Overview
Fritz Smith is the founder of Zero Balancing. In his latest book, Alchemy of Touch, he uses the “lens” of zero balancing to help practitioners move toward mastery in energy-based body work. Rather than a procedural manual, 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 he 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.
That deeper exploration takes the form of seven Zero Balancing sessions reported in two coordinated ways, first as the objective description of the session by experienced practitioners and observers, next, as the subjective impressions of the recipient. This unique format aptly illustrates the relationship between the body work and practitioner interaction with the experience of the recipient. We see how a fulcrum, a breath, or a well-timed question or instruction results in a deeper physical, emotional, and spiritual experience.
Each of the seven session chapters is interspersed with Fritz’s expert observations about body work. 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. Long awaited by Zero Balancing practitioners, and of infinite value to anyone who works with energy and the human body, this work is a most welcome contribution to the literature in the field.
Author Information
Fritz Frederick Smith, MD
Fritz Frederick Smith, MD is the founder of Zero Balancing. His first book, Inner Bridges, is the foundation both of Zero Balancing as a body work art and a movement that has inspired thousands of clinicians in several touch-centered fields. His own studies and spiritual development include work with Dr. Ida Rolf, J.R. Worsley, and Baba Mucktananda. Dr. Smith is one of the admired senior teachers and leaders in Complementary Medicine.
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. That deeper exploration takes the form of seven Zero Balancing sessions reported in two coordinated ways, first as the objective description of the session by experienced practitioners and observers, next, as the subjective impressions of the recipient.
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Anyone interested in body work can benefit from this text. Not only does Dr. Smith’s tell the story of his personal spiritual journey, the seven Zero Balancing sessions described offer insight into the practice.