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by Peter Llewellyn
Counsellor and Kinesiologist
Peter is a former Canberra resident, who was involved with
the ACT ME/CFS Society.
To contact him at his new practice in Yarram, Victoria, see
below.
What is kinesiology?
How does Kinesiology work?
Touch for Health
What happens in a professional Kinesiology balance?
Unfortunately, there is no longer a simple, single definition of kinesiology, described by the Australian Kinesiology Association as "the world’s fastest growing health care movement". The word itself comes from two Greek words meaning "the study of movement" - which sounds more like ballet than a health care modality. The term came into being about 40 years ago when Chiropractor Dr George Goodheart discovered that a muscle under stress would "unlock", or yield to light pressure, and the bone or whatever the muscle was holding in place would move out of place. The study of these movements led to the use of unlocking muscles as indicators of the presence of stress. This proved useful in the treatment of many kinds of disorder, and muscle kinesiology was born.
Today Kinesiology encompasses a huge variety of treatments - we call them "balances" - for every kind of disorder from relief of pain to the correction of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual ailments. In my own practice, I commonly correct allergic or sensitive reactions to substances or environmental influences, persistent infections, blockages to achievement of personal goals ("saboteurs"), RSI, and learning difficulties - among other things. NB: Kinesiologists do not claim to diagnose or cure named diseases. They do not work according to the medical model, but within a different paradigm, that of balancing the energy of the person. Our practice is complementary to orthodox medicine, and aims to work with - not against - the medical professions. Indeed, today many General Practitioners use Kinesiology among their healing tools.
The process of balancing a person’s energy is both simple and complex. Simply, living beings - all of them - run on energy. This energy is at least partially electrical, in those living things that have a nervous system; but it also seems in some respects more subtle than electromagnetism, or perhaps it is a more subtle form of electromagnetic energy. Kinesiology works by removing blocks to the natural structure and flow of this energy.
The more complex explanation begins with Chinese/Indian/Tibetan understanding of energy, which the Chinese call "Chi" or "Qi". Chi flows along lines in the body, called Meridians. Most of these are in left-right pairs, each pair relating to one or more organ systems of the body. But the real structure of the energy of a human being is more complex still. The meridian lines are part of a continuous flow of energy throughout the body, including the brain and all organs and systems. The so-called "lines" are in fact only approximations of the shape of flow. The energy actually spirals through and around the body, producing - just like an electromagnetic current through a wire - complex fields and vortices. These energy patterns are measurable and photographable, but they are also subtle and require careful observation, leading some sceptics to deny their existence. Indian and Chinese healers have known about these patterns for many centuries, of course. The vortices are known as "chakras", and the fields as "auras".
Kinesiology has found a way to tap into these patterns, and to correct imbalances that occur in them. For example, particular points ("neurolymphatic reflexes") have been found to connect with elements of this whole pattern. Massage of these points re-establishes the pattern and allows the energy to flow as it ought. Similarly, light holding of other points ("neurovascular holding points") has a similar effect, as does the tracing of the meridian lines, and there are several other techniques that may achieve the same results. We find that if one process does not work, or does not work completely, another of these techniques will succeed. The trick is to find the right approach. Kinesiologists worldwide continue to work on new ways to access the energy patterns and to correct imbalances. Essential to all these processes is some method of detecting an imbalance and some way of knowing when the imbalance has been corrected. Using a muscle that has been set up to indicate the presence - or absence - of stress, has been found an excellent tool to these ends. The shorthand for this is "muscle testing", "muscle monitoring", or "muscle biofeedback". In fact, we are not testing the muscle itself, but its function of "unlocking" or "yielding" in the presence of stress.
Kinesiologists prefer, where practicable, to use muscles that make large, observable bone movements. The muscle is put in contraction (ie tightened). Light pressure is applied to the bone for up to 2 seconds to move the muscle out of contraction; the muscle is held, not to resist the pressure actively, but only to hold the bone where it is. With a typical arm or leg muscle, we look for a slight movement of the bone. (Our rule of thumb is "pressure of 2 pounds for 2 seconds to move the limb 2 inches".)
A few years after Goodheart’s discovery of this behaviour of muscles as indicators of stress (which he called "Applied Kinesiology"), another Chiropractor, Dr John Thie, developed it into a simple system of health care that is available to everybody, can be learned by anyone, and will revolutionise your life if you learn it: he called it Touch for Health. In Touch for Health we learn a process for taking an ordinary muscle and fine-tuning it so that it functions as a reliable indicator of the presence of a stress in the body. We call such a muscle a "strong indicator muscle", or IM. For convenience, we usually use one of the muscles associated with movement of the upper arm as an IM, but in fact any accessible muscle will do. The process is simple, and the tool is very powerful for helping one's family, friends and self to feel healthier, fitter and readier for life.
The Touch for Health Synthesis comprises 60 hours of practical workshop training, usually but not necessarily spread over four two day sessions (15 hours each). I have recently taught the first part (Touch for Health 1) over four Saturday afternoons to a group of people comprising members of the ACT ME/CFS Society and other SHOUT organisations - I enjoyed it, and while it was hard work for the students, I think they enjoyed it too!
First, we do what any health practitioner does; we record a history of the client’s health. Anything and everything can be relevant. In one memorable case, the client forgot to mention a football injury 45 years previously, that had (unknown to everyone) contributed to elevated blood pressure, restricted arm movement, and several other health issues. Fortunately, the astute kinesiologist (not me!) detected the problem and fixed it in a twenty minute session. The client’s health improved dramatically and immediately. Next, there is verbal exploration of the issues that led the client to come to the kinesiologist. This is only done in the first session; in subsequent sessions, it forms part of the balance itself.
Third, several indicator muscles (IM) are set up. My practice is to set up two or three pairs of arm muscles, including the all-important Supraspinatus. This muscle connects through the Central Vessel (an energy line running from the perineum up the midline to the lower lip) to the brain, and is very important in communicating directly with the subconscious mind. Then the client lies face up on the massage table, and the working IM in the forearm is set up. This muscle is very useful because a very slight unlocking movement is detectable, and the client can rest the arm on the table most of the time. Sometimes I also use the powerful little muscle that connects the thumb and little finger.
We then investigate and correct a number of important aspects of the client, such as dehydration of organ systems, ionisation of the breathing, and balancing "switches" for the three dimensions in which our bodies move: left-right, up-down, and front-back. Once the IM ceases to show stress on all these tests, we proceed to put the client’s issues "on line". We then continue the testing, at various levels of depth, progressively going deeper into the levels of brain/mind function. It will usually be appropriate also to take the client’s subconscious back to the time of some earlier event. This can be any time from conception to the present; sometimes we need to go to times outside the client’s lifespan, or into the future.
The age recession process has remarkable healing effects, similar in power to several years of psychoanalysis. In many cases, I use the post-Freudian Object-Relations and Self-Psychology paradigms to assist in this process, while other kinesiologists use a Jungian approach. I sit loose to these psychological systems, however, as it is important to stay with the client’s belief structures. For example, if the client believes in past lives (reincarnation), I will readily work with that, although my own belief system is most closely aligned with liberal Christianity and does not espouse a belief in past lives. Most importantly, the kinesiologist must not prejudge any issue, whether it be a diagnostic or a corrective issue. We simply go with the flow of the energy. The aim is to bring the client’s energy into balance at all levels of functioning.
A full balance takes about an hour, though I often go for 90 to 120 minutes. It is possible, even normal, to leave a balance incomplete. Many issues resolve in one session, while some take several sessions. I always use muscle testing to determine how long a balance will hold what it achieves (ie before another reinforcing balance is needed), when the next balance should occur, and what the client should do in the meantime.
For some people with CFS, muscle testing can be a bit more difficult than with others. The balancing process works just as well, although again sometimes the balance does not "hold" for as long as with others. I have often found that good improvement in physical, mental, emotional and spiritual functioning can be achieved in as few as one or two sessions.
Peter Llewellyn
Contact Peter Llewellyn & Astara Rose at the Rose Eagle Centre for Wholeness & WellbeingAcknowledgement: This article first appeared in the ACT ME/CFS Society's magazine Chameleon, December 1999.
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