2024 Update
My current understanding is that when someone has a zero balancing session, any build up of energy is released. When the build up is due to a block this can be therapeutic and I have gained much from the ZB sessions I have had as a patient. However in the context of an Intensive this dissipation of any energy build up is counterproductive. As explained in section 7 of the main text, the build up seems to be important in the release of kundalini which, in turn, is important for the depth of experience. With no build up of energy there is only a small (if any) kundalini release and the person does not register a significant experience. I witnessed more than half of the participants on the 6-week having a change of state of consciousness, but I doubt if any of them can recall what they experienced whilst in that altered state.
These are the notes sent to the participants on the six week Intensive describing how the zero balancing would be integrated into the Intensive and what it is.
1. One of the shortcomings of the Enlightenment Intensive process is that it places stress on the body and does not provide much to assist in dealing with that stress. It is also the case that when people confront things about themselves and their lives then body traumas or tensions may be reactivated – and again the Intensive does nothing to alleviate this. So I was interested in a body therapy that could complement Intensives without interfering with the process .
2. I have been experimenting with the use of zero balancing in Intensives for just over two years. I have been shown how to carry out the basics and, even though I am very much a beginner, have been able to achieve very useful results on both short and long Intensives. I am completely satisfied that it does not interfere with the process of the Intensive.
3. One of the reasons why Charles Berner does not recommend long Intensives is that the build up of energy after about day 5 or 6 can cause people difficulties. The difficulties may manifest as physical symptoms, or the person may suppress the energy to such a degree that they also suppress their progress. I see zero balancing as a way of dealing with this potentially significant problem. The zero balancing will not add or subtract an individual’s energy, but it will enable the energy to flow more freely – and this will enhance the progress made and the potential for a deep experience. The issues and principles involved have been discussed with Charles Berner who has had a zero balance session himself. He agrees that zero balancing may be of significant benefit in tackling the issues associated with the build up and suppression of energy.
4. John Hamwee, my collaborator and zero balance therapist, has himself taken many three day Intensives and understands the Intensive process. He has also noticed that during or after zero balancing sessions people have experiences that are similar to enlightenment experiences. John has prepared the attached notes describing the zero balancing process; he is also about to have a book published on the subject and will shortly be the co-ordinator for the Zero Balancing Association. The plan is for him to be assisted by Deirdre who is, by common consent, the zero balancer’s zero balancer. She is a highly gifted and very skilful practitioner with many years of experience.
5. So zero balancing will be available for participants on the six week Intensive as a way of enhancing the possibility of deep experiences and assisting the body to deal with the stress of a long Intensive.
6. The way it will operate is as follows. There will be two practitioners, John and Deirdre, available at the Old Manor House the day before the Intensive and anyone intending to have zero balancing during the Intensive should receive a session from one of them on that day. It is a chance for them to get to know you and for you to experience a zero balancing before the intensive starts so you can decide whether or not this form of bodywork suits you.
7. John and Deirdre will come back once a week for five weeks to give all those who wish a session. Each session will last about 15 minutes and the sessions will be scheduled during the Intensive schedule – so some people will have a session during a dyad, others during a walk period and others during the rest period. During a session participants will not talk to John or Deirdre and should continue to contemplate their question. Once we know exactly how many people wish to have sessions a detailed schedule will be drawn up and each person will have the same slot each week. There will not be any sessions in the last week of the Intensive.
8. In order for this not to interfere with the Intensive in any way I have decided that you should decide at the beginning of the Intensive whether to have sessions or not, and to then stick with that decision. It would be a serious distraction for a participant to decide each week whether to have a session or not. If you decide not to have sessions and then have some significant physical discomfort problem either I can give you a session, or an extra session with John or Deirdre can be arranged – but this will be exceptional for specific problems.
9. John and Deirdre will let me know of any significant changes in the state, amount or quality of a person’s energy that they observe in the people to whom they give sessions. In this way I will remain in touch with each person’s process.
10. I would be grateful if you could give me a preliminary indication of whether you think you would like to have sessions during the Intensive. This will assist John and I in planning both the day before the Intensive and to know roughly how many slots to fit into the EI schedule. If you have any questions about the whole area please feel free to ask and I will do my best to provide a satisfactory answer .Zero Balancing: what it is and how it works
Background
About thirty years ago Fritz Smith, an American Osteopath and Doctor, was asked to be present when an Indian man walked barefoot for twenty yards on burning coals; it would be his job to provide urgent medical care if necessary. Fritz watched the man perform the fire walk and examined him immediately afterwards. He could find no trace of any injury, nor any damage to the skin on the soles of the feet. At that moment he realised that what he had been taught at medical school was not an adequate explanation of how the body works, and he knew that he wanted to understand more. He qualified and practised as an acupuncturist, and as a result came across an added difficulty. It seemed that western and eastern descriptions of the body were both true, and both partially true; was there some theory or principle from which they could both be derived? He worried away at this question for some years. Following a powerful spiritual experience, a multitude of information flowed, seemingly, into the top of his head – and answered his question. The flow went on for about twenty minutes, and, as he says, he has spent thirty years since then exploring and teaching what he was given those twenty minutes. One outcome was a form of bodywork which later came to be known as Zero Balancing.
The basic ideas
Fritz saw that the skeleton, the body’s structure, and its energy are intimately related. For example, if the bones of the skeleton are not well aligned, then the flows of energy through the body will not be effective. And that causes problems because it is these flows which, in his view, maintain the integrity of a human being as a separate functioning entity and also connect that being to the life force which is in all things.
Similarly, if there is a disturbance in the energy flows, for example following a fracture or an emotional shock, that would leave its mark on the skeleton. As a result, it would not provide the optimum combination of stability and flexibility; a combination which is essential to our well-being.
In other words, he saw that restoring a balance of energy and structure in the body would have powerful healing effects. In fact they turned out to be much more powerful than he realised. Initially, he saw potential only for the relief of pain and the improvement of muscular-skeletal problems such as back ache, stiff knees and so on. However, after some years clinical experience, he noticed that many of his patients were returning for sessions long after their pain had gone away; they were coming because it helped them feel well, robust, clear and confident. This was particularly marked at times when his patients were going through difficult and stressful times. He realised that it wasn’t just the body which worked more effectively when energy and structure were balanced, so did the person.
How it is done
Fritz found that he could balance energy and structure, and obtain these effects, with very gentle finger pressure or very gentle stretching. He could work perfectly well through clothing, so the client didn’t need to undress. What is more, somewhat to his astonishment given his training as an osteopath, he found he didn’t need to manipulate bones or joints, nor massage muscles. It could all be done by finding the right places to work, applying the right amount of tension or pressure, and just holding the body for a few moments under that pressure or tension. To describe what he was doing he thought of the image of a fulcrum. His hands were performing much the same function as a fulcrum in the middle of a see-saw; the function of a still point on which the plank of wood can balance. Similarly, his hands on the body, holding tension or pressure in stillness, allowed the body’s energy and structure to re-organise around the still point.
I use the word ‘allowed’, because he discovered that sometimes he would put in a fulcrum where it seemed appropriate and nothing happened. At other times, a similar fulcrum stimulated a series of profound changes in body structure and energy and considerable healing. At first, he assumed that when it wasn’t working he was just doing it wrong, in some way. As his skills developed, and he became more confident in his ability to know where a fulcrum was needed, he realised that it wasn’t up to him when and where change took place. The fulcrum provided an opportunity, an invitation, to the body. It was saying, in effect, ‘is this a place you would like to re-organise around?’. And, ‘does it suit you to make a change at the moment?’ When the fulcrum has no effect, the body can be seen as responding to these questions with a ‘no’. At other times it will respond with a ‘yes’ and change occurs. The reasons why the body responds in one way in one place and another way elsewhere, or responds
enthusiastically one day and not another, are probable complex and almost certainly unknowable by the practitioner. But, as many people got better – often dramatically better – in Zero Balancing sessions, he learned to trust the body’s responses as its innate wisdom.
It is this that makes Zero Balancing so safe. The practitioner does not try to make anything happen – which might entail forcing the body into some configuration which is not good for it. He or she just provides an opportunity for the body to change in whatever way it chooses. What is remarkable is that the more the practitioner can genuinely leave the healing up to the body the more quickly and more effectively it seems to happen.
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A Master's Path 