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by Joanna Pinney Buell

I learned how to muscle test to get yes/no answers to questions in 1994 in an energy work class that was part of my massage therapy training at the Dove Star Institute in Hooksett, New Hampshire. I've been using the technique ever since. It's quick, simple and doesn't require any special tools. Like dowsing, it does require that one is able to formulate a clearly defined question, and it takes regular practice to become accurate. Have you ever noticed that "simple" hardly ever translates to "easy?" Yet this practice is easy and accurate when you've put the time into developing the skill.

Here's the mechanics of learning how to muscle test:

With your left hand, touch your pointer finger to your thumb, making a loop. Do the same with your right hand and now link the loops. The rest of your fingers are open and relaxed. Now pull outward with small to medium effort and resist having the loop broken. Make sure your elbows are not locked down at your sides. You want to be relaxed except for the immediate muscles engaged in the pulling action. When you pull, say, Resist. A hold means a yes or positive answer.

Now relax your hands at your side, shake them out, and then form your test loop. Pull outwards while you say, Break. A break means a no or negative answer. (This can also translate to detrimental, as in the substance which you're testing for would be detrimental to your health.)

Now, make your loop and pull outwards and hold and say, This is my yes.
Make your loop and pull outwards and break and say, This is my no.

It's important to get the basic mechanics down. If you're at all confused, walk away and perhaps get a drink of water. (It's a good habit to drink a glass of water before testing, as being dehydrated makes for poor testing.) Sit down and take a few deep breaths and without reading the instructions, do the tests as you remember. Go back and reread if you have to, or watch the video clip at the bottom of this page.

Play time. Now let's see if you've got the muscle testing programmed to work for you. Ask yourself these questions and test the statement for yes/no or true/false or positive/negative. First make the statement, and then muscle test by pulling outwards.

• My name is ____________(fill in the blank with a bogus name).
• My name is ____________(fill in the blank with your real name).
• My birth year is _________(fill in the blank with a bogus year).
• My birth year is _________(fill in the blank with your birth year).
• Drinking coffee is positive for my health.
• Show me the energy effect on my body when I consume a teaspoon of white sugar.
• Show me the energy effect on my body when I consume Mountain Dew (or insert a name brand soda).
• When you get the hang of this, make a list of any supplements you're taking, and test them in this manner. Show me the energy effect on my body when I consume ___________.

You can do a blind test, too. Have someone put your supplements and/or any medications you're taking in plain bags which have been numbered. There can be a non-related item thrown in too. Say the show me the energy statement for each bag in numerical order and record your answer.

Your statement or questions must be clear and unambiguous. Don't ask Should I... questions. For example, don't ask, Do I drink too much? ("Should I drink less?") If you're asking this kind of question, you already know the answer. Note that you can override this process by wanting to receive your preferred answer. Cultivate a neutral attitude. Be prepared to be surprised. White sugar does not cause a weak muscle response in everyone, nor does coffee. This tool isn't meant to be used for spying on spouses or for picking winning lottery numbers.

How does muscle testing work? The theory behind this method is that a muscle goes weak when there's a negative or false stimuli, which can be present as a thought or a physical substance. In testing for yes/no or positive/negative, this theory holds up.

I use muscle testing to determine what temperature to bake my sourdough bread at, and how to time it. It might bake at two different temperatures for the duration. I start at the low end of the temperature range and work my way up to the high end in increments of 25 degrees. My loop breaks at the appropriate temperature. Then I ask, So, it's ____ degrees? to verify, and because I'm looking for a yes/no, the loop holds. When you're testing a list of options, it's more efficient to work this way than to have the loop keep breaking until you reach your answer. In this case, the aforementioned theory doesn't hold up.

Here's what I believe about how muscle testing and dowsing work. We are all part of the whole, the All That Is. In asking sincerely for help, we receive it. We will need to practice on both the asking and receiving end. When muscle testing doesn't work for us, we may have unconscious detrimental patterning that blocks the flow of information, or we may not be grounded physically or have right intention. These blocks to information can be addressed by receiving energy work, which includes dowsing, to identify and clear the detrimental patterns.

If Truth can only be experienced for us to know it, it's good to have a tool in our Personal Guidance System Tool Box that points us in the direction of having the actual experience of Truth.

© Joanna Pinney Buell, The Dowsing Deva, 2012-2014. All rights reserved. Printed here with permission. Joanna Pinney Buell is living the Good Life with her husband David Buell in Downeast, Maine, at their home, Light Heart Retreat. Joanna has been many years in the fields of spirituality, energy work and holistic health as a teacher, hands-on practitioner and writer. Most recently, she has channeled her desire to help others through The Dowsing Diva, where she offers resources for self-health, insightful blog posts, and dowsing services. Joanna can be reached via email at joanna@thedowsingdeva.com. For more information, visit TheDowsingDiva.wordpress.com and lightheartretreat.com to see what this unique place on Earth has to offer YOU.

Are you able to do psychic readings for yourself or do you know any readers who can? I would love to be able to get guidance for myself, but I find it much harder than reading for others. When I tune in for myself, it's like I get a whole mix of images and messages that don't add up to a clear answer. When I use tarot, I find my interpretations are often inaccurate compared to the readings I do for others. Any advice would be appreciated!
Loren

Susyn:

One of the most difficult things to master in psychic development is reading for yourself. In fact, very few psychics even attempt this because their emotional attachments to certain outcomes influence how they interpret the answers they receive. When I teach tarot classes, I always tell my students that it's not a good idea to try to read for themselves.

When we attempt to read for ourselves, we may come from a place of fear, worry or frustration. This in itself will color the answers we get. You may note that when you do readings for others, the answers you give them often surprise them. The solutions may be obvious to you, but your clients can't see this because they are blinded by emotion.

Iíve been conducting psychic readings for over twenty years, and I still find that I need the help of a trusted psychic to find answers to my own questions and problems. I can assure you that even if I do a good reading on a subject, another psychic will always see things differently and more accurately.

We can all benefit from the objective perspective of a third party sometimes. When we read for ourselves, we tend to doubt what we get, filter the information according to our preferences, or flat-out misread what we're given. Just as a surgeon wouldn't perform surgery on his own child, when we're in need of psychic or spiritual guidance, we're wise to ask for help from someone who can be calm and objective.

If you would still like to develop this skill, I recommend practicing with questions that aren't too serious or important to you. You may be able to get accurate guidance on those matters even though more emotional answers elude you. I also recommend trading readings with a trusted fellow psychic. If you still want to attempt doing your own readings, you can have this other psychic give you a second opinion in order to validate what you got. This would be an effective way to ensure you get the most accurate information possible.

I don't believe we are meant to figure out our problems alone, for the Universe is quick to channel information to us from outside sources. Allowing another psychic to read for us can help us avoid a lot of uncertainty, confusion and disappointment, for Spirit is usually quite clear when it presents us with information from another person.

*****

Mata:

The main key to being able to read for yourself is being able to emotionally detach from what you think you need to have happen in order for you to be happy. While I have many times successfully gotten psychic information for myself, that doesn't mean it is always possible. The more anxious I am about the subject at hand, the harder it is to see it clearly. I suppose this is why I find it hardest to get psychic information about my own children, for nothing is more important to a mother than the well-being of her child.

You must also be able to think outside the box. Many of the readings I do for others begin with a question something like: I'm trying to decide between choice A and choice B, and so far it has proven to be an impossible decision. When I tune in to read for them, I see that the reason they haven't been able to feel their way through this decision is because the right path for them is really C, or perhaps AB with some C thrown in. They felt no pull toward any of the options they were contemplating because they were contemplating the wrong options!

Due to our past experiences and personal beliefs systems, we are all limited in our thinking and blinded by assumptions. This is a big reason why it can be helpful to have third parties who don't share our prejudices tune in for us: they are open to a far greater range of information from Spirit than we may be able to allow into our conscious awareness.

This doesn't mean we can't regularly receive guidance from Spirit, though in my own experience, this tends to come more from my intuition and signs and synchronicities than it does from psychic reading processes. As with being able to read for yourself, however, the more calm, objective and open-minded you are, the more helpful guidance you'll tend to receive.

To develop this calm objectivity, it is imperative to cultivate faith in a higher plan. When you believe that everything happens for a good reason, it is easy to relax about how your good comes to you and assume that whatever happens will work out for the best. To cultivate the open-mindedness necessary to seeing the big picture and the infinite possibilities before you, meditation is again the answer, for this will enable you to observe yourself and your life from a much higher perspective.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.