Frequently Asked Questions
What is muscle monitoring in kinesiology?
Kinesiology is a communication tool.
Muscle monitoring works on the philosophy that all stresses, imbalances and blockages in the nervous system, affecting a person’s structural, chemical, mental and/or emotional energy system, can be detected by testing the tension in certain muscles. It is a natural feedback system using an indicator muscle, which supplies information via nerve pathways to and from the different energetic systems of the individual. The muscle monitoring technique is then used to focus on finding and alleviating the causes behind the symptoms by communicating with the body/being to establish priorities and needs for healing. A broad spectrum of both manual and non-manual therapeutic procedures are used to activate the body's innate healing ability.
What’s different in Kinesiology?
Kinesiology is a therapy with a difference.
It does not treat the symptoms or signs of named diseases. Kinesiologists look at the whole person and think in terms of a triad of health. They place equal emphasis on all sides of the triangle. Some health care systems emphasize nutrition, some concentrate on chemical, mental or psychological aspects of ill health. Still others look only at structure or the exercise component. The result is an unbalanced triangle or one-sided view of health or disease. Each of us is special, unique and different. Inside our head we all have our own personal bio-computer that has been programmed by both our genetic make up and our life experiences. Our body is like the VDU (visual display unit) or monitor for our bio-computer and lets us (and everyone else) see how well our bio-computer is coping with life. People-watching is a favourite game for most of us. Each one of us looks at subtle cues when we meet people. Body posture is a reflection of muscle activity. The way we stand or stoop, the way we walk or amble, the tense, uptight shoulders or the downturn of the lips speak louder than any words about our life experience. Different healing professions have their own way of working with unequal muscle activity. Usually this expresses itself as pain or a knotted-up muscle. Chiropractors manipulate the spine; Osteopaths do more subtle spinal adjustments, Physiotherapists and Massage Therapists work more directly on the muscles themselves. All these professions aim to relax the knotted-up muscle. Medical Doctors use pain relieving drugs or anti-inflammatory medication (NSAIDs) to relieve the inflammatory process in the knotted-up muscle. Kinesiologists, acupuncturists and other energy-based body-workers work from the perspective that knotted-up muscles relate to imbalances in body energy. Instead of trying to relax the knotted muscle like other healing professions, kinesiology works on the weakened muscle. When a kinesiologist is faced with pain or a knotted-up muscle they test several muscles for equality of strength on both sides of a joint (or the spine). If they test and find a muscle tests weak on one side of the body compared with the same muscle on the other side, they work with body energy reflexes to restrengthen the weak muscle. Kinesiologists call this "muscle balancing". Kinesiologists have found that many things (including mental stress, fears, diet and daily exercise) affect muscle balance and hence our energy levels, posture and the way we function and feel. When all aspects of our lives are balanced, the best results follow and we function at our vital best.
Where and when did Kinesiology originate?
Literally, the word Kinesiology is derived from the Greek words (kinesi and ology) meaning the study or knowledge of movement.
In the current natural health field, Kinesiology is seen as the study or knowledge of energy movement assisted by this natural biofeedback mechanism called muscle monitoring. The origins of Kinesiology are held in Chiropractic where applied Kinesiology (AK) came into being as a diagnostic system using muscle testing to augment normal examination procedures. Kinesiology has its roots in the early sixties with an American Chiropractor, George Goodheart D.C; Goodheart began to use muscle testing to evaluate muscle function, posture and general body imbalances. His continued research, which also included discoveries of corrective measures for the evaluated dysfunctions, led him to formulate 'Applied Kinesiology', a system he made available to other Chiropractors and professionals. Soon after, in the early seventies, another Chiropractor, John Thie D. C., with wonderful humanitarian insight, systemized Kinesiology for the layperson. This simplification towards a self-help method he called Touch For Health. Since the inception of Touch For Health, Kinesiology has been taught to millions of people the world over, in many languages. Dr Dewe MD, co-founder of ICPKP, trained in Applied Kinesiology, noted that year-by-year, AK became more orientated towards the medical model. Dr Dewe was more interested in the 'energy' model of medicine and the effects of thoughts, emotions and spiritual aspirations on human function and structure. The International College of Professional Kinesiology Practice (ICPKP) recognises the flows of energy within the body not only relate to the muscles but to every tissue and organ that make the body a living, feeling being. These energy flows can be evaluated by testing the function of the muscles, which in turn reflect the body’s overall state of structural, chemical or emotional balance. In this way Kinesiology taps into energies that other conventional modalities overlook.
Healthy Touch Kinesiology practices are based on standards set by the International College of Professional Kinesiology Practice for Diploma level.
Kinesiology is a communication tool.
Muscle monitoring works on the philosophy that all stresses, imbalances and blockages in the nervous system, affecting a person’s structural, chemical, mental and/or emotional energy system, can be detected by testing the tension in certain muscles. It is a natural feedback system using an indicator muscle, which supplies information via nerve pathways to and from the different energetic systems of the individual. The muscle monitoring technique is then used to focus on finding and alleviating the causes behind the symptoms by communicating with the body/being to establish priorities and needs for healing. A broad spectrum of both manual and non-manual therapeutic procedures are used to activate the body's innate healing ability.
What’s different in Kinesiology?
Kinesiology is a therapy with a difference.
It does not treat the symptoms or signs of named diseases. Kinesiologists look at the whole person and think in terms of a triad of health. They place equal emphasis on all sides of the triangle. Some health care systems emphasize nutrition, some concentrate on chemical, mental or psychological aspects of ill health. Still others look only at structure or the exercise component. The result is an unbalanced triangle or one-sided view of health or disease. Each of us is special, unique and different. Inside our head we all have our own personal bio-computer that has been programmed by both our genetic make up and our life experiences. Our body is like the VDU (visual display unit) or monitor for our bio-computer and lets us (and everyone else) see how well our bio-computer is coping with life. People-watching is a favourite game for most of us. Each one of us looks at subtle cues when we meet people. Body posture is a reflection of muscle activity. The way we stand or stoop, the way we walk or amble, the tense, uptight shoulders or the downturn of the lips speak louder than any words about our life experience. Different healing professions have their own way of working with unequal muscle activity. Usually this expresses itself as pain or a knotted-up muscle. Chiropractors manipulate the spine; Osteopaths do more subtle spinal adjustments, Physiotherapists and Massage Therapists work more directly on the muscles themselves. All these professions aim to relax the knotted-up muscle. Medical Doctors use pain relieving drugs or anti-inflammatory medication (NSAIDs) to relieve the inflammatory process in the knotted-up muscle. Kinesiologists, acupuncturists and other energy-based body-workers work from the perspective that knotted-up muscles relate to imbalances in body energy. Instead of trying to relax the knotted muscle like other healing professions, kinesiology works on the weakened muscle. When a kinesiologist is faced with pain or a knotted-up muscle they test several muscles for equality of strength on both sides of a joint (or the spine). If they test and find a muscle tests weak on one side of the body compared with the same muscle on the other side, they work with body energy reflexes to restrengthen the weak muscle. Kinesiologists call this "muscle balancing". Kinesiologists have found that many things (including mental stress, fears, diet and daily exercise) affect muscle balance and hence our energy levels, posture and the way we function and feel. When all aspects of our lives are balanced, the best results follow and we function at our vital best.
Where and when did Kinesiology originate?
Literally, the word Kinesiology is derived from the Greek words (kinesi and ology) meaning the study or knowledge of movement.
In the current natural health field, Kinesiology is seen as the study or knowledge of energy movement assisted by this natural biofeedback mechanism called muscle monitoring. The origins of Kinesiology are held in Chiropractic where applied Kinesiology (AK) came into being as a diagnostic system using muscle testing to augment normal examination procedures. Kinesiology has its roots in the early sixties with an American Chiropractor, George Goodheart D.C; Goodheart began to use muscle testing to evaluate muscle function, posture and general body imbalances. His continued research, which also included discoveries of corrective measures for the evaluated dysfunctions, led him to formulate 'Applied Kinesiology', a system he made available to other Chiropractors and professionals. Soon after, in the early seventies, another Chiropractor, John Thie D. C., with wonderful humanitarian insight, systemized Kinesiology for the layperson. This simplification towards a self-help method he called Touch For Health. Since the inception of Touch For Health, Kinesiology has been taught to millions of people the world over, in many languages. Dr Dewe MD, co-founder of ICPKP, trained in Applied Kinesiology, noted that year-by-year, AK became more orientated towards the medical model. Dr Dewe was more interested in the 'energy' model of medicine and the effects of thoughts, emotions and spiritual aspirations on human function and structure. The International College of Professional Kinesiology Practice (ICPKP) recognises the flows of energy within the body not only relate to the muscles but to every tissue and organ that make the body a living, feeling being. These energy flows can be evaluated by testing the function of the muscles, which in turn reflect the body’s overall state of structural, chemical or emotional balance. In this way Kinesiology taps into energies that other conventional modalities overlook.
Healthy Touch Kinesiology practices are based on standards set by the International College of Professional Kinesiology Practice for Diploma level.
