In one of a series of blogs taking a deep dive into the therapies that I use in clinic, I share the purpose and techniques used in functional kinesiology.
The body is always seeking balance
Kinesiology was developed by Chiropractor, Dr. George Goodheart in 1964, as a way of identifying imbalances in the body which could be causing physical or emotional strain. It’s a hands on, holistic therapy performed over clothing whereby a kinesiologist uses manual muscle testing to measure the response of your central nervous system to a sensory challenge.
Incorporating the theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kinesiology monitors imbalances in the muscles, meridian energy and related organs, alongside emotional work. These imbalances may relate to stress, injury, nutritional deficiencies, sensitivities, learning difficulties, pain, anxiety or some other cause.
Through kinesiology, potential causal factors can be identified before a plan is put together to bring the body back into balance.
Traditional Western medicine treats the symptoms and not the cause. In the world of whole-person health, or person-centred care, it’s about understanding the cause and effects of the symptoms that you have and the complex interplay that happens between them. Over the years many different sub-sets of kinesiology have evolved. Here in clinic I work with functional kinesiology. Here in the UK there are currently less than 15 practitioners who have this approach to whole person health.
What is functional kinesiology?
Functional kinesiology combines traditional kinesiology with the latest functional nutrition science and transformational emotional coaching, focusing on six key areas to support whole person health.
How can functional kinesiology help me?
The foundations of the great health starts with what we eat and drink – this is like the building the foundations of a healthy house. What we eat and drink can nourish & nurture our body; or make it feel depleted and drained. Keeping our blood sugars in balance helps keep regulate our emotional response and stops us from being hangry. Modern life is stressful, but most of us have become so used to it that we don’t consciously recognise it anymore. Stress can disrupt the natural flow of energy through the body and disease is said to result when these pathways become blocked or imbalanced. Our body becomes out of balance, with the unrelenting stress causing a cascade of knock-on effects in all of the other systems in the body, particularly our reproductive hormones.
Functional kinesiology can help you boost your general health and wellbeing, or offer more tailored support for your health journey. It can help with wellbeing issues such as:
- Imbalanced blood sugars
- Food Cravings & constant snacking
- Being Hangry
- Anxiety & Mood Swings
- Fatigue
- Sleep issues & Insomnia
- Hormonal imbalances – PMS, PCOS, perimenopause, menopause.
- Digestive issues such as bloating or IBS
- Food intolerances
- Immune system imbalances – CFS/ME, long Covid, arthritis, hayfever, leaky gut
Through working methodically we’ll start to find inner calm and balance again for you.
What is manual muscle testing?
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The body is clever, it knows what it needs to be back in balance, but sometimes it needs a bit of help to get there.
Manual muscle testing uses gentle pressure applied to specific parts of the body (often arms and legs) to see how nervous systems respond to the stimulus. The muscle will either easily be able to resist the pressure, or will give way.
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What will happen at my session?
We’ll start with completing a detailed, confidential history form to build up the picture of your body story. Our time together will incorporate one or more of the below, combined with manual muscle testing.
- Understanding & Mindset – being able to meet you where you’re at on your healing and health journey, understanding what your goals and drivers are.
- Emotional Health – being able to understand how your thoughts, feelings and experiences shape how you respond to events; nearly all of our physical trauma and injuries have an emotional component to them.
- Nutrition – the food that we eat plays a significant role in influencing our bio-chemistry and hormones. In simple terms the foods that we eat can make our body feel nourished and nurtured, or they can deplete and drain us. The foods that deplete and drain us contribute towards inflammation in the body. Longer term inflammation can lead to ill health and pain.
- Lifestyle Choices – helping you understand how your lifestyles choices can impact your health e.g. stress, endotoxins and contraception
- Movement & Rehabilitation – this is the classic bodywork practice that you’ll be largely familiar with if we’ve worked together before.
- Personal Growth – measuring your progress against the goals that you’ve identified, being able to understand what your body is telling you and being able to initiate the appropriate self-care.
- Reflective Practice – homework to reinforce the work that we’ve done in clinic.
How can I help?
Claire is a Health, Wellbeing and Rehabilitation Specialist at Restoring Balance; a sports scientist who is also a multi-disciplined therapist specialising in person-centred care. Claire’s work is very different to many therapists – working with you as a whole person using a unique combination of mind, nutrition and movement to overcome both physical and emotional blocks; not just where you feel pain or have dysfunction, allowing you to live life again. Claire can help you with:
- Relieving pain
- Increasing mobility
- Improving balance & stability
- Improving co-ordination
- Increasing mobility
- Changing your relationship with your scar
- Improving your pelvic floor function
- Calming your stress & anxiety
- Improving your digestive health
- Balancing your hormones
- Changing your mindset and emotional health
I work both online and in person from my home-based clinic on Hayling Island, Hampshire.
