Zero Balancing

Zero Balancing is a holistic, hands-on system of mind-body therapy that balances body energy and body structure through skilled touch. Focusing on bone, the densest and deepest tissue of the body, Zero Balancing releases tension and brings greater clarity and ease to the whole person.

Zero Balancing follows a full-body protocol and is given through clothing with the client lying on their back. The practitioner applies gentle traction and pressure points to key joints and to the skeletal system as a whole. Clients experience deep relaxation, improved functioning and a greater sense of vitality, clarity and harmony. Zero Balancing can help relieve aches and pains, provide relief from emotional distress, stress and anxiety, and improve mental clarity.

Zero Balancing is focused on health and wellness rather than on disease and illness. Attending to the whole person, Zero Balancing recognizes and supports the body's ability to balance and reorganize naturally. It opens the possibility of healing on all levels by bringing about a deeper connection to one's own source of vitality and wholeness.

 

Zero Balancing Sessions

I work with anyone seeking to find more freedom in their body, a greater sense of harmony and fulfillment, and a desire to find a foundation of balance and connection to self and to life.

Each Zero Balancing session is specifically tailored to your needs. A short conversation at the beginning of the session allows me to become familiar with your health history and current conditions and needs. Together we create a "frame" for the session which clarifies and sets the specific goals.

The hands-on portion of the session begins with a short seated evaluation after which you are invited to lie back and relax. The touch used in ZB is gentle and calibrated to a level of pressure that is both effective and feels good to you. Each session attends to the whole body, regardless of specific symptoms. At the end of the session I will ask you to get up slowly and walk to integrate its effects and bring you fully back before you leave. It is also an opportunity to take note of how you feel or ask any questions you may have.

A single Zero Balancing session can leave you feeling clearer, more energized and more free from strain. However, follow-up sessions can help deepen and stabilize these feelings and/or address more persistent issues. It is best to schedule three sessions one week apart and then, if desired responses are accomplished, two to four weeks apart to sustain and support you on an ongoing basis.

The session lasts about an hour
My sliding scale fee is $30-$90

"Zero is where the real fun starts. There is too much counting everywhere else."

—Hafiz

Clients say:

"I remember clearly how I felt after my first ZB from Efrat (which was my first ZB ever for that matter). I went for a walk and thought… Hmmmm, I didn't really realize that I wasn't fully balanced. My back felt freer, my eyes seemed clearer, my mind was at peace. Efrat is not just a ZB practitioner for me, she is also my friend and life mentor. The time I spend with Efrat is always enriched with resonating questions, beautiful wisdom and genuine laughter."

"Since beginning ZB sessions with Efrat, I have felt a more profound relaxation and grounding in my body, mind and spirit ... With regular ZB sessions, I have been able to control chronic shoulder pain and have been able to commit to greater balance and self-care within my fast-paced daily life. I love ZB because it begins with our foundations and connection to the Earth, working to create alignment from the ground up, a philosopy that has helped me in creating a greater integrity and balance not just on the massage table but in all aspects of my daily life."

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How was Zero Balancing Created?

Fritz Frederick Smith, MD

Zero Balancing has its roots in osteopathy, acupuncture, massage and meditation. It was developed in the mid-1970s by Fritz Frederick Smith, MD, a pioneer in the field of Integrative Medicine. The son of a chiropractor and a doctor of both osteopathy and medicine, Dr. Smith has always been fascinated by the healing power of touch. During the late 1960s, Dr. Smith studied at Esalen Institute in Northern California with many of the forerunners of the body-mind therapy movement, and became a certified Rolfer®. There he met J.R. Worsley, founder of the College of Traditional Chinese Acupuncture in England, whose demonstrations "cracked" Dr. Smith's beliefs in the purely Western medical model. During this period he also began to explore yoga, meditation, spiritual teachings in India, Eastern energy medicine, and quantum physics. Soon after, Dr. Smith traveled to the UK to study with J.R. Worsley and became a licensed acupuncturist in 1972, earning both bachelor's and master's degrees in acupuncture, and becoming a fellow in the Chinese College of Acupuncture. Dr. Smith's keen observations of both anatomy and energy as a force in the body, led him to develop the manual therapy system of Zero Balancing. Integrating Western biomedical understanding of the body with Eastern traditions of energy healing, it is an innovative and effective bodywork system.


The term "Zero Balancing" was created by one of Dr. Smith's clients who, upon getting up from the treatment table, said "I feel zero balanced". In 1991 Dr. Smith retired from private clinical practice to teach Zero Balancing worldwide. He's the author of many articles and two books, Inner Bridges: A Guide to Energy Movement and Body Structure, and Alchemy of Touch: Moving Towards Mastery Through the Lens of Zero Balancing.

 

Who Provides Zero Balancing?

A wide variety of licensed health care providers offer Zero Balancing as part of their clinical practice. This includes massage therapists, acupuncturists, physical therapists, chiropractors, occupational therapists, nurses, osteopaths and naturopaths.
There are over 400 active certified ZB practitioners in North America, and ZB is practiced and taught in 11 countries. The Zero Balancing Health Association (ZBHA) provides information, training, communication, and referral (www.zerobalancing.com).