Welcome to Episode 33 of What Chiropractic Doesn't Cure: Stories of Innate podcast. This is a special one, because, if you don't know, the human spine has 33 vertebrae. It's also a special number in chiropractic because Stephenson's textbook talks about 33 principles of chiropractic.

For this special 33rd episode. I wanted to have someone who really embodies the science, the art, and the philosophy of chiropractic: Dr. Ryan Dopps.

For a little background before this episode, Dr. Ryan’s wife, Dr. Denise Dopps, died in Sept 2024 following an incredibly inspiring, heartbreaking 5-year battle with Stage IV colon cancer. She was one of my dearest friends and I was honored to have her record Episode 1 of this podcast.

Dr. Ryan shared an amazing talk about Dr. Denise’s life and legacy at Dynamic Essentials barely a month later, giving everyone an incredible charge. (You may be able to get a recording of it at www.lifede.com from the October 2024 meeting.)

I’m so grateful that everything came together for Dr. Ryan to share this conversation. We dig deep into recognizing symptoms as a disruption of life force. We also discuss why chiropractors are talking about topics of the mind and soul, not just focusing on the body.

He quoted the Developer of Chiropractic, B.J. Palmer, “We chiropractors work with the subtle substance of the soul. We release the imprisoned impulse, the tiny rivulet of force, that emanates from the mind and flows over the nerves to the cells, and stirs them into life.”

With everything Dr. Ryan has gone through, I asked if his trust in the body’s innate intelligence has been shaken and where that has taken him, as a person and doctor.

Dr. Ryan gives this great challenge: “Use your experiences, use your life, use your encounters that you've had with people, and the struggles that you've gone through not as a negative, to be a victim in your story, but use it as a catalyst, as a driving force to make the world better right to make humanity a better place because you're in it.”