Who’s in Charge of Muscle Testing?
Classical Kinesiology and the Instinctual Reflex
Classical muscle testing, a change in muscular strength under challenge, reflects a protective, reflexive response governed by the mammalian central nervous system. This may be due to injury, local trauma, conscious submission, or a survival-driven reflex. What appears as a “weak” muscle can be a response to past injury, a signal to avoid danger, or an act of submission to perceived force.
Yet this poses a fundamental issue: Who within us is giving the response?
Muscle testing, while powerful, is not always accurate unless we discern which aspect of the self is answering.
Ontological Kinesiology: Asking the Right Authority
Ontological Kinesiology seeks answers from the whole person, not just the survival-based reflex system. Here, muscle integrity is assessed in response to systemic, existential, or symbolic inquiry. This approach actively seeks neocortical cooperation, bringing cognition and awareness into dialogue with the body’s reflexes.
However, unless we understand our inner hierarchy, we may misinterpret the speaker.
The Body as a Multi-Storey House
The human system is not unitary. It contains layers, reflex arcs, and autonomous subsystems, each capable of issuing a “yes” or “no”. For accuracy, we must ask: Which servant is answering?
Dimensions of the Self:
- Material Self – The basement level
- Reflex arc: simple binary switch (on/off)
- Tool: K27 point
- Language: survival, danger, DNA codes, ancestral memory
- Servant: Record Keeper
- Vegetal Self – The first floor
- Reflex: autonomic (sympathetic/parasympathetic)
- Language: emotion, nourishment, environment
- Tools: chakras, hyoid sensitivity, sensory field
- Servant: Housekeeper/Cook
- Instinctual/Animal Self – The second floor
- Reflex: habitual, limbic-driven, survival-based
- Language: power, will, protection, trauma
- Tools: jaw, posture, cerebellum
- Servant: Worker/Bodyguard
- Human Self (Neocortical) – The third floor
- Reflex: strategic, comparative, manipulative
- Language: belief, reason, choice
- Tools: eye and tongue position, internal narrative
- Servant: Manager/Director
- Integrated Self – The rooftop/master level
- Reflex: coordinated, clear, open to higher guidance
- Language: synthesis, consciousness, spiritual alignment
- Tools: temporal lobe integration, corpus callosum balance, cranial rhythm
- Servant: Owner/Self
Reflex Arcs: From Primitive to Integrated
Each level has a reflex arc. A binary switch at the base becomes layered, nuanced, and eventually integrative. These are not simply neurological—they are existential and developmental pathways:
- Material Reflex – ancestral, binary, cellular
- Vegetal Reflex – sensory, emotional, environmental
- Instinctual Reflex – habitual, learned, protective
- Cognitive Reflex – strategic, belief-laden
- Integrated Reflex – spiritual, holistic, intentional
The Problem with Assuming Unity
Many muscle testing systems assume a unified response. But the body is not a single voice. Instead, it is a polyphonic choir. Without a method to identify who speaks, we risk:
- Mistaking survival for truth
- Misreading trauma as refusal
- Confusing strategy with surrender
To refine muscle testing, we must train ourselves to listen not just for response, but for origin.
The Internal Hierarchy in Dialogue
| Level | Reflex | Tool | Servant Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOS (Material) | On/Off | K27 | Record Keeper |
| SOS (Vegetal) | Field-based | Hyoid/Chakras | Cook/Housekeeper |
| EOS (Instinctual) | Action-based | Jaw/Posture | Worker/Bodyguard |
| POS (Human) | Cognitive | Tongue/Internal Dialogue | Manager/Director |
| MOS (Integrated) | Unified | Palate/Callosum | Owner/Self |
Each must be honoured, and each can contribute to the whole — when asked respectfully and at the right time.
The Challenge to Practitioners
To work ontologically is to become an interpreter of voices. Each layer of the body speaks in its dialect:
- The material self speaks in reaction.
- The vegetal self speaks in sensation.
- The animal self speaks in action.
- The human self speaks in reasoning.
- The integrated self speaks in quiet knowing.
When we muscle test, we must ask: Which voice am I hearing? And more importantly: Which one should I ask?
By identifying the speaker, we enable the client to respond authentically, not reflexively, but with genuine choice.