Health Kinesiology
by Jane Thurnell-Read
Health
kinesiology (HK) practitioners see
a wide range of clients with a wide range of problems. Many people first visit a
health kinesiologist because they have a physical problem, such as eczema or
arthritis or recurring headaches, but once they experience the system, see the
positive improvement in their symptoms and begin to understand its potential,
they decide to continue seeing the practitioner in order to achieve their own
potential. Jimmy Scott, Ph.D, developed HK originally to address health
problems, but he very quickly realised that his system could do much more than
that. In the introduction to the first manual for trainee health kinesiologists
Dr Scott writes: “Through HK a person can become who they were designed to
be.”
In
the twelve years that I taught health kinesiology I was struck by how the
students themselves showed the truth of this. As they progressed through the
training, most of them grew not only in knowledge and expertise, but also as
people. They became generally more confident, better able to study and apply
themselves, more focussed on what they wanted in life and more at peace with
themselves.
In
the early 1970’s Dr Jimmy Scott first saw a demonstration of muscle testing.
At that time he was a psychologist, working as a research scientist at the
University of California Medical School. He says: “I was both fascinated and
highly sceptical.” Over the next few years he saw further demonstrations of
kinesiology. During this time he had become licensed as a psychologist and
started to build up a practice in biofeedback and relaxation training.
Eventually in 1975 he left the university and focused solely on his practice.
Gradually he became more and more interested in the concept of
‘health’ and started to look to nutrition for answers. Again he saw a
demonstration of kinesiology this time by Chris Harrison, a chiropractor and
diplomate of the International College of Applied Kinesiology. It was then that
Jimmy began to realise the potential of kinesiology and started to attend
kinesiology workshops. Very quickly he started to develop his own system: “My
goals were to develop the most effective, robust, permanent methods for change
that I could”.
The
central tool of kinesiology is muscle testing. Muscle testing is a painless
procedure involving the practitioner applying gentle pressure to specific parts
of the body (often the arm) to test the response of the underlying muscle. The
arm is placed in a specific position, in order, as far as possible, to isolate
the muscle that is being tested. The
muscle will either easily be able to resist the pressure from the practitioner
or will give way, at least slightly. The health kinesiologist uses this response
to gain information about what is happening and what is needed to restore
balance. Because of the inter-relationship between muscles, meridians and body
systems, this information can apply not only to the muscle being tested but also
give valuable information about other imbalances within the body and the
necessary procedures to correct them.
Testing
a muscle gives two basic responses: the muscle locks or the muscle unlocks and
gives way. In health kinesiology these two responses are used to ask verbal
questions of the body. The practitioner asks a verbal question and then presses
gently on the arm. If the muscle locks, the answer is “yes”, but if the
muscle weakens the answer is “no”. So
muscle testing can be used to establish exactly what is needed. It is a therapy that
truly honours the innate wisdom of the person. It is a truly holistic system:
one moment the practitioner can be working with magnets on the physical body and
the next moment correcting subtle energy disturbances or childhood distress. At
first sight the skill is in the muscle testing and knowing the various
techniques, but in reality the skill is in the quality of the verbal
questioning. The health kinesiology training programme teaches the student to be
rigorous and precise in the questions they ask.
Health
kinesiology practitioners work to help the client achieve balance and harmony.
They work to help the physical body to become stronger and function better and
to help clients feel happier, brighter and more fulfilled on every level of
their lives. HK recognizes that, even where the symptoms manifest in the
physical body, this may be because there are imbalances in the person’s
emotional life. For example, asthma, arthritis, vertigo or irritable bowel
trouble may be reflecting disharmony and imbalance in the emotional, mental or
spiritual areas. Sometimes work in one of these areas is all that is needed,
because the physical problem is a reflection of imbalances elsewhere. The health
kinesiology system also recognizes that the physical body is important,
and that sometimes the best way to resolve physical symptoms is through
nutrition, allergy work or other techniques which immediately and directly
affect the physical systems. Sometimes psychological problems such as
irritability and tension are there largely because of mineral imbalances in the
body, and the focus needs to be on the physical rather than the psychological to
achieve a lasting solution to the problem. Health kinesiology recognizes that
everyone is unique. The imbalances, triggers and stresses that cause eczema are
likely to be different from person to person. Fortunately, the use of muscle
testing means that the kinesiologist has a fast and reliable way to access this
information, which is unique to each person.
Clients
are often amazed at the diversity of things that happen during a typical HK
session. One moment they may have to think a specific thought, and then they may
have to put their hands in specific positions on their body. On another occasion
they may find that small vials, crystals or magnets are placed on the body. Much
of the time the practitioner will also be holding points or placing
multi-coloured glass tubes on the body. A client once said to me that he found
the sessions so fascinating that he would be tempted to come and see me even if
he weren’t getting better. Each technique and procedure is established
precisely through muscle testing. On its completion the practitioner will also
check, again using muscle testing, that everything has happened correctly. The
practitioner can also use muscle testing to establish an exercise programme,
determine the correct diet and nutritional supplements or to construct an
affirmation for the client to use in their everyday lives.
Health
kinesiologists prefer wherever possible to work at a deep level. This involves
not just fixing immediate problems, but also helping clients to function more
effectively in their lives. If only superficial problems are helped, people will
constantly need to come back for support and new work for similar problems,
although this may be necessary for some people where damage to the physical body
is so severe it cannot be fully restored to health.
In the many years of working with clients I have found some come to get their allergies fixed or their digestion sorted out, and then see the potential of this system to help them achieve their potential in many different areas of their life.
Biodata:
Jane Thurnell-Read, a former university lecturer, has been a practicing kinesiologist since 1982. Based in England, she has also taught kinesiology in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, USA and Russia. She has now stopped teaching and seeing clients in order to concentrate on research and writing. She has written many articles and been interviewed on television and radio.
Jane Thurnell-Read is author of Health Kinesiology and The Guide To Geopathic Stress . The former was published in 2002; is currently available in German, and a French edition will be published in early 2004. Her book The Guide To Geopathic Stress, republished in 2003, is available in several different languages including French, German, Italian and Polish.
Her email address is: jane@lifeworkpotential.com and her website is at: www.lifeworkpotential.com
Readers interested in learning more about Health Kinesiology are directed to the websites www.hk4health.co.uk (UK) and www.subtlenergy.com (international)