Practitioners

The Power of the Blue Line

In my humble opinion, the power of the Blue Line often goes unrecognized. This unassuming tool can be the key to deepening your connection with your client and increasing efficiency so you aren’t working as hard. Many of us rush past it, eager to get into the fulcrum where the magic happens. Yet pausing at a clear Blue Line is so often the gateway to creating an incredible fulcrum.

I recall my first introduction to the Blue Line, as it did not exist when I began my study of Zero Balancing in 1992. Dr. Fritz Smith was teaching a Geometry of Healing class outside of Boston, MA in the early 2000’s. I learned that as he was creating the brilliant schematic that illustrates the process of creating a fulcrum, he used a blue marker to draw the line that symbolized the first moment of connection with the consciousness of the client. The concepts of looseness, the Blue Line, and the box came into being and we all gained a deeper understanding of how to consciously create more effective fulcrums. 

The concept of looseness and being at the Blue Line is mind-blowing if you think about it. In life, if there is too much looseness, say in planning a coffee date, you and your friend may show up at the cafe on different days and times or even at different cafes! Taking that moment to confirm 3pm Tuesday, December 20th at Molly’s Muffins on 5th Street makes it much more likely you will both show up. The same is true in a ZB. Consciously taking out the looseness and coming to the Blue Line increases the likelihood of both you and your client showing up at the same time. 

Coming to the Blue Line can also be like knocking on someone’s door. As we come to the Blue Line and pause, we are allowing time for our client to approach and open the door. Then we can proceed together.

What are some possible repercussions of skipping the Blue Line? From an efficiency perspective, when we begin our fulcrum in looseness, part of our effort is expended taking out that looseness. Once the looseness is taken out, even the smallest added tension precipitates a fulcrum. As a ZB teacher, I see this as a very common reason people overwork, especially in the hip fulcrum and the Half Moon Vector (HMV) through the legs.

Second, we have skipped acknowledging that all important first connection with the donkey on the table. We have not knocked at the door. If someone is on your doorstep and doesn’t knock, you may not realize they are there. If someone opens your door without knocking, you may feel any number of ways, none of them conducive to deeper relaxation or dropping into yourself. When I have received an HMV through the legs without a clear Blue Line, my donkey has a slightly scary moment of “What’s happening?!!” Even though I’ve experienced thousands of HMVs and know what is happening, on the level of the donkey, the instinctive level, it puts me on the alert every time. 

It’s so simple and elegant. We come to the Blue Line. We pause. With those two actions our touch has connected with our clients on an essential level. We’ve let them know something is going to happen. We have invited them to open their door and come with us. We have deepened our lean. We have created the opportunity for an efficient fulcrum using only the effort required. We have created a safe environment that supports them dropping more deeply into themselves. This is the power of the Blue Line.

Practitioners

What is a Clearer Stronger Field?

In Core ZB, we learn that a fulcrum creates a clearer, stronger field. In the Core Zero Balancing Study Guide clearer, stronger fields are defined as “vibratory fields that are more organized and of greater intensity than those that initially existed in the client.” We all have experienced clearer, stronger fields when both giving and receiving ZBs. I wonder what exactly is happening, don’t you? Let’s have a glass of wine or a cup of tea and wonder about it together.

Sometimes with clients, I will describe introducing a clearer, stronger field as having a similar effect to placing a magnet next to a pile of iron filings. It’s a loose analogy and it’s a place to start. Initially, the filings are in a disorganized heap. Although one could argue that the pile is at least organized enough to remain a heap! Once the magnet acts upon the filings, the heaped shape transforms and the filings line up. The magnet’s field is clearer, more organized, and stronger, more intense, than the field of the iron filings. 

Many times more organization changes the field in a way that feels better. Think about how you feel after cleaning your home or pruning an overgrown garden. Putting aside any feelings of accomplishment that may contribute, the area feels better to be in. If you are having an argument with someone and emotions are running high, one might call the field surrounding the pair of you less organized than it was before the argument began. Once you have reached an agreement, the field is more organized, yet differently organized than before the argument. There is more clarity; you know more about each other. An aspect of the relationship has transformed. 

Perhaps a certain intensity is required for things to change, for transformation to occur. Certainly enough intensity to overcome the current bonds of organization. The intensity of the field during an argument is likely higher than prior to the argument. Is this what’s happening? 

Does the fact a field is more organized actually give it more intensity? And can it cause the transformation of a less intense field absent a fulcrum? The field in my treatment space is very well organized. My clients often comment that they begin to feel better the minute they enter the room. Think of how you feel walking into the well organized field of a library or church. 

Is there an optimal amount of intensity? I’m thinking about tornadoes. One might say a tornado is a well organized system with a great deal of intensity. Certainly strong enough and intense enough to transform the shape of a house in its path. However, that transformation leads more toward chaos than further organization; the shape of the house now resembles the pile of iron filings pre-magnetization. Is it because there’s too much intensity and it prevents the reorganization we see with the magnetized filings? 

Do our own fields change as we give a ZB? Does introducing a clearer, stronger field through a fulcrum for the client also act to organize our own fields? Certainly if one has received multiple ZBs over a period of years, one’s field becomes better organized. But what about when initially learning ZB? My field was certainly NOT well organized when I first started studying ZB. And yet, my clients improved even as I stumbled my way through the protocol. Did something about the activity of giving a ZB create more organization in me? 

I hope this has intrigued and inspired you to wonder about clearer, stronger fields! Thanks for reading!

Clients

The Unexpected Benefits

Most people come to see me for help with physical pain. I am a Physical Therapist by training so this makes sense. Many don’t know what Zero Balancing is, perhaps have not heard of it. However, they want help with back or neck or shoulder pain and perhaps they have heard from a friend that I was able to help. I occasionally use Physical Therapy tools and most always use Zero Balancing. And people’s pain gets better. What my new clients may not be aware of is how Zero Balancing is helping them on every level of themselves; efficiently wrapped up in one simple 30-minute session. However, I’m aware of it. And I observe changes, sometimes profound changes, in almost everyone I work with.

As my clients’ pain improves, I’ve observed other seemingly unrelated aspects of their lives improve as well. People discover new things about themselves and their bodies, become happier, become more truly who they are, become more able to function in the world with greater ease. The changes are usually subtle at first. Someone who has a hard time saying no spontaneously finds themselves saying no. Someone who has a hard time setting boundaries becomes aware they have set a boundary without really thinking about it. Someone whose life is a roller coaster discovers a new ability to ride the ups and downs. These are some of the unexpected benefits of receiving Zero Balancing treatments. To be clear, my job is solely to give the ZB session and that’s all I am doing. It’s the Zero Balancing session itself that creates change. 

I had this experience in my own life multiple times. As I received my monthly ZB sessions, gradually over time my life improved. It was surprising and sometimes astonishing. I felt like I’d been handed a new menu in the restaurant of life; full of possibilities I never thought I’d have access to, feeling grounded, stable, free and happy in ways I’d never dreamed possible.  

We live in a stoic culture. Tolerating pain is expected, implicitly and sometimes explicitly. Those who express pain are often labeled wimps or given other derogatory labels. Emotional pain may be greeted with even more derision. Yet as human beings, most of us are subjected to harmful physical and emotional experiences at least once in our lives. Many experience harm multiple times. 

From a holistic view, harm on any level affects all the levels. When have any of us experienced a physical disruption without concomitant disruption of many other aspects of our lives? If you sprain your ankle, you may have pain in your ankle and need to use crutches to walk. You may not be able to work. You may need help to make meals or to go grocery shopping. Perhaps you are responsible for making someone else meals or helping someone else shop. 

Physically your ankle hurts, yet you are affected mentally and emotionally as well. You may feel anxious or useless when you can’t do your job. You may feel worried or ashamed about not being able to pay your bills. You may feel distressed about letting someone down who depends on you for help. You may need help and find it difficult to ask for or accept help.  

A treatment modality that addresses all these levels at once is invaluable from my perspective. While Physical Therapy may be necessary for treating some aspects of physical pain, the addition of Zero Balancing can help the structural injury and the emotional and mental repercussions as well. A treatment modality that helps all parts of the person is powerful medicine. 

Clients

Why can’t I stick to my exercise program? PART 2

It seems every January brings focus to health and exercise so we are right on track with our spotlight on creating the habit of regular physical exercise! Part 1 presented a self-assessment exercise designed to help you identify your likes and dislikes with regard to exercise. You can read Part 1 here Now it’s time to put this information to use.

It’s worth repeating: the only exercises that work are the ones you will actually do. You will increase the likelihood of sticking with your new exercise habit if your program: 

  • Contains exercises you enjoy. 
  • Realistically fits into the time you have.
  • Happens at a time and place you like. 
  • Contains exercises that help you achieve your goals. 

The self-assessment exercise in Part 1 should have helped you to identify the type of exercise you enjoy, a realistic estimate of the amount of time you have to exercise, and when and where you like to exercise. Here are some suggestions to help you put this information to use. 

Exercises you enjoy: While there is lots of evidence promoting specific types of exercise as most beneficial, no exercise can help you if you don’t do it. It’s a simple fact that people are more likely to continue what they like and stop what they don’t like. There are hundreds of effective stretching, strengthening and cardio exercises. Keep looking for something you enjoy until you find it. 

Exercises you have time to do: You may have read that 60 minutes of daily exercise is recommended. But realistically, you may be able to find only 30 minutes 3 times a week. Impractical expectations often lead people to quit; resulting in no exercise, no movement towards goals, and often a feeling of failure or shame. Not good! Although we may tell ourselves that lack of motivation or laziness is to blame, the stumbling block is more often an unrealistic expectation of what can be accomplished. Commit to exercising during the time that truly fits into your schedule and watch as your success builds a new habit. 

Exercises that happen at a time and in a setting you like: I know of a woman who attended jazzercise classes twice a week for years because the location was on her drive home from work. Both the location and the time fit nicely into her schedule. Find the time and place that works for you and stick with it.  

Exercises that help you achieve your goals: Our bodies are a lot like plants. Give a plant the right amount of sunlight and water and it will grow beautifully. With your body, give it the right type and amount of exercise and it will change. What’s the right type and amount of exercise? The answer varies depending on your goals. Targeting the specific muscles you need for a given activity will help you maximize your benefit for the time you have allotted to exercise. A good Physical Therapist or exercise trainer can help you determine which muscles to target and how much strength and flexibility is optimal, as well as help you to find the exercises you like. 

If you choose a program you like that matches your schedule, you are much more likely to exercise, to continue exercising, and to return to your program if it is interrupted, as can happen so frequently in life. And if you do the exercises correctly and consistently, you are giving your body what it needs. Your body will change and you will achieve your goal.

Practitioners

How Do We Know What We Are Doing?

How do you know? It’s a question often asked…in song, in film, in life. How do you know you love someone? How do you know someone loves you? How do you know which job to accept? How do you know your spaghetti sauce has enough oregano? Is it important to know how we know? Is it enough to just know? These questions have fascinated me for years in regard to Zero Balancing.

On the one hand, it can be very helpful to know how much structure to use or how long to hold a pause. But does investigating how we know have value? As in many Glass of Wine conversations, there may not be a definitive answer. Yet asking yourself these questions will hopefully lead you in some interesting directions!

When we consider how we know the spaghetti sauce is properly seasoned, we might identify that we are using our sense of taste. There is usually a signature taste for “enough oregano” unique to each cook. In this instance, knowing how we know is fairly easy and if we needed to teach someone how to season spaghetti sauce, we would likely instruct them to rely on their own sense of taste and preference. 

Knowing whether we love someone might be a bit more complicated. There may be multiple streams of information from sensory organs, intuition, beliefs, or the opinions of others. If there is a recognizable signature feeling in one’s body it likely doesn’t originate from a single source. However, like learning the “enough oregano” taste, once we learn the “I love this person” feeling, we should be able to recognize its presence or absence fairly easily, shouldn’t we? 

What if it’s someone we feel we shouldn’t love or someone we are afraid might not love us back? What if there is some situational aspect that clouds our internal feedback? Perhaps we feel frightened or anxious and the strength of those body signals overrides the “I love this person” feeling? In this instance, would knowing how we know be helpful? Could it provide us with a more nuanced experience that might help us navigate the cloudiness to find more clarity?  

How do we know what we are doing when we give a Zero Balancing session? How do we know a fulcrum is working or that our client is expanded? In Core ZB  classes, we learn to watch for working signs and listen for voice quality. We learn to recognize the feeling of held energy in bone. We learn to use touch, vision and hearing for feedback. In more advanced classes, we learn internal feedback signals that help identify our own state of expansion. 

Is that all you need to know what you are doing? If the session has gone beautifully or not beautifully, how did you know? How can you determine your client is deeply processing versus dissociating? Where in your body do you get signals? Are you receiving information from sources other than vision, hearing and touch? 

Do your signals remain clear if you are working on someone you want to impress? What if you feel intimidated? If the situation is fraught, would more self-awareness of how you know what you are doing be helpful? Could it provide a road map out of the tangle of emotions you might feel if your ZB session is going awry? Or direction toward something else to focus your attention on? 

I hope this stimulates your curiosity about your own process. Thanks for reading!

Practitioners

The Power of ZB Principles: The Witness State

Welcome to the first in a new series of articles shining a spotlight on Zero Balancing Principles. Let’s begin with The Witness State…

In Zero Balancing, the Witness State can be defined as neutral presence on the part of the practitioner. The ZBer does not have an agenda or opinion about what needs to happen, how it happens, or where the session needs to go. We facilitate a balance between energy and structure without attachment to a particular process or way the increased balance is manifested. Having an agenda or opinion is not a bad thing. It’s just not the Witness State. It’s not ZB. 

There is a relationship between the paradigm of the practitioner and the Witness State. If the practitioner was trained as a Physical Therapist like myself, the paradigm or lens through which the body is seen involves concepts such as body symmetry, alignment, strength, and flexibility. If I am a Physical Therapist treating a client, I am looking for a linear relationship between cause and effect, for the client’s body to change in a particular way in response to my treatment. This is true of many similar and similarly excellent treatment modalities like massage therapy, chiropractic, and acupuncture. We may be looking for a rib that’s out to go back in, a tight muscle to loosen, an acupuncture point to become unblocked in response to our  treatment. An action is intended to create a specific result. 

In the ZB paradigm, the practitioner is not attempting to create any particular change other than energy and structure coming into a better state of balance. This improved state of balance may manifest in any number of ways determined not by the practitioner but by the client’s inherent healing essence. To paraphrase a quote by Dr. Fritz Smith, “The ZB practitioner gives the session, nature gives the experience.”

Remaining in the Witness State often requires vigilance. Our own unconscious beliefs about health have a way of sneaking in and influencing our sessions. Here’s an example: you are giving a Half Moon Vector (HMV) to a client and you notice that one leg feels longer than the other. You decide to pull harder on one leg to equalize the length. That’s you leaving the Witness State. You have an agenda; that the client’s legs should be the same length. Remaining in the Witness State would mean holding the HMV the way you usually do with your other clients. In other words, you are simply witnessing the difference in leg length. 

If nature is giving the experience, then we as practitioners do not have to know what or how much change is best for our client, nor do we need to know how to create that change. Clients on our tables instinctively feel accepted as they are because we aren’t thinking they need to be any different. And we aren’t trying to change them. They feel safe and can drop into themselves more deeply.  And by remaining in the Witness State, we also become witness to our client’s process. Witnessing amplifies the field and creates a sacred space in much the same way a witnessed ritual becomes more powerful. As we witness our client’s experience without intention, surprises can happen. Radical healing. Healing in ways we could not anticipate because we are not trying to move clients in one direction or another.  

We trust the wisdom of nature. And herein lies the power…the magic…of the Witness State.

Clients

How Zero Balancing Can Help You Navigate Your Life

In the 30 years I’ve been giving Zero Balancing (ZB) sessions, I have observed that clients who come for multiple sessions gradually become better able to handle the normal and sometimes excessive stresses that life can bring. Irrespective of the initial reason clients seek help, aspects of their inner and outer lives seem to improve; most notably in their experience of inner stability.

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 can be 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. If one removes a leg from a kitchen chair, the base of support is smaller so the chair will tip. A lower center of gravity is also more stable. If we remove a leg from a footstool, it may not tip at all because its low center of gravity may compensate for the smaller 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. If you bend your knee, you’ve lowered your center of gravity. Unless you choose to change your position, you will remain stable. The floor won’t move. 

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 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!

Clients

Why Can’t I Stick to My Exercise Program? PART 1: Try This exercise!

Most of us are aware of the importance of regular exercise. We are surrounded by research and advice on how much to exercise, when to exercise, the best types of exercise. But how can you determine the best ways for you to exercise and how to stick to these exercises? To begin, here is an inescapable fact about exercise…the only exercises that work are the ones that you will actually do! So before looking at exercise research and medical advice, it may be helpful to try this exercise in discovering your personal definition of “the best exercise.”

Here is the exercise: investigate your relationship with exercise. Investigate your beliefs about exercise. Be honest with yourself. Many people have preconceived notions about what exercise should entail. It can be helpful to notice any thoughts with the word “should” and to put those thoughts aside. Just for now. Explore who you are with self-acceptance, without judgment. 

Here are the questions: 

Do you like to exercise? If the answer is yes, what type(s) of exercise do you like? If the answer is no, as is common for many people, can you identify what you dislike? Be as specific as possible. If you dislike exercise, what might make it more palatable?  

Where do you like to exercise? Do you like going to the gym? Hate going to the gym? Love swimming? Hate getting wet? Do you prefer taking a class or working privately with a trainer? What about following an exercise video at home in your living room? Would you rather be indoors or outdoors?  

What time of day works best for you? Before your day gets started? Or perhaps after getting home from work? 

How much time are you able to spend exercising? Note the wording. How much time are you able to spend, not how much time you think you should spend exercising. 

What do you hope to achieve by exercising? What are your goals? Perhaps weight loss, improved muscle strength, flexibility or tone? Increased well-being? Decreased stress? 

How will you know you have reached your goal? This is an important and often overlooked question. Try to make your goals specific. For example, being able to walk two miles. If your goal is to feel less stressed, how much is “less stressed”? What specifically does “less stressed” feel like? The Visual Analog Scale, also known as the pain scale or VAS, has been shown to be quite accurate; meaning that if you feel your pain is a 5 on the scale of 1 to 10, your “5” is quite consistent within yourself. You can use the same method to measure your stress. Even measuring stress as small, medium, or large can be helpful. 

At the end of this exercise on exercising, you should have some information about yourself that will help you to determine your next step toward developing a successful exercise habit. For example, you may discover you like exercise if it’s outdoors in the early morning; that you can realistically spend 20 minutes 3 times a week exercising; that your goals are to lose 20 pounds and to be able to walk 2 miles. Or you may have discovered that you don’t like exercising but are willing to endure it for 10 minutes every day as long as you can remain seated. Your goal is to decrease your blood pressure medication. 

Part 2 will discuss creating an exercise program based on what you learned about your relationship to exercise. Look for it in the Winter 2023 newsletter coming this December. I hope you enjoy your process of self-discovery!

Practitioners

Is Interface All You Need? 

We all know what Interface is, right? This fundamental Zero Balancing principle means touching at the structural and energetic boundary, where we end and the client begins. In a ZB session, we touch at Interface. Is this all we do? When we hold the receiver in High Regard and remain in the Witness State, are these the same as Interface? Can one have a clear boundary and not hold the other person in high regard? Can one have an agenda, meaning not be in the Witness State, and still be at Interface? From a broader perspective, can one stay at Interface and behave unethically? Can staying at Interface equalize archetypal power differences? Is Interface maintained if one is conscious of a boundary and crosses it anyway? In the realm of ZB sessions and human relationships, is Interface all we need? Let’s have a glass of wine or a cup of tea and talk about it. 

Let’s start our conversation within the context of a Zero Balancing session. Is Interface all we need to give a good ZB? Is Interface the same as meeting the Donkey? Can one touch energy and structure simultaneously and consciously (Donkey Touch) and not be at Interface? Have you ever blended with your client’s energy and structure so you really felt connected to their Donkey, yet not been at Interface? Can one be at Interface and not touch energy and structure simultaneously and consciously? Have you received ZB sessions where the practitioner was at Interface yet did not meet your Donkey? 

Can you be at Interface and not in the witness state? Have you received, or given, sessions where the boundary was clear, yet you judged or felt judged in some way? Where your client’s head tilted to the left and you thought it should remain midline? Or where your head was tilted and your practitioner kept trying to place it midline? In these examples the witness state is lacking. Does that mean Interface is lacking as well? Can you maintain a clear boundary and be in judgment or have an agenda? Or does having an agenda mean you can’t be at Interface? 

Let’s apply this question more broadly to human relationships. Is Interface all you need for clarity and safety in a relationship? I have lots of questions here. For one, do both parties need to be conscious of Interface? If I’m at Interface with my neighbor, but my neighbor has no concept of boundary, is remaining at Interface all I need? If my neighbor keeps parking their car in my driveway and I keep telling them where my property ends and theirs begins, that should clarify the boundary and establish Interface. Will that change their behavior? 

Does being at Interface mean the other person will do what you want? Or that you will do what they want? What if this neighbor acknowledges it’s my driveway (clear on whose is whose) and parks there anyway? Do they need to respect my boundary to be at Interface? 

What about relationships with multiple layers or power differentials? What if my neighbor is my boss and knowing it’s my driveway, asks to park there every weekend? Or if your client is your landlord and asks for a discount? The boundary is acknowledged in both cases as is asking permission. Is there any pressure to say yes, given the power differential? Are they at Interface? If so, does maintaining Interface equalize the power and remove any additional pressure? 

I hope this stimulates some interesting Glass of Wine conversations. Thanks for reading!

Practitioners

Things you can do with a Half Moon Vector Part 5

This is the fifth and last in the series of articles looking at the variety of ways we can use the Half Moon Vector (HMV) through the legs. It’s a continuation of the question explored in Part 4…

How far up in the client’s body can you connect with your HMV through the legs? 

In the previous article, we looked at how far up in the client’s body you can connect as a function of the practitioner’s skill. You can read that article here. Now we will explore when the issue may be due to imbalances in the client.

As you may recall, an imbalance between energy and structure can inhibit energy from moving freely through structure between heaven and earth when the person is standing or between the skull and the feet if a person is lying on the table. The implication is that the further up the body one can connect, the more connected between heaven and earth this person might be once they are standing. 

How do you obtain the information? 

Because the information you are seeking here is how far up you can connect, the thing to pay attention to is which parts of the client’s body you are able to engage and where it stops. During the first HMV, it’s important to simply observe, rather than trying to change what you are feeling by doing something additional or something different. You will get much more information by placing all your attention on your observation. 

Use all your senses to observe. If you can only connect as far as the hips, what is the quality of what’s stopping you? I once felt connected as high as my client’s dorsal hinge, yet that “stop” felt like a steel band. I observed it and filed the information away until my next HMV. Staying in your sensory experience is most helpful, rather than attempting to analyze or plan your response. Trust the imbalances will be addressed simply by doing the protocol. It works!

How can you use this information to guide your sessions? 

Using the example above, where the “stop” was in the dorsal hinge, I might pay particular attention to the dorsal hinge when balancing the Sacroiliac Joint–Dorsal Hinge area. I also might see if there is a corresponding imbalance in the sacroiliac joints as we know the two areas are energetically connected. If my orientation is from a Zero Balancing Expanded (ZBX) organs perspective, I might evaluate the person’s diaphragm, liver or stomach. In this client example, I did find an issue in her diaphragm and I chose some of the diaphragm ZBX fulcrums. When I introduced the second HMV, I was able to connect up to her neck but not past. This both confirmed that the session had been effective thus far and that there was more to attend to. 

There are two additional, very important points. First, if you choose to use your HMV to evaluate how far up you can connect, please pay attention to the same thing in the second and third HMVs. This way you will be able to track changes through the session. Second, note I did not conclude from the HMV that the issue was in my client’s diaphragm. I only concluded that I needed to evaluate the dorsal hinge area, including her diaphragm. If her diaphragm had been clear, I would have chosen different fulcrums. 

How might you improve your skills?

Every week, choose one or two clients to focus on. Pay particular attention to how the 1st, 2nd and last HMVs feel. Evaluate more closely when you address the imbalanced area. Have fun and let me know how it goes!

Linda Wobeskya, MSPT