Embodiment · “Being Precedes Having”
Behavioral Kinesiology
To raise ‘life energy’ and shift one’s state by ‘thumping’ the thymus (sternum) while holding positive affirmations — using muscle-testing to ‘check’ which stimuli, thoughts, foods or postures strengthen or weaken you.
Behavioral Kinesiology in 5 lines: (Optional) muscle-test a thought/food/posture — but know the result reflects expectation, not truth. To lift your state: place fingertips/loose fist on the centre of your sternum (thymus) and tap firmly several times while holding a loving, positive affirmation and a smile. Notice the shift. Use it as a state-priming cue, not energy measurement — and never muscle-test real health decisions.
What it is
Behavioral Kinesiology (BK) is the system of psychiatrist Dr. John Diamond, who took applied-kinesiology muscle-testing out of the clinic and applied it to everyday life, mood and “life energy”.
Its best-known practical move is the Thymus Thump: lightly thumping the centre of the sternum (over the thymus gland) with the fingertips or a loose fist while holding a positive affirmation or smile, to “activate the thymus” and raise life energy/state.
Diamond taught that a simple muscle test can reveal what strengthens or weakens you — a thought, a word, a posture, music, a food — and that you can use that feedback, plus the thymus thump and affirmations, to choose more “life-enhancing” inputs and lift your state.
The Method
From Diamond’s Your Body Doesn’t Lie / Behavioral Kinesiology (1979):
- Set up the indicator muscle test. With a partner: you hold one arm out to the side; the partner presses gently down while you resist. A firm, holding muscle = “strong” (life-enhancing); an arm that gives way = “weak” (stressing). (Solo versions use finger-ring or sway tests.)
- Test a stimulus. Hold a thought, say a phrase (“I hate you” vs “I love you”), look at an image, taste a food, or adopt a posture, then re-test the muscle to see if it “strengthens” or “weakens” you.
- The Thymus Thump. Place fingertips/loose fist over the centre of the sternum and tap firmly several times (some teach a rhythmic pattern), the spot directly over the thymus gland. This is the signature “activate your life energy” move.
- Add a life-energy affirmation / smile. While thumping, hold a positive affirmation (e.g. of love, gratitude, or a “homing thought”) and/or a genuine smile — Diamond emphasised thoughts of love and positive emotion as the strongest life-energy enhancers.
- Re-test / notice the shift. Re-do the muscle test or simply notice your state; the claim is the thump-plus-affirmation has “switched on” the thymus and raised your energy.
- Choose life-enhancing inputs. Use the testing to favour postures, foods, music and thoughts that “test strong,” as a way to live in a higher-energy state. (This is a faithful summary of Diamond’s taught method — muscle test, thymus thump, affirmation — not a reproduction of his copyrighted text.)
Source & Lineage
Dr. John Diamond (1934–2021), a psychiatrist, built Behavioral Kinesiology on George Goodheart’s applied kinesiology, publishing BK / Your Body Doesn’t Lie in 1979.
His work is a major root of the whole energy-psychology tree: the thymus thump and muscle-testing feed directly into Roger Callahan’s TFT and thence EFT, and into Donna Eden’s energy medicine and Bradley Nelson’s Emotion Code.
Related in this library: Eden’s Four Thumps (which include the thymus); muscle-testing-based release; tapping lineage. It also resonates with embodiment/state-priming practices here (power posing, peak-state priming).
Common refinements
Believing the muscle test reveals objective truth. It reflects expectation; never use it to pick foods, supplements, medicines, or decisions.
- Crediting the thymus. Enjoy the thump as a state-priming cue, not as gland “activation.”
- Thumping too hard. Light, firm taps on the sternum are enough.
- Skipping the affirmation/smile. The positive thought and posture are doing the real state work — don’t drop them.