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Kinesiology
How Did Kinesiology Begin?
Applied Kinesiology has its roots in the early 60's by an American chiropractor, Dr. George Goodheart who correlated the relationship between internal organs, acupuncture meridians and skeletal muscles. He realized that the skeletal muscles, not unlike acupuncture meridians, also were a way to monitor internal function.
Of the many advances in Applied Kinesiology, the most well known is the diagnostic procedure called muscle testing. This procedure establishes a monitored primary feedback mechanism between the nervous system and the skeletal muscles. An examiner will typically use the straight-arm test (deltoid muscle) to evaluate how well the muscle will resist an externally variable force. When the muscle is capable of ‘resisting’ then the examiner can proceed with a second principle called therapy localization, a diagnostic scanning tool developed in 1974. This unique procedure can be used to ascertain the status of most any neuro-physiological event in the body whether that event is physical, chemical, emotional, or a memory. If a neuro-physiological event is identified to be in deficit, then the muscle will exhibit that same deficiency, manifesting as a weak muscle test. This method, when properly applied, will function as an efficient evaluation tool to guide the practitioner in determining the most appropriate therapy.
Then, in the early 70's, another chiropractor, John Thie, DC, systematized Applied kinesiology for the lay person, making the techniques simple and practical for anyone to learn. He wrote the book Touch for Health and began teaching courses to interested people. Since then the book has been translated into many languages and the system has been taught to millions of people in 50 countries.
There are many courses such as Touch for Health, Educational Kinesiology/Brain Gym, One Brain, Health Kinesiology, LEAP and Neural Organization Work, to name just a few.
The concept of “muscle testing” becomes a very effective and versatile tool for detecting and correcting various imbalances in the body which may relate to stress, nutrition, learning problems, and injuries and so on. This exciting aspect of kinesiology is also called “muscle checking or muscle balancing” and is being taught to individuals in all walks of life.
One of the great virtues of kinesiology is its versatility. The basic concepts and techniques can be applied almost anywhere at anytime. It can be expanded upon and incorporated in many other modalities as well.
The following are brief outlines of some of the main aspects of kinesiology that one can learn in courses, or experience in one-to-one consultations.
Muscle Balancing and posture enhancement.
Muscle balance is evaluated using muscle checking. These imbalances are corrected using simple skin surface reflexes that require rubbing or holding points similar to that of acupressure, massage, and the Chinese meridian system.
Brain Integration and additional methodologies by such innovators as Dr. Charles Krebs and his work called, Leaning Enhancement Advanced Program (LEAP).
Kinesiology has developed many switch-on points and techniques for the Central Nervous System involving coordination of the eyes, ears, speech, memory and concentration.
The power of kinesiology in this area has been brought to the fore by Dr. Paul Dennison, the developer of Educational Kinesiology (Brain Gym) whose discoveries on updating conventional cross patterning movements have been most profound. While “cross crawling” is considered a normal motor activity, many people are not switched on to this integrated movement. (Bilateral muscle activation can create stress and weakness). Consequently, their body prefers nonintegrated models, which have a detrimental effect on the ability to learn, or respond appropriately to stress. Switching people back on in this respect is very basic kinesiology work. The simplicity of techniques that one can learn in this area is truly amazing.
Emotional Stress Release methods.
Stress release is what kinesiology is all about. Physical, mental, emotional, chemical, environmental and behavioral stress are things which cause our problems, and the area where these techniques have their greatest effect. Every course and consultation in this field includes techniques to relieve some kind of stress.
Various stress release techniques are combined with emotional balancing, affirmations, visualization, massage techniques, and movement exercises.
Gordon Stokes, Daniel Whiteside and Candace Calloway of Three-In-One Concepts have done a great deal of work in the area of emotional diffusion and advanced re-patterning. This kind of stress release of past trauma frees the person to get on with his or her life. Their courses in Three-In-One Concepts can bring about profound positive changes in people.
Food Sensitivity Testing
Recently allergies and sensitivities to food, environment and chemicals toxins have become major concerns. Most of us have some food sensitivities, and are often not aware of its negative affect on our health. Kinesiology methods in muscle checking can serve as a wonderful tool for determining food intolerance or sensitivities as well as restoring optimal brain integration balance.
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