What is Kinesiology?

Kinesiology is a method of aligning body and mind for health and happiness using muscle testing to find the root causes of an individual’s ill health. It has its roots in practices of manual muscle testing that emerged in the early 20th century with a Boston-based orthopedic surgeon called Robert W. Lovett. Lovett was a pioneer who used this early form of muscle testing to gauge the level of disabilities in the case of nerve damage and polio.

In 1949, follow-up work on Lovett’s testing was published by Kendall and Kendall, and it was this work that caught the attention of a Detroit Chiropractor called Dr. Goodheart in the early 1960s. Dr. Goodheart found that by testing and correcting the muscles of his clients he was able to support a deeper level of healing not available solely with chiropractice—apart from structural relief. By balancing certain muscles, he found that particular organ disturbances would go away. In so doing, he was able to link muscle tests with Chinese medicine and Chiropractic techniques, and called this burgeoning practice Applied Kinesiology.

In the early 1970s, Dr. John Thie D.C.—a student of Dr. Goodheart’s—developed Touch for Health. Dr Thie’s breakthrough was to recognise that muscles would change their integrity when under different stress stimuli. Using this understanding, he developed a system that traced muscular symptoms back to their root causes of energy blockage and dysfunction—in lifestyle, outlook and activities. Touch for Health opened up Applied Kinesiology to the general public, from which it has evolved to form the contemporary modality of health known simply as Kinesiology.

The main type of kinesiology practiced at Bayside Kinesiology is Kinergetics, a dynamic and holistic approach which recognises that no two people are the same, and aims to bring your body back into homeostasis—or internally regulated equilibrium—giving you greater understanding and leaving you feeling more in harmony with your environment.

Kinesiology is not a test of muscle strength, is not invasive, and does not require machines or complex diagnostic tools. It is an enlivening and enriching practice that helps us to understand ourselves and others, and often gives immediate answers to deep or unanswered and difficult questions.