Zero Balancing, David Lauterstein

Developed by Fritz Smith, MD in the early 1970s, Zero Balancing is a powerful body-mind therapy that teaches skilled touch to bring balance to body structure and energy. A session typically lasts 30 to 45 minutes and is offered through clothing. The practitioner uses finger pressure and gentle traction on areas of tension in the bones, joints and soft tissue to create fulcrums, or points of balance, around which the body can relax and reorganize.   By addressing the deepest and densest tissues of the body along with soft tissue and energy fields, Zero Balancing helps to clear chronic tension and blocks in the body’s energy flow. ZB has been shown to reduce stress, amplify vitality and promote better postural alignment. An osteopathic physician and surgeon, Dr. Smith was fascinated by the healing power of touch. During the late 1960s, Dr. Smith studied at Esalen Institute with many of the forerunners of the body-mind therapy movement, including Ida Rolf. 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. Dr. Smith studied 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 anatomy and energy as a force in the body led him to develop the manual therapy system of Zero Balancing. Dr. Smith has been practicing and teaching Zero Balancing throughout the world for more than 45 years. 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 How Can Zero Balancing Help You? Zero Balancing can help relieve body aches and pain, release restrictions in movement, and provide lasting relief from emotional distress to improve overall quality of life. Zero Balancing can also be helpful with specific goals such as relief from back pain, improving concentration or sleep, releasing unwanted stress, eliminating old behavior patterns, or boosting well-being. Zero Balancing works in conjunction with medical therapy and is not a substitute for it.