Kinesiology has been a fascinating life path for me. It is such a cutting edge and contemporary science that intersects a potential point of radical change for individuals, society and the planet. In reflection I have always been a mystic, even from childhood I was always attracted to ask the deeper questions behind the universe, life and everything. I am naturally attracted to both the scientific and the spiritual. Now after 23 years in kinesiology and in my mid 50’s I can see how my own path and the path of the world around me have shared such a beautiful synergy that fills me with a deep satisfaction and feeling of completion, leaving me in awe of the self- organising nature of the universe of which I am humbly a part of.
Biological systems ( Life ) exist and propagate through feed back loops. These feedback loops allow the life form to self-adjust to maintain the conditions for life. This happens at a basic chemical level within the biochemistry of living cells. At a hormonal (endocrine level) and a neurological level with a whole organism, these feed back systems allow bodies to self-adjust in a dynamic way to propagate the intent of life. This allows us to maintain internal conditions like pH, body temperature, blood sugar levels and so on. Recently science has accepted that this is also happening at the genetic level, where changes to our external environment, or in the individuals behaviour can cause individual genes within the cells to switch on and off as a genetic feedback loop to enhance how we respond internally to external change around us ( Epigenetics). All of these feed back systems are designed to enhance the survival performance and propagate the intent of life.
The intent of life, is the seed of self-organisation within the body, it is this same self-organising nature that keeps us healthy and happy as individuals. The journey of kinesiology as a therapy is about supporting our clients to re-establish the intent of life ( the seed of self-organisation ) back into areas of our body and our life from which it has detached. Like the body, kinesiology is a feedback tool. Kinesiology uses kinetic changes in muscle tone to detect areas of stress within an individual at the level of the subconscious. Kinesiology shows us where our own feedback mechanisms have gone offline which have caused the body and the mind to go into decline.
The Nature of Nature
The same feedback loops, that exist within the body also exist in a similar way within the natural ecosystems. The interactions of organisms within a natural environment create a web of interactivity that self-adjusts also through feedback loops, sustaining and evolving over millions of years. The pattern of behaviour that exists within the individual replicates itself within the ecosystem which surrounds it. Here we experience the fractal nature of life where patterns repeat in an imbedded way in an ever increasing scale, where the intent of life, the seed of self-organisation continually drives the entire system.
The metaphor of the garden of Eden from where Eve and Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, symbolises mankind’s detachment from the intent of life (the seed of self-organisation ). At some point in mans evolution, his consciousness separated from the natural order of things and began to impose his own order as away of advantaging himself over nature. Man’s desire to advantage himself over nature has led to the destruction of natural environments on the planets the extinction of many species and his own over population.
Science and Technology
Science represents the journey of man understanding nature, while technology represents how he applies these understandings to advantage himself. Modern medicine is a technology which seeks to improve the health status of an individual when something is perceived to have gone wrong. While Science has a clear understanding of the biochemical, genetic, hormonal and neurological feedback loops that represent the intent of life, the technology of modern medicine still works from an interventional framework.
The technology of kinesiology works as a feedback mechanism. It establishes a feedback loop via the muscle tone between the subconscious of the client and the conscious awareness of the client and the practitioner. Kinesiology replicates the same approach as life itself where it is these feedback loops that are the expression of the intent of life within the body and the ecosystems that it forms part of.
Kinesiology creates a framework for an individual to re-integrate detached or fractured aspects of their being back into the intent of life by replicating the same feedback principles. Once the individual re-establishes themselves, their connection to the continuum of the self-organising nature of the Universe is restored.
In our world today, we are witnessing new levels of centrally organised public health polices at a global scale. As we detach from the intent of life, the body and society lose its capacity to self-organise. To compensate for the loss of a natural level of organisation, man then externally imposes more control over himself and nature, rather than explore ways of re-establishing his connection to the Self-organising Nature of the Universe. Kinesiology invites us to explores alternatives to our health and happiness and how we participate within the Universe.
Artwork by Alex Grey, Journey of the Wounded Healer
(TRIPTYCH) 1984-85
