Wondering about how to talk about Zero Balancing? Want to tell your (family, partner, trainer, PT) about ZB and don’t know what to say? Is your friend asking about Zero Balancing sessions and you don’t know how to answer? You’re not alone! ZB practitioners and clients alike can find it challenging to talk about ZB. Whether we initiate the conversation or want to respond to questions, it can feel difficult to translate our kinesthetic experience into words.

Clients often tell me they begin to talk about ZB and the conversation stalls. If you’ve begun to talk about your ZB experience and it doesn’t seem to be going well, there may be several reasons why. 

One approach is to think about your own goal in talking about Zero Balancing. What do you hope to accomplish with the conversation? Be honest with yourself. If your goal is, for example, to share how much the sessions help you, then just talking about it will meet the goal. Whether the person is able to hear and understand you is secondary. You have shared your experience. 

Many of us aren’t really clear about our own goals. If you read the above, imagining a conversation, and are feeling some vague dissatisfaction, then perhaps your goal was something different or may have been only partially met. If you have some clarity about your desired outcome, it may guide you in deciding what to say or how to say it. 

Let’s look at the two scenarios mentioned above–one in which you initiate the conversation and one in which you are asked. 

What might be a goal when initiating a conversation about Zero Balancing? 

Let’s say your goal is feeling heard while sharing your excitement about your own experience. What response on the part of the listener would make you feel heard? If you are clear about what you are looking for, you’re more likely to know when you’ve received it. 

What if your goal is to help your friend or family member? This leads in a few directions. Will the goal be met if they hear you? If they agree to think about getting a session? If they agree to receive a session? Take into account that we cannot control the responses of our listeners. Is your goal realistic? Might it take several conversations to achieve? Answering these questions may help you in the conversation. 

It can feel trickier if you are asked the question “What is Zero Balancing?” People often tell me that this is where things begin to go awry because they feel they must be able to answer the question as if they were a practitioner. That’s not true. 

You may not know what’s involved in giving a session but you certainly know what it’s like to receive a session. You have clothes on. You lie comfortably on your back. You receive similar techniques in a similar order each time. And it feels good. It’s very relaxing. At the end of the session you wish you could stay lying on the table. Your pain is better. You feel taller. You look forward to coming back. All this qualifies as a very good description of Zero Balancing. 

For more tips and ideas, read my previous blog on how to talk about ZB here

Let’s get started on Part 2!

Remember, during the normal walking cycle, the foot needs to be mobile early in the cycle and rigid later in the cycle. A flat foot is at an advantage here. The joints in the middle and rear of the foot become looser as the arch lowers. A lower arch means a flatter foot. 

When your foot lands on the ground and your body travels forward over your foot, your foot needs flexibility so it can absorb the ground reaction forces and protect your leg and back from these considerable forces. It also needs to adapt to any unevenness on the surface so you can keep your balance. Because a flatter foot is a more flexible foot, in this early part of the walking cycle, you have what you need! Your low-arched foot is mobile and can do a good job absorbing ground reaction forces and adapting to any unevenness on the ground. 

In the later part of the walking cycle, your foot needs to become rigid so you can propel yourself forward. Here is where having a flat foot can be a disadvantage. Your mobile flat foot may have a hard time becoming rigid enough for good propulsion. This difficulty is often the cause of problems like bunions and plantar fasciitis. 

What your foot lacks can often be balanced with the right shoe. If your foot lacks rigidity, a firmer shoe can make a helpful difference. A shoe with support in the right places can help your foot be more rigid when you need it. This type of shoe is sometimes called a “motion control” shoe. It’s controlling your foot’s extra mobility so it can function better. 

How can you tell whether a shoe is supportive in the right ways for your flatter feet? Here are two simple tests you can perform in the shoe store.  

The Heel Counter Squeeze 

The Heel Counter is the back part of your shoe where your heel sits. 

Place your thumb and forefinger on either side of the heel counter. Pinch the sides together. 

If the heel counter remains firm, like this blue shoe, this is a good shoe for you.

If you can easily squeeze the sides together, like this black shoe, 

it’s not a good shoe for you.

The Twist Test

Hold the back of the shoe with one hand and the toes of the shoe with the other hand. Try to twist the shoe. 

If it’s harder to twist, like the blue shoe,  it indicates more support for a flatter foot and is a better shoe for you. 

[Photo of back of twisted black shoe here] 

If it’s easy to twist, like the black shoe, it’s not a good shoe for you. 

How much does wearing the right shoe for your feet matter? 

It depends. If you are not having any problems with your feet, it’s probably not important for every shoe you wear to help control the extra motion in your foot. However, if you are walking for exercise, it would be wise to find a more supportive shoe to help prevent problems. 

And of course, the shoe must feel comfortable! If it’s not comfortable, it’s not a good shoe for you period!

Coming up in Part 3, we’ll talk about the shoe features that help a high arched foot. Thanks for reading!

I’ve noticed recently that many of my clients who have come for multiple sessions are experiencing the unexpected benefits of Zero Balancing (ZB). Unexpected because initially they came for help with physical pain. And after several sessions, they are noticing they are better able to handle the normal and sometimes excessive stresses that life can bring. Aspects of their inner and outer lives seem to improve; most notably in their experience of inner stability.

I wrote on this subject a few years ago and it’s worth revisiting, especially given these times of extreme stress. Outer world in turmoil can make our inner world unstable. 

Everyday language has lots of phrases that describe inner world instability. “The rug was pulled out from under my feet.” “You could have knocked me over with a feather.” “I can’t seem to get my legs beneath me.” With so many destabilizing challenges in our lives, having inner stability is critically important. 

Are you familiar with Weebles? A Weeble is a toy that does not fall down. The world outside can tilt and the Weeble may wobble, but it somehow is able to adapt and doesn’t fall down. Weebles are a good example of stability for this discussion. Stability requires maintaining a broad range of adaptability and resilience in response to sometimes extreme external forces. If we have good internal stability, we may wobble but we don’t fall down!

How might we avoid “falling down”? Looking at the physical body, we know that a fall occurs when the person’s center of gravity moves outside their base of support. A wider base is more secure than a narrower base because the center of gravity can move farther without moving outside the base of support.

Try standing on one foot. You feel the wobble as your body experiences a narrower base of support. If you grab a chair you have enlarged your base of support. You may feel your foot making small adjustments as your body adapts to a less stable position. Luckily, the floor won’t move so something in your environment is stable. 

What if the surface you are standing on is both moving and unpredictable, like when surfing? The surfer adapts to this challenging situation by remaining in a stable stance; knees bent and feet wide, low center of gravity and wide base of support. The external instability is constant and outside the surfer’s control. It is the surfer’s inner stability, body position and focus that keeps him on the board. 

Life often resembles surfing and some waves are pretty big. Zero Balancing can help us find that surfer’s stance in our inner world.

Zero Balancing balances body energy and body structure. Loss of inner stability can occur  when joints that function to transmit force or energy become compromised and less able to function optimally. This is quite common and may not even be noticed. If you feel ungrounded or easily knocked down, this may be part of the cause. ZB sessions can restore this function, facilitating the freer movement of energy through our physical structure. Our energy, our essence, can move through and inhabit our bodies more fully, helping us to adopt a surfer’s stance in our inner world. We experience a body-felt sense of increased stability. 

Repeated ZB sessions anchor this energetic balance and we feel it as a kinesthetic experience. Stressful times become easier to manage. While some stressors may never feel easy, having an easier time can be a big help. We may wobble yet we experience more adaptability and resilience. We don’t fall down.  

Inner stability provides an essential tool for navigating a changing, unpredictable and often unstable world. It helps keep us on our surfboards!

Lots of clients have been asking about shoes lately so I thought it might be helpful to revisit the articles I wrote a few years ago about how to determine whether a particular pair of shoes might work for your feet. As we all know, the right pair of shoes can make a huge difference in the way we function during the day. Shoes can be expensive. So why not save yourself time and money by learning a bit more about what your particular foot needs before heading to the shoe store?

In this 3-part series, I’ll help you to determine the optimal features of shoes for your particular foot. Part 1 will look at how your foot is constructed and what’s needed from your foot when walking. Part 2 will talk about what shoes help a person with flat feet. And Part 3 will look at what shoes can help a person with high arches in their feet. 

Let’s get started with Part 1…

When it comes to determining the best shoes in which to invest, I suggest temporarily setting aside considerations of style and belief and looking instead at how your foot needs to function for optimal comfort, whether it is able to function that way based on your unique anatomy, and how your shoes can help or hinder those functions. 

The foot is an absolute marvel of construction. With each step, the foot must adapt to the unique attributes of the surface you are walking on while withstanding large amounts of force. When your foot hits the ground, the ground hits you back. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction affects our every step. Your foot as well as your entire body is affected by these ground reaction forces with every step. 

In the walking or gait cycle, your foot lands on the ground and remains there as your body travels forward over your foot. Then your heel comes up and you push off to propel yourself onto your other foot. What does your foot need to be able to do while you are walking? 

As your foot lands on the ground and your body travels forward over your foot, your foot needs to be flexible so it can absorb ground reaction forces to protect your knee, hip and back from these forces. It also needs to adapt to any unevenness on the surface. If the ground is slanted, the sidewalk raised or there’s a rock or twig, your mobile foot helps you keep your balance and take this in stride. As your foot prepares to propel you forward onto the other foot, it needs to become rigid. It’s more effective to push off something rigid than something flexible. So with each step you take, your foot needs to be flexible at times and rigid at times. 

Take a look at your feet while you are standing…

Aree your feet flat? Or do you have a high arched foot? Because of the interlocking bone structure in the foot, a flat foot is more mobile and flexible and a high arched foot is more rigid. 

If you have flatter feet, you are in good shape when the foot needs to be mobile in the early part of the gait cycle. Your foot can absorb ground reaction forces and adapt to the uneven surfaces. However, when your foot needs to be rigid, you may run into trouble. 

If you have higher arched feet, you are in good shape when the foot needs to be rigid. You’ll be able to push off and propel yourself forward onto the other foot very well. However, your foot may be too rigid to effectively absorb ground reaction forces and adapt to uneven surfaces. 

Shoes can help give your foot what it’s missing; more rigidity for a flatter foot or more shock absorption for a high arched foot. 

Coming up in Part 2, we’ll talk about the shoe features that help a flatter foot. Thanks for reading!

There have been books and articles in the news over the past few years about how the body keeps track of everything that happens in our lives, especially difficult or traumatic events. You or someone you know may experience lingering pain from injuries in which the tissues involved healed long ago. Sometimes, there is no discernible damage, but there is persistent pain. Many clients describe having worked through traumatic events in psychotherapy yet still feeling the event stuck in their body.  In Zero Balancing, the mechanism through which the body remembers these experiences is tissue held memory. 

A few months ago, an area of my back got stuck in a very painful way. As my Physical Therapist was working in that area, I remembered a fall that happened 40 years ago. The chair I was standing on tipped and I fell backwards, hitting the middle of my spine on the back of the chair. Luckily, the chair broke. I recovered quickly and only thought of it occasionally in the following years. Quite likely, the fall was how that part of my back got stuck in the first place. The pain caused me to seek help, which ultimately healed the old injury. And also released the remembrance of the experience, including how frightened I felt when it happened. A perfect example of tissue held memory.  

What is tissue held memory? How does tissue hold memory? In the Zero Balancing paradigm, the memory or its vibratory form, AKA energy, gets stuck in bone, AKA structure. Read more about structure and energy here. In my case, the force, or energy, of my back hitting the chair was absorbed by my structure, my vertebrae and ribs. As was my emotional response, which was also energy. My tissues held that memory until it was released by the bodywork I received. Usually these occurrences, the release of tissue held memory and healing of an old injury, are happy accidents in Physical Therapy. In contrast, a primary goal of a Zero Balancing session is to find and release stuck energy.  

Zero Balancing practitioners seek stuck energy in bone. Another word for energy is vibration. Vibration is a particularly good descriptor because vibration can be felt through touch. It makes energy palpable and accessible. 

When you receive a Zero Balancing session, your practitioner is looking for where your energy has gotten stuck in your bones. Through training, they learn the signature feeling of stuck vibration and the gentle technique that invites your energy to free up and move. Your body is deciding how much to release at every step. The practitioner may touch an area of held energy and nothing will change. Another area, perhaps a small change. Another one, a larger change. The innate wisdom of your body is calling the shots. That’s the reason the energy from my fall was still stuck, even after 30 years of receiving ZB sessions. The instinctive intelligence of my body chose when, where, and what to release. It’s part of what makes Zero Balancing so safe. To quote the founder, Dr. Fritz Smith, “The practitioner gives the session. Nature gives the experience.” 

Sometimes the content of the tissue held memory is revealed. Sometimes not. It’s not necessary or necessarily important. When stuck energy in bone is released, healing occurs. 

People seek Zero Balancing (ZB) sessions for many reasons. Because I am a Physical Therapist, the issue that usually brings people to my office is pain. Sometimes it’s physical pain. Sometimes it’s emotional pain. Often, it’s pain they have suffered for a long time, such as an injury from a car accident that never seemed to heal or the aftermath of a traumatic event. Regardless of the initial reason for coming, they find multiple facets of life improve after a series of ZB sessions. While it’s the pain that brings them through the door to my office, every ZB session helps every part of them.

What is meant by “every part of you?” Exactly what it says. All of you. Your body, your emotions, your mind, your spirit. You are so much more than your physical body. When you awaken in the morning and determine how you are feeling, you certainly scan your body. And likely you have some attention on other aspects of yourself, like how energized you feel, how happy or sad, whether you are looking forward to the day or dreading it. In the Zero Balancing world, you are assessing your structure and energy. 

Structure is everything in the body that can be seen, such as bones, muscles, skin, blood, even our cells. If it can be seen, it’s structure. Energy is everything in the body that is unseen, such as the motion of our organs, our thoughts, ideas, emotions, beliefs, consciousness. Try to think of a part of you that isn’t either structure or energy. Don’t be surprised if you can’t. I can’t either. In short, all of you is either structure or energy. 

Structure is what we usually think of when we think of our bodies. Bones, muscles, joints, organs can be seen with our own eyes or through an Xray or MRI. When we go to the doctor or Physical Therapist, this is what we report on and receive care for. The unseen, our energy, might be a bit more challenging. Yet we are all familiar with aspects of our inner world. We talk about having lots of or not enough energy. We are aware of feelings of happiness, sadness, frustration, anger or stress. We have ideas, hopes and dreams. We have beliefs, either conscious or unconscious, such as “the world is a safe place,” “the world is an unsafe place,” “I’m ok,” “I’m not ok.” Although unseen, these are foundational aspects of who we are. 

Zero Balancing helps all of you because it works directly with your structure and your energy through touch. Zero Balancing practitioners are trained to touch your structure and energy simultaneously and consciously. While certainly any touch, like massage, physical therapy or even a handshake, is touching energy, it is the conscious attention that makes Zero Balancing unique. In a ZB session, the practitioner uses mindful, skilled, respectful, and safe touch to seek and balance stuck energy in your structure, specifically in your bones. 

The result is a healing session that acknowledges, engages, and accepts every part of you. 

The beauty in this approach is that you don’t have to know all or any of the parts of you that need healing, although awareness has its own rewards. All you need to do is to lie on the Zero Balancing table, relax and enjoy yourself as every part of you is helped.