Zone Technique

  How the Zones Work  

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When most people think of chiropractic, they think of neck and back pain relief. Of course chiropractic is an excellent way to relieve neck and back pain, but this is only a fraction of what the original chiropractic is all about. The founder of chiropractic, DD Palmer, taught that altered nerve flow was the root cause of disease, and that misaligned spinal vertebrae negatively effect nerve flow. He taught that restoring the vertebrae to their proper alignment would restore health. Dr. Pete Goldman carries on this tradition.

Specifically, Dr. Pete’s Zone Technique is built upon the principles of Palmer’s real chiropractic, combined with the teachings of Dr. Thurman Fleet (1895-1983). Dr. Fleet created Zone Therapy in 1931. The healing results his patients achieved were unparalleled. In the early 1990’s, Dr. Pete began studying alongside several of Dr. Fleet’s top students and created his Zone Technique. While Dr. Pete was in chiropractic school, much of the faculty were so fascinated with the healing results from Dr. Pete’s Zone Technique that they too began getting adjusted by him. Since graduating chiropractic school, the phenomenal results have continued, leading to patients flying from all over the world to get adjusted by Dr. Pete.

Dr. Fleet taught the following – “there are only six kinds of disturbances that can affect the human body. These are GLANDULAR, ELIMINATIVE, NERVOUS, DIGESTIVE, MUSCULAR, and CIRCULATORY. All diseased conditions, aches and pains, and other discomforts experienced by the body can be attributed to one or more of the above disturbances to the body’s 6 systems or Zones.”

According to Dr. Fleet, the human brain is composed of many centers. These centers form in the embryonic stage of life and develop from the dorso-medial ectoderm of the embryo. There is a center which controls the glands of the body, a center which is associated with the organs of elimination, a center which regulates the central nervous system, and which is differentiated as an ectodermal neural plate in the dorso-medial region of the ectoderm.

The digestive organs are regulated by a brain center. In the motor cortex of the brain we find a center which controls all of the muscles of the body, and in the caudate nuclei (both), we find the center which regulates the flow of fluids (circulation) through the body.

Because the body may be properly classified as an ELECTRICAL MACHINE, these 6 brain centers represent the POSITIVE POLE of the body, and specific related points in the spinal cord represent the NEGATIVE POLE of the body. When there is a disturbance in any of the bodily areas, one or more of these centers are “shorted out.”

There has been a disruption of normal function of the entire center due to the effect of emotional, physical, or chemical stress.

The Zone doctor examines the patient to determine which of the brain centers are not in harmony with the systems they control. This is done by the Zone doctor feeling specific points on the patient’s head. These points are related to the six brain centers by nerve connections. When a brain center is not sending the proper signals to its system, all bodily material associated with that system suffers. In order to correct this, the zone doctor stimulates specific points in the spinal cord.

There are six sets of four points in the spinal cord (negative pole) that are related to the six brain centers (positive pole). Stimulation of the proper points by the Zone doctor sends healing energy up the spinal cord to the brain centers that need balancing. The balanced brain centers then are able to send out the proper signals to the body’s systems and the body is better able to heal itself.

Learn how each Zone relates to your body and mind:

Zone 1

Glandular System

  • Increase memory, energy, sleep, and relaxation
  • Regulate immune system and hormonal system
  • Thyroid, pineal, and pituitary gland care
  • Appetite regulation

Zone 2

Eliminative System

  • Strengthen lung, kidney, and bladder function
  • Regulate colon & bowel movements
  • Clear sinuses, nasal passages, and bronchial tubes
  • Eliminate bloating and bodily toxins

Zone 3

Nervous System

  • Improve mood
  • Improve sleep
  • Eye and ear health
  • Balance the hormonal system
  • Increase energy, remain calm and relaxed

Zone 4

Digestive System

  • Normalize weight
  • Salivary gland health / normalize sense of taste
  • Sustain healthy liver, intestines, and gall bladder
  • Digest foods that were previously agitating
  • Boost energy

Zone 5

Muscular System

  • Restore proper range of motion and movement
  • Expedite muscle recovery and improve strength
  • Improve suppleness and flexibility
  • Restore center of gravity / eliminate dizziness

Zone 6

Circulatory System

  • Heart health
  • Normalize blood pressure
  • Healthy blood vessels
  • Proper circulation

 

Dr. Thurman Fleet (1895-1983) was an amazing chiropractor who practiced in San Antonio, TX.  He created Zone Therapy in 1931. Dr. Peter Goldman, DC of San Francisco, CA was taught Zone Therapy starting in the early 1990s by 4 of Dr. Fleet’s direct students. He combined what he was taught by them with many years of the study and application of the principles of healing from multiple sources and created his own Zone Technique. 

The Zone Technique balances the brain and aligns the spine so that the body can restore itself to maximum health. 

Imagine that the body is a bit like an electrical system, powered by six "circuits" that formed in the brain during the embryonic stage of development. These six "circuits" regulate and influence:

 1.    The glands

 2.    The elimination process

 3.    The nervous system

 4.    The digestive organs

 5.    The muscle system

 6.    The circulation

When the body experiences emotional, physical, or chemical stress, it can result in a disruption in the normal function of one or more of these circuits. It's a bit like that circuit "shorted out." The results of a "short circuit" can create symptoms in the body - from headaches and pain to indigestion, depression, insomnia, and everything in between.

Before the Zone Doctor makes an adjustment, he or she feels six specific points on the head to determine which of the brain's "circuits" is out of harmony with the bodily systems they control. When the circuit that has shorted out is found, a chiropractic adjustment is made that gently stimulates specific points on the spinal cord.

These adjustments stimulate the spinal cord in such a way as to balance the brain centers that are involved. The balanced "circuit" can then send the proper signals back to the malfunctioning system in the body. The result is that the body becomes better able to heal itself.


Zone 1

Zone 1 / Glandular System

Since your body creates more chemicals than a pharmaceutical company, this zone is your inner pharmacy. The brain sends signals to the 200+ glands in the body, releasing essential hormones and chemicals for health. 

Various stressors including thoughts, feelings, and emotions affect our glandular system. If the stressors are of sufficient intensity, one or more subluxations of vertebrae will result. This subluxation will prohibit normal nerve energy from the brain center to the glands, resulting in decreased activity in some of the glands and increased activity in others. 

For example, prolonged fear or worry stresses the adrenal glands and, over time, causes illness. This misalignment interferes with the proper brain/nerve signals traveling to your glandular organs creating a multitude of dis-ease and problems.

Perfect Glandular Health

  • strong immune function
  • great concentration and memory
  • perfect sleep
  • normal appetite
  • excellent skin, hair and nails
  • normal energy and emotional balance
  • excellent reproductive function

Zone 2

Zone 2 / Eliminative System

The eliminative zone is designed to ‘eliminate’ or flush out built up waste and toxins from your body; its organs include the sinuses, lungs, kidneys, intestines, bladder, colon, and skin. 

Each cell in your body produces waste material as a natural byproduct of living; however it must have a way of flushing this out. Just like the plumbing system in your house, when it’s ‘backed up’ it’s a dirty place to live. It is the same with the body, when you have improper elimination, it prevents the harmful chemicals from flushing out, thus poisoning it from the inside out. 

When the eliminative zone is working 100%, you may ingest foul food, poisonous air, allergens, bacteria, and viral particles without you even knowing it. Physical, mental, or chemical stress can cause a disturbance in the brain center as well as a spinal misalignment or subluxation in the coinciding eliminative nerve channels. This disturbance interferes with the proper brain/nerve signals traveling to your eliminative organs creating a multitude of diseases and problems.

Perfect Eliminative Health:

  • less colds and flu
  • normal breathing ability
  • powerful immune function and ability to fight infection
  • proper bowel movements
  • proper allergen removal

Zone 3

Zone 3 / Nerve System

This zone consists of 45 miles of nerves and is considered the master balancing system of your body. It normally switches you “off” and “on”. It allows you to relax, digest food, and sleep well at night; at the same time it gets you up in the morning refreshed, energized and ready for action. 

Many people are stuck in an “on” or “off” state due to their lifestyle, many doctors call this depression or anxiety. This causes an overload of stress to your nerve system. Just like the electricity in your house, when there is an overload the fuses burn out. 

When your nerve zone “burns out”, you have low energy and lose your drive for life. Lack of sleep, poor diet, too little exercise and prolonged emotional stress can all wreak havoc on the nerve zone. Physical, mental, or chemical stress can cause a disturbance in the brain center as well as a spinal misalignment or subluxation in the coinciding nerve channels. This disturbance interferes with the proper brain/nerve signals traveling to and from your nervous system creating a multitude of diseases and problems.

Perfect Nerve Health: 

  • excellent balance
  • strong mental acuity
  • normal digestion and elimination
  • normal sleep
  • ability to relax and be energized when you want to
  • normal sense function, i.e. eyes, ears, nose, etc.
  • ability to heal quickly normal emotional adaptation

Zone 4

Zone 4 / Digestive System

From certain highly organized cells, the innate intelligence created pigments — marvels of color combination for the eyes, the skin, and the hair. There is red for the arterial blood; blue color combinations for the blood in the veins; yellow and green colors for the manufacture of bile; purple for the spleen; black for the choroid of the eye, the blues, the browns, the greens of the iris of the eyes; the brown of the freckles; the black, brown, yellow or red of the hair; and so on, ad infinitum. 

Functioning in the body are chemical processes and actions far beyond the comprehension of the world’s greatest chemist. Mysteries of medicines, enzymes, colors, hormones, “magical” actions that, be it remembered, are always tending towards health unless the encroachments of wrong living interfere with the functioning of the innate intelligence. 

The organs of the digestive zone include your liver, gallbladder, stomach, pancreas, and intestine. When this system has a disturbance, you can put the best organic food “fuel” into your body, but it is unable to reap the nutrient value. Many people are malnourished because their body is unable to break down the food into the proper usable elements. Also, some people combine foods improperly. Just as in the chemistry lab, if you put certain chemicals together, they explode. This causes much stress on the digestive zone. 

Physical, mental, or chemical stress can cause a disturbance in the brain center as well as a spinal misalignment or subluxation in the coinciding digestive nerve channels. This misalignment interferes with the proper brain/nerve signals traveling to your digestive organs creating a multitude of diseases and problems.

Perfect Digestive Health:

  • normal weight
  • normal bowel movements
  • normal function of gallbladder, liver, kidneys, pancreas, stomach, etc.
  • normal digestion and assimilation of all foods
  • normal blood sugar levels

Zone 5

Zone 5 / Muscular System

This zone is responsible for keeping you upright and moving; its organs include 637+muscles, tendons, joints, ligaments and bones. When working properly this zone replaces the muscle and skeletal cells for you, so you have a new musculoskeletal system every 7 years. 

Most people neglect to exercise or move their body, creating an unhealthy muscular zone. A disturbance in the muscular zone can create chronic pain and stiffness in joints, asymmetry in the musculature, atrophy/weakness in muscles and/or spasmed/overworked muscles. accidents, falls, or physical traumas also cause an improper nerve supply to your muscles and joints. 

On an emotional level, when you get angry many muscles in the body contract and since your muscles structure effects of all other systems this causes poor elimination, digestion, circulation, and glandular function. 

Physical, mental, or chemical stress can cause a disturbance in the brain center as well as a spinal misalignment or subluxation in the muscular nerve channels. This disturbance interferes with the proper brain/nerve signals traveling to your musculoskeletal system creating a multitude of diseases and problems.

Perfect Muscular Health:

  • normal feeling in all limbs
  • strong muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons and joints
  • ability to move and do what you want, when you want
  • healthy pain free muscles and joints
  • excellent joint motion

Zone 6

Zone 6 / Circulatory System

This zone includes the heart, arteries, veins and the lymphatic system (mini-trash cans). These 60,000 miles of circulatory pathways carry nourishing oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body. It carries carbon dioxide waste and other toxic metabolites from all parts of the body to lungs and kidneys for elimination. It carries nutrients absorbed in the mouth, stomach, and intestines throughout the body to produce the energy and “building blocks” needed to repair the tissues that make up the body. 

The circulatory zone also carries the hormones released by the glandular zone. Just like the engine in your car, without proper oil circulating through, it would seize up and stop working. The lymphatic system is like a daily oil changing system, collecting waste from the arteries and veins. It is then dumped in the lymph nodes, where white blood cells clean-up any debris and purify the lymph fluid, which is finally dumped back into the arterial-venous system. 

Since the lymphatic system has no pump (like the heart), it is particularly dependent on the muscular zone to move the fluids around. Bed-ridden patients may develop bed sores due to the lack of movement in the lymphatic portion of the circulatory zone. 

Physical, mental, or chemical stress can cause a disturbance in the brain center as well as a spinal misalignment or subluxation in the circulatory nerve channels. This disturbance interferes with the proper brain/nerve signals traveling to your circulatory zone organs creating a multitude of dis-ease and problems.

Perfect Circulatory Health:

  • normal functioning thyroid gland
  • normal cardiovascular function
  • normal lymphatic function (elimination of toxins and waste matter)
  • perfect working heart and lungs
  • excellent blood flow to all organs and tissues