Resources

Books and other resources in support of skilled touch for wellness and personal transformation.

The Journal of Transformative Touch

Launched in 2020, this international online journal publishes, free of charge, diverse content across a wide range of therapeutic touch modalities. Read, share and submit scientific research, educational and artistic articles and papers that focus on the benefits of skilled touch in the service of wellness and personal transformation. Now read in over 90 countries, the Journal has seen nearly 3,000 article downloads.

Books

Alchemy of Touch

The Alchemy of Touch: Moving Towards Mastery Through the Lens of Zero Balancing

by Fritz Frederick Smith, MD

Alchemy of Touch is a guide to the universal principles of using touch to heal and enable ourselves and others.

The book begins with a fascinating description of Dr. Smith’s own spiritual journey and awakening to the power of spirit and the benefit of touch. In his experiences with Ida Rolf, J.R. Worsley, and initiation by Swami Muktananda, we see the roots of Zero Balancing in the on-going revelation of his life. By sharing his personal journey in his own words, he establishes a foundation that invites the reader into a deeper exploration of touch and healing.

Each of the seven session chapters is interspersed with Fritz’s expert observations about bodywork. Using Zero Balancing as a focus for experience, Fritz engages topics that broaden and deepen our understanding of the essential interchanges in body work– for example, energetic fields and their relationship to the body-mind, the integration of energy and structure, how memory is retained in the body, and the various alchemies of body work. Like yin and yang, these alternating chapters make an integrated whole that advances our understanding of the body and our influences upon it. (Complementary Medicine Press, 2005). Available from the International Alliance of Healthcare Educators (IAHE)

Inner Bridges: A Guide to Energy Movement & Body Structure

by Fritz Frederick Smith, MD

Inner Bridges provides unique connections between Eastern and Western beliefs about health and the human body. The connections are based on the concept of energy as a specific and fundamental force in nature. Relating the concept of energy to our personal experiences, Dr. Smith explains how health practitioners can access this energy through their hands, feel its existence, and see a person’s response to its movements. By illustrating connections between the physical world and the energy world, Dr. Smith’s ideas provide bridges to a multitude of alternatives for health and healing, and for a deeper understanding of our inner nature. (Humanics, 1986). Available from Amazon.

Zero Balancing: Touching the Energy of Bone

by John Hamwee
This classic book remains the definitive guide to Zero Balancing and explains how and why the therapy works. Providing examples of particular clients, their problems and their experiences of the sessions, John Hamwee brings Zero Balancing to life for practitioners who want to expand their bodywork practice with this powerful and increasingly popular therapy. Uniquely, Zero Balancing simultaneously touches the bones and joints of the body and the flows of energy through them. Available from Redwing Book Company.
Structural Energetics in Zero Balancing Bodywork

Structural Energetics in Zero Balancing Bodywork

By Alan Hext

From the Foreword by Fritz Frederick Smith –

As I read Alan’s book, Structural Energetics in Zero Balancing Bodywork, I understood even more deeply the wisdom which Worsley referred. In his book Alan views the system of ZB through the windows of acupuncture, the Chinese Classics, Chinese Characters and teachings of J R Worsley himself. In describing Zero Balancing and Structural Energetics, Hext continually references qi energy and the importance of the concept of pairings, fundamentally expressed as yin and yang, the sunny and shady sides of the mountain. “It needs to be remembered (however) it is a single mountain and yin and yang are the double aspects of one.” In Zero Balancing structure and energy are the fundamental pairing we work with, the underpinnings of the body, understanding that they are a reflection of the ‘one’. Alan flushes out amazing new richness, relationships and potentials of Zero Balancing, and presents the reader with a deeper understanding of body/mind therapy. In many places he weaves Zero Balancing so beautifully with the Chinese Classics that his book might be called the ‘Chinese anthology of Zero Balancing.’ Available from Singing Dragon Press.

Life in the Bones

Life in the Bones: A Biography of Dr. Fritz Smith and Zero Balancing

By David Lauterstein, Cert. ZB, LMT

This is a biography of a life, a practice, and an idea.

In this book, you’ll be taken on a journey through Smith’s life and work. Not only will you learn about the heart and passion of one of our greatest healers, but also see how Zero Balancing forced Dr. Smith to change his worldview and to see the relationship of all things rather than their individual character. Dr. Smith has been able to work alongside others who have supported him so completely and helped create the world-wide Zero Balancing Community with its focus and frame to make the world a better, healthier, and more actualized place.

This biography is published with the support of the Zero Balancing Touch Foundation. A beautifully presented hard-bound book, Life in the Bones makes a thoughtful gift for family and friends and an excellent resource for clients. (Upledger Productions, 2017). Available from the International Alliance of Healthcare Educators (IAHE).

The Memory Palace of Bones

The Memory Palace of Bones: Exploring Embodiment Through the Skeletal System

By David Lauterstein and Jeff Rockwell

The Memory Palace of Bones: Exploring Embodiment Through the Skeletal System is an unprecedented exploration of the anatomy of the bones of the body, and a unique set of reflections on the role each individual bone plays in our lives, looking at both its physical and energetic contributions. Written and presented in an imaginative and highly readable style, the book describes each individual bone and, where appropriate, the surrounding joints. It combines the anatomical expertise of the authors with their appreciation for the beauty of the body, presenting a unique perspective that values extensive clinical expertise as well as imagination as a source of wisdom and depth.
“This book is a beautiful blend of poetry, visual art, anatomical reference, and heartfelt inquiry. Any bodyworker, anatomist, or curious human will benefit from reading it! Each author has a distinct voice that comes through and perfectly compliments the other. The bones are our deepest, most ancestral tissue of the body, and the authors truly facilitate the potential for great healing that can come from feeling a greater sense of connection and embodiment with the core of our being.” – Review from an Amazon customer
Zero Balancing: Conscious Touch and Transformation

Zero Balancing: Conscious Touch and Transformation

By James McCormick

Zero Balancing – conscious touch and transformation offers a practical and multi-layered approach to personal transformation for practitioners of Zero Balancing. The author explains the basic principles of Zero Balancing and then gives examples of how to use those principles in bodywork through the use of fascinating case histories and detailed stories of individual sessions with clients. Overall the book provides a step-by-step guide for clinicians. Each chapter stands on its own but together they build up to give the whole story of Zero Balancing’s unique ability to assist in personal transformation for ZB clients. The book illustrates how working with the body and mind through touch can lead to a richer sense of self and a more satisfying life as well as assisting with numerous health issues. Available from Handspring Publishing.

Experiencing the Power of Zero Balancing

Experiencing the Power of Zero Balancing: Case Studies of Journeys to Health and Wholeness

Collected and edited by Veronica Quarry, MS, MSPT and Amanda King, MA, LMT

A compilation of 25 Zero Balancing (ZB) case studies by certified practitioners of the modality, this new book is a must-read for all interested in this extraordinary therapy. Intended for healthcare professionals, as well as clients and others interested in this work, these case stories provide true testament to the potential of ZB.

Zero Balancing, a powerful body-mind therapy, addresses the relationship between energy and structures of the body. A gentle manual therapy, it focuses primarily on key joints of the skeleton that conduct and balance forces of gravity, posture and movements. Zero Balancing is intended to help release restrictions in movement and improve overall wellbeing, vitality and alignment by clearing blocks in the body’s energy flow. (Upledger Productions, 2016). Available from the International Alliance of Healthcare Educators (IAHE).

ZB Expanded

Zero Balancing Expanded: The Attitude of Awaiting a Fish

by Judith Sullivan

Judith Sullivan expands the practice of Zero Balancing to include work for the skull, the viscera and for kids as they develop, providing best advanced practices she has used successfully for so many years. Providing detailed descriptions and illustrations, this book offers excellent ways to further assist clients recover and maintain their health while expanding your practice. While a wonderful read on its own, this book serves as the textbook for the following classes: ZB Expanded: Addressing the Skull, ZB Expanded: Addressing the Viscera, and ZB Kids. (Upledger Productions, 2014.) Available from the International Alliance of Healthcare Educators (IAHE).

Penetrating Heaven

Penetrating Heaven: Adventures in Zero Balancing

by Gethyn Williams
Life is full of questions. Penetrating Heaven, a technique that combines Zero Balancing with the wisdom of Chinese Acupuncture, offers a simple yet effective method for finding our very own answers. By allowing us to access our deepest and highest potential, Penetrating Heaven enables us to receive meaningful guidance for our everyday life.

Zero Balancing, a profound bodywork that relaxes us right down to our bones, has been called “bodywork for the mind” because it can allow us to enter altered states of consciousness. Through the use of touch on a specific Acupuncture point, Penetrating Heaven enhances and provides a focus for these altered states of consciousness, giving us the opportunity to explore hidden parts of ourselves that yield insights and inspiration for our personal path.

In this fascinating and inspirational book, Gethyn Williams describes how he developed Penetrating Heaven, how the technique is applied and how it is incorporated into the Zero Balancing protocol. Aimed first and foremost at trained Zero Balancing practitioners, the text is also easily understood by laypeople interested in how one can tap into the nature of consciousness for the purpose of healing and personal growth.

The powerful effect of Penetrating Heaven is documented in case examples and client feedback. The inner experiences that recipients of this new healing art share in the pages of this book are highly intriguing, deeply moving and at times nothing short of life-changing.