What is Educational Kinesiology?

Educational Kinesiology is a system of exercises and movements developed by Dr. Paul Dennison. When used in conjunction with goal setting, Educational Kinesiology can help an individual learn faster, develop previously unlearned skills, overcome addictions, and develop new mental processes.

How it all works

When a client goes to see an Educational Kinesiology practitioner, the first thing the practitioner will do is help the client set a goal.Goals are in present tense, and positive. The following are a variety of typical goals that might be used, and adapted to suit individual needs. I run quickly and easily. I express my feelings in a positive, healthy way. I clearly and confidently speak in front of large audiences. I easily learn and put into practise, new math concepts. I wake up at night when I need to go to the bathroom. I easily remember and confidently express what I know.

Next, the practioner will guide the client in doing some preliminary exercises which will help them get ready to integrate their goal. The client will do a series of pretests, to find out where they are now in terms of the goal, and will then act out the goal as if they have already done it. The practitioner and client will use "muscle testing", and "noticing" to determine where the client is "on" and where the client is "off" for the particular goal.

Muscle Testing:

What is muscle testing?

The most common form of muscle testing uses the deltoid muscle in the shoulder. It is the muscle which is activated when the client holds an arm straight out to the side of the body. The practitioner instructs the client that s/he will be putting about two pounds of pressure on the wrist, and the client is asked to resist. The practitioner usually places one hand on the other shoulder, and another on the wrist of the outstretched arm.

To determine whether the client is muscle testing correctly, the practioner may ask a question that is known by both client and practitioner to be true. For instance if the client's name is David, the client is then typically asked to say, "My name is David," and a light pressure is placed on the wrist. If the client is muscle testing correctly, the arm should hold strong for that response.

Next the client is tested on a question that both he and the practioner know to be false. For instance, the same client is asked to say, "My name is Henry." A light pressure is placed on the wrist. If the client is testing correctly, the arm should be noticeably weaker, and the client should NOTICE the difference.

If this simple test gets a weak response on the correct name and a strong response on the incorrect name, or no noticeable difference between the weak and strong response, then the client and practitioner have some work to do before they can even get started on the main balance. Core Repatterning is a set of exercises that usually turns this around, and if that doesn't work, then Dennison Latterality Repatterning usually puts it into place. In extreme circumstances, we may need to use another person as a representative, but this is very rare for most balances.

"Jason" was very impulsive, and had trouble making friends because he would over-react with even the slightest teasing. He was older than the other grade eight students, by about a year. His younger sister, "Judy" was also in my homeroom. Jason's problems often got him kicked out of classes, but because of his age, it was thought he might do better with a more mature peer group. Shortly after Jason was placed in grade nine, he came to me for a balance. I did a Dennison Laterality Repatterning for Jason, with the goal, "I easily control my actions." In the pre-test, I asked his sister Judy to "bug him" and I asked Jason to try to control his reaction. Judy nudged his foot, and even trying his hardest, the best Jason could do was jumping back, and shouting, "STOP that!" After his balance, when Judy nudged his foot, he responded quietly with, "Please take your foot away from my chair." Judy and I just looked at each other. We could tell a big difference in his reaction. Jason had a whole new set of teachers, so they did not see the change in him as much as his family did. His sister reported to me that he was way easier to deal with at home, and that his parents were pleased at the change in his behaviour.

David

"David" was a boy in my language arts class in grade eight, but ironically, he didn't get a balance until after his last final exam in grade eight. He was studying to be a computer sales rep, and had to pass the test with a 75% in order to qualify. He had spoken to me about it, and told me that he had already failed the test twice. He said, he knew the information, but he froze and forgot it on a test.

I asked him, "What if you have to show someone what to do on a computer?" He replied that it was the same thing. That he had so much respect for adults, that he was intimidated by them, and could not remember what he knew. I gave him a Dennison Laterality Repatterning Balance with the goal, "I easily and confidently remember and express what I know to any adult."

David is in grade nine this year. His marks, according to him, have gone up thirty per cent this year. He attributes this to his balance. He was very pleased to have passed his sales rep test, and at age 13, is one of the youngest proteges of The World's Largest Network Software Provider.