Category Archives: Practitioners

Practitioners

Diving into the Witness State

I’ve been wondering about the Witness State lately. When we give a Zero Balancing session in the Witness State, we remain objective and have no agenda, judgment or opinion about what needs to happen, how it happens, when it happens or where the session needs to go. We are not attached to a particular outcome. Considering the many aspects of our nature, I’ve been questioning whether it’s possible to have absolutely no attachment to the outcome on any level of ourselves. Let’s have a think about this together over a glass of wine or a cup of tea.

We teach and learn that as Zero Balancing practitioners, being in the Witness State is an important aspect of giving a good session. Is this true? Why? Would having an agenda interfere? If so, how? What if our agenda is to be helpful? 

Does having an agenda conflict with any other Zero Balancing principles? How about High Regard? Can we have an agenda and hold our client in high regard at the same time?

I recall an earlier discussion about paradigm, also known as worldview, and am thinking about whether one’s conscious awareness of their paradigm has an impact on their ability to remain in the witness state. For example, what if our worldview includes the belief that if someone really wanted to heal they would? And if they aren’t healing, they must not want to. Can we hold this belief unconsciously and still be in the Witness State? Can we hold this belief consciously and still be in the Witness State? 

What about paradigms from other trainings? Many of us were initially trained as Acupuncturists, Massage Therapists, Chiropractors or Physical Therapists. Can we hold beliefs taught in these other disciplines and remain in the Witness State? 

What about our client’s beliefs? Are we in the Witness State if we share our client’s beliefs? If we have a client who was told they cannot be healthy if their pelvis is out of alignment, and we agree, are we in the Witness State?

Are we attached to an outcome when we give a fulcrum? If the purpose of a fulcrum is to balance structure and energy and a fulcrum is indicated where energy is stuck in bone, does the practitioner have an agenda to free the struck energy? If the answer is yes, can one have that intention and still be in the Witness State? 

Is the desire to be helpful antithetical to staying in the Witness State? How many of us have found ourselves wanting to help, wanting the client’s pain to improve or anxiety to diminish? Is this an agenda? Can this desire interfere with healing? If so, how?  

What about clients who feel worse after their ZB? Does that impact us as practitioners? If it does, are we still in the Witness State? 

Can we remain in the Witness State when giving a ZB session to a family member? Or a good friend? Is it harder? Easier? 

Can we honestly say we have no opinion whatsoever about what needs to happen during a ZB session? If the client feels ungrounded and unstable at the beginning of the session, do we feel ok if they are just as ungrounded and unstable at the end of the session? If we don’t, is this an agenda? 

Is compassion part of the witness state? How about kindness? 

Thanks for diving in with me! I hope this has stimulated new insights about the Witness State.

Practitioners

What Is A Donkey Lean?

Most of us experienced the donkey lean exercise in our first Zero Balancing class. Up out of our chairs, back to back or side by side with a partner, seeking that sweet spot into which we could both relax. Remember how good it felt to be supporting your partner while being supported by them? What was that? What made it feel so good? Let’s have a glass of wine or a cup of tea and wonder about it together…

We use the term ‘donkey lean’ frequently when talking about Zero Balancing sessions. We use it to describe the relationship we create with our client through our touch and all the ways we can enhance that relationship. We touch at Interface. We touch the client’s energy and structure simultaneously and consciously, AKA Donkey touch. We might attribute the client’s deep relaxation as a response to the quality of the donkey lean we have created. We practice staying present and keeping our attention in our hands as means of deepening the donkey lean. 

In my ZB classes, I ask students to name what they experience during the donkey lean exercise. Words like trust, safety, support and relaxation are common. What is it about leaning against another person that engenders these feelings? Why does a donkey lean feel good? What is happening structurally and energetically that causes us to feel so safe and supported? 

It is in the nature of the lean to be off-balance. As we lean, our shoulders are no longer over our hips. Our upper bodies are exposed to the pull of gravity and if not for our partner, we would fall. If our partner remains standing up straight while we lean, we won’t fall but the donkey lean feeling is missing. Why? We are safe. They are preventing us from falling and getting hurt. If our partner is leaning with their upper body but not their lower body, they can prevent our falling as well. We are still safe. Yet it doesn’t feel as good as if they are leaning as much as we are. We are still more exposed to gravity than they are. 

We are still more exposed. Is that it? Does the mutual feeling of exposure have an effect? Is it because when our partner leans as much as we do, they need to trust us as much as we need to trust them? We are responsible for each other’s safety, at least structurally. Why would that feel good?  

What about energetically? Can an energetic lean occur in the absence of a safe structural lean? Can we find the sweet spot, relax and trust someone who doesn’t have our back…literally? 

What about the opposite? Have you experienced a donkey lean in which someone leans in with their structure but not their energy? The person is physically there while not really being there? Does that feel safe? Does it feel good?

Have you experienced a donkey lean where you really wanted to lean in but your body just wouldn’t do it? Where you wanted to trust your partner but couldn’t? Why did that happen?

Have you noticed what happens if your partner’s attention wanders? Structurally everything remains the same, yet you instinctively sense a change. What has happened? 

Lastly, how does this phenomenon carry over into your practice? I’m often aware when giving a Zero Balancing session that I need to be present in my touch in order for my client to begin to relax. In donkey lean terms, I need to lean in first. A lot. In the donkey lean exercise, someone also needs to lean in first. Yet we can’t lean too much or we’ll fall before the other person’s lean can prevent it. What is different about these two situations?  

I hope this has intrigued and inspired you to wonder about donkey leans! Thanks for reading!

Practitioners

The Power of Interface

Interface is a term that can have many meanings. As a verb, it can mean to connect or mesh. One might say Zero Balancing works where energy and structure interface, where energy and structure connect or mesh in the body. As a Zero Balancing principle, however, we use the word as a noun. To be at Interface. It’s a place, a state, a border, a boundary.

The principle of Interface is introduced in Zero Balancing I and refined in the multiple classes that follow. It is one of the defining characteristics of ZB touch. Often confused with Donkey Touch, which is touching energy and structure simultaneously and consciously, Interface refers simply to the energetic boundary between practitioner and client. ZB touch is characterized by both Donkey Touch and Interface and employs both principles at the same time. Donkey touch enables us to connect with the whole person and Interface allows us to maintain a boundary between the whole of the client and the whole of ourselves. When at Interface, we are like two neighbors chatting over the fence that divides our properties. 

Many years ago, I was at a study group with a student who stated adamantly that she didn’t see the point of using Interface and didn’t plan to use it. A bit later in the day, she and I had the occasion to practice the sitting assessment. I was the practitioner first and as my hands moved down her back, she became aware of some pain in her right lower ribs. When she was practicing on me, she was amazed to find the same pain in the same place on my lower ribs. “Look at that!” she exclaimed. “We have pain in the exact same place!” As I gently told her I didn’t actually have any pain, I saw the light bulb flash on. She realized she couldn’t tell whose pain was whose. And in that moment, she understood the value of Interface. 

Like the aforementioned fence, a clear boundary serves both parties in several ways. In addition to clarifying what belongs to who, touch at Interface helps the client to feel their edges; where they stop and the practitioner starts. 

Interface also communicates respect and safety. This has vital importance in any therapeutic relationship. There is no intrusion. Energy bodies remain distinct. And touch communicates this truth instantaneously in a way that cannot be conveyed with words. If someone offers you a limp and distant handshake while saying,”It’s nice to meet you,” do you really believe them? Instinctively, we credit touch over words.

Safe touch is foundational to creating a healing environment. We know the sympathetic nervous system becomes engaged in response to a real or perceived threat. It’s an instinctive survival tool and as such, is outside the conscious control of the client. No matter how much the client may want to relax, if our touch feels unsafe part of them will be monitoring us with every fulcrum. This vigilance is often amplified with clients who have experienced trauma. 

Here is a place where the power of Interface becomes most evident. When every touch feels safe, our client can stop tracking our hands. Touching at Interface creates a sanctuary on your treatment table, where clients can drop their guard and drop more deeply into themselves.

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!

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.

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!

Practitioners

Why does Zero Balancing feel so good?

Have you ever wondered why receiving Zero Balancing (ZB) feels so good? You may have received massage or other helpful bodywork, yet there’s something unique about your experience during a Zero Balancing session. It feels so relaxing, so safe, so good! 

Safety and relaxation go hand in hand and both feel good. It’s very difficult to feel relaxed if you feel like you need to keep an eye on the practitioner. It’s difficult to feel good if you feel anxious. Think about the people in your life you feel most relaxed around. These are people you trust. You can relax because you know they aren’t likely to hurt you by suddenly saying something mean or seeking to physically harm you. Instinctively, you feel safe. 

Yet the quality of Zero Balancing touch goes deeper than safety and relaxation. There’s a feeling of acceptance and support that is communicated. Touch communicates instantly and touch doesn’t lie. 

Zero Balancing touch results from the practitioner’s focus on two important things: 1) touching your structure and energy simultaneously and consciously and 2) maintaining a clear boundary. 

What is touching your structure and energy simultaneously and consciously? First, it’s important to understand that Zero Balancing practitioners view the world through the lens of structure and energy. Structure is what can be seen. Energy is unseen. If you look at a tree on a windy day, you see the leaves, the structure. You can’t actually see the wind, the energy. You see the leaves moving and you know the wind is blowing but you can’t actually see the wind. 

In people, structure includes all parts of us that can be seen, either with the naked eye or with a microscope. Examples would include bones, muscles, organs, and cells. Energy encompasses what can’t be seen but is still very much a part of us, like our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, the movement of our organs and blood, and our life force, vitality or chi. 

Zero Balancing practitioners are trained to be consciously aware of both the structure and energy of the client with each technique throughout the session. Someone shaking your hand is actually touching your energy along with the skin, muscles and bones of your hand, but may not be paying attention to the unseen aspects of you. Receiving therapeutic bodywork that attends to both your structure and energy means all parts of you are being seen and cared for. This engenders a feeling of deep support and acceptance. 

The second important aspect is the practitioner’s attention to boundary. This type of touch is called Interface. There are many therapeutic ways to work with energy when doing bodywork that may or may not emphasize boundary. In Zero Balancing, the practitioners are trained to pay special attention to maintaining a clear energetic boundary with their touch. Both client and practitioner can feel where the practitioner stops and the client begins. This aspect can be especially helpful with trauma survivors. I’ve had several clients who have survived serious trauma comment, “I don’t know why I feel so safe.” Interface touch is one of the reasons. 

Lastly, conscious touch that feels safe is a highly held value in Zero Balancing training and practice. The belief is that the respect, acceptance and safety that are instantly communicated through conscious touch creates a space where deep and lasting healing can happen.