Early research shows Zero Balancing is GREAT for stress reduction!

Jordan Whitfield

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.

"measured stress reduction during a 30 minute Zero Balancing session was 61%"

I have to admit that not publishing the full research paper does leave me feeling a little uneasy in an era when vested interests are rife in the world of research and there is not enough transparency.

That said, the Foundation isn't some bogus organisation with opaque funding. They are run by volunteers more driven by passion for a method of healing than by some desire to cover up their tracks or promote a toxic substance. Zero Balancing, in my experience, does nothing but benefit people and the world at large. Sure, the Foundation exists purely for the purpose of furthering Zero Balancing and communicating its merits - so they do have an axe to grind. All organisations do. People coming together with a shared objective is pretty much the very definition of an organisation. In this case, it's about furthering our understanding of human touch and its effects for the benefit of the Zero Balancing method. Mostly altruistic, I would say. And partly for the benefit of therapists like me. Good research results could help me earn a living. Which is not in the same league as the profiteering nature of corporations. Most importantly, perhaps, is that it will help me,  my clients and my colleagues to have something objective and concrete to turn to when attempting to explain just why Zero Balancing is so good for (almost?) everyone.

So, what were the headline results?

Quoted directly from the Foundation's website:

1. The simple average for measured stress reduction during a 30 minute Zero Balancing session was 61% versus a simple average of 12% for clients during their equivalent rest periods.
   
   
2. Clients were observed settling into a synchrony - or equilibrium - with themselves at a "point of zero balance" during their ZB session. [Editor's note: Yeah, not sure I know what this means either!]
   
   
3. The sharpest fall in stress was associated with the first contact at the beginning of the session.
   
   
4. Pre/Post questionnaire results showed that after every ZB session participants rated themselves more positively. The greatest positive differences were seen in a reduction of perceived tension and anxiety, and an overall feeling of being more relaxed.
   
   
5. There was also evidence of a client not demonstrating the expected "startle" response when unexpectedly disturbed during their ZB suggesting ZB Touch facilitates a form of expanded consciousness more widely associated with the benefits of meditation.
   

The questionnaire used was a Likert-type scale wellbeing questionnaire. Thankfully the research didn't rely on a mere questionnaire. Electro Derma Activity (i.e. skin conductivity, as used in polygraph tests), temperature, oxygen/pulse and heart rate variability were also measured throughout.

The Foundation rounds off the research with a lovely conclusion:

"The study results show ZB Touch facilitates the release of 61% of deeply held stress in a person, and in so doing invites their mind-body-spirit to find a new equilibrium in this new environment. This new reduced stress state not only supports physiology and wellness at a physiological level, this new mind-body-spirit equilibrium importantly provides an easier environment for positive changes to lifestyle and behaviour to occur."

The Foundation continues to pursue research into Zero Balancing and they've started to look at brain waves and how these change during a Zero Balancing session. Exciting stuff! I look forward to hearing more.