The term “kinesiology” comes from the Greek language and means “the teaching of movement”. It is an integrated method for balancing body, mind and soul (note: we use the word soul to also mean the psyche). Health can only be achieved and maintained when all three areas of one’s personal human existence are in balance.

Kinesiology uses the body’s own feedback loop in order to resolve issues or to find the best methods necessary to achieve one’s goals. The American chiropractor Dr. George Goodheart played an important role in developing the methodology.

He observed that physical and emotional experiences influence the functioning of our muscles. Can you remember what happened when you perhaps received some shocking news or had to present in front of a huge crowd? Did your knees go weak or your arms and legs quiver? In 1964 Dr. Goodheart used these facts to develop a simple test method called the muscle test.

All of our experiences are in our memory in the central nervous system. Using the muscle test, we can access those memories and our evaluation of them. That allows us to contact all three levels – body, mind and soul – to identify blockages and the best methods to resolve them. Stress and fear cause a kind of short circuit in the brain – it closes down the muscles ability to hold itself against light pressure – this is the body’s feedback loop.

Much of what we consciously do or decide is influenced to a large portion by our subconscious. Our subconscious is greatly influenced by our past experiences and our judgment of them – good or bad, pleasant or dangerous. Through the muscle test we can put ourselves in the position to free ourselves from old behavior patterns that are no longer appropriate, but were formed by our past experiences.

When our conscious and subconscious minds are not operating in harmony with each other, we can recognize it by how we feel:

• We feel emotionally empty, blocked or oversensitive
• We feel tired or restless without any reason
• We fail to achieve our targets, although we have put all our effort towards achieving them
• We feel stuck in a particular behavior pattern or reactive behavior
• Our friends, family or colleagues make it clear that they don’t understand our behavior or even give us hard resistance.

Kinesiology is very efficient and helps us to find the right possibilities to resolve our issues. We discover again that we always have a choice. We can develop more clarity, vitality, zest for life, authenticity and take on responsibility for ourselves and our lives. We can dip into our vast well of potential.