Consciousness is a difficult subject. We are all aware of ourselves and the world around us as a result of it, however, what exactly consciousness is remains elusive. And yet each and every one of us knows that it exists simply because we are.

What we also know to be true is that we can direct our consciousness. You may not be aware of your breathing whilst you read this, but by reading these words you might, however briefly, notice your breathing. The stimuli that the written word provides provokes a reaction in what it is we are aware of. Reading a good novel involves our imagination and our feelings, all because we have directed our attention to what it is we see and identified with what we read.

Consciousness is more often than not embroiled in our senses. We are aware of and reflexively react to sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touch. And our thoughts often do too. We hear a baby crying in a cafe where we were previously enjoying a lovely quiet atmosphere. Almost immediately, up pops an emotional reaction of anger and a thought along the lines of, "Shut up!" Or you may react with compassion and a thought of concern about the poor wee thing.

The Zero Balancing Touch Foundation is a registered US charity that was set up by the Zero Balancing founder, Dr Fritz Frederick Smith, to protect the legacy of Zero Balancing. The main premise of the Foundation is to explore the benefits of skilled touch on health, wellbeing and realising human potential. As such, they've recently commissioned research into the effects of Zero Balancing.

The results of the research are encouraging, and I'll share them with you in a moment. And they certainly won't come as a surprise to those who have received Zero Balancing, either.

The full research paper is currently not available for detailed analysis, however. Instead the Foundation has released some of the key headline results.