Neurokinetic Therapy (often called NKT) is a type of natural therapeutic system that has the goal of correcting learned movements and muscle functions within the body that can contribute to poor posture, joint tenderness and muscular pain. Considered to be a healing “bodywork modality,” similar to massage therapy or chiropractic adjustments for example, NKT is often used in rehabilitative settings to treat injuries and chronic pain.
The NeuroKinetic Therapy® corrective movement system was first created by David Weinstock in the mid-1980s. He created this unique system of precise muscle tests and adjustments to help correct muscle and movement memories that were stored in the brain region that’s responsible for learned motor control.
NKT practitioners now work with clients around the world to help reduce problems such as common running injuries and carpel tunnel syndrome, which are often made worse due to dysfunctional muscle compensations. What other types of body compensations might eventually cause us pain? These include muscle compensations triggered through trauma, exercising with improper form, or compensating when we walk or lift in order to reduce fatigue.
NKT practitioners first identify where their clients’ muscles are behaving abnormally, then help them restore proper balance and function through good-old failure and repetition.
What Is Neurokinetic Therapy (NKT), and How Does It Work?
NKT is based on observations that certain body parts compensate for other weaker body parts. Essentially muscles or tissue can become weak and “shut down” following injury, while others become forced to work overtime and make up their shortcomings. This concept is known as the body’s “muscle compensation patterns.” These patterns are observed in people experiencing noticeable weakness and pain, but also often appear to some degree in those who are generally healthy and strong.
As a type of manipulative bodywork that’s related to Active Release Technique, NKT is based on a chiropractic technique called Applied Kinesiology, which uses touch and adjustments to help the body heal itself. Prior to using any Applied Kinesiology technique, a practitioner must first test their client’s reaction to a type of movement, stance, pressure or substance in order to see how they react, in order to observe their weaknesses.
Weinstock discovered that muscle compensation patterns are stored in a part of the brain responsible for muscle and movement memories, called the cerebellum. Muscle testing could be used to help reveal incorrect movements being stored in the cerebellum that are contributing to pain or postural abnormalities.
The cerebellum is sometimes referred to as “the body’s control center for all motor skills” (in NKT, it’s often called the Motor Control Center or MCC). It plays a crucial role in helping us to develop into fully functioning adults who can perform many movements automatically (such as grabbing, walking, bending or bringing things towards our body) without much conscious thought. The cerebellum is connected to all muscles via the somatic nervous system, which is a series of nerve channels that bring chemical messages throughout your body related to your senses, location in space and movements. Although memories stored in the cerebellum allow us to do many tasks subconsciously and automatically, we still must learn these behaviors and movements through trial and error. Babies and children slowly develop muscle memories as they get older, and the cerebellum (in conjunction with other parts of your brain) then stores these memories like a computer, so that eventually we can perform them on “autopilot.”
Normally movement memories are extremely useful and beneficial, but they can become problematic following an injury or overuse. When one muscle is overused or strained, the body adapts by creating muscle compensations. These compensations then get stored into the Motor Control Center and can be hard to break without precise interventions.
Movement patterns may be faulty or dysfunctional, and cause pain due to imbalance, overuse or overloading of tissues. Pain itself is not always at the site of dysfunction — it’s simply result of faulty compensations. The goal of NKT, therefore, is to reteach corrected muscle movements. A NKT practitioner helps clients to practice movements over and over again using proper form. Eventually these corrected movements replace incorrect muscle compensations and become stored in the MCC for future use.
Final Thoughts on Neurokinetic Therapy (NKT)
Neurokinetic Therapy is a healing bodywork system based on correcting muscle compensations that are developed when certain weak muscles become inhibited, forcing other muscles to become overworked.
NKT first tests for abnormal compensation pattern that can contribute to pain or tightness, then uses specific repetitive movements to reteach the body how to perform movements correctly and store them in memory.
Just with the stroke of a pen, about 14 % more Americans will all of a sudden be considered as having high blood pressure.
Only blood pressure that is below 120/80 is now labeled ‘normal’. Stage 1 hypertension is now 130-139 over 80/89.
The good news is that diet and exercise are still major factors to lower and manage high blood pressure.
Check out the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/dash-eating-plan which has been around for years and is still the generally recommended approach.
Aerobics exercise at moderate intensity of 90 to 150 minutes a week along some resistance training are the exercise guidelines.
High blood pressure puts people at increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Just imagine that you can reduce that risk by going for a walk a few times a week.
Who doesn’t know that old saying that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks? For those of us fortunate enough to have an old dog, you know that not to be true. It is possible to teach an old new tricks. However, what is really difficult is to break an established habit (also applies to humans).
But there are areas in which we are not even aware of ‘bad habits’ which need to be broken.
Most of us have suffered an injury over the course of our lives which caused us to temporarily alter movement patterns. This could have been a sprained ankle, a bum knee, hurting the lower back or a shoulder or even having surgery.
After injuries of a more serious nature, there may be a number of sessions with a physical therapist but, often enough, we pick ourselves up and dust us off and go about life as if nothing ever happened. And that is in many cases a working strategy but sometimes it isn’t.
When we temporarily change the way we move, our muscles form new patterns of recruitment. The new pattern often looks very similar to the original one because we are equipped with muscular back-up systems that enable us to function and work around an injury. And once everything has healed, we assume that all the muscles return to their original functions.
That is not always the case, however, and our brain motor control center simply did not get the message that all is well, and that the temporary pattern can be switched off.
Who has never seen a case where a sprained left ankle did not lead to a painful right hip or knee? Or just some nagging pain that just did not go away?
Identifying patterns that are no longer helpful is the goal of NKT (NeuroKinetic Therapy). I am working hard at mastering this technique because it holds the promise of helping more people to function better with less pain. Here is an example of an old dog learning a new trick.
It’s that time of the year again. Will you be making new year’s resolutions?
Some wave them off, others sit down and plan.
I leave it for you to decide which route to pursue but I would like to throw out the following statistics.
A widely accepted goal setting practice is to decide what you want to obtain or achieve and then write down a “SMART” goal. SMART goals are Specific in that they define the who, what, when and where of your goal. SMART goals should also be Measureable, so you can track your progress and they should be something that is personally within your ability to Attain. Finally, they should be something that is Realistic for you to achieve and set within a specific Timeframe.
A study by Psychology Professor Dr. Gail Matthews found that 76 percent of participants who wrote down their goals, actions and provided weekly progress to a friend successfully achieved their goals. This result is 33 percent higher than those participants with unwritten goals, with a success rate of only 43 percent of goals achieved. This study shows the value of taking the time to write down your goals, create an action plan and develop a system of support to hold yourself accountable for achieving your goals.
Food for thought ....... and a happy New Year to all!
The holidays are always a challenge with all the things we put on ourselves. We appear to be racing from one thing to the other, and the ‘spirit of the season’ is completely left behind.
The following suggestions are copied with permission of Kathy Sturgis, Ph. D., founder of Refreshment Zone http://www.refreshmentzone.com/and an organizational and personal development specialist. Here is her approach to the holidays:
Holiday Balancing Activity
Instructions: Take 5 minutes to write down your answers to the following questions:
What matters to your this season / weekend?
- Make a list of the top 2 or 3 things
- Be as specific as possible
- Circle the most important one
What's on your "to do" list?
- If it isn't written down, take a few minutes to write it out now. This will allow your brain to let it go.
Identify the "shoulds" on your to do list.
- reconsider each one.
- Ask yourself, are the activities on your list aligned with what matters to you?
- Cross out the ones that take you out of alignment with what your really want.
- Commit to purposefully dropping at least 5 things off your list.
Breathe it out.
- Tkae 3 slow deep breaths in and slowly release them. Relax the tension in your shoulders and face. Breathe again.
"Keep it Simple" this holiday season.
The general belief is that most people do not drink enough water and are – more or less – in a constant state of dehydration. Speaking for myself, I certainly have been recommending generous water intake. At the same time, I was aware of a condition called hyponatremia which is caused by excessive water intake, leading to a loss of electrolytes, particularly sodium. According to what I had read, this can be a risk for endurance athletes.
A few weeks ago, I encountered the situation when the 86 year old mother of a friend was admitted to the hospital with hyponatremia.
How could that have happened?
She is a health-conscious person and aware of the need for proper hydration. At the same time, she is also limits her sodium intake; this is another general recommendation because the typical American diet is too high in sodium. Because of a confluence of circumstances, both those otherwise commendable health habits had catastrophic results. She was in the hospital for more than a week and may have lasting health consequences because of it.
According to the Mayo Clinic, hyponatremia signs and symptoms may include:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headache
- Confusion
- Loss of energy and fatigue
- Restlessness and irritability
- Muscle weakness, spasms or cramps
- Seizures
- Coma
A few days ago, I returned from the IDEA World Fitness Convention in Las Vegas where I spent three days sitting on floors of dubitable cleanliness in pursuit of fitness knowledge to help my clients. Because of my robust health, I withstood the germ attacks and walked away with nothing but new ideas.
Let me summarize what I learned and observed:
My focus was on two areas; one on fascia and the other on the Active Motion Bar ®.
Without a doubt, Sue Hitzmann was a forerunner with her insights into fascia and her MELT Method but the competition has not been standing still. Rollers of any shape and density are now being developed, and I spent a good while on them. In all likelihood, I felt much less beaten up than usual when I was at a conference because of all the rolling I did. My assessment is that, regardless of roller shape, many of those new ideas can be adapted to the soft roller that I like to use.
An Active Motion Bar is a weighted exercise bar with ball bearings inside. That makes this bar more challenging but also a lot more versatile. I was an early adopter and had already bought three bars of 6, 8 and 10 lbs three years ago. I am now adding a 3 and 4.5 lbs bar to my assortment to make them useable to all my clients. Research has shown that the shifting weight inside of those bars increases the challenge on the body such to make them 50 % more effective than a comparable static bar. I also picked up additional ideas on how to use them. Clients: Watch it!
Beyond sessions for my focus subjects, I participated in a BootyBarre (ahem) class. Let’s just say that everybody in the room could have been my daughter or son. After this realization, I decided to attend a class promising “Restorative Poses for Recovery”. Frankly, I needed restoration and recovery after that class. I then attended a session with a balance tool called "ZeSa" (evidently the sanskrit word for 'balance') which are mini-Bosu balls with a swiveling platform. Loved those little wobbly devils and bought the floor models.
I came home no worse for wear, inspired by new ideas and recharged. What happened in Vegas will not stay in Vegas!
I just returned from one of the most exciting weekends of my life: a seminar to learn level 1 of NKT. NKT ® stands for NeuroKinetic Therapy ® which has been developed by David Weinstock.
What is NKT ®?
Neurokinetic Therapy is a type of natural therapeutic system that has the goal of correcting learned movements and muscle functions within the body that can contribute to poor posture, joint tenderness and muscular pain. Considered to be a healing “bodywork modality,” similar to massage therapy or chiropractic adjustments for example, NKT is often used in rehabilitative settings to treat injuries and chronic pain. NKT practitioners first identify where their clients’ muscles are behaving abnormally, then help them restore proper balance and function through good-old failure and repetition.
David Weinstock discovered that muscle compensation patterns are stored in a part of the brain responsible for muscle and movement memories, called the cerebellum. Muscle testing could be used to help reveal incorrect movements being stored in the cerebellum that are contributing to pain or postural abnormalities.
Normally, movement memories are extremely useful and beneficial, but they can become problematic following an injury or overuse. When one muscle is overused or strained, the body adapts by creating muscle compensations. These compensations then get stored into the Motor Control Center (MCC) and can be hard to break without precise interventions.
The goal of NKT, therefore, is to reteach corrected muscle movements. An NKT practitioner helps clients to practice movements over and over again using proper form. Eventually these corrected movements replace incorrect muscle compensations and become stored in the MCC for future use.
Is it any wonder that I am excited?
After having been a trainer for over 22 years, I have been able to achieve the reversal of faulty movement patterns. Using NKT will enable me to do it more deliberately and with a system. NKT will blend in with all the other things I have already been doing. My wonderful Rapid Release Machine will be an integrated part of this approach to help release muscles that have become overly helpful in compensating.
Update 7/27/17: I passed my level 1 certification and will attend the level 2 course in Chicago in October.
Last week, I had the great please to attend a lecture by Gil Hedley, PhD, on the role of fascia. I had known of him for years. His research forms one of the foundations which Sue Hitzmann has adapted for the MELT Method. Gil Hedley has studied fascia in dissections of thousands of human forms and has thus furthered an understanding of fascia.
Gil Hedley has famously used the word “fuzz” to describe fascia and even has a “fuzz speech” to give an impression of it. Here is a link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdRqLrCF_Ys.
Fascia also comes in the form of adhesions which form as a result of inflammation or when we immobilize a part of the body. This can also be the result of being habitually in any one position, such as prolonged sitting. My favorite example is a long-distance flight. Personally, I always feel dreadful when getting out at my destination and cannot wait to start moving. What happened is that the fascia between muscles has formed little strands to glum together surfaces that are supposed to be gliding on one another. When I begin to move, those little strands dissolve and all is well again.
We can easily see the result of this process when people are not moving and are not dissolving those little strands. They get denser and denser, and a little moving no longer suffices to return the tissue to its proper function. Muscles that can no longer move get stuck in chronically shortened position, resulting in postures that are more and more compromised. In the absence of an acute injury, that in turn is often the cause of neck, low back, hip, shoulder and knee pain.
There is a growing number of techniques to deal with fascia. I teach some of them which people can apply to themselves, namely MELT, Relief through Rolling and other related self-myofascial release techniques. After listening to Gil Hedley’s lecture, the importance of such techniques is even more evident to me.
(As an aside: I myself have decided to donate my body to science unless it can be used for organ donations.)
Much has been said lately about immigration and immigrants. But I dare to say that most people understand very little about the immigration process. I came to the United States from Germany in 1994 through marriage. When I talk about it, the general assumption is that this can hardly be more than a formality, and all I can say is “au contraire”.
I worked in the US for IBM on a special work visa from 1989 to 1994. I met a colleague who became my husband in 1994. Assuming, as we did then, that this could not possibly be difficult, we went to apply for the permanent residency permit, known as Green Card. The paperwork that arrived was daunting. Pages and pages of legalize, documentation to provide, and the, then, all-important question whether I was or ever had been a member of the communist party. Off to the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) it went with a check for the prerequisite fee. Since I still had some things to attend to in Germany, and so I went there to get it done. That was in July.
Only six weeks later my husband received mail from the INS. Impressed about the speed of processing, he opened it eagerly only to find that the entire paperwork had been mailed back. The processing fee had been increased by $5, and he was to re-submit the papers again! In the meantime, I had arranged what needed to be done with typical German efficiency. So then I waited. And waited. And waited.
By the immigration rules, there cannot be a dual status. Since my husband had submitted a request for permanent resident status, I could not travel to the US as a tourist without being in violation of the law.
Eventually, I heard from the American embassy in Frankfurt where I needed to go for an interview. They needed a medical exam and a criminal background check. I was then to go the American embassy again to complete the paperwork.
During any interview in that timeframe, my motives for coming to the US were questioned and seemed to be met with suspicion. I was made to feel inferior and like a beggar. I felt completely at the mercy of authorities.
All in all, I arrived in the United States the day before Thanksgiving 1994, four and a half months after the application had started. I still remember getting into Atlanta which was my port of entry and where the last bit of paperwork was to be stamped and sealed. The last days in Germany had been very stressful because I hardly knew for when to book a flight. I was literally sick as a dog and felt sorry for the passengers who were sitting anywhere near me. I remember that big banner in the arrival lounge saying “Welcome to the United States” and felt a pang of doubt whether it was really so.
That was almost 23 years ago. Much has changed in the immigration processes since then but it is safe to say that is has not been made any easier. Recent immigrants only smile at my story and comment how fast it had been processed.
I became a citizen in 2000 (that’s another story). I love being here. It is my home.
