{{short description|Alternative medicine devised by Frederick "Fritz" Smith in the 1970s}} {{Infobox alternative intervention}} {{Alternative medicine sidebar |fringe}} '''Zero balancing''' is a type of [[manual therapy]] devised by American osteopathic doctor Frederick "Fritz" Smith in the 1970s. Drawing from principles of [[osteopathy]], Chinese medicine and [[Structural Integration]], Smith proposed that the [[energy (vitalism)|energy field]] within the human body could be affected by manual manipulations, thus bringing health benefits. The practice teaches that currents of [[Energy (esotericism)|energy]] are stored within the human skeleton, and that these affect both physical and mental wellbeing.
Zero balancing is [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]].<ref name=jb>{{cite web |publisher=Science-Based Medicine |title=Massage Therapy rubs me the wrong way |url=https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/massage-therapy-rubs-me-the-wrong-way/ |date=17 September 2015 |author=Bellamy J |access-date=7 February 2019 |archive-date=21 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221041131/https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/massage-therapy-rubs-me-the-wrong-way/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Article writer and lawyer Jann Bellamy places zero balancing among many [[vitalism]]-based practices that exist within the "cornucopia of quackery" of [[massage therapy]]. Bellamy writes that in the [[United States]] the public are inadequately protected from such practices because of the lack of independent oversight; instead regulation is carried out within a "closed loop" system by massage-focused organizations.<ref name=jb/> [[Edzard Ernst]] wrote in 2018 that zero balancing did not appear to have evidence published for its efficacy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-05-03 |title=Zero balancing … zero evidence |url=https://edzardernst.com/2018/05/zero-balancing-zero-evidence/ |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=edzardernst.com |language=en-GB |archive-date=23 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123014201/https://edzardernst.com/2018/05/zero-balancing-zero-evidence/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Description == According to Frederick Smith, the founder of zero balancing,<ref name="fritz">Fritz Frederick Smith ''quoted at'' {{cite web |title=About Zero Balancing |url=http://www.zerobalancing.com/about/history_founder |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008103242/http://www.zerobalancing.com/about/history_founder |archive-date=8 October 2016 |access-date=18 July 2016 |publisher=Zero Balancing Health Association}}</ref><blockquote>Zero balancing teaches that the deepest currents of energy are in bone, that memory can be held in tissue, that energy fields in the body underlie mind, body and emotions, and that imbalances in the field precede pathology.</blockquote>
The Zero Balancing Health Association say that zero balancing "uses skilled touch to address the relationship between energy and structures of the body".<ref name=jb/>
The client stays fully clothed for the duration of the session in zero balancing. It includes techniques such as gentle lifting, pressing, rotating, and stretching of different body parts, with particular attention paid to the bone.<ref name="Geggus" />
== History == [[File:FSmith.zerobalancefounder.jpg|thumb|Fritz Smith, founder of zero balancing]] Frederick Smith created zero balancing in the early 1970s, after studying [[acupuncture]] and being inspired by eastern philosophies.<ref name="Geggus">{{cite journal |doi= 10.1016/S1360-8592(03)00066-4 |title=Introduction to the concepts of Zero Balancing |year= 2004 |last1= Geggus |first1= Pam |journal= Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies |volume= 8|page = 58}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Denner |first=Sallie Stoltz |date=November 2009 |title=The Science of Energy Therapies and Contemplative Practice: A Conceptual Review and the Application of Zero Balancing |url=https://journals.lww.com/00004650-200911000-00003 |journal=Holistic Nursing Practice |language=en |volume=23 |issue=6 |pages=315–334 |doi=10.1097/HNP.0b013e3181bf3784 |pmid=19901607 |s2cid=5126935 |issn=0887-9311|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Smith also had a background in other alternative therapies, including meditation, taoism, and yoga. His aim in creating the therapy was to "integrate the differing truths of eastern and western models of healing".<ref name="Geggus" /><ref name=":0" />
==Training== [[File:Fulcrum into skeletal foot.zero balancing tutorial.JPG|thumb|right|Tutorial image showing common element with zero balancing's work on the bones of the feet]] According to founder Frederick Smith in a {{As of|2009|bare=yes}} interview, there are more than 500 practitioners internationally, and another 500 in training, with most in England or the United States.<ref name="Lauterstein">{{cite news |last=Lauterstein |first=David |date=May–June 2009 |title=Reflections, a conversation with Fritz Smith on Zero Balancing |page=77 |magazine=Massage and Bodywork |url=http://www.davidladen.com/articles/FritzSmithinterview.pdf |archive-date=28 July 2022 |access-date=28 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728023200/http://www.davidladen.com/articles/FritzSmithinterview.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Practitioners are trained in its use as an adjunct skill, though it is also practiced as a self standing therapy.<ref name="Geggus" />
== See also == *[[Chiropractic]] *[[Rolfing]]
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Zero Balancing}} * [https://www.zerobalancing.com/ Zero Balancing Association]
{{Massage types}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
[[Category:Alternative medical treatments]] [[Category:Energy therapies]] [[Category:Manual therapy]] [[Category:Massage therapy]] [[Category:Mind–body interventions]] [[Category:Pseudoscience]]