Muscle Testing

Muscle testing is the term commonly used to describe a communication technique based on the broader, scientifically-tested discipline called kinesiology.  The study of kinesiology first received scientific attention through the work of Dr. George Goodheart in the 1960’s. He pioneered what he called “Applied Kinesiology.” He found that the body would reveal a response to benign stimuli in the form of strong or weak muscles. Daily life examples that anyone can relate to are the experience of feeling weak in the knees and legs when suddenly confronted with a fearful situation and the experience of gaining energy and strength when something wonderful and happy happens to you.

Dr. Goodheart found, for example, that a subject could be given a bottle of a natural sweetener (such as raw honey) to hold, and when the practitioner pressed down gently on his or her extended arm, the arm would remain strong and not be pushed down.  When a subject was given a bottle of artificial sweetener to hold, his or her extended arm would weaken and fall down under gentle pressure. The implication was that the body knew and expressed through muscle testing what was good or bad for it.

In the late ‘70’s, Dr. John Diamond refined this technique into a new discipline called “Behavioral Kinesiology.”  This was based on his important discovery that the tested muscles would respond with strength or weakness to emotional and intellectual stimuli, not just physical.  When the client smiled, his or her arm would strengthen, but when the client repeated the statement, “I hate you,” the arm would test weak. In Dr. Diamond’s research, his subjects responded consistently to the point of being predictable, repeatable and universal.

Based on Diamond’s work, well-known psychiatrist Dr. David R. Hawkins began research on the muscle testing response to truth and falsehood.  He observed a positive muscle reaction in response to a statement which was objectively true and a negative muscle response to a statement that was objectively false.  This was consistent, even when the subject did not know whether the statement was true or false.

Hawkins also established that test subjects did not need any conscious acquaintance with the physical substance or emotional/intellectual issue being tested.  In other words, this phenomenon occurs independently of the subjects’ own opinion or knowledge of the substance or topic being tested.  The response proved cross-culturally valid and reproducible in any population and consistent through time.  The test results thus fulfill the scientific requirement of replication.  Further, he also used double-blind studies in mass demonstrations involving entire lecture audiences.  Here, subjects universally tested weak in response to unmarked envelopes containing artificial sweetener and strong to an identical envelope containing a placebo.  The same response appeared in testing intellectual values as well, such as testing for courage vs. fear.

Muscle testing is only one part of kinesiology.  Kinesiology itself is a much broader subject dealing with the study of the muscular system.  Muscle testing, or ideomotor cueing, is used as a medium for communication.  It is not the source behind the communication.  It can be described as simply a mouthpiece.  Healing Way Method practitioners use it as a means to access wisdom from the deepest levels of consciousness available.

To access a client’s answers, the practitioner can pose a question to which the answer is a simple yes or no, then press down on the client’s extended arm to determine if they can easily keep their arm up or if the arm weakens and falls..  Or, the practitioner can make a statement that is either true or false and test the arm in the same way.  The arm of the testee will stay strong on a yes or true answer and go weak on a no or false answer.  A person can learn to muscle test themselves by using finger strength rather than arm strength.

The use of muscle testing has become increasingly popular among certain types of practitioners (e.g., naturopathic physicians, nutritionists and chiropractors) as a means of determining the direction of treatment and the roots of imbalance.  Some patients now seek practitioners partly on the basis of whether or not they do muscle testing, preferring to have the addition of a tool that individualizes their treatment. 

Muscle testing, like any means of testing that is scientifically validated, is still subject to error.  In a laboratory that tests blood samples, errors may occur based on a technician’s mistakes in procedure or changes in moisture or temperature which the lab technician may not even be aware of.  Muscle strength is affected by nerve impulses, which are an electrical phenomenon. With muscle testing, things that interfere with the energetic/electrical field around or in the body – whether physical, emotional or mental – can potentially affect answers.  For example, plastics and other substances that out-gas formaldehyde are well known to interfere with testing of physical substances, such as supplements.  If the tester or the subject themselves has a strong opinion about which answer is preferable, this can influence the test results.  Healing Way Method practitioners are schooled in the release of ego and attachment to outcomes and answers.  The intention is to access the client’s highest guidance and deepest wisdom, without any interference.  Other things that can interfere are dehydration of the subject, muscle fatigue, general fatigue in either the tester or the subject, and purposeful interference by non-material realm energies.

Healing Way Method practitioners are carefully trained in muscle testing, and the protocol includes checks along the way to insure that testing is done with a high degree of accuracy – and, if there are mistakes, that they are caught and corrected.  We do not use muscle testing for trivial or “content” questions, such as whether or not the client should pursue a certain job.  Such questions will produce an answer, but it will not come from the deepest level of wisdom and is no better than a best guess. Clients are guided to seek their own answers on content questions, using their own inner resources. “Process” questions, on the other hand, are of great value and produce highly accurate test results.  These are questions directly related to the healing process and the source is from the deepest level of consciousness.  Healing Way practitioners are strongly cautioned against using muscle testing for questions outside the Healing Way Method protocol. 

For more about the protocol, read a Description of the Healing Way Method.