Explore the World of the Polyvagal Theory through a Chiropractic Lens!
Elevate your practice with the science of connection—see how understanding the nervous system can transform your adjusting technique, patient care, and business dynamics!
Contact Us NowWelcome to the Polyvagal Shift. Threading the Blend of Chiropractic and Polyvagal Principles Throughout Chiropractors' Adjusting Techniques and Offices.
Check out our blog for related articles at https://drdonmacdonald.com/blog
The Informed Chiropractor is a learning community for chiropractors who want to integrate Polyvagal Theory into real-world chiropractic care.
We help vitalistic, neurologically focused, and salutogenic chiropractors apply nervous system principles directly to their adjusting, communication, and office environment so patients feel safer, more regulated, and more engaged in their care. By blending chiropractic philosophy with modern neuroscience, our programs give chiropractors practical tools to assess progress, improve retention, and clearly communicate the value of chiropractic in a way that makes sense to today’s patients.
Go Deeper. Practice with Clarity.
If you have been in practice long enough to know that technique alone is not the issue, this work is for you. We help chiropractors refine how they communicate, assess, and adjust by understanding the nervous system through a Polyvagal lens grounded in chiropractic principles. This model of care brings clarity to what you are seeing in your practice and gives language to changes you have always sensed but struggled to explain.
As patients feel safer and more regulated, visits become more connected and more effective. Progress is easier to observe, certainty grows on both sides of the table, and long-term care begins to make sense again. Chiropractic shifts from something you have to justify to something your patients can feel, understand, and value.
A Personalized Path to Mastery
There is no one right way to practice chiropractic, but there is a more informed way to understand the nervous system in front of you. Our approach meets you where you are and integrates into the technique, philosophy, and practice style you already use. Rather than asking you to adopt a new system, we help you refine what you are already doing with greater clarity, confidence, and clinical intention.
By learning how to recognize patterns of regulation and protection, you gain practical tools to support neuroregulation in a way that feels natural and sustainable. The result is more ease in your day, more consistency in patient outcomes, and a practice that feels aligned with who you are as a chiropractor.
Start Where It Makes Sense for You
There is no single starting point for integrating Polyvagal principles into chiropractic care. Some chiropractors begin by learning the language of the nervous system, while others are ready for deeper mentorship or hands-on clinical immersion. At The Informed Chiropractor, we offer multiple ways to engage based on where you are in practice and what you need most right now, all grounded in the same neurologically informed chiropractic framework.
Join Us At A Live Event. Check the Highlights Below!
Begin with Free Learning
If you are curious about Polyvagal Theory and how it applies to chiropractic, start here. Our free Introduction to Polyvagal Theory for Chiropractors course and The Informed Chiropractor podcast give you practical language, clinical context, and real-world examples you can immediately relate to your practice. Listen by clicking HERE. This is a low-pressure way to explore how a nervous system lens can bring clarity to your care without changing who you are as a chiropractor.
Grow Inside the Informed Chiropractor Mentorship
For chiropractors who want ongoing support and deeper integration, our group mentorship provides a steady rhythm of learning, reflection, and clinical application. Inside The Informed Chiropractor community, you will refine communication, assessment, and clinical decision making through a Polyvagal and neurologically focused lens while staying grounded in chiropractic principles. This is where understanding becomes consistency and confidence.
Experience the Work Live
Our live events are where this work becomes embodied. From technique based seminars and team communication trainings to masterminds and Healing the Chiropractor experiences, these gatherings are designed to deepen regulation, restore clarity, and reconnect you with purpose in practice. Live events offer space to slow down, ask better questions, and experience what a regulated chiropractic environment can feel like. Check our upcoming events dates and locations below.Â
JANUARY 17th, in PHOENIX, AZ
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A Day Just for You
Healing the Chiropractor in Phoenix January 17th, 2026 SOLD OUT!
As we travel around the world teaching, something consistently emerges in our one-on-one conversations with chiropractors like you.
Behind the practice stats, the adjustments, and the endless giving to your community… many of you are quietly living with your own challenges.
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Old injuries that never quite healed
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Health and energy that aren’t where you want them to be
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Mindset limitations that keep you feeling stuck
And while you keep pouring into others, your own vitality is slipping through the cracks.
That’s why we created Healing the Chiropractor—a full day dedicated to you.
SOLD OUT!
Feb 7th, in MONTREAL
The Shoulder and the Pelvic Floor Through a Nervous System Lens
This one day seminar explores two of the most misunderstood and commonly challenged regions in chiropractic practice: the shoulder and the pelvic floor. Rather than treating them as isolated mechanical problems, this workshop examines their relationship to the nervous system, stability, breath, and regulation. You will learn how patterns of protection and compensation show up in these regions and how addressing them can create meaningful change in posture, movement, and patient comfort.
Through a Polyvagal-informed, neurologically focused chiropractic lens, this seminar will help you refine your assessment and adjusting strategies in ways that feel intentional and clinically relevant. The goal is not to add more techniques, but to improve how and why you choose what you already do. Chiropractors leave with greater clarity, confidence, and a deeper understanding of how supporting regulation in the shoulder and pelvic floor can positively influence the entire system.
For More info Click HERE
March 27, ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA
The Shoulder and the Pelvic Floor Through a Nervous System Lens
This one-day seminar focuses on two regions that consistently challenge chiropractors in clinical practice: the shoulder and the pelvic floor. Rather than approaching them as isolated structural issues, this seminar explores how these regions reflect nervous system regulation, stability, and compensation patterns. You will learn how working with the shoulder and pelvic floor through a Polyvagal-informed chiropractic lens can influence posture, movement, and overall ease in the body.
Held on the same weekend and at the same hotel as the Concordia conference, this seminar offers an opportunity to deepen your clinical understanding before stepping into a broader professional gathering. The day is designed to refine how you assess and adjust, not by adding complexity, but by bringing greater clarity and intention to the work you already do. Chiropractors leave with practical insights, improved confidence, and a clearer understanding of how supporting regulation in these regions can create system-wide change.
For more info click HereMarch 7th, in WINDSOR, UK
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The Protected Shoulder and Pelvic Floor
MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol | Windsor, England | March 7, 2026 | Sold Out
This MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol seminar focuses on understanding the shoulder and pelvic floor as key indicators of nervous system protection and regulation. Rather than approaching these regions as isolated structural challenges, this training explores how they reflect patterns of stability, breath, and interoceptive awareness within the body. Chiropractors learn to recognize when these areas are responding to threat and how supporting regulation can create meaningful system wide change.
Through hands on assessment and adjusting, Dr. Don and Brandi MacDonald guide participants in applying Polyvagal principles to the shoulders, ribs, and pelvic floor in a way that is clinically practical and grounded in chiropractic philosophy. The emphasis is not on adding techniques, but on refining intention, improving interoception, and increasing the regulatory impact of every adjustment. This seminar is designed for chiropractors who want to deepen their neurologically focused care and bring greater clarity and confidence to their clinical decision making.
What if the key to better results… wasn’t more technique?
Accredited for 6 points by the SNRC
You became a chiropractor to help people heal. You’ve studied hard, adjusted thousands, and poured your heart into the work. But deep down, you know there’s more—more depth, more clarity, more connection.
Enter the Polyvagal Theory.
Not as a fad. Not as fluff. But as a practical, neurological framework that explains precisely why some people heal and some stay stuck… even when we “do everything right.”
This free 1-hour intro class is for chiropractors who are ready to decode the nervous system like never before.
We’ll break down the algorithm of regulation and show you how to become a more attuned, effective, and trusted co-regulator in your adjusting space, without changing who you are or what you do.
This isn’t about doing more. It’s about seeing deeper.And once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
Click below to get instant access to our FREE 1-hour class:Â Introduction to Polyvagal Theory for Chiropractors
Let’s make chiropractic relevant, resonant, and nervously safe—together.
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Click HereJoin Us at One of Our Live Events!
 December 6th, 2025, Toronto, Canada.Â
The Informed Chiropractor Super Conference.
https://www.theinformedchiropractor.com/toronto
March 7th, 2026, Windsor, UK
The MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol, The Protected Shoulders and Pelvic FloorÂ
What others have said
"My practice has grown by 20-30% since joining. But that’s not WHY I joined, nor is it the BEST part. I joined to enjoy practice more, gain confidence in my communication and add functional testing. What I got is way more ease in my schedule, way more flow in my adjusting, a better understanding of my patient's needs, and an understanding of why valuing and prioritizing MY vitality has shifted my practice. All without changing a single procedure, just changing how I show up and serve each and every day."
Dr. Pip Penrose Young, Stratford, Ontario
Click Here To Join The Informed Chiropractor Mentorship Group.
CLICK BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS
CLICK HERE
The Informed Chiropractor.
A premier group mentoring program designed exclusively for neurologically focused chiropractors. Our program offers a unique blend of practice growth strategies, personal development insights, and the application of the polyvagal lens to enhance every aspect of your practice. With monthly Zoom calls, daily support in our active Facebook group, and access to a wealth of resources, you'll gain the tools and knowledge needed to elevate your practice. Enrollment is limited and opens periodically for new cohorts, ensuring personalized attention and a structured onboarding process. Join our waitlist to secure your spot and be part of a transformative journey in chiropractic care.
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For more info click HERE
You're in good company
"The key to moving our practice from one that was stuck and stagnant to one that is growing and thriving has been the vitality shift. The vitality shift got us moving and the vitality engine keeps us moving. The vitality engine has helped us develop our skills to communicate & practice congruently in a vitalistic manner. We’ve never been happier or more fulfilled in practice."
Dr. John and Marie Osborne, Ireland
"Since joining the Vitality Engine my personal practice has increased by 40% from a time when I thought I was full. Gentle advice on top of excellent lessons and monthly tutorials have enabled me to edge my practice forward past where any of us ever thought possible. Receipts are up, referrals are up and results are up."
Dr. Donald Francis, Scotland, UK