Natural Bioenergetics™: What is the NB™ Difference
By Jane Thurnell-Read
Originally published in KF News — The newsletter of the British Kinesiology Federation, September 1998, updated January 2019
My first introduction to Natural Bioenergetics™ (NB™) was in 1987 when Kay McCarroll arranged for Dr. Jimmy Scott, the developer of Natural Bioenergetics™, to come to England to teach a workshop. I had been using muscle-testing for allergy testing since 1983: in that time I had tested literally thousands of clients for allergies. I used muscle-testing to test for allergies and then homeopathic drops to desensitize them. I had a very successful and busy practice, but I was getting bored and frustrated, feeling that allergy problems were a symptom of energy disturbance rather than the underlying problem. I had started to look at various branches of modalities that used muscle-testing, herbalism, iridology and homeopathy but none of them seemed to be quite what I was looking for. Then I attended Jimmy’s first UK course in Natural Bioenergetics™.
I was completely bowled over by what seemed to me to be a very holistic system with a strong theoretical framework, so I went home determined to try it. I used my eldest son as the guinea pig: he had severe reading difficulties and had been diagnosed as dyslexic. Although he was eight years old, he read as though he had never met any of the words before. He was not very willing to allow me to practice on him, so we compromised with him lying on the sitting room floor watching television while I scrabbled around with my new manual. I did not explain that I was trying to help his dyslexia, only that I wanted to try out some new techniques I had learnt. The session lasted less than an hour with Jonathan repeatedly asking, “Haven’t you finished yet?” That evening he read in phrases for the first time in his life. The benefit of that session lasted, without any additional homework or work by me: I was immensely impressed by the power of this Natural Bioenergetics™. From then on, all my clients got Natural Bioenergetics™ and I have never looked back. I found that with Natural Bioenergetics™ I could often correct allergy problems instantly, and also that I could help people with a much wider variety of symptoms and problems, including helping people to achieve their potential intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. I am still amazed at the power, depth and width of Natural Bioenergetics™ to help people with a whole range of physical, psychological and spiritual problems.
The Courses
The basic system is taught in 5 four-day courses. These are spaced about 2 months apart, but students can work at their own pace, taking much longer if they wish. There are 4 teachers in the UK. We all work to the same syllabus, using the same manuals. It is possible for students to do different courses with different teachers if they wish, but the courses must be taken in order. Even experienced practitioners from other backgrounds must take Natural Bioenergetics™ Level 1 (NB1). Some of them have been unhappy about this at first, but after taking NB1 they always say they have learnt a tremendous amount and it has been very worthwhile.
Natural Bioenergetics™ Level 1 (NB1): The basic Natural Bioenergetics™ meridian balance, psychological techniques, allergy and tolerance testing and correction, basic treatment protocols, etc.
Natural Bioenergetics™ Level 2 (NB2): Further information on allergy and tolerance work, procedures for detoxification to heavy metals, viruses, vaccinations, etc., techniques for strengthening the body against electromagnetic pollution, self-testing, etc.
Natural Bioenergetics™ Level 3 (NB3): Powerful psychological techniques, procedures for scars and pain, methods for improving intellectual abilities, new protocols for working at a deeper level of understanding with the body, etc.
Natural Bioenergetics™ Level 4 (NB4): More psychological techniques, working with programmed crystals, procedures for improving the functioning of the five senses, designing affirmations, etc.
Natural Bioenergetics™ Level 5 (NB5): More psychological techniques, chakra re-balancing procedures, more work on improving intellectual functioning and remembering, designing exercise programs, etc.
Theoretical Framework
What is not clear from this listing of techniques is the theoretical framework which surrounds and informs Natural Bioenergetics™. Jimmy Scott has developed an energy model which allows a greater understanding of what we are doing and why. Natural Bioenergetics™ techniques do not treat particular symptoms or illnesses directly, but correct specific imbalances within the energy system, allowing the body to heal itself. So, for example, psychological corrections are concerned with energy flow within the meridians, the Body Brain Energy Integration Technique is concerned with energy entering the brain, Tissue Energy Blocks are concerned with energy blocks at the tissue level, Mechanism Control is concerned with blockages at the level of cell receptors. In consequence two people presenting with the same symptoms will almost certainly receive entirely different treatments, because the symptom is a manifestation of completely different energy disturbances.
Initial Balancing Technique
Before asking about the techniques needed, the Natural Bioenergetics™ Practitioner carries out the initial balancing procedure. Unlike some other modalities, this is based on working with over-energy rather than under-energy and working at the level of elements rather than individual muscles or meridians. In Natural Bioenergetics™ there is also a preferred order for testing the elements [governing/central, gall bladder/liver, kidney/bladder, large intestine/lung, stomach/spleen, triple warmer/ circulation-sex, small intestine/heart]. This does not correspond to the normal cycles used in other branches of work. Jimmy ascertained through extensive verbal testing that this is an effective and robust way of ensuring the acupuncture meridians are balanced. I find using the Natural Bioenergetics™ system that I can often have a client balanced and ready to proceed with further work in less than 5 minutes. My experience has been that this is a quick, effective and lasting way of ensuring that the energy system is balanced, so that I can, in general, get accurate answers to my verbal questions.
Once the energy system is balanced the next step is to ascertain which procedures to use. Establishing where the imbalances are is not the daunting prospect it might seem at first sight: Natural Bioenergetics™ uses an extensive and systematic verbal protocol to establish exactly what is needed. In general, we use one indicator muscle: often the anterior deltoid or the brachioradialis. The on/off response correlates with yes/no, so it is possible to ask a wide variety of questions using this indicator muscle.
Verbal Questioning
In Natural Bioenergetics™ we do not use finger modes, but teach students to be able to ask clear and precise questions: this means the possibility of the dialogue with the body is enormous, particularly because we are not limited by the number of known finger modes. Verbal questioning is the real skill of a good Natural Bioenergetics™ Practitioner and all the teachers spend a lot of time teaching students how to do this accurately and as objectively as possible.
In Natural Bioenergetics™ there are three basic ways of working: according to body priority [item or issue] or according to an issue [or goal] specified by the client. Asking the body for the preferred issue is a fascinating and sometimes revealing exercise. A Belgian client’s energy system wanted her to work on her relationship with the midwife she blamed for her baby’s death many years before. She had not told me about the incident, so this was established by muscle testing. When I discovered the issue, she immediately recognized that emotions she had thought long gone had been suppressed and were now ready to be addressed. She also realized that this terrible tragedy had influenced her life and her relationships since then. If I’d asked her to provide a goal for the session she would never have suggested this.
Five Types of Procedures
Natural Bioenergetics™ Practitioners make a distinction between five types of procedures:
Energy correction factors: these are procedures which are only carried out once in that precise format. In other words, once they are properly done they stay done and do not need to be repeated. This is the vast bulk of the Natural Bioenergetics™ Practitioner’s work.
Energy toning factors: these are procedures which might be carried out repeatedly: they are designed to establish stronger energy flow and more easily accessible energy pathways, unlike energy corrections which are designed to correct underlying energy problems. Some of these procedures are carried out during a client session, but often they are things people do at home to strengthen the energy system. Taking homeopathic remedies and flower essences or carrying a suitable crystal fall into this category. Although they affect the physical body, it is indirectly through their effect on the subtle energy bodies.
Adjunctive factors: this is mainly homework; things that the person goes home and does for themselves which could be taking a nutritional supplement, following a specific exercise program, etc. The exact nature of the homework is ascertained by using verbal questioning. They differ from energy toning exercise in that they are designed specifically to work directly on the physical body.
Energy redirection factors: these are procedures which are needed sometimes when the energy work has been done, but for some reason the energy system has not picked up the change. These procedures tell the energy system that there are better options available now and to look for them. Not all clients need these procedures: for many people as soon as the changes are made [mainly through energy corrections] the new possibilities are immediately utilized.
Environmental factors: these techniques and procedures are covered in some advanced and supplementary courses. They include consideration of toxins, intrusive energy and geopathic stress.
In Natural Bioenergetics™ we have an extensive menu of techniques and procedures, backed up by a model of the energy system, coupled with a rigorous protocol of verbal questions for establishing a dialogue with the body through muscle testing. At first sight the system seems to be very complicated, but as understanding of the model and protocols grows it is clear that in many ways Natural Bioenergetics™ is breathtakingly simple: it consists of a limited number of building blocks which are put together in endless permutations, allowing each session to be tailored precisely to the needs of the individual client.
I have now been practicing Natural Bioenergetics™ since 1987 and teaching it since 1990; it never ceases to fascinate me. It is a modality with great depth and subtlety capable of helping people in a very profound and long-lasting way.