SPECIALISED KINESIOLOGY FOR ANIMALS
THE TREND TOWARDS NATURAL ALTERNATIVES FOR ANIMALS by Margie Donde
It is currently more common to see natural herbs and supplements being sold for animals as people become aware of the natural options available to them.
Specialised Kinesiology is one of the Natural Alternative Therapies that can be used on both animals and humans. It is a simple, non-invasive, and inexpensive method that is becoming more widely utilized by veterinarians, chiropractors, medical doctors, sports trainers and natural health care practitioners.
Kinesiology, works with an animal or human’s body, utilising its own inner intelligence and ability to heal itself. The body can be used to help determine the underlying cause of a problem and reveal what is needed to address.
Specialised Kinesiology:-
Treats each horse or dog individually
Is specific for that animal, its needs and environment
Immediately identifies the priority issue
Creates balance, allowing the animal’s own innate healing ability to work
Works on the mental, emotional and physical levels directly
Includes many different forms of helping the healing process
Can be used with any therapy – complimentary or medical
THE NATURAL HEALING ABILITY OF AN ORGANISM
The body - human, equine or canine - is self-regulating, self-perpetuating and self-healing. In order to survive, the body must maintain balance (homeostasis) and is constantly monitoring the internal and external environment via the nervous system. It then makes adjustments and changes to suit that environment.
Due to this self-regulating mechanism the body has the innate capacity to heal itself.
HOW STRESS AFFECTS US
If we have this innate ability why do we and our pets get sick?
Sometimes the inner mechanisms for this self-regulation become blocked or impeded.
Why does this happen?
We impede our innate ability to heal by eating and drinking food that may be energy depleting rather than life supporting, we become stressed by the strains of everyday life, we think negatively, lack emotional support and we may take medications that suppress our immunity system etc. This in simple terms equates to stress – stress can be on a mental, emotional or physical level.
HOW STRESS AFFECTS HORSES
Horses have been taken out of their natural environment where they have lived for thousands of years. A horse is a prey animal, i.e. nature intended that he get eaten for a living. Their natural instinct is to herd together for protection and in their natural habitat they would roam for many kilometres every day. Studies have established that a horse in the wild will move 30 - 35 kilometres per day, where they would be exposed to different grasses and herbs. They would eat in a natural position – one that encourages rounding of the back and lowering of the head. Their digestive systems are designed to work all the time.
Due to domestication of these wild animals, their balance has been thrown off. Often they do not have playmates in their paddock that they can play with and groom or they may live in stables for a majority of their day. They are fed at human convenience with concentrates that may have been heated and thus the vitamin and mineral content mostly destroyed.
Sometimes they are ridden with ill-fitting saddles and bridles and when riding we tend to force them into a frame that best suits humans. They are expect to be ambidextrous when riders are very often one sided. They are ridden on uneven ground; exposed to horseboxes, car fumes, noise and taken away from the only herd environment they know – their mates back at the stable yard.
All of this causes stress. And due to the fact that horses are prey animals, they easily get stressed and believe their very survival is at stake. Once they are stressed their natural ability to heal themselves may be affected.
HOW KINESIOLOGY IS USED
Stress affects the nervous system and the nerve signals between body and brain become unclear. This can be detected by using muscle testing – the tool used in Specialised Kinesiology. It shows as a change of muscle response that is abnormal via muscle testing. A specialised kinesiologist tests a muscle and monitors the response of that muscle test in relation to nutritional, structural, mental, emotional or energetic imbalances.
By doing so the kinesiologist is able to find out where the person/animal is not coping or is unable to adapt in their life. This bio-feedback technique shows where the stress reactions are and is also used to indicator what is needed to change the stress reactions.
Often we only look at the physical stress on our equine athletes and not the emotional or mental stress.
Mental and emotional stress in certain horses can be a far greater stressor than physical stress.
KINESIOLOGY FOR ANIMALS
When using kinesiology for humans, the kinesiologist tests the muscles of a person to get the feedback needed. However when we use Kinesiology with an animal we need a person to surrogate for the animal as we obviously cant tell an animal to hold their leg in a certain way to test it. A second person needs to make contact with the animal while the kinesiologist tests this person’s muscles. In this way contact is made and an electrical circuit created. This is like a pair of jumper cables on car batteries.
When an animal is tested using Kinesiology methodology, the Kinesiologist can check for mental, emotional and physical imbalances by monitoring the response of the muscle test.
When we are able to adapt efficiently the neurology is working normally and does not show any abnormal responses in the muscle system.
When we are not adapting efficiently the muscles will show the stress in the nervous system and the muscle will unlock. We then use kinesiology to determine the most way to effect a change. This may be by using acupressure points, muscle techniques, Bach Flower essences, releasing emotional stress, herbs, vitamins and mineral supplements, homeopathics etc.
In this way we help the animal to adapt and thus allow the body's own inner intelligence to heal itself.
COURSES IN KINESIOLOGY FOR HORSES AND DOGS
The courses are held at the Kinesiology Centre for International Studies, Crowthorne, Midrand. They are held one evening a week for 4 months as well as two weekend workshops.
The training combines theory and practice. You will learn the concepts of muscle testing as well as correction techniques and you will apply them in interactive practice sessions with your fellow students. You will be required to facilitate balances and be facilitated. This will assist you to acquire the necessary skills to use accurate muscle testing on animals. The 2 weekend workshops will be to learn the skills and corrections for muscle testing dogs and horses.
Want to know more about kinesiology courses for animals? click here info@kinesiologysouthafrica.co.za
"I've found, in general, that when I use this methodology along with my regular veterinary training I tend to get excellent results over 90% of the time," says Dr. DeHaan. "One doesn't get that much success from trying to calculate things from the brain. With kinesiology, you're asking the animal's body, or his electromagnetic system, 'Here's what I think in my mind; what does your body think about that?' So your brain has entered his electromagnetic field, and when testing on those points, it may test strong, or positive. You're getting that information from his body, his 'innate intelligence', or autonomic nervous system (ANS), which is how I like to say it. It's his autonomic nervous system that's responding, not his conscious brain and not my conscious brain. It's all subconscious and subliminal as it goes through the autonomic nervous system.” Dr. Roger DeHaan is a veterinarian from Minnesota, USA with 32 years experience in natural animal care. Books by Dr DeHaan include “Natural Care of Pets” and “New Vaccination Protocols.”