Muscle testing, also known as applied kinesiology, is based on principles of biomagnetic energy and the idea that our bodies can provide feedback through muscle responses to various stimuli.

While our conscious mind may be largely unaware of these energies, our subconscious mind is significantly influenced by them. The subconscious can guide the body to respond positively to beneficial energy and to avoid or reject negative energy. These responses enable the effectiveness of muscle testing.

We can access this connection between the subconscious mind and energy by asking YES or NO questions and observing the body's responses.

I use the Sway Test as my primary form of muscle testing.

My body will reveal the answers through subtle physical responses (biofeedback) by either swaying forwards or backwards.

• A “strong response” or “yes” answer is based on the idea that the body sways forwards towards truth, positivity, or congruency.

• A “weak response” or “no” answer is based on the idea that the body sways backwards, away from negativity, falsehood, or incongruency.

Article extract produced by Discoverhealing.com

• 100 BC - Easternknowledge of the meridians (or lines of energy in the body) and acupuncture or acupressure points have influenced the development of muscle testing techniques and originated centuries ago. The first documentation of these theories is The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine.

• Late 1800s - The Royal Central Institute of Gymnastics (G.C.I.) in Stockholm, Sweden founded a new occupational group that became the foundation for most physiotherapy and physical therapy.

• 1900’s - R.W. Lovett, an orthopaedic surgeon from Boston, created a process of manual muscle testing to evaluate muscle function and nerve damage in polio patients. His premise was that muscle testing could determine where nerve damage had occurred because muscles that tested “weak” were often associated with the same spinal nerve.

• 1949 - Two physiotherapists named Henry and Florence Kendall continued to work from Lovett’s premise and built their own model for muscle testing. They published their combined ideas in the book Muscles: Testing and Function.

• 1960s - A chiropractor in Detroit named George Goodheart used the information Kendall and Kendall had collected in his chiropractic offices. Through his experiences testing the client’s muscles, Dr. Goodheart found he was able to provide additional healing beyond chiropractic alignment. He discovered that some clients experienced a clearing of additional issues once he had balanced their muscles and identified associations between chiropractic techniques and Chinese medicine. He called this new practice Applied Kinesiology.

• Early 1970’s - Interest in George Goodheart’s study of Applied Kinesiology grew, as he lectured at conferences across America. He took on students and taught them his methods. These students in turn led study groups where they shared information with new students and developed their own methodology and systems for testing.

• Late 1970s - One of Dr. Goodheart’s students, Dr. John Thie, theorized that muscles tested differently depending on the stress they were under. This knowledge led to an assertion that muscular symptoms were connected to imbalances. These imbalances could be related to energy blockages, physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, or nutritional issues.

• Early 1980s - Another student of Dr. Goodheart, Dr. Alan Beardall, developed his own system of over 250 specific muscle tests. These specific tests were meant to isolate major muscles of the body. He also developed the concept that the subconscious mind could express itself through muscle testing with strong or weak responses correlating with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers.

• Mid-1980s - Richard Utt developed an additional method of muscle testing which he called Applied Physiology. This included multiple muscle states (rather than the binary ‘weak’ or ‘strong’).

• Late 1980s - American scientist Charles Krebs added an additional element to muscle testing with the development of Learning Enhancement Acupressure Program, or LEAP. Krebs did extensive research into the brain and nervous system, kinesiology techniques, and energetic sciences.

• 2007 - Chiropractor Dr. Bradley Nelson tapped into his 20 years of experience to create The Emotion Code, using muscle testing to find and release Trapped Emotions and imbalances.

• Present - Muscle testing has evolved into a diverse range of evaluation techniques utilised by many practitioners who see its benefits. Millions of practitioners worldwide use muscle testing in many different ways.