What Is Kinesiology? An Introduction to Muscle Testing

Kinesiology, or energy kinesiology as it is properly called (to distinguish it from the study of the mechanics of body movement), was created by Dr George Goodheart, a chiropractor, in the early 1960s. Since then, largely through the vision and work of Dr John Thie, who created Touch for Health so anyone can learn to heal with kinesiology without any specialist medical training, kinesiology has spread all over the world.

 

 Many branches of kinesiology have developed, with very different methodologies, because the basic tools of kinesiology are so flexible and adaptable. All the different energy kinesiology schools have two elements in common:

 (1) muscle testing; and 

(2) traditional Chinese medicine. For this very brief introduction to kinesiology I shall focus on the first of these.

Muscle testing is an incredibly versatile and powerful tool. It isn't a therapy in itself, but rather a method that allows information to be communicated by the body. This is comparable with ideo-motor responses in hypnosis, where finger signals (for example) communicate yes and no unconscious responses, and the pendulum, which communicates unconscious yes and no responses by exaggerating barely perceptible unconscious shoulder or arm movements.

Kinesiologists usually prefer to identify unstressed and stressed responses (rather than yes and no responses), but the principle is similar. Put simply: the body's response to a stimulus is tested by applying gentle pressure to a contracted muscle. If the muscle doesn't hold in place ('unlocks'), the body is indicating that the stimulus causes the body stress. If the muscle holds ('locks'), the body is indicating that the stimulus is not stressful.

Not only can the muscle test show when a stimulus causes stress but, when the body is under stress, it can show whether a stimulus counters the stress. So muscle tests reveal stressors and also remedies.

The stimulus or remedy could be a food or substance. Many people who have heard of kinesiology think of it as a way of determining whether foods, remedies or supplements are helpful or not, or whether a person has a sensitivity to a food or substance. But the stimulus can be 'psychological': the thought of an activity, circumstance, memory, person and so on can create a stressed or unstressed response in the body, indicated by a muscle test.

For example, if you think of a past experience which still troubles you, or a person who upsets you, or a situation that taxes you, your body will indicate the stress through an unlocking muscle response. Muscle tests can also indicate an activity, remedy or other solution that counters the stress.

The art of muscle testing takes time to master but is easy to learn and will enhance any healing method. It can identify particular stresses and the best methods to heal them. This makes muscle testing a very powerful tool indeed.

Source Jonathan Livingstone| Ezine