What is Zero Balancing?

Zero Balancing is a gentle and powerful hands-on bodywork system which balances body energy with physical structure. It integrates Western scientific knowledge of anatomy and physiology and Eastern concepts of energy and healing with the practitioner’s ability to perceive and feel the finer force fields in the body. What this does is enable a practitioner to work simultaneously with your structural and Energy bodies to bring balance.

Zero Balancing is valuable for a wide range of situations and has extensive applications in the maintenance of good health as well as personal development.

How Did Zero Balancing Originate?
‘Zero Balancing’ came from a client’s description of her experience of a session:

” I feel I’ve been brought back to balance, like a return to zero ”.

Zero Balancing was developed by Dr. Fritz Smith in 1973 out of a programme to teach acupuncturists how to evaluate body structure. Dr. Smith, the son of a chiropractor, was a practicing osteopathic physician and surgeon from the early 1950’s. In the sixties, after attending Esalen Institute and immersing himself in a series of alternative therapies and spiritual practices, he began to think of a specific force, with its own atomy, physiology, and pathophysiology. Though he studied with Ida Rolfin 1971, he was not drawn to Rolfin because in those days it generated pain. Smith then went to England to study acupuncture which convinced him of the importance of energy work. At the same time he began a study of Eastern philosophy, including Siddha Yoga, Jin Shin Do Acupressure and Shiatsu, T’ai Chi Chuan and Chi Kung. All of these influences contributed to the development of Zero Balancing.

How Is ZB Performed?
Everything in a ZB session is designed to promote maximum relaxation and a sense of well being. The Zero Balancing process generally takes between 30 and40 minutes and is performed with you fully clothed. Sessions begin with you in a seated position, moving from there to a comfortable reclining position on your back. Using touch, the ZB practitioner evaluates your energy fields and energy flow in these two positions and balances the structures as needed. He or she may focus on body, mind, spirit, or all three, depending on where the fields are disturbed or the energy is blocked. This form of touch is known as interface and is gentle and noninvasive.

Throughout the Zero Balancing session, attention is given to the skeleton in particular because it contains the deepest and strongest currents. Within the skeletal system are several joints which have a minimal range of motion and whose main function is related to the transmission of energetic forces. These joints, such as the sacroiliac joint, areknown as the Foundation joints and are a major focus of Zero Balancing. When such joints become imbalanced the body tends to compensate in ways that can have widespread effects. These compensations may impede function and set up unconscious tensions which lead to a reduction in our vitality and can limit our potential for health. Practitioners of Zero Balancing learn to feel and evaluate the relationship between energy and structure within joints by means of simple movements. They then use a specific kind of touch that creates a point of dynamic stillness around which the client can relax and reorganise.

Who Can It Help ?
Alternative health systems like Zero Balancing do not focus on acute pathology but rather on preventative medicine and internal states of transformation. It is a refined and painless way to handle stress, to enhance personal development, integrate the personality, reduce body pain, align the posture, and promote general wellness. ZB gives relief to people who are in physical pain due to an imbalance at the structural/energetic interface. It has also proved to have significantresults with children aged 1 to 6.

What makes ZB a unique approach to bodywork?

Zero Balancing can bring about an altered state of consciousness which may enable clients to transcend limitations in a safe and grounded way The clients’ experience of being held a at a profound level of conscious relaxation in their own integrity is a particular quality of Zero Balancing

[boxibt style=”success”]Information Courtesy of:
The Zero Balancing Association UK 10 Victoria Grove Bridport Dorset

Tel: 01308 420007 Email: zbauk@aol.com[/boxibt]