Whole Body Well Being

Body Ease • Serene Mind • Joyful Heart

Tag Archives: Zero Balancing


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Spring tuning

I have been reveling in morning spring walks along Meadow Creek. It is so amazing to see the energy flowing up through the soil and into the plants. One day the sprout structure transforms into a leafy plant and in just a few more days buds form and then our come the blossoms.

The same processes are occurring in our bodies. As we take in the plants, (I love to graze on chickweed or taste a pine needle with a raindrop still on it as I meander back up the hill to my backyard!) the nutrients spread out into our cells that are being replenished, repaired or replaced. And so the earth energy can flow into us as well. In Traditional Chinese Medicine and other ancient healing traditions the understanding of how foods nourished us was by the ways the energetic qualities affected our bodies. As a very simplified explanation we all know how a spicy salsa or Thai curry can bring a sweat to the brow. So we say the energy of chili peppers is warming. In much the same way we get  warm from an electric heat pump as energy is transferred from one form to another in our cells from the skin inward rather than food warming us from our internal organs out to the skin.

Energy constantly moves and changes forms and that principle of nature is what we take advantage of in Zero Balancing. When we put even light pressure on the body by lifting or tractioning we encourage the energy that is already present to move and flow through nearby cells and tissues. Physiologists refer to this pressure initiated energy as piezo-electricity which is a property of the collagen in our skin, muscles, ligaments and bones. So while we have a standard protocol for Zero Balancing sessions what happens in an individual is unique each time.

The touch each client receives is based on the practitioner’s evaluations of the body and awareness of the change that is occurring under our fingers. We say we follow the energy of the client and then hold our position stationary until the place we are touching changes in quality. The change may be felt as warmth or a softening and sometimes we don’t notice anything for a few seconds and then we just continue with the protocol until the next pause at an area that may feel knotty or too dense or tight. The protocol addresses all the joints, so by the end of a 35-45 minute period on your back on a massage table you have been touched head to toe. Upon sitting up clients faces are much more relaxed and oftentimes they remark how different they feel. Relaxed, peaceful, lighter, more grounded, connected, or energized in a refreshing way are regular comments on how people feel the energy change after the session and for quite sometime in many instances. With regular sessions those changes last for longer and longer, stress and many physical complaints lessen and sometimes go away completely.

To experience a session with me in Charlottesville, VA you can book an appointment at my scheduling site https://www.timecenter.com/wbwb/ If you are outside of Central Virginia you can go to www.zerobalancing.com and click on the find a practitioner menu. By entering your zip code you can locate certified practitioners.


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Who likes Zero Balancing?

child seated ZBSo far I haven’t met anyone who dislikes Zero Balancing. Occasionally I’ll share a session with someone who doesn’t feel any changes from their session but usually that is because of reduced sensitivity to bodily sensations caused by medications or being so intellectual that the person doesn’t have much awareness of the sense of touch.

I recently attended a Zero Balancing Refinement Day held in Charlottesville, VA at Studio ZB in my office building. My faculty colleagues, Elliot Abhau and Judith Sullivan, facilitated the great day of exploring a very succinct Zero Balancing protocol that can be done almost anywhere in just a couple of minutes. In an earlier post I describe a typical ZB session that is done on a massage table. This one is done with the client seated and begins with the practitioner standing on one side and ending at the client’s feet kneeling in front as pictured. The beauty of this is that many people who can’t or don’t want to lie down can feel relaxed and grounded in a couple of minutes. So far I’ve offered it to my son’s classmates sitting on a garden bench waiting for their parents to pick them up in the midst of a noisy group of middle schoolers. Each child I balanced  paused, relaxed into my hands and returned to their assigned waiting area much more quiet than before. I also have used it for a couple of elder clients who get stiff from being prone too long. I can see the potential for helping people confined to wheel chairs and for young children when they are sitting on their parent’s lap.

Elliot developed the basic seated form out of a desire to provide people quick care and refined it while offering sessions to massage practitioners at a convention. Judith added some of her flavor to it and along with Roxanne Broadbent shares it during volunteer days with The Haven, an organization supporting the homeless in Charlottesville. When our Refinement Day was over we all felt very refreshed from having given or received the seated session three or more times. That’s why I love ZB!


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What is Zero Balancing?

It’s a question I get asked all the time. And truthfully, it’s not that easy to explain. I do know that the first time I experienced it I wanted to learn how to do it and knew I could.

I was sitting in the cozy wood fire warmed kitchen of my friend, Ida Smith, while my husband received his session. She didn’t even touch me or tell me anything about what she was doing. What I felt in the room was what hooked me. Yes it felt peaceful and relaxing but a very, very, deep grounded presence was what spoke to my inner being.

During my first class, six months later, in 1994, Ida helped me to understand that the depth of what I felt was partially because Zero Balancing focuses on touching the bone. Dr. Fritz Smith, the founder of Zero Balancing, grew up with his chiropractor father touching his bones regularly and went on to become an osteopath as an adult. Dr. Smith had a thriving practice for patients with back pain in California in the early 1960’s.

I learned the rest of the reason that I felt the deep presence was that Zero Balancers connect with the natural energy flows through the body tissues as understood in Eastern medical traditions such as acupuncture, ayurveda and yoga. Most people are now familiar with healing practices that come out of these traditions. Chi gong uses slow fluid body positions to move chi in the meridians, MBSR, mindfulness based stress reduction, uses the breath to support quieting the mind both support the body’s natural movement toward homeostasis and health. The internal energy flows Dr. Smith incorporated in Zero Balancing came from his training as an acupuncturist with Dr. J.R. Worsley and studying meditative techniques that use the breath energy.

So when I give a Zero Balancing session my touch attention is focused on bone, the core of the body, in areas where the energy should flow clear and strong. The spine is a prime example of where structure and energy meet. If you look at a profile view of a healthy child you can see the natural curves moving forward and back from the base of the skull to the pelvis. You can compare the spine with the flow of a meandering stream. The water (energy) moves easily and fastest around a bend yet when debris or stones build up the flow is impeded and an area of stagnated water pools behind the debris. As I move my fingers along the ribs and sacrum I lift gently and feel for differences from side to side and for the pliability of the bone and connective tissues. If I get the sensation of density (debris) or stickiness in movement (stagnation) I can use my touch to share that information with the bone and let my client’s body reorient and make changes as appropriate. Unlike some techniques we don’t force any changes. The session continues and I feel for any other or related structural or energetic imbalances.

Since Zero Balancing touch is clear and very attentive our clients take that attention in as being listened too deeply even though they don’t often talk much during a session. That in itself can be very healing in stressful times of constant requests for our attention from the outer world. So a short answer to, “What is Zero Balancing?” is “It is a gentle system of touch that connects with the deep energy flow of the full skeletal system and the whole person.”

Experience Zero Balancing for yourself and develop your own definition! Many clients that find it relieves chronic and occasional stress, helps them sleep well, significantly reduces pain and helps untangle mis-alignments in joints that they’ve had for many years. Almost everyone leaves feeling their feet on the ground and with a smile on their face.

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**Dynamic**

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You know that little spark you get when someone touches you just right? Dr. Smith built that into a Zero Balancing session. Through awareness of the rhythm and tension in the skeletal system many of the places that Zero Balancing practitioners fingers lift into have a little zing. At other times you may feel deeply quiet and spacious. These are just two ends of the scale of your body’s harmony. I like to call them the “Feel Fabulous” sensations. When you feel energized and relaxed at the same time your body is in wellness mode. Stop by Tabor Presbyterian in Crozet this Saturday 10-2 for a chance to feel your Whole Body Well Being.  See my previous post for more details.