Zero Balancing® by Ted VanderNoot

What is Zero Balancing®?

Zero Balancing® (or ZB as it is abbreviated) is a gentle and effective form of bodywork for balancing the body's energy with its skeletal structure.

Zero Balancing was developed by Dr. Fritz Smith in the mid-1970s. Dr. Smith was both a Doctor of Osteopathy and an MD. He studied many other forms of bodywork including acupuncture. Zero Balancing was his blending of the Chinese ideas of energy flow from acupuncture with his experience of skeletal structure from osteopathy. Zero Balancing has been taught internationally to thousands of practitioners for over 30 years. At the time of writing, there are approximately 85 practising Zero Balancers in the UK.

The name Zero Balancing came from an early client of Dr. Smith's who said that she felt perfectly balanced, like she'd been returned to zero.

What are the benefits of Zero Balancing?

Zero Balancing is valuable for a wide range of conditions. These days, many people lead busy and stressful lives, with the tendency to over-"do". Zero Balancing is excellent for relieving stress and tension and letting the client just "be". After a Zero Balancing session, clients feel relaxed, centred and grounded.

Because of its focus on the skeletal structure, Zero Balancing is helpful for postural problems and conditions such as tension headaches, neck, shoulder and back pains. Many clients look and feel taller after a session.

Zero Balancing is not only for helping with relief from problems, aches or pains. Zero Balancing also is valuable for the maintenance of good health and for personal development. Clients often find they slip into a meditative or expanded state of consciousness during the session and after the session they feel a sense of wholeness and well-being.

Zero Balancing is especially suitable for people who are uncomfortable with other types of bodywork. This is because the client remains fully clothed and the touch in ZB is attentive without force or insistence. People find this a supportive and healing way of being touched. This supportive touch can be helpful to people whose responses to touch have been affected by life experiences such as abuse, trauma or lack of affection during childhood.

There are very few conditions for which Zero Balancing isn't suitable and each session is tailored to the specific needs of the client. However, Zero Balancing is not for the acutely ill person. If in doubt, consult a certified Zero Balancing practitioner for their advice concerning your particular situation.

What are the ideas behind Zero Balancing?

Dr. Smith believes that the skeleton contains the deepest and strongest energy currents in the body. The skeleton also contains the strongest or most lasting imprints of our life experiences. When someone has a strong experience, its first impression will be upon the person's neurology (senses, feeling and thinking). Then there may be effects on their musculature (posture and movement) and in the longer term, the bones will adapt to the changed posture, the muscular tensions and the effects of gravity.

Zero Balancing looks at how energy flows through the skeletal structure. This flow is easiest to access at the joints between bones. Zero Balancing pays particular but not exclusive attention to the joints involved with balance and support. These joints have a limited range of movement and people generally have minimal conscious awareness of their feeling and functioning. When there are problems with these postural joints, people will make unconscious compensations in how they sit, stand and move which can have profound consequences upon the rest of the body.

The postural joints with which Zero Balancing is concerned include the tarsal bones in the feet, the hip, the sacro-iliac joint in the lower back, the costo-vertebral joints along the spine and the inter-vertebral joints in the neck.

What is a Zero Balancing session like?

Sessions are usually booked for 60 minutes which will include an initial chat about the client's health and needs, approximately 40 minutes of tablework, where the client lies on a padded table, and some time to bring the session to a close before leaving.

During the session, the practitioner will ask at various times how the client is feeling. The important thing is that everything either feels good or "hurts good", by which is meant that something can ache or hurt, but it feels good that it has been found. Clients are also free to comment upon any aspects of their inner experience during the session. It is not unusual for clients to have memories or emotions come up while a particular part of the body is being worked with.

Zero Balancing consists of either sustained traction (called a vector) or sustained pressing into an area or spot (called a fulcrum). The Zero Balancing practitioner brings the energy and structure into balance by either traction or pressure and then that position is held for a few seconds. This stillness helps to quiet the mind and provides a moment in which the client's energy and structure can reorganise themselves. Zero Balancing uses attention not intention. Change, when it happens, is through these moments and positions of stillness.

The practitioner will evaluate how a particular joint moves, choose appropriate fulcrums or vectors and then re-evaluate to see how it has responded. There will be frequent pauses for the client's mind-body to absorb the "work".

When beginning Zero Balancing, 3 sessions are recommended since the effects are cumulative. Many clients come for maintenance sessions and the frequency will vary according to their needs. And many healthy clients come simply because they enjoy having a Zero Balancing session!

Where can you find a qualified Practitioner or learn more?

Both the US Zero Balancing website and the UK website provide lists of certified Zero Balancing practitioners. There are two books which have been written about Zero Balancing:

Dr. Fritz Frederick Smith
Inner Bridges: Guide to Energy Movement and Body Structure
Humanics, 1989

John Hamwee
Zero Balancing: Touching the Energy of Bone
North Atlantic Books, 2000

Please Note

The information and opinions expressed in this article are not intended for self-diagnosis and can not serve as substitutes for qualified medial attention. Consult a qualified medical practitioner about any particular health conditions which you may have.

Personal Profile of Ted VanderNoot:

Ted is an intuitive and creative bodyworker. His approach is non-diagnostic, holistic and adapted to suit each client. His emphasis is on increasing his clients' awareness of their bodies: how they feel, how they move and how they express themselves. This way of working with the body can benefit a wide range of activities or conditions such as:

• -  Sports performance;
• -  Public speaking and presentations;
• -  Performance arts (playing a musical instrument, singing, dancing);
• -  Postural problems;
• -  Relaxation or stress reduction.

When the client feels better physically, it is easier for them to feel better mentally and emotionally.

Ted began his career as a research chemist and university lecturer. In 1999 he left the university system to become a self-employed trainer and coach. In parallel with this, he became interested in bodywork certifying in the Bowen Technique, the Trager® Approach, Vibromuscular Harmonisation Technique, Zero Balancing®, and the Alexander Barrie System of Pelvic Correction™. Ted is also a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and has studied T'ai Chi Chuan and Chi Kung since 1991.