The Science Behind Muscle Testing
Muscle Testing, also known as muscle response testing or applied kinesiology, is a fascinating and long-used technique in holistic health and wellness used by many types of practitioners including chiropractors, acupuncturists, naturopaths, massage therapists, and nutritionists. It came about from a concept in neuromuscular physiology where muscle responses were observed after exposure to stimuli. Our muscles communicate with us when the body is attracted to a stimulus from either a positive or negative source.
How Does Muscle Testing Work?
According to the laws of Quantum Physics, everything in the universe has a unique energy field or resonance. The energy is created by the electromagnetic field of our Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) and is part of our body’s innate wisdom or subconscious mind. Everything in our body has an energetic frequency down to our organs, cells, and atoms.
Muscle testing taps into this energy within our ANS to provide the answers that our subconscious has, even if our conscious mind doesn’t. A common premise is that the subconscious can lead the body to respond to, or reinforce positive energy and to avoid or refuse negative energy. These responses are what are believed to make muscle testing possible.
Muscle Testing as a Diagnostic Tool
Through the ANS, the body turns muscles on and off all the time, allowing us to move, speak, eat/digest food, circulate blood, and breathe.
This non-invasive procedure involves applying pressure to specific muscles assessing their response and testing the ANS. The body will respond with a weak or adverse response to something that doesn’t benefit your body and its energy and a strong, positive response to something that is good for your body. A strong response may also indicate health and balance, while a weak response may signal an issue or imbalance. It all depends on what you are testing and how you are testing it.
I love this tool because it is something we can all use (you can learn to do this yourself!) to identify the root cause of symptoms you are feeling and analyze what the body needs to support the problem(s). We can determine the body’s response to certain foods, nutritional deficiencies, supplements, healing modalities, emotions, energy blockages, and more.
How Can I Muscle Test Myself?
There are quite a few ways to muscle test yourself, but the sway test might be the easiest way to explain and it is a great one to start with. Most people are able to make it work for themselves with only a little practice. It is a little slower than some of the other methods so it is a great backup method to know as you go on to learn other ways. You can find courses to learn or even check out YouTube. Discover Healing, the company that certified me for The Emotion Code has a free course you could check out.
In the sway test, the body responds by either swaying forward or backward. The idea is that your body sways forward toward truth or positivity and that it sways backward, away from negativity or something that is false. This goes back to the intelligence of your subconscious mind, knowing what’s true and what’s false. Try it out with objects from your home, foods, supplements, etc.
How Does Remote Muscle Testing Work?
This is also known as muscle testing by proxy or proxy muscle testing. This just means that another person is acting as a stand-in for another person. If I want to muscle test a person across town from me, I can act as a proxy for that person and use self-muscle testing techniques or I could find someone to serve as an assistant and stand in for that person. I would perform the muscle testing on the assistant with the intention of muscle testing the person across town. When I am done with the testing, I just simply “disconnect” from the other person like you are hanging up with them after talking on the phone.
Proxy muscle testing works similarly to how a phone call works. Our bodies have a built-in capability to quickly and easily “dial” someone else, and create an energetic connection with them. Once you’re connected, you can learn about what is going on with this other person’s body, because you’re picking up their energetic signal. We all have energy and the capacity to connect with other energetic beings including people as well as animals.
Controversies and Limitations of Muscle Testing
Muscle testing faces skepticism from some parts of the scientific community due to a lack of consistent research findings on its efficacy. Critics argue that many studies on muscle testing have yielded inconclusive results, making it challenging to establish their validity. Additionally, the placebo effect and your own bias or that of the practitioner can influence the outcomes of muscle testing which is why I think it is important to find a skilled practitioner who is trained in the modality aware of these issues, and can discern what makes sense given the results.
How I Use Muscle Testing in Practice
This is also why I often like to use muscle testing in conjunction with other diagnostic tools. Depending on my client’s symptoms and concerns, I really like to pair muscle testing with comprehensive blood labs, organic acids tests, HTMA, or stool tests to hone in on the root cause(s) of my client’s issues. I find that muscle testing is a really great compliment to these tests and I can use this technique to customize nutrition and supplement protocols for my clients that are targeted to their needs. I also like to use it to clear emotional blockages and trapped emotions from meridians and organs in the body that are contributing to what the client has going on and will clear the way to allow the body to heal and bring homeostasis or balance back to the body. Of course, muscle testing is completely optional.
Ready to try it out for yourself or learn more? Schedule a free 30-minute consultation and let’s chat.