When you are looking for a quick yes or no answer and are uncertain which way to go, muscle testing offers easy access to your inner wisdom. By identifying your inner truth you gain the clarity to guide your decision. You can trust the decisions you make when they are based on your own inner truth.
Muscle testing works on the principle that your muscles respond to the energy in your body.
When something is true or right for you, your muscles remain strong. This is a yes.
When something is not right for you, your muscles give way. This is a no.
How do you muscle test?
You muscle test by exerting gentle pressure on a muscle. If the muscle resists, the answer is yes. If it gives way, the answer is no. It’s as simple as that.
Another person can help you muscle test by pressing down on your outstretched arm. If your arm holds firm, you are getting a “yes” signal. When the arm releases, a “no” is indicated.
You can muscle test yourself using your hands. Make a circle by touching the tips of the thumb and pinkie of your left hand together. Then slip the thumb and index fingers of your right hand up through the circle from below. Open up the fingers of your right hand to press gently but firmly on the circle. If the circle holds, the answer is “yes”. If the circle breaks, the answer is “no.”
Avoid rigidly resisting, as that can provide a false positive. Instead, allow a suppleness that is responsive to the message coming to you from within.
To get a feel for a yes and a no, simply state something that you know to be true of yourself and muscle test it. Then state something you know to be false for yourself and muscle test that statement.
Let’s say that you are a married man named John, living in Chicago. You can say “I’m a man,” and then muscle test. You’ll be able to feel what a firm “yes” response feels like. Then say “I am a woman.” You’ll notice the difference when the circle of your fingers breaks open under the pressure you are exerting. Try again with “My name is John,” and “My name is Mildred,” or “I live in Chicago,” then, “I live in Tahiti,” or “I’m married,” then “I’m single.” As you practice with a series of statements such as these, you will become more tuned in to how “yes” feels and how you experience “no”.
Once familiar with this technique, you can use it to replace uncertainty with clarity in any yes/no decision you need to make .
When I was working on controlling my weight, I would enter a bakery, an old habit of mine. Instead of immediately buying myself a treat, as I was accustomed to doing, I’d stand there and silently ask myself, “Should I get that yummy cruller?” Then I would muscle test. When I came up with a “no”, I’d ask about the brownie. “No” again. Thinking that the bran muffin might be somewhat more virtuous, I’d muscle test about a bran muffin, only to receive “no” one last time. Ultimately, I’d walk out without buying anything. I knew that choosing to be guided by my inner wisdom was the best option. In this way I was able to resist temptation and, ultimately, achieve my weight-loss goals.
This technique will provide clarity about what is right for you in any yes/no decision you are facing. Consistently align your decisions with your inner wisdom and you will certainly make your good life better.
Jeannette Samanen, Ph.D.
Jeannette’s professional development began with graduate school at the University of Oregon. Her first post-doctoral position was at the Boston University School of Medicine where, as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology), where she specialized in stress management and behavioral medicine. Jeannette has had over 30 years of experience as a life coach and psychologist and derives great pleasure from helping clients transform their lives for the better.