What is Core Belief Kinesiology?
Carl Jung once compared the conscious mind to the tip of an iceberg–rising up above the water, seeing the horizon in each direction, and imagining what it sees is all there is. Being identified with this part above the surface, it interprets the experiences of life solely through what it visible. All the while, just beneath the surface, there is a vast and deep unconscious content, exerting considerable influence upon the direction, speed and character of events above. Furthermore, this monolithic constellation of particles is moving through the collective ocean (of consciousness) amid the greater influence of celestial bodies, tides, currents and seasons. In other words, most of us are far more under the influence of unconscious forces than conscious ones, though we are inclined to believe and behave otherwise.
The Consequences of a Near-Fatal Accident
In 1986 I had an abrupt call to consciousness when I was electrocuted in a near-fatal accident. It caused brain injury, memory loss, broken bones and extensive soft tissue injury. I experienced chronic neck and back pain, digestive disorders, a 25% drop in body weight, loss of fine motor skills and all ability to focus and concentrate. I suffered loss of self-esteem, livelihood, and the capacity to function normally on a day-to-day basis. After months of traditional and alternative medical treatments I saw slight improvement. I then tried Touch for Health Kinesiology and Educational Kinesiology and got immediate, sustained results, including 90% reduction in chronic pain, the return of memory, focus, fine motor skills, co-ordination, digestive strength and appetite.
Touch for Health Kinesiology and Educational Kinesiology had such an extensive effect on my recovery that I chose to learn and share them with others. Thus they helped me regain my health and create a fulfilling career. I continue to use them daily to further refine my levels of wellness and vitality. I witness my clients accelerate toward their health goals. Past workshop participants call regularly to report profound changes in their own lives, and in the lives of those with whom they share these tools. I have deep appreciation to have the opportunity to practice this work and to teach classes and workshops of such significance and value.
The Development of Core Belief Balancing
While Touch for Health Kinesiology and Educational Kinesiology helped me regain focus, co-ordination and health, my confidence to return to counselling as a practicing Herbalist required further help. The trauma of the accident left a veil of despondency that contrasted dramatically to my previous life, and left me feeling generally insecure and challenged to trust. I was reluctant to start anything new–business, relationship, education–for fear I would fail. I undertook an in-depth journey to turn around these fear-based patterns. I worked extensively with David Gershon and Gail Straub from the Omega Institute in New York to acquired the tools and self-awareness to help turn around my life. A significant part of that work involved the exploration of core beliefs; the unconscious programming that colours all thoughts and perceptions.
What I learned, working with core beliefs, was that I blamed myself for the injury and felt somehow deserving of punishment. My self-esteem was low around learning and self-expression, and my trust in the universe was gone, both in a spiritual context and in relationship to others. I had little resilience to adapt to change in any form, and I anticipated the worst around every corner. As these beliefs became conscious, I was able to more clearly recognize habitual negative patterns, to directly address the root of each, and to make conscious choices. Within a few weeks of doing this work I overcame my most terrifying fear–public speaking. I was soon on stage in acting classes, became a Touch for Health Kinesiology and Brain Gym Instructor, and co-founded a college of natural healing where I taught classes for five years.
During that time, I was hired to teach Brain Gym, Touch for Health Kinesiology and Specialized Kinesiology to Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Counsellors and trainees in British Columbia. Once familiar with the concepts and holistic elegance of Specialized Kinesiology, the progressive Round Lake Treatment Centre contracted me to adapt the Kinesiology model to specifically support their program for addiction recovery. It was here that I integrated core belief work into a Five Element Balance, as a specific tool to help counsellors uncover the fundamental beliefs their clients were operating from. These tools were very well received and adopted by counselling professionals, and they have become the foundation of the work that I do with clients.
A Bank Manager Regains Her Career
Ms. S was a manager at a major branch of a major bank. She came to me after having given up her career due to suffering uncontrollable anxiety attacks, trembling, heart palpitations, insomnia, diarrhea, hives and asthma. She stopped driving her car, going to the mall and to public places. Her life was reduced to staying home and taking care of her family.
We first worked on the physical level to reduce symptoms with herbs and balancing. Once she had some degree of relief from her suffering and a level of comfort with me, we began the exploration of core beliefs. What arose immediately was a childhood abuse memory, apparently dormant in her psyche since her family’s rapid cover-up of the event. This compromised her self-esteem and trust in the universe. Finally, decades later, it was surfacing in the multitude of physical symptoms and uncontrolled anxiety that she was experiencing. Through addressing the core beliefs surrounding the event and balancing for them, positive changes began to take shape in her life immediately. She has since resumed her professional career and is a very successful and award-winning manager. She is also a community activist, drives daily, shops in malls, and travels internationally.
A Massage Therapist Rebuilds Her Life
Ms. T came to see me for help to reduce food addictions, skin eruptions, excess weight and depression. She was on social assistance and four years into recovery for substance abuse. She was a trained massage therapist but her energy level was so low she couldn’t sustain a steady workload. We spent the first few sessions establishing clear communications to the brain, addressing immune function, basic nutritional needs and pathogen reduction. She began to feel better and agreed to a Core Belief Kinesiology 'balance'. What surfaced first was a feeling of helplessness, an inability to deal with difficult things; resistance to taking responsibility for herself, especially around setting boundaries, asking for help and expressing her feelings. Within six months she brought closure to past relationships, enrolled in song writing classes and established a massage business for herself. Her skin cleared up, her weight and food cravings were down and her energy surged. She continues to thrive as an entrepreneur, therapist, songwriter and singer.
What are Your Core Beliefs?
A person's thought processes, including especially his or her core beliefs, are the single most important filters of experience. What are the deep underlying beliefs that form the foundation of your thoughts and perceptions of the world? Have you ever wondered how you formulated these opinions?
The ideas we hold about the world and ourselves make up our core beliefs. Core beliefs are mostly unconscious and therefore, unexamined. Yet they influence almost every action you take in your life.
Much of our pervasive mental programming comes in our childhood, from the beliefs our parents held, communicated to us through their words and actions. As children, with undeveloped filters to discriminate between helpful and unhelpful beliefs, all direct and indirect statements about the world and us penetrate deeply into our psyche. We uncritically accept what we see and hear as fundamental truths, and rarely question them in later life.
Most of our actions today are molded by the core beliefs we took on at a young age, though our core belief structure is continuously being re-shaped by family, associates, media, authority figures, our subcultures and daily life experiences. Considering we live in an unenlightened world, it is to be expected that we continue to acquire discouraging programming. These beliefs may not influence the details of every daily decision, but they certainly influence the tone of these decisions and the overall directions they drive you in. These beliefs are fundamental to the way you orient your life.
Changing unsupportive core beliefs can dramatically affect your scope for fulfillment. It begins with understanding the beliefs that influence your actions and changing those that don’t serve you.
Kinesiology is well suited to explore our most deeply held beliefs. Core Belief Kinesiology provides methods for deep levels of client empowerment; esteem-building on multiple levels to transform pain and fear into action and self-fulfillment.