Health Kinesiology And Allergies By John Payne

(first published Action Against Allergy newsletter Spring 2006)

My first encounter with kinesiology was when a friend of mine with persisting, severe eczema on her arms told me that she had been to see a weird woman who did something called health kinesiology. It had been assumed that the eczema was allergy related so she had been extensively tested, and tried excluding all sorts of potential allergens, but to no avail. All my friend remembered of that first session was that the “weird woman” did some inexplicable things including pushing her arm down and “talking to her body”, and told her that testing indicated that the problem did not involve allergies as such, but low absorption of a specific nutrient. According to her, the relevant stresses had been addressed in the session, and the skin should start to clear soon and be fine in a few weeks. My friend was very sceptical, and thought the whole thing rather barmy and a waste of time and money. However, a few weeks later she showed me her arms with fresh new skin in place of the red and weeping skin of before. Wow! I soon arranged to take someone else to see this “weird woman” and then to consult her myself. Her name is Jane Thurnell-Read and it turned out she was one of the foremost practitioners and teachers of health kinesiology. I recognised that although the work seemed far-fetched at first sight, here was a woman of great integrity who believed in what she was doing. She was also rather nice. That was over ten years ago. In addition to being my therapist, she became my teacher, mentor and partner. She is no longer in practice, but supplies practitioners with allergy and other test kits, runs health and fitness websites for practitioners and the public, and writes books and articles. Her books include “Health Kinesiology” and “Allergy A to Z”.

Kinesiology (kin-eezy-ology) means the study of movement, and there is a branch of conventional medicine called kinesiology that does just that; studies how the body moves. In this discipline, a system of muscle testing was developed to assess neurological damage affecting muscle function. It was then realised that muscle function will change for other reasons that may be related to the traditional Chinese acupuncture model of energy meridians. According to this model there is a system of pathways or meridians running around the body accessing all the tissues and organs. Through these meridians flow energy and information in a way somewhat analogous to the nervous system. It was seen that muscle response could be affected by disturbances in the meridian energy system as well as in the nervous system.

It was noted that a muscle would test as though weak in the presence of an imbalance in this meridian system. Correcting the imbalance would restore the normal functioning of the muscle. Body cells rely on the correct energy flow for their functioning, so imbalances in the meridian system can lead to malfunction within the body from a cellular level upwards and correcting the energy flow can therefore restore cellular function as well as muscle function.

It was chiropractor  George Goodheart who recognised this relationship and devised what he called “applied kinesiology.” Subsequently the tool of using muscle testing or “muscle monitoring” to assess the meridian system has been used in many ways and has led to a proliferation of other branches of kinesiology which are now sometimes given the blanket term “energy kinesiology” or “bioenergetic kinesiology” to distinguish them from the original kinesiology. Applied kinesiology still remains in the realm of chiropractors and uses more of a medical model approach to the body than its derivatives.  A widely used version specifically developed for lay people by the late John Thie is called Touch for Health.

In the Touch for Health method, each muscle relates to a specific Chinese meridian and its associated body organ. By putting an arm or a leg into a specific position that isolates the function of a particular muscle, and then applying hand pressure to the limb, one is able to identify if the muscle can “hold” the limb in position or not. If the muscle “unlocks” or seems to switch off, it can be assumed that the energy flow in the related meridian is out of balance. If one monitors a muscle for each of the meridians, and applies an energy balancing technique(s) for each muscle that indicates an imbalance, then a complete balance of the meridian system is accomplished.

A different way of using muscle monitoring is to test an indicator muscle. In this case, a single muscle is “plugged into” the whole meridian system so that any imbalance will switch it off when tested.

In kinesiology anything that tends to disturb the balance of the meridian system is termed “stress.”  So it can be said that muscles will switch off, unlock, or seem weak in relation to stress.

Psychologist Jimmy Scott recognised that with correct preparation an indicator muscle can also be switched off by the response “No” in answer to a question.
If a question is put to the subject who, at some “other than conscious” level believes the answer to be “No,” then the muscle unlocks. This procedure can be used to access information held at subconscious levels about the nature of the stress that is causing any disturbance or imbalance. Dr Scott incorporated this process of verbal questioning into his “health kinesiology.”  Many other branches of kinesiology have subsequently taken it on board.

He also recognised that if an encounter with a substance sets up a stress in the meridian system, it will trigger an inappropriate physical response to that substance, which may take the form of an allergic reaction. It may also lead to malabsorption or rejection of a nutrient, or absorption of a toxin, or cellular rejection of a chemical messenger such as a hormone.

If a sample of a substance interacts with the meridian system so as to cause stress, it will switch off an indicator muscle when tested. So a kinesiology practitioner can test samples of suspected allergens by placing them individually on a significant spot on the body, holding a specific test point, and testing a muscle. If the muscle switches off, then that substance is setting up an imbalance, which could result in a physical reaction. The substance could be a food, or a specific nutrient, a personal care product, a cleaning product, an environmental chemical: anything. The sample can be in the form of a homeopathic potency rather than a physical sample, so practitioners can keep a wide range of test samples. It also means that hypersensitive clients do not need to be exposed to even small quantities of the physical substance.

In the case of multiple sensitivities a person may be reacting to very many substances, and going through hundreds of samples would take a long time. Using verbal questioning, the “body” can be asked which substances are causing problems, and when identified they can then be directly tested as verification.

In health kinesiology it is not considered satisfactory to require the client to avoid the potential allergens identified, except perhaps in the short term. If the culprits are foods, then the diet may be restricted, perhaps making it difficult to maintain adequate nutrition. If in the environment, the allergens may be difficult or impossible to avoid. The aim is to switch off the reaction, making it unnecessary to avoid the substance for other than a short period.

In energy kinesiology, the permanent elimination of a specific stress is called an energy correction. Dr Scott devised two types of energy correction specifically designed to eliminate the stress caused by substances. The first can be applied to simple individual samples only and involves placing the substance on an acupoint just below the navel to generate an energy stress. The end points of certain meridians are then tapped until the stress is removed and the energy system regains balance. This is a simple procedure that can be used as a self-help method by almost anyone. Dr Scott’s book “Cure Your Own Allergies In Minutes” explains it in detail, but this is unfortunately awaiting reprint. If the points are tapped without the offending substance in place it can have the effect of switching off a current reaction, but without addressing reactions to future encounters. This is a very useful self-help tool. For details look in the self help section of Jane’s website www.healthandgoodness.com

Health kinesiology practitioners often use a more complex procedure that can deal with any number of different allergens at the same time. This obviously makes addressing multiple sensitivities much more efficient.  The procedure is similar; the offending substances are identified; samples are placed on the acupoint below the navel, then a series of other acupoints are held for a while to eliminate the stress and achieve rebalance. Many practitioners will have a set of gadgets called “cosmic batteries” that can achieve this without the inconvenience of holding points. Developed and produced in Belgium, they are contained in small glass tubes, one or more of which are placed on parts of the body so as to interact with the energy system to achieve balance.

So there are ways of directly addressing allergic and other inappropriate reactions at an energy level, on the understanding that change at the physical level will result. But why does a substance stress an individual’s system in the first place? The answer may be that the system is already disturbed by other sources of stress.  In order to resolve a specific problem, it may therefore be necessary to address and eliminate these other areas of stress. Sometimes the stress of both allergens and the background source need to be addressed, and sometimes just addressing the background stress will resolve the problem.

In health kinesiology the same basic energy correction procedure as described for allergies is used to deal with other areas of stress. Having first established a satisfactory level of meridian balance, something is done to trigger a stress that disturbs that balance. This is known in kinesiology as a challenge.  If the energy system is then rebalanced in a particular way, the offending stress is eliminated: simple.

The complexity is in identifying the exact nature of the challenges required. It may be that the person has to think about some stressful situation or event. It might be something disturbing from their past, even from many years ago, including early childhood. It might be a current situation, such as workload or unemployment or relationship breakdown, or some pending event such as an exam, job loss or change.  It could be anything from any stage in the person’s life. Sometimes a sequence of events can be identified in a person’s life, which, while not necessarily significant in themselves, contribute to an accumulation of unresolved stress, making subsequent events more disturbing.

It may be that silently repeating a key word or phrase will trigger the desired stress. It may be something more physical like a body position or movement, or some sensory input. There are countless possibilities, and one of the beauties of Dr Scott’s system is the way in which these possibilities are categorised so that the competent practitioner can zero in on whatever is required.

This basic energy correction procedure, perhaps along with other procedures, may have to be repeated for several different areas of stress within a session, and perhaps over several sessions, before the stress load on the system is sufficiently reduced to produce outward change. The more profound the levels of stress addressed, then the more obvious and long lasting will be the results.

Muscle testing can also be used to identify any beneficial changes in diet or lifestyle, or any other therapies or remedies that might be helpful.

There are many medically qualified people using energy kinesiology of various sorts but it is not generally recognised by the medical establishment. Although the benefits of acupuncture are widely recognised, the underlying traditional Chinese medicine model of how it works is not accepted. Scientific studies to assess the benefit of kinesiology are difficult, expensive and in short supply, so assessment has to be result based. Any treatment is liable to exert a placebo effect, but there are countless examples of people benefiting from kinesiology in circumstances that make this unlikely to be the sole reason for improvement.

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