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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.

The other night I had a vivid dream. My four-year-old daughter was running around on the deck of a cruise ship and fell overboard. Although my six-year-old son was with me, I jumped overboard to save her. What was a calm sea suddenly became very turbulent and my daughter was always just out of my reach. The water swirled around us like a whirlpool, and I could then see large fish in the water circling us. I was so frightened they were sharks! I was pulled under several times but finally managed to grab my daughter and more or less surrendered to fate when we were pulled/pushed to safety by a large angel who appeared in the shape of a dolphin. We suddenly surfaced on a pristine white sandy beach. I immediately knew we were in Heaven or an alternate Universe. There was a McDonald's on the beach with cupcakes all over the roof! The dolphin changed its appearance and stood before me as an angel with dark skin and hair. (This is not what I imagined an angel would look like for some reason.) I felt this overwhelming love for him and wanted him to stay with us but he smiled and said he had to go but would always be around to protect us. My daughter and I explored the beach and I was content to stay but wondered how my son would fare without us. The rest of the dream was like something out of Narnia, but I've described the parts that really mean something to me. What could this all mean? Was that my guardian angel? Thank you.

Shazmin

Though this dream involved your daughter, it was more about your own fears than her well-being. There are multiple aspects to this dream; let's explore them one at a time.

Being surrounded by water indicates that this dream was soul-based, for water represents not only the subconscious but also the spiritual. It could also represent the fact that, as we go through life, there are many dangers we need to be aware of.

The threatening sharks in the water represent the dangers we may encounter in life. The dolphin who saved you and later turned into your guardian angel underscores the fact that even when you find yourself in dangerous situations, you are always protected.

Ending up in heaven or an alternate Universe suggests that you are in the midst of a spiritual transition. (It is interesting to note that what you saw may have been your daughter's idea of heaven: a McDonaldís covered with cupcakes!)

The dolphin turned angel in your dream represents your intellectual idea of what your guardian angel might look like even though he did not fit the description of a typical angel. We are the ones who determine what the spirit guides and guardian angels we can't physically see look like to us.

Itís wonderful to know they can shape-shift into any form that may appeal to us or any creature that may offer us the best protection. As a dolphin, he was able to get you both safely to shore. As an angel, he revealed himself in a form that was identifiable to you.

The general message of the dream is that you are always protected and that, when things seem worst, Spirit will transform them into something positive. Because this dream centered on saving your daughter, it may have been a way to process the normal fears most parents carry about their children. It is also possible that you have been overly worried about your daughter for some reason, for our dreams are often designed to process our greatest fears so that we can work through and resolve them.

Though you may not always be able to protect your children, this dream affirms that all of you have special guardian angels who are always looking after you.

*****

Mata:

There are all sorts of possible interpretations for this wonderful dream. It could be a symbolic representation of a past life experience. Many people don't even know that it is possible for us to dream of past life experiences in a non-literal manner.

For example, if you and your daughter died in a past life when you tried to save her from drowning, it would explain the basic plot of the dream, your intense feelings, and also your arrival in a heavenly realm after being met by the angel. Having dreams like this is one way our inner beings try to help us heal and release past life trauma.

Of course, it's also possible that this dream was you processing some recent concerns about your daughter, or prophetic of problems looming on the horizon. Water often represents our emotional lives, so it may be that you are in some deep emotional water, surrounded by perceived threats to your or your daughter's peace and happiness.

For example, if your daughter recently started preschool and has been having a hard time getting socially acclimated, you may fear that she is in over her head. Here the sharks may be bullies or other kids who are attacking her or tearing her emotionally apart. When my daughter was in the throes of adolescence, I often had water-based dreams that involved threatening sea creatures. My concern was usually how to get her safely from one side of the water to the other without her drowning or being attacked by sharks or other threats.

While the guardian angel could be symbolic of the fact that you are always spiritually watched over, protected and supported, there are a couple of elements that indicate to me that this was an actual meeting with one of your guides. The main evidence for this is your overwhelming feelings of love for this being. The fact that he didn't at all look like your own concept of a guardian angel also suggests that this was a real individual you were blessed to meet in this way.

In any case, the message of this dream is comforting and positive: no matter what happens, there are spiritual forces ever ready to help you and your loved ones remain safe on all levels.

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.