Have you heard of Applied Kinesiology? There is an educational documentary, “The Best Kept Secret in Healthcare”, (link is included below) so it is likely that you have not. But I’ve been lucky. Not only do I know what it is, I have been able to use it as one of my principal health maintenance modes since 1976. This week after a session with Dr. Josh Stevens, I had a deep sense of calm, as if all of my cells had relaxed and surrendered to a calm sense of support from the ground. My balance improved, my legs were stronger, and my pain was less.
This is absolutely crucial to my continued improvement as I pursue physical therapy. There, the exercises are designed to strengthen and turn on the muscles in my body that have seemed to “check out”. It even got to the point that my right knee collapsed inward and my arch collapsed entirely—makes sense since I’ve been putting so much pressure on the “healthy” leg because the left leg didn’t work. But straight up strength exercises don’t tell my brain to turn on the right muscles from my back, hip and calf. I need AK to wake those parts up and integrate into a solid and healthy cross-crawl pattern. No matter how hard I tried to keep my right leg aligned (using Alexander Technique and conscious control) my right leg stayed weak and painful. After the AK session, hurray, my coordination has lit up and my right leg feels strong and pain free.
I know from experience that I will need to stay vigilant and continue at least a few more sessions for this change to be permanent. That’s where determination, discipline and curiosity serve me well.
Keep reading if you want to know more about Applied Kinesiology and why I use it as my wellness foundation. One of the important things about Applied Kinesiology is that the doctor partners with the patient in solving the health challenge of the moment. When I leave a session, I have several useful exercises to do, points to rub and when needed, new nutritional supplements. I am very grateful that Dr. Stevens is now helping through this next phase of integration regarding lingering symptoms from the brain injury and complications from the broken hip.
Applied Kinesiology, an adjunct training for chiropractors is a complementary therapy increasingly used world-wide with foundations in a natural health training developed utilizing techniques from chiropractic, osteopathy and acupressure therapies. It aims to improve posture, reduce pain and alleviate stress using application of massage and light touch to reflex points, acupressure points and meridians. A session involves diagnosis through muscles testing with emphasis placed on balancing postural muscles and restoring meridian energy flow (Chinese qi) alongside stress release techniques and healthy lifestyle choices.
Sadly you won’t find it listed as a complementary medicine by the NIH because they base their assessments on a preponderance of research and AK (just like Alexander Technique) is not a popular research subject. (below see link to one study done in 2022).
Applied Kinesiology: The Best Kept Secret in Healthcare https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr89lXmXmHs&t=2s
“‘Touch for Health’ based kinesiology interventions: An innovative qualitative research exploring clients’ perspectives”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1744388122001116
