Dr. Lance von Stade, San Francisco, CA (2025)

11/20/2025

Seasons end, but the transitions keep moving.

Every Wednesday at USF I get to serve D1 athletes who are navigating something bigger than a scoreboard—finals, identity, the end of a season, sometimes the end of a career. And at home, we’re wrapping up 7-year old, Connor’s soccer like it’s the most important thing in the world… and to our nervous systems, it is.

What I’m noticing this time of year is how universal these transition moments are.
Whether it’s a student-athlete reconciling a season, a kid moving from soccer straight into basketball, a parent holding the emotional overflow of our children, or an adult walking through our own fall-to-holiday shift… our bodies feel it.

Stress rises. The immune system adapts. Our coping strategies—helpful or not—show themselves.
And the people around us need a little more space, a little more grace, a little more presence.

So here’s my reminder to myself (and to anyone who needs it):

Move the body.
Breathe on purpose.
Create buffers.
Hold space for the people we love.
Give ourselves time to integrate everything that this season stirred up.

There’s a lot to celebrate and a lot to honor right now.
I’m grateful for the chance to do this work, to coach these kids, to care for these athletes, and to keep learning how to show up bigger and better.

Enjoy the holidays. Savor the transitions.
Live more life.

09/13/2025

This clip is from the “Back to Soccer Night” I recorded for the parents of our team of 7-year-olds ⚽️.

Secret handshakes may look small, but they’re powerful.

When two kids share a handshake, it’s not just about this season — it’s about creating a bond that can carry into new grades, new schools, and new stages of life.

I still have secret handshakes with friends from decades ago.

Little rituals like this build connection and connection is at the heart of any dream life.

Invitation: how can we continue to seek opportunities to infuse rituals that facilitate connection and fulfillment along our paths of achievement?

09/08/2025

Sometimes I’ve just got to pause and let a moment sink in. Standing here outside of our new office, New Life Chiropractic ( ) in San Carlos, I’m celebrating the completion of a transition that means so much to me.

We were able to help one of our professors and her partner step into retirement with peace, while handing the keys of ownership to Dr. Drew Vercellino )—who now gets to put his hands on the wheel of his dream life. It’s a beautiful thing.

I know the road ahead won’t be easy. But it’ll be hard for all the right reasons—the kind of hard that builds people, impacts lives, and unlocks potential. The more we learn and the harder we work, the more we get to invest in others’ dreams.

There are some exciting things already brewing—an expanding team, brand evolutions, and big moves to come. But for today, it’s enough to pause, breathe, and acknowledge this win. Another step forward in helping people I care about live more life by building businesses that fuel their dreams.

09/02/2025

When people say flu season or COVID season is coming, I hear something different… it’s the season of ramping up recuperation.

For me that looks like:
☀️ Upping my vitamin D
💧 Prioritizing hydration
👣 Tracking steps + sleep like it’s an in-season sport
🙌 Staying consistent with chiropractic adjustments
😴 And yes… sneaking in a 17-minute nap on my lunch break while the oven warms my food.

If you’re looking for me around noon at the Marina office—you’ll usually find me in the exam room, lights off, recharging.

Because the best defense isn’t fear, it’s energy, recovery, and resilience.

08/30/2025

Two bands. Two paper towels. One big toe reset.

It might not look like much, but this is where performance starts—retraining the windlass mechanism, waking up deep front and spiral lines, and releasing the low back tension that’s been hiding since a turf toe injury years ago.

This client’s a 32-year-old founder and attorney chasing a sub-3 marathon. My role is to bring every resource I have—chiropractic, movement, recovery, mindset—into one system that makes his body ready to go the distance.

Small levers. Big results. That’s living systems coaching.

08/28/2025

Two little dudes locked in on their Skills Bingo challenge.

Of all the titles I carry—chiropractor, business owner, coach—this one, standing on the field with second graders, might be the most impactful. Here I get to model what leadership feels like. What fatherhood can look like. How to celebrate someone else’s win, rebound from a mistake, and laugh while doing hard things.

This bingo board isn’t just stickers. It’s a way to build patterns in their brains, stretch them 10% beyond their comfort zone, and give them memories to draw from for the rest of their lives.

I like to ask: where in my life can I stack experiences so people’s needs are met, growth is sparked, and joy sneaks in at the same time?

08/22/2025

Last night I scheduled this little bedtime note for a Living Systems client:

“Gentle friend, unclasp thy busy thoughts, let care slip from thy brow, and give thy wearied senses leave to wander into night’s soft arms. For sleep, that golden chain which binds up the ravel’d sleeve of care, awaits to crown thy rest.”

Yes, I collaborate with Shakespeare for sleep prep reminders to turn the mundane into something playful.

Most of health and performance comes down to repeated habits. And when I can bring levity, creativity, or even a sense of ritual into those habits, they stop feeling like chores and start feeling like something we want to do. That’s when health becomes sustainable.

That’s what the Living Systems program is all about — making the practice of health not just effective and efficient, but enjoyable and human. morelife

08/08/2025

Wrapped up one of the biggest weeks of my life—

✅ Opened a new chiropractic practice with

✅ Moved into our new home

🏆 And today… achieved a goal years in the making!!!!

I now own a pair of toe socks for every day of the week. 🤗🦶🚀

This pair was the one that took me over the finish line (new starting line).

Yes, they look absurd to most folks, but wearing narrow toe box socks in a wide toe box shoe ain’t it for me.

They’re one of the best tools I know for foot health and I experience more accurate proprioception when wearing them.

Because when each toe can move independently, it connects into muscle chains all the way up the legs and into the core. Better foot control = better quality movement everywhere.

There are 26 bones in each foot—more than a quarter of the bones in your entire body in both feet—and they all have jobs to do. Toe socks help them show up for work and play well with their neighbors.

Thanks for helping me keep my feet—and the rest of me—moving well.

08/06/2025

We just moved into a new house. I opened another practice. For a moment in my life, there’s a greater option for comfort than ever.

And I’m glad I caught it.

The life we’ve built didn’t come from being comfortable—it came from leaning into things that were hard, messy, and uncertain. Comfort feels good… but I’ve seen how it can soften me if I let it.

Now my kids are watching me. They see how I live more than they hear what I say. I want them to feel safe, yes, but not to grow up thinking growth happens inside the comfort zone.

So here’s my reminder (for me, and maybe for you):

Comfort is a reward, not a lifestyle.

The best things still live just beyond what feels easy.

I want to stay 10% beyond my comfort zone. That’s where my life expands.

Who else is feeling this tension between enjoying what you’ve built and continuing to grow?

08/03/2025

Seven years. 500 sq. ft. Two boys, one Murphy bed that doubled as a wall ball court, Olympic rings in the living room, and every surface stacked with purpose.

This little in-law unit was never about what we lacked—it was about what we gained. Here, our kids learned to share space (and manage conflict). We learned to show up for our community when we couldn’t host them ourselves. We reinvested what we saved into experiences, relationships, travel, and businesses that have shaped our life.

Thank you to Danielle Andrews for connecting us with our landlord, Lola, who became like family, to for helping us design every inch to be functional and beautiful, and to everyone who poured into our kids during these years.

As we move eleven doors down into a bigger home, our intention is to carry these principles with us:

Efficiency over excess.

Stacking value into every space and decision.

Hosting and contributing to the village that has given us so much.

We don’t want to just fill a larger space—we want to savor the space we create.

Here’s to transitions, trade-offs, and the memories that built our foundation.

07/31/2025

August 1, 2025. This one’s special.

On that day, two big things happen at once:

First—my old friend, classmate, and now partner, Dr. Drew Vercellino ( ), and I get the keys to New Life Chiropractic in San Carlos. We get to honor the legacy of our retiring professor who built this place, while putting our hands to the work of growing it and serving this community in our own way.

Second—my family and I pack up the little in-law unit we’ve called home for 7 years (the worst house in the best neighborhood) and move just eight doors down the street. We love this cul-de-sac too much to leave it.

For a long time, we’ve chosen to spend less on the house and the car so we could pour more into what actually makes life rich—our relationships, our food, our health, our time together. We didn’t just save; we reinvested in the things that grow life.

Today we get to taste some of the fruit from those choices.

We chose to live while we’re alive.

There’s still a lot of work ahead, but this is a moment I want to stop and mark.

Here’s to the next chapter. 🙌

07/26/2025

Fourth place. No podium, no nationals this time.

My intention going into this race was simple: to see if I could still be competitive in my age group by maintaining what I’ve always considered a healthy lifestyle—without adding extra training.

In the past, that’s been enough. I’ve won races, stood on podiums, and qualified for championships just by living well. But at 41, this race was an eye-opener. I raced my plan, hit my target time, and if the field had been the same as last year, that time would’ve won my age group by 90 seconds and placed me sixth overall. Instead, I walked away fourth, just outside qualifying.

The lesson? The game changes. The bar rises. And now I get to decide: do I shift gears, create space for the training required to compete at this level, or do I keep this as a fun challenge without taking life too seriously?

Most of my life I’ve lived by the principle of holding outcomes lightly. Attachment to results is often the root of suffering. But in competition, if you’re trying to win, there’s inherently some attachment—and I like that tension. It gives me an edge, motivates me to push my limits physically and emotionally, and ultimately makes me a better father, husband, business owner, and human.

For now, I’m integrating the lessons and giving myself some space before I decide what’s next. 🏊‍♂️🚴‍♂️🏃‍♂️

Dr. Lance von Stade