 Introduction: Rhys is a recent addition to the Ngaio Natural Health Centre. He is doing amazing work with Zero Balancing, which is a holistic form of bodywork, aiming to align the mind, body and spirit. As it is a bit unknown at the centre we thought it would be a great idea to have a ‘case study’ of a Zero Balancing with our very own Rhys as the patient. Learn all about how Zero Balancing impacted Rhys’ life and how it might help you too. The Problem: I guess you could say I had two physical problems that I knew about plus an astonishing issue that I was unaware of until I had Zero Balancing. The first was arthritis in both feet that prevented me from walking long distances. Hydrocortisone injections into the navicular-cuneiform joint would help for a few weeks, then the problem would return. The other was a knee injury acquired when working with large cattle one day. It was my own fault really. I was straddled across the top of the cattle race trying to put an ID tag in the ear of one of the cows. She moved forward unexpectedly, pinning both ankles to the side of the race with her hip bones. Then she shifted again flicking one ankle out while the other remained pinned as I fell backwards almost 2m into the race behind the cow. This ripped my knee ligaments on the trapped leg quite severely. I was able to get up on my one good foot and hop out before she walked backward, or I might have fared much worse. The diagnosis was completely torn medial collateral ligament and half torn anterior cruciate ligament. I underwent conventional medical treatment and rehab. But I was not able to put much pressure on it or lift anything heavy, let alone walk any distance. Unfortunately, this ended my Paramedic dream. It was over a year later before I tried Zero Balancing. I had zero expectations for my knee or feet but I was interested to try it to see what it was. My sister was raving about it and was training in it herself. She obtained significant relief with a pelvic complaint after repeated falls from horses. "Zero Balancing does not guarantee results for specific issues, though in my experience it improves the great majority. What it does do is provide a holistic energy-based bodywork therapy that releases tension out of bones primarily, but also organs and soft tissue as needed." The Solution: Zero Balancing is non-diagnostic. A comprehensive injury and medical history is taken, and there are a few contra-indications – one of which is we do not deal with acute trauma. We leave that to conventional medical treatments. However, due to the safety of the therapy, there are few chronic conditions that can’t be attempted. In my case, my problems were over a year old. Zero Balancing does not guarantee results for specific issues, though in my experience it improves the great majority. What it does do is provide a holistic energy-based bodywork therapy that releases tension out of bones primarily, but also organs and soft tissue as needed. There is a core protocol of stretches and acupressure that is repeated each time for every client, then tailored to need. Zero Balancing’s goal is overall wellness of the human being first and foremost. Specific improvements then often follow, sometimes in area’s we don’t expect. Zero Balancing offers the body invitations to change, but the client’s body is in charge and takes out of the therapy what it needs to heal. I sometimes give clients exercises that I think may improve mobility, or suggest a general program of exercise, but usually the sequence of sessions 1-2 weeks apart, then going to monthly, is all that is required to bring a person back into balance. "I felt mentally grounded and centred in myself. Now, I wasn’t aware that I wasn’t those things, until I had the experience of being brought back into balance and realised just how far out of whack I had been, without even knowing it." The Results: My own results were extra-ordinary after just one session. Even though the practitioner told me to rest up, I did the opposite. I felt so wonderfully well, I walked for several kilometres that evening. It felt like my feet were floating on air rather than the usual stabbing sharp pain I’d usually experience high up in my arches. Weirdly, that pain has never returned. My knee has gradually improved with treatment, has good strength and stability. I’m able to swim, cycle and walk easily, I love heading into the bush when I can. I’m thrilled with what I can do. The astonishing aspect of that first treatment that I was not expecting, though, was how I felt like my old 20 year-old self again, the next day. It felt like a magic trick. How could such a gentle therapy that feels like hardly anything is happening, have such a profound effect? I felt mentally grounded and centred in myself. Now, I wasn’t aware that I wasn’t those things, until I had the experience of being brought back into balance and realised just how far out of whack I had been, without even knowing it. And THAT is what got me hooked on the therapy as something that I had to learn and bring to others. It’s amazing to feel that way, and my clients tell me time after time, how extraordinary it feels. (Even if they can’t describe how it works either!) That is life-changing and enabling. It opens up possibilities for people to take on new directions for themselves, a new way to be in their body – to manage their stress, anxiety and physical issues - and to spend their days in peace, enjoyment and self-actualisation. How rewarding is that?! As I’ve got to know the therapy more and its potential, I’ve been able to move my own life more and more to a place of peace and awareness. Which is huge, everything really. Zero Balancing enabled that for me. My own recent addition to the therapy is to offer clients that want it, advice to bring present moment awareness into their daily lives. Zero Balancing gives them that experience while they are on the table, anyway. Why not be centred all the time? It’s a powerful way to live!  |
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