Adapted from Ch 2 of Energy Medicine and the Appendix of Energy Medicine for Women
Because I sometimes wanted someone to energy test me when no one was available, I hit upon a solution while I was first experimenting with energy testing. I went to a sporting goods store and found a barbell that I could lift if I held it straight out in front of me when I was holding a comforting thought but could not lift when I was holding a depressing thought (thoughts generate subtle energies that impact our bodies, and comforting as well as depressing thoughts affect the muscles).
I placed the dumbbell on a dresser that was the height of my shoulders. I would put my arm out in front of me, grab the dumbbell, and try to lift it. If I wanted to energy test for a specific food or vitamin, I would hold the substance in one hand and try to lift the dumbbell with the other. The energy of the food would affect my energies as decisively as an uplifting or a depressing thought. I could find out whether the substance was having a positive or negative impact on my energies by my ability or inability to lift the weight.
Because dumbbells exert a steady pressure downward, they can provide a reasonably objective measure of what is being tested. The critical physical factor for this self-test is finding a dumbbell with the correct weight-a weight you can lift while holding it straight out in front of you and thinking a positive thought but not while thinking a negative thought. A recent technological innovation that makes it easier to get the exact weight you need for this test is the one-gallon water jug. Experiment with the amount of water needed to just be able to lift it when holding a comforting thought but not while holding a disturbing thought. For testing substances, I suggest using the spleen test. Place your arm at your side with the weight in your hand, touch the substance with your other hand, and see if you can pull the arm with the weight outward, in the motion of a normal spleen meridian energy test (as described in Chapter 2 to of Energy Medicine or the Appendix of Energy Medicine for Women).
Numerous other ways for energy testing without a partner have been devised. Because most of them require the person to simultaneously exert and resist pressure, to be both the tester and the tested, it is very difficult to assure an unbiased result unless the person is highly experienced. One I have found that people can do reliably after practice--and which doesn't require any equipment, such as a weight--has you use your body as a pendulum rather than to exert pressure on a muscle. While standing, place the item being tested at your stomach, holding it evenly with both hands, and bring your elbows in so the sides of your arms touch the sides of your body. Then bring your feet together, facing straight ahead. Take a deep breath, become still, centered, and as you release your breath, release all thoughts. If after a few moments you feel yourself pulled toward the item, that is, falling forward, it indicates that the item is in harmony with your energies. If you find yourself falling backward, away from the substance being tested, it indicates that the item is in conflict with your energies. It is as if, at a subtle level to which you must attune yourself, a substance that is in harmony with your energies has a magnetic attraction pulling you toward it while a substance that is in disharmony repels you. In this test, you need to be particularly careful about your wishes or preconceived ideas influencing the results, and the instructions for fine-tuning your energy-testing abilities with a partner in Chapter 2 of EM (or the Appendix of EM4W) can be adapted for this test as well.