BY: Mary Wills - shuzsociety.com

Achieving balance in today's hectic lifestyle is becoming increasingly difficult. The stresses surrounds us–diet, household, social life, work schedule, money! All too often trying to juggle everything can lead us down the risky path of not taking care of ourselves.

The Gioffre Chiropractic Wellness Center in New York City offers guidance, information and a wide range of services to enable wellness and balance in all aspects of life.

"We take a holistic approach and look at the total body balance," explains Dr. Daryl Gioffre, aka Dr. D, founder of the center. "Starting with weight displacement, we use a digital foot scanner to determine how a client bears their weight. Individuals are often unaware of how they carry their body. If there is not proper balance it can be like carrying around a bowling ball all day."

The clinic offers a variety of evaluation methods and treatments, from orthotic shoe inserts to facilitate better balance, to adjustments and applied kinesiology.

Dr. D knows from personal experience these treatments work. He played soccer for Boston College while earning his Bachelor of Science and suffered a serious injury. Regaining his strength and endurance through chiropractic methods inspired him to seek a career in the field and he went on to earn his Doctorate from the University of Bridgeport, College of Chiropractic graduating Summa Cum Laude. He believes in seven aspects of wellness–physical, financial, family, social, career and spiritual–and living with healthy habits can enable living a longer and more energetic life. "It is about achieving better health and giving people an education, thus enabling them to make quality choices on a daily basis," states Dr. Gioffre. "These choices will affect their life further down the road. Think progress, one step at a time and building on a solid foundation, mentally and physically.

It is about getting your ESS in shape–Endurance, Strength and Structure."

Here are five tips from Dr. D to help on you on your journey to healthy habits!

1. Keep Your Feet Flexible

We all know how to keep our biceps in shape, but few of us know how to keep our feet in good condition. They take significant abuse from the hours we spend on our feet each day, especially in high-heel shoes. The American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society recommend doing this simple exercise to relax your foundation and prevent foot discomfort. Dancers, runners and, frankly, all shoe wearers, will benefit from this exercise– Golf ball roll: Roll a golf ball under the ball of your foot for two minutes. This is a great massage for the bottom of the feet that will significantly improve how your feet feel. It will help maintain muscle tone in your feet, keep them from getting tired and protect you against cramps after a long day!

2. Go For a Walk

Walk 10 minutes a day and Increase your fitness level. Old thinking was to work out in a sweat-filled gym for hours a day. No pain, no gain. New studies show that even short bouts of activity can increase your fitness level, especially if you're new at working out.

3. How Bout Those Sneakers?

As a general rule most running shoes will provide cushioning up to 500 miles, though many runners report a breakdown in cushioning after as few as 350 miles. If you are noticing aches and pains in specific areas of your legs, knees or hips, your shoes may be telling you something. While it's great to brag about how long you have that old faithful pair of shoes, it might not be worth risking your health.

4. Park and Walk

Whenever you have an errand, park your car as far away as you can handle and walk to the store. At the mall, park at the farthest end and walk the length of the mall. Use every opportunity to walk. At the end of the day, it all adds up to better fitness.

5. Move More

Make it a daily challenge to find ways to move your body. Climb stairs if given a choice between that and escalators or elevators. Walk your dog; chase your kids; toss balls with friends, mow the lawn. Anything that moves your limbs is not only a fitness tool, it's a stress buster. Think 'move' in small increments of time. It doesn't have to be an hour in the gym or a 45-minute aerobic dance class or tai chi or kickboxing. But that's great when you're up to it. Meanwhile, move more.

Dr. D is a licensed professional Chiropractor who lives and works in New York.

His motto; "He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything!"

To reach Dr. D – please visit www.gioffrechiropractic.com [1] or call 212-472-5558.