Kinesiology - the health care system of the future?

AS complementary therapies move forward into an era of greater and greater acceptability, keeping an open mind and exploring the possibilities is becoming more and more important.

Kinesiology (pronounced kin-easy-ology) is a health care system that doctors, dentists, osteopaths, and, more importantly, everyday people are turning to for everything from IBS to depression, food intolerances to injuries. Why? Not just because the principles makes sense but because they get results with it.

But what is Kinesiology and how does it work?

Kinesiology is a way of getting feedback direct from a person's body about where their problem areas are, what aspects are aggravating them and what will help to return their bodies to health. The practitioner does this by monitoring the person's ability to resist gentle pressure applied to various muscles. Even body builders, when tested Kinesiologically, will show imbalances through muscle testing.

To understand how it works you first need to look at the two key principles:

1. We are the sum of four parts, the chemical, the mental, the structural and the electromagnetic. If one of them is affected, all are affected. For example, let's say someone jumps out at you at says BOO! Your first reaction is sudden alertness (mental). That triggers your adrenaline levels to rise (chemical). Afterwards you feel weak at the knees (structural) and may suffer another wave of emotions (mental) and also electromagnetic disturbances.

2. Each muscle is related to a specific organ and also to a specific electromagnetic pathway called a meridian. So the quadriceps on the top of the thigh are related to the small intestine and also to the small intestine meridian.

Let's imagine that the Kinesiologist teats their client and the quadriceps cannot meet the pressure of the test. The response is `spongy' , indicating an imbalance. They can then find out whether the imbalance will respond to chemical, emotional, structural or energetic treatment. Here's how:

The practitioner selects a vitamin, mineral or herb and places it in their client's mouth, or gets them to sniff it and retesta the muscle. If the quadriceps are suddenly able to resist the pressure, the Kinesiologist knows that that nutrient will help that imbalance.

On the mental front, the Kinesiologist will ask their client to think of something that may be upsetting them; a fear, a relationship, or a trauma. The Kinesiologist will then retest. If the muscle goes strong, the client finds out that that emotion is playing a part in that imbalance.

When checking for structural involvement, the Kinesiologist will ask their client to touch specific parts of their body. If the previously spongy muscle becomes stronger, there is some structural misalignment involved. It could be anything from a pelvic tilt to a jammed valve along the digestive tract, a frequentfinding with IBS sufferers. Electromagnetically, if touching specific acupuncture points causes the muscle strength to change, it indicates that the meridian needs treating.

Once both the client and the Kinesiologist know exactly what is involved in the imbalance, the Kinesiologist treats the imbalance using nutrition, flower remedies, emotional release techniques, gentle structural manipulation, firm lymphatic reflex massage, various electromagnetic techniques including acupressure and more. Sometimes only one of these will be used, sometimes many - it all depends on the feedback from the client's muscle test as to what their body wants for that imbalance. There is no guess work with Kinesiology.

So, could the Kinesiological approach provide some of the answers for a healthier Britain? Certainly it demands a closer look. For more information call the Association of Systematic Kinesiology on 01424 753375.