Get the Free Guide to the MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol Here
Download Now
What is The MacDonald Safety Corridor?
I developed the "MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol" together with my wife, Brandi MacDonald, in response to the global pandemic. We recognized the significant impacts of isolation and the tumultuous social climate on overall health. Observing heightened nervous system dysregulation in my patients, I tailored this protocol to specifically address these issues.
The core of the MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol is the integration of polyvagal theory principles with traditional chiropractic techniques. This approach particularly focuses on the ventral aspect of the body, emphasizing the path of the vagus nerve. In my practice, I meticulously monitor for signs of threat or tension and introduce safety cues through calibrated tissue rapport. This method not only enhances the effectiveness of chiropractic adjustments but also helps expedite the nervous system's return to a state of regulation.
As a chiropractor, I have learned to monitor this protocol through various indicators of nervous system regulation. These include improvements in heart rate variability, posture, muscle tone, and breathing patterns. Subtle changes in a patient's facial expression, head movement, and eye tone, along with shifts in voice and auditory processing, serve as additional markers of systemic recalibration. One of the most telling signs of a successful intervention is when patients report a profound sense of relaxation, feeling lighter, or a return to calmness.
Blending Chiropractic Adjustments with Polyvagal Principles
Using cues of safety and monitoring the body’s vagus nerve response, the protocol involves careful adjustments designed to bring the nervous system to a regulated state. Focused on areas like the cervical spine, ribs, diaphragm, and pelvis, each adjustment is tailored to create regulatory changes in patients.
The MacDonald's Safety Corridor Protocol adds a crucial step to this process. While we keep our primary focus on subluxation to remove these danger cues, the protocol goes further by actively introducing cues of safety. This is particularly focused on the ventral or front part of the body. By doing this, we're not just removing potential threats but also positively reinforcing the nervous system's sense of safety.
Learn The MacDonald Safety Corridor
We offer three seminars designed for chiropractors to integrate this revolutionary protocol into their practice.
The MacDonald's Safety Corridor Protocol is structured around "five locks" within the body. This analogy is inspired by my time in Davenport, Iowa, where the Mississippi River and its locks facilitate the movement of ships. I likened these locks to critical areas in the body where messages travel between the brain and the rest of the body. The aim is to ensure these free-flowing pathways detect safety cues in the body.
Lock One focuses on creating ease in the base of the skull and the cervical spine. This area is crucial for maintaining safety cues in the tissues around the base of the skull and neck where the vagus nerve exits the cranium. Particular attention is given to adjusting the occiput and upper cervical spine. Key indicators are the suboccipital muscles, which significantly determine regulation in this lock. We spend a lot of time on the importance of the "social engagement system and the role cranial nerves play in this regulatory process.
Lock Two involves adjusting the upper six ribs, emphasizing the trapezius, scalenes, and pectorals muscles as regulation indicators. These areas are vital for breathing, and movement is critical to indicating safety to the nervous system. The first rib is also proximal to where the vagus nerve enters the thoracic cavity.
Lock Three addresses adjusting the lower ribs from the sixth down to the twelfth. The focus here is on the diaphragm and the stomach, ensuring ease and proper function. This lock is essential for the free movement of the diaphragm and the upper viscera.
Lock Four addresses the lumbar region and the pelvis adjusting. This lock emphasizes the hip flexors and the lower viscera as soft tissue protection indicators. The free movement and alignment of the lumbar spine and pelvis are essential for the lower body's movement and stability.
Lock Five returns to the skull, specifically focusing on adjusting the cranial bone. Cranial work alleviates tension in this area, promoting overall ease and balance in the cranial system.
These five locks represent different critical areas in the body, each playing a unique role in maintaining the balance and health of the nervous system. The protocol is designed to enhance the effectiveness of chiropractic adjustments by addressing these areas, ensuring they are moving optimally and free from tension.
Level 1: Upper Spine and Safety Corridor Seminar
This workshop focuses on analysis and force application options for the occiput, cervical spine, upper ribs, and upper safety corridor, delivering essential techniques that can be immediately implemented. This one-day event covers Locks 1-3, providing a solid foundation for addressing the upper safety corridor and understanding the FACE as a major indicator of regulation and social engagement. Which is NOT innervated by spinal nerves, but by cranial ones.
Level 2: Lower Spine and Safety Corridor Seminar
In Level Two, practitioners delve into analysis and force application options for the lumbar and pelvis and begin exploring cranial work, emphasizing lock four and lock five. We also explore the lower Safety Corridor. This seminar builds on previous knowledge but is also suitable for those new to the protocol, offering insights into enhancing lower spine ,the role torque plays in both bone and fascia feedback AND how important the dorsal root of the Vagus is, in overall regulation.
Seminar 3 - Extremity Adjusting and the Role of Fascia in Neuroception
This training focuses on analysis, force applications, adjusting options for extremities, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees, and a deeper understanding of polyvagal safety cues. We dig deeper into fascia and proprioception and its sensory role in determining how "safe" the nervous system is.
Don't miss out on any of these seminars!
View Seminar DetailsStep-by-Step Guide to The MacDonald Safety Corridor
The Safety Corridor involves checking for ease at key points from the skull to the femur heads. At each step, we ensure proper functioning of the vagus nerve and nervous system regulation.
Download The Full Guide
Why Polyvagal Theory Matters
By understanding the TWO circuits of the vagus nerve, which makes up 75% of the Parasympathetic nervous system, chiropractors can help patients feel better physically, reduce tension, and increase feelings of safety and neuroregulation. Polyvagal theory gives us the algorithm of a very predictable hierarchy of our nervous system to understand how the body perceives safety and threats. And how this impacts our well being.
From Dr. Don Macdonald:
Chiropractors Speak: Real Stories of Transformation
"The MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol adds tweaks to your current adjustments to bring you to the next level of care. It adds an extra layer of checks to amplify what you are already doing. It is suitable for every technique and is not overly time-consuming to add to what you are already doing"
“I would describe it as a way to assess trauma-holding patterns in the body and a toolbox or skillset to be able to alleviate that stress locally to provide a sense of neurological safety globally.”
“This excellent protocol works perfectly in line with a principled Chiropractic approach to assessing the spine and nervous system. The enhancements of this protocol can apply to any technique, and the intertwined polyvagal"
“It's a protocol that will help you understand and identify when the nervous system is operating from a threat/defensive dynamic and will help guide and influence towards calming and bringing to a state of ease.”
“This weekend was exactly what I needed. It was filled with knowledge, skill, connection and community. I left the weekend feeling inspired and excited for practice on Monday. I would love to do this seminar again as there was so much good information. I would highly recommend it. Don't think twice about signing up! I promise you will not regret it!!”
Join the Next Seminar
Ready to bring The MacDonald Safety Corridor to your practice? Register for one of our upcoming seminars to deepen your understanding and apply the protocol with confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have Questions? We've Got Answers
How long is each seminar?
What chiropractic techniques can I use with this protocol?
Can I get the free guide and not attend the serminars?
Do I have to attend all seminars before I gain the necessary knowledge about the The MacDonald Safety Corridor?
Get Started with The MacDonald Safety Corridor Today
Transform the way you approach chiropractic care with The MacDonald Safety Corridor. Help your patients heal at a deeper level to handle the load of life that is upon them at all times.
Start Learning Today