Massage & Bodywork

SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019

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Ta k e 5 a n d t r y t h e A B M P F i v e - M i n u t e M u s c l e s a t w w w. a b m p . c o m / f i v e - m i n u t e - m u s c l e s . 85 By David Lauterstein ZER BALANCING A Conversation with its Founder, Fritz Smith, MD developing a personal relationship with the skeleton." In the 1950s, he became an osteopath and medical doctor in California. Early in his practice, he was drawn to cranial osteopathy and studied with Edna Lay, Rollin Becker, Harold Magoun, Ruth Gostch, and Viola Frymann (among others)—all students of William Sutherland, the founder of cranial osteopathy. In 1961, the California Osteopathic Association merged with the California Medical Association, and Smith received his medical degree from Irvine Medical School. Smith has said jokingly, "Some MDs are congenital, mine was acquired." His "bias toward bone" deepened in osteopathic school as he studied the work of Andrew Taylor Still and learned the biomechanics of structure—what Smith calls "a beautiful system." "My understanding of the biomechanics changed, however, as I studied the cranial approach. Rather than using the high velocity thrusting manipulation of osteopathy, in cranial work we tend to hold things longer and allow the cranial rhythm to respond to your touch. The ideas of holding, allowing, and waiting (pausing) later became vital elements of Zero Balancing." STIR IN ROLFING AND ACUPUNCTURE With a medical degree in his pocket, Smith began exploring the body, mind, and spirit at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, in the 1960s. By 1970, he began training with the renowned Ida Rolf, who was also at Esalen. As Ida Rolf's student model, Smith had several experiences that influenced his later work. He learned that tissue- held memory is real, that deep touch (as in Rolfing) does not need to hurt, and that one can work from "split-level consciousness," conjoining the highest quality of touch with high-level observation skills. Smith later became one of the first medical doctors trained in Rolf's work. The same year he completed his Rolfing training, Smith met J. R. Worsley, an acclaimed English acupuncture teacher at Esalen. Smith was so struck by the new and mysterious, yet powerful, teachings of Worsley that he traveled to and from England to continue his studies with Worsley for the next eight years. In particular, Smith was interested in Worsley's ability to diagnose and treat the root causes of problems. In 1979, Fritz earned his master's degree in acupuncture and became a Fellow in the College of Chinese Medicine. "The major effect from my study of acupuncture and Chinese medicine was to introduce me to the concept of energy—also known as chi or prana. Everything changed as I began to integrate Eastern thoughts of energy, vibration, healing, and meditation with the scientific thoughts of the West," Smith says. "I learned that energy had its own anatomy, physiology, and patho-physiology. For me, vibration is almost synonymous with energy—when I think energy, I think vibration."

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