How can kinesiology help me?
If you have any of the following health issues then kinesiology may be the modality which can help you. This is by no means and exhaustive list of the areas where kinesiology can be beneficial but I often find that poor immunity, poor digestive function and hormonal imbalances are at the heart of seemingly unrelated issues.
Pain & Postural Imbalances
Weakened Immune System
Poor Digestive Function
Low Energy Levels
Hormonal Imbalances
What follows is a brief overview of these areas. I have or will be writing articles which are more specific to health problems that arise in relation to each one of these areas and their physical and likely emotional, mental and spiritual parameters.
Pain & Postural Imbalances
Muscles are supposed to work synergistically. If you bend to one side the muscles contract on that side and are supposed to release on the other side of the body in unison. Similarly if you rotate your arm all the muscles in the shoulder should work in sequence to enable smooth rotation. This should be the case for all parts of the body. For most people this is not the case because some muscles can be described as constantly over facilitated (too strong) and others under facilitated (too weak). This leads to postural imbalances and pain states.
Pain is associated with an over energy state in meridian(s) which cause the muscles associated with those meridians to remain partially in contraction when they should be turned off. For those engaged in sport injury is often the result. Kinesiology is very good at identifying the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual factors causing the imbalance and unwinding them preventing injury and improving injury recovery times. This can be combined with stretching exercises to regain proper postural balance. Twisted hips, one leg shorter than the other, one shoulder higher than the other, neck pain, low back and sacral pain, knee and thigh pain, calf muscle and Achilles tendon pain, in fact any type of muscular pain can be as a result of the imbalances described above as can any restriction in movement such as a frozen shoulder.
Weakened Immune System
Most of us have been is a situation where we are constantly challenged in an area of our lives, whether that be work, family or relationships or even the location and circumstances in which we are living. Heightening of the Flight/Fight response for a prolonged period may weaken our immune systems ability to response to sources of infection, leading to colds, the flu or just a general feeling of being un-well and run down. Kinesiology can help rebalance the body and provide strategies for dealing with the stress.
Poor Digestive Function
Bloating after eating, gastric reflux, abdominal cramps and irritable bowel are all symptoms of a dysfunctional digestive system. Digestive problems are often the result of either low stomach acid or low levels of digestive enzymes produced by the pancreas. Often this can be reversed. Despite the fact that heart burn or hyperacidity seems to be on the increase studies conducted since the latter part of the 19th century show that stomach acidity actually declines with age. This will mean that a person with low stomach acid will not be able to break down their food sufficiently before it is deposited into the small intestine for further breakdown into sugars, vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Digestive juices containing enzymes for breaking down food further are often lower in people with low levels of stomach acid. This puts undue pressure on the small intestine and results in undigested or partially broken down food sitting in the intestine to be broken down by bacteria causing bloating, flatulence, constipation and sometimes diarrhea. Often people are deficient in the vitamins and minerals necessary to make stomach acid and digestive enzymes. A properly trained kinesiologist is able to identify whether there is such a nutrient deficiency and recommend foods containing the nutrients or suggest supplementation. Other stress factors will be involved and these can be identified and techniques applied to reduce or eliminate them.
The list of serious disorders associated with poor digestion includes:
- Poor absorption of vitamins, minerals and amino acids
- Allergies
- Depression
- Bacterial overgrowth in the stomach and intestines causing heartburn, gas, constipation and diarrhea
- Pernicious anemia
- Skin diseases including acne, dermatitis, eczema
- Accelerated aging
- Candidiasis
Low Energy Levels
Feeling like you have no energy or run out of energy easily? Low energy levels can be due to many different reasons. Bacterial or viral infection, poor sleeping patterns, diets high in sugar or fructose (that’s right too much fruit can cause insulin resistance type symptoms), poor pancreatic function and just trying to fit too much into your life. When we are stressed our bodies produce more cortisol and more adrenaline to keep us going. This tends to up our blood sugar levels until we run out of fuel. We can then crash into a mild hypoglycemic state until the next meal or the next sugar or coffee hit. It is not unusual to find people who then bounce around between mild hyperglycemia and mild hypoglycemia. Our energy levels in both states will be lowered. Long term elevation of cortisol affects our immunity and can lead to bacterial or viral infections showing up on a regular basis or more likely when we take that break and cortisol levels drop but our immune system hasn’t adjusted. Stress increases our adrenaline levels to keep us alert. When we add too much coffee this can lead to alertness when we want to sleep and result in an inability to go to sleep or stay asleep leading to feelings of tiredness. It can also deplete our body of vital nutrients needed for regulating our energy levels and sleep patterns. Kinesiology will be able to pinpoint the reasons why you are experiencing the stress, help with releasing it and provide strategies for coping better with your life situations.
Hormonal Imbalances
Hormonal imbalances can have a purely physical cause and I am not dealing with those here. There are however instances when both men and women have hormonal imbalances which relate more to their emotional and mental state. Relationship stress can be a trigger. I often find that hormonal imbalances stem from our inability to cope with the stress of dealing with issues related to a significant other or to people in our work environment. Often both areas are in play. I have found that some women who have had issues with their menstrual cycle since menstruation began found it difficult to deal with their peers at school and to feel included. These feelings can extent into adult life and the workplace. Our perceptions of the attitudes of other people to us and our interaction with them can be important here. Identifying the underlying stressful relationship to someone or something can be an important first step in correcting any hormonal imbalance. It may require you to change your perception of self and well as of others.