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Empowered to Heal: My Journey Toward Touch for Health

Updated: Dec 19, 2023

It all started when I met Dr. Rob Voorhees, a chiropractor who worked in the same building as the yoga studio I owned in 2010. I soon learned that Dr. Rob did more than just chiropractic adjustments because I attended a wellness program where he demonstrated muscle response testing (energy kinesiology). I found it intriguing but had yet to see its relevance in my own life.


Several months later, my three-year-old daughter, Zora, fell ill with pneumonia. Despite multiple rounds of different antibiotics, her condition worsened. She was still coughing and had little red spots under her eyes. I was really frustrated with the cycle of her getting better only to get sick again. I was scared of how seriously ill she had become and also for our livelihood. I was a single mom and I had just opened a business. How could I run the business if Zora couldn’t attend preschool? Zora’s doctor didn't want to prescribe any more antibiotics for her, but had no other solution than a referral to Doernbecher Children's Hospital. At Doernbecher, the doctor brought up the possibility of lung surgery. Unwilling to accept this drastic measure, I turned to Dr. Rob for a second opinion. Why not start there and just see what he says? (I honestly didn't think he would be able to fix Zora, but I thought he might have some ideas or be able to make a good referral). 


Dr. Rob used muscle response testing techniques to test Zora. Because she was so young, she was harder to test, so I acted as Zora's surrogate, which means I acted as a conduit for Zora's muscle testing results. He touched different points on Zora's body and tested my arm to gather information. Sometimes he would hold different supplement bottles up to Zora's body to test for which one would help her. At the end of his 10 minute assessment, he recommended a supplement for her lungs and told me Zora had candida (overgrowth of yeast in her stomach) likely due to all the antibiotics she had been taking.


The root cause of her cough and pneumonia, he explained, was the compromised immune system resulting from an imbalance in her gut bacteria. He recommended a no-flour, no-sugar diet to restore her gut flora.


Remarkably, after a few days of taking the recommended supplement, Zora's cough disappeared. I was shocked and incredibly relieved. That visit to Dr. Rob changed our lives in so many ways! Zora never got pneumonia again. Zora became a healthy kid, avoided surgery, and was able to attend preschool, which allowed me to work. I discovered the simplicity and effectiveness of muscle response testing as a healing tool. No expensive tests, a 10-minute assessment and a supplement - all  costing less than $50 (in 2012). I became empowered because I finally understood why Zora was sick and I knew what I could do about it. I also learned an important lesson about the side effects of antibiotics (and the importance of using probiotics after antibiotics).


As Zora started on her new diet, occasional visits to Dr. Rob became routine to monitor her gut health. Zora was used to eating a lot of white flour, which made the new diet challenging to say the least. I was looking for healthy substitutes for some of her favorite meals, so I asked Dr. Rob: Could she eat rice tortillas? What about quinoa? Dr. Rob would use muscle response testing to get the answers. This sparked my interest in learning how to do it myself. If I could test for foods while in the grocery store, it would be so helpful. The more I observed and experienced, the more I recognized how empowering and useful muscle response testing was.


Several months later, I had a vaginal yeast infection and I approached Dr. Rob for assistance. Through muscle response testing, he uncovered an unexpected revelation: I was allergic to condom lubricant. I was shocked, but then quickly realized that made so much sense! When I looked back in time, I realized I had had yeast infections whenever I used condoms - but I had never once thought it was due to an allergic reaction. If I had known muscle response testing, I could have used it to determine which, if any, condom would work for me.  This 10-minute session provided insights I never considered, saving me from costly medical tests and prescriptions.  If I had gone to my regular doctor about the yeast infection, would I have ever learned that I had an allergy? And if I had, how long would it have taken? How much would it have cost? I wanted to know how to use this empowering tool for myself.  


I asked Dr. Rob if he would teach me muscle response testing. Despite his initial promise to teach me, it never materialized. Six years later, I saw an opportunity: "Touch for Health Level 1" class advertised in the LCC Continuing Education catalog. The course promised, among other things, to teach muscle response testing. I was thrilled!! My instructor, Sara McRae (now my colleague and friend), taught us how to perform a simple muscle test for foods and the like, but her class went WAY beyond that. I had no idea how robust a tool Touch for Health would turn out to be. I was blown away when I realized that muscle testing could balance the energy in every meridian (like acupuncture does). And I'm sure my jaw dropped to the floor when a class demonstration showed how it could be used to clear traumatic stress from the past, present or future. In time, it became my go-to tool for healing, personal growth and relief for mental and emotional suffering. 


Touch for Health is something I use almost daily for my health and personal growth. Because of it, I am empowered to deal with a lot of the issues that come up for me, mentally, emotionally and physically. I like sharing it with others because of how much it helped me.

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