts.

01/28/2026

Chiropractic care wasn’t founded on back pain. It wasn’t founded on headaches, either. And yet, this is still the main idea about chiropractic.

We know that chiropractic care is a solution for back pain and we know that when we combine it with exercises and rehab, myofascial work, nutrition, and stress support…. It can seem like a magic button was pushed.

🌟But something bigger is happening. So much bigger. 🌟

Have you heard of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor)?
How about IL-6 (Interleukin 6)?
TNF-alpha (Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha)?
C-RP (C-Reactive Protein)?

➡️➡️In December 2025, a pragmatic randomized controlled trial was published from the Center of Chiropractic Research in New Zealand. (The difference between a pragmatic RCT and a traditional RCT is the pragmatic RCT focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention in real-world settings, aiming to inform clinical practice and policy. A traditional RCT is designed to test the efficacy of a treatment under controlled conditions, often with strict inclusion and exclusion criteria to minimize any compounding variables.)

✨These molecules mentioned above all sit at the intersection of the nervous system, immune system, and metabolism. Rather than acting in isolation, they form a bidirectional signaling network that determines whether the body is in a growth/repair state or a threat/inflammatory state.✨

💥Aka: Fight/flight/ freeze or repair/relax/digest modes of the nervous system ❤️

The researchers wanted to know if long term chiropractic care had any effect on neuroplasticity, stress, and immune markers. So, during the 12 weeks of this study, that’s exactly what they measured!

The results proved that over 12 weeks of this study, chiropractic care was associated with increased BDNF and IL-6 levels and decreased TNF-alpha levels. Chiropractic care can help modulate the inflammatory, immune, and stress pathways of the body!

The entire body is connected and more intelligent than we can ever really know. Chiropractors are full health doctors, not just back pain experts. In South Dakota, chiropractors are primary care physicians that can order imaging, lab work, etc. to help their patients reach optimal health. In addition to these skills, we also use our hands (or tools) to stimulate the nervous system to improve those listed above AND help decrease musculoskeletal and myofascial pain.

It was never about back pain. It’s about understanding how wonderfully made our bodies are.

Citation: Amjad I, Niazi IK, Kumari N, Ghani U,
Rashid U, Duarte FCK, et al. (2025) The
effects of 12 weeks of chiropractic spinal
adjustments on physiological biomarkers in
adults: A pragmatic randomized controlled
trial. PLoS One 20(12): e0338730. https://doi.
org/10.1371/journal.pone.0338730

01/27/2026

Our soaps are ready for use and purchase!

Remember these are soft soaps, so you'll want to keep them on a shelf in the shower and out of direct water to last longer!

Use a bag (provided) to help the lather of the bar of soap!

All of these are made with a variety of oils essential oils!

01/23/2026

🌟 If you are injured ON THE JOB, you need to know that you have rights🌟

1. You have a choice as to what provider you see!

2. The provider you see first is the gate keeper, meaning they have to refer you on if you want to see another provider.

3. The case manager you're assigned is NOT THE BOSS of you.

4. Don't let a company and case worker push you around so they can "close the case." Remember, their goal is to pay as little as possible and move on.

I think June described me best as "a bull in a china shop," as we were about to call a workers compensation company and fight for the patient.

And then we called the State to report the company too.

We fight for our patients and this means fighting the big dogs that only care about their pockets.

We see you.
We will fight for you.
We care. ❤️

01/19/2026

Dr. Kelsey is out of the office and June and Sara are living it up! 🤣

✨10% OFF ALL PRODUCTS✨
✨$10.00 OFF FLUX SHOES✨

Only from Monday- Wednesday, January 19-21st!!

The clinic is closed Thursday and Friday (Jan 22-23)!

Also, if you feeling extra stiff and tense, come sit in our massage chair!! Unlike anything you've ever experienced from a massage chair!!

Sauna is also available Monday through Wednesday! ✨

01/17/2026

We still have a few tickets available!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rooted-provisions-a-pantry-to-table-class-for-families-tickets-1980124562871?aff=oddtdtcreator

🌟 New EVENT🌟 that you don't want to miss!

We are honored to bring , Bowyn Baird, to our clinic for an education class on creating systems for families who want to decrease the chaos and overwhelming emotions with feeding our families nutritious meals!

Bowyn is a registered dietitian and author of her book Rooted Provisions. ❤️

This book is a blueprint for nutrition and will help decrease confusion and provide a framework to create systems!

Each participant in the class will receive her book!

The class is limited to 25 participants.

(I have personally heard her speak on these topics and I feel that many of my patients will benefit from her information and expertise! I see a lot of confusion in regards to nutrition and the overwhelm that comes with too much information stalls many of us!
If you have ever felt that you've been overwhelmed with nutrition and really just want to provide great nutrients through meals for your family, you will not be disappointed in this class!)

Here's the link to purchase your ticket:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rooted-provisions-a-pantry-to-table-class-for-families-tickets-1980124562871?aff=oddtdtcreator

When: Monday, January 26th, 2026
Time: 5:30-6:30pm
Location: Dobesh Chiropractic in Mitchell