Koren Specific Technique (KST)
What is KST?
KST is a gentle and very specific corrective Chiropractic technique applied to your spine, structural system and your mind-body. Corrections can be done standing, sitting, moving, lying down or any position that creates the problems, this is called the position of subluxation.
KST is designed to locate and address hidden stresses that cause dis-ease or overall mental/emotional dysfunction often associated with symptoms such as pain, weakness, loss of energy and many other emotional, physical and biochemical problems. Chiropractors call these stressors subluxations, others call these stressors blockages, interference, imbalances, dysfunction, stagnation, fixations and others.
Dis-ease may be caused by physical, chemical/toxicity, emotional stress or trauma.
How does KST work?
KST is gentle but powerful because it has a diagnostic method called the occipital drop to help find priorities of subluxations in the body and it uses a very precise adjusting tool called the Arthrostim that is an adjusting instrument used to adjust the body.
KST takes the body through a process called retracing as the stresses leave the body. Retracing is an essential process in the journey toward health and wellness as it involves peeling back the many layers that some form over time. At each session we will correct as many layers of stressors as your body will allow, older stressors and symptoms may take time to surface and will be dealt with when the body is ready to process the stressor.
Sometimes an area of the body may be so weak and the stress and damage may be so extensive that a number of corrections may be needed before the body can strengthen and heal these areas.
What is the Occipital Drop?
The Occipital Drop (OD) is when the practitioner uses your occiput, a skull bone located at the back of your head to access information from your body. When the body is challenged for a stressor, the occiput appears to drop on one side. A KST practitioner will run their hands, specifically their thumbs over the back of the head to read this presence or absence of the OD when the body is challenged.
The OD is considered a Binary biofeedback mechanism.
Binary – Can tell us yes (stress) or no (no stress)
Biofeedback – The information comes from your body
Mechanism Physical stress response
The OD works in a similar way to how Kinesiologists use muscle testing to access information from your body.
The OD is used to locate areas of deep physical, chemical, emotional stress that is causing you dis-ease and then using the Arthrostim, the practitioner can help the body to release these stressors.
What is the Arhtrostim Instrument?
The Arhrostim is an electronic adjusting instrument that acts like an extension of the practitioners hand delivering a very gentle but precise adjustment force to the body in a few cycles per second. The intensity of the device can be calibrated specifically for different parts of the body and different people in different scenarios.
KST has high specificity, this means that we can analyse your body to find what precisely is out of position and is interfering with proper functioning, what direction it is out of position and the correction needed to help restore proper functioning again. The more specific the analysis, the less energy/force is needed for the correction by the Arthrostim. We are then able to use the OD to check the treatment to see if the stress is released properly and effectively.
What is Retracing?
KST patients may experience retracing which is a healing process that occurs as old physical and/or emotional energies, diseases, pain or other symptoms come to the surface after blockages , interferences, or subluxations are corrected.
Retracing may be felt as a physical release such as old pain symptoms coming to the surface again from old injuries, these usually appear in the reverse order in which they originally happened. An emotional release may be felt as lightness, happiness, or you might even begin to cry even though you might not feel sad. Some patients externalize or release toxins after a KST session such as a rash, fever, cough or some other cleansing reaction.
These retracing symptoms are usually short lived but a necessary part of healing.