What makes health care green? In many ways it depends on how one defines green, and, to a greater extent, how one defines health care. For Kimberly Higney of Cardea Chiropractic in Greenland, New Hampshire, what is really required when considering the failed state of the current health care system is not a small fix here or there, but rather an entire "perspective change.”

"I like to parse it out in terms of health care versus sick care," says Higney. "Sick care means you're responding to something that is already wrong. On the other hand, we feel health care, in the truest sense of the term, should be something we can all create -- something we all have the potential to achieve."

Cardea, which in Greek means “Goddess of Protecting the Home”, represents the cutting edge of preventative health care. Whereas most mega-hospitals serve as catastrophic stop-gaps for long-ignored conditions and health issues – requiring enormous amounts of resources, energy and money – smaller, holistically-minded outfits like Cardea seek to mitigate these entirely preventable conditions head on. In doing so, Higney and others like her prevent the kind of emergency hospital visits and resulting medical bills that contribute to the millions of new Americans who every year are forced to file for bankruptcy. Indeed, far from being exclusively back and neck specialists, Cardea takes the long view on health care, incorporating an extensive wellness program which emphasizes the importance of everything from the food one eats to one's psychological outlook and beyond.

Central to Cardea’s approach is the crucial importance of the nervous system and spine in serving as what Higney calls "the body's communication center." In the same way that the earth as a whole has seen its communication system interrupted by overt environmental tampering and interruption on the part of humans, modern society has rendered the human body prone to similar interruptions in communications, making for a less healthy individual and, as a result, a less healthy society. According to Higney, all of these stresses contribute to a constant state of "fight or flight", where, as she puts it, "everything becomes an emergency.”

"When we were cavemen, the fight or flight instinct helped because it was necessary for survival," Higney explains. "But today we're constantly in this state even though what's triggering it is in no way a serious threat. We basically have 20 minutes of physiological reserve to fuel this, so when that runs out, it starts pulling from other systems in the body, beginning as a slight deficiency, eventually progressing into something more major. Adult onset allergies are a perfect example of this – something that often springs up later in life, becoming more dangerous or debilitating than they should ever have been.”

Constant stress saps the body's energy reserves and it makes it less capable of responding to imbalances and irregularities elsewhere -- be they physical, psychological, or emotional. Higney's chiropractic method works to free up the body's communication system, simultaneously relieving stress and allowing the body to devote more energy to healing and, it is hoped, overall well-being. But while Cardea can help individuals realize their own role in establishing long-term health, in the end it is up to the individual themselves to make the choices necessary -- everything from what they eat to how they sit -- to make well-being something long term and, it is hoped, sustainable.

In the same way that individual choices have a clear impact on one’s health, these same choices translate into impacts on the environment which, while less obvious and often unseen, are no less important. “The more you interfere with a natural system – be it the body or the planet as whole – the less that system’s communicative abilities are able to be expressed,” Higney says. “So the more synthetic inputs you have, the less natural information can be processed.”

To that end, Cardea epitomizes the inextricable link between individual and global health, and empowers individuals to recognize their role in both. According to Higney, when an individual’s nervous system is flowing properly and allowing the kind of communication necessary for holistically-imagined health, they are more capable of ignoring the little things that would otherwise stress them into bad habits and behaviors and instead make better life choices. “When you’re truly healthy, and you’re not worried about healing, you’re brain is better able and more free to focus on more advanced human functions,” explains Higney. “We equate this level with being in ‘the zone’ in certain sports– that level where everything comes easier, including high level creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.”

Higney refers to this as the “third” level of health – as opposed to the first and second levels, which are more concerned with healing and bringing the body into a more reliable state of equilibrium. At this third level, Higney points out, “people become more community-oriented, as opposed to constantly living in a fight-or-flight state where you’re just thinking about yourself. Wellness at the third level of care means you’re there for something bigger – you have more resourcefulness, physiologically. Basically when you’re body is free, your mind is free!”

Higney hopes that increased awareness of the exploding costs of health care and the resulting rise in the number of uninsured Americans will compel individuals to reevaluate steps they can take to prevent the kind of financial ruin and long-term health issues which inflict an increasing percentage of the population. At the same time, Higney longs to see more emphasis placed on the connection between individual and global sustainability and well-being. “Going forward I would love to make the connection between taking care of yourself and taking care of the world around you,” says Higney. “To me the link is unmistakable, and hopefully more people begin to recognize their agency in both respects.”