ICPA Conference – Freedom for family wellness

From October 21st to the 24th, I was lucky enough to be able to attend the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association’s (ICPA) Freedom for Family Wellness summit in Washington D.C.

This summit was comprised of 4 action-packed days (I started most mornings by 7am and some nights didn't finish until after 11pm!) devoted to sharing knowledge, information, support and ideas for activism.

The speakers included the best-of-the-best in natural health, chiropractic, birthing and parenting and I left the venue fired up, feeling incredibly positive and filled with ideas about how to better spread the message of vaccination choice in Australia.

One of the most important things to come out of the weekend was the forging of alliances with American pro-choice organisations and this was accomplished with many of our sister groups pledging to work closely with the AVN and hundreds of practitioners (chiropractors, midwives, doctors, nurses, etc.) hearing about our group for the first time.

We were able to give out over 3,000 information flyers and vaccination choice cards to attendees and many of them will be putting our information into their offices and workplaces so people in the US will be making the link between their own situation and the struggle we are currently undergoing in Australia and realising that we are all in this together.

The weekend was opened with a talk by Peggy O’Mara who is one of my absolute heroes from the time when my first child was born, almost 22 years ago.

The positive changes I made in the first years of child-rearing came from information I discovered in the pages of Peggy’s magazine, Mothering, and the slightly more radical but very excellent Compleat Mother from Canada. In those pages, I discovered such unheard-of concepts as extended breastfeeding, the family bed, organic food and clothing and whole foods. Like many new parents, I was totally unaware of these issues before giving birth and being thrust into this role completely unprepared. I have tried to model our own magazine, Living Wisdom, on these publications and hope that we in Australia will be able to accomplish even a fraction of what they have done in the US and Canada.

Mothering has also tackled the vaccination issue in an unbiased way that accepts all choices and provides information to a population that may have never even have heard that there could be questions about the benefits or risks of this procedure. Their current issue includes an article entitled the Vaccination Debate that is typical of the way in which they allow for open and respectful coverage of this emotive issue.  At only $9.90 (US) for a 2-year digital subscription, this would be a great buy for any new parent either to have or to receive as a gift.

I was so excited to hear Peggy speak in person and was not disappointed by the messages she conveyed.

I guess everyone listening to a speaker will emerge with a different impression or take-away message, but the one thing that Peggy said that has stayed in my mind is that the opposite of courage is conformity. This resonates so strongly with me!

This is the message of the AVN as well. Conformity is comfort, it is the way society wants us to behave. But when conforming means going against your instincts, your knowledge or your family’s best interests, it takes courage to oppose those pressures and make your own way. But that is what we need to do.

But we don’t need to do it alone. Peggy says that courage is self-generating. We need to:

1-    Practice self-appreciation – be gentle with ourselves and accept that we will make mistakes as part of this process.

2-    Don’t listen to negative self-talk. Move on from what doesn’t work without beating ourselves up.

3-    Expect things to work out. Be positive and picture things working out for the best and they will.

4-    Leave time for fun and pleasure. When life stops being fun and when you stop taking pleasure in what you are doing, it’s time to step back and see what changes you need to make to bring these vital elements into your life again.

5-    Surround ourselves with like-minded friends. Don’t allow negative nay-sayers to bring you down. Form a community or join one that feels the same way you do – either way, make sure that you are supported.

Peggy said – and quite rightly too – that we are influenced by the company we keep. She said that we need to find our tribe – a group that we can relate to and with whom we can both share and gain knowledge.

Mothering forum’s 150,000 members – the largest group discussing these issues in the world – is a great place to start. If you don’t have a local ‘tribe’ or support group yet, you can tap into theirs. They are in the process of upgrading their forum software but that job should be completed soon so if you want to check the Mothering website in the next couple of weeks, you should be able to join in then.

I will try to bring you more blogs about this event over the next week or so. I learned so much and I want to share it all with you.

My gratitude goes to our wonderful AVN members whose financial support allowed me to attend this conference. Without your assistance, none of this would have been possible.