Essay #1
Introduction
Aiming to be a cohesive exploration of interface touch, a key principle and hallmark of
Zero Balancing - this essay clusters my own thoughts, experiences and reflections
alongside the inspiration of others to weft and weave seemingly contrasting threads into
a contextualised fabric and tangible whole.
There is a simplicity and intrinsic clarity to interface touch that I find quite unremarkable,
deeply profound and all too rare. I say unremarkable as a way to illustrate how
remarkably absent of drama and doing ZB touch inherently is. Being at interface is
about being with things as they actually are, without contrivance or fabrication. So there
is this tendency to feel met, as Interface touch is a practice of discernment and
continues to reveal relationships, of how they are and where they are.
I explore as key themes the notions of Being and Doing, our tendency to favour one
over the other which can be perceived as a function of grasping. When we grasp we
cause suffering, reinforcing rigid habitualised behaviours and mindsets. There is a
discipline of repetition when applied to learning new tasks, however could we take our
first steps as a child if we didn't have this innate ability to try and try again. When we’ve
grasped it we must then let go (or let be) just as the Buddhist parable of the raft
teaches:
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‘My dear friends, the Dharma I offer you is only a raft to help you get to the other
shore’ (1) Buddha.
Having reached the other shore, to then lift and carry the weight of the raft on our backs
and proceed to walk is surely an unnecessary burden. How are our attachments to the
rafts in our lives functioning today and what is the cost of not noticing? Introducing the
notion of stuckness characterised by a reductive, narrow margin of experience and
possibility, I explore it’s dangers and antidotes. Those being stillness, movement and
flow some of the foundational, innate elements within Zero Balancing.
I will introduce and examine interface as a skillful relationship, a practice of sanity, of
solitude and safety. Interface is also a paradoxically shared yet solitary experience, a
radical act, a practice of acceptance, patience, authenticity and clarity. What is clear to
me is that being at interface in its right relational core, is also a practice of ethics. A
practice of not taking the not given which can then give rise to the generosity,
abundance and aliveness of the present moment.
I have found that Zero Balancing whilst being distinct, also has many parallels, shared
principles and truths with other practices. Therefore I would like to acknowledge these
shared truths and Celebrate them. Most notably my interest in ‘mindfulness’ which has
its origin in the Buddhadharma whilst flourishing in secular non religious ways. Many of
the mindfulness sources I include were authored by Jon Kabbat Zinn who pioneered the
‘MBSR’ mindfulness based stress reduction system, helping people to cope with stress,
pain and illness. This also seems to be an outcome of Zero Balancing practice in that
life becomes more bearable. I for one have felt much more nourished at a deeper level
through both giving and receiving ZB and have subsequently been able to be with
stress, pain, anxiety and illness in healthier more responsive ways. That most basic of
Buddhist teachings, the truth of suffering and the path that leads to suffering’s
cessation, I touch on as a source of guidance and inspiration. Most notably the four
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noble truths and the eightfold path, foundational aspects to the path of insight,
awakening and freedom from suffering.
Identifying the difference between solitude and isolation I touch on why this is important,
especially within the present day context of pandemics, mental & physical health crisis
and the deeper spiritual truths of interbeing and causality.
Touch and the felt sense are our primary tools and it is through the art of mindful touch,
of anchoring into and being present in moment to moment awareness/experience
without agenda, that skilful relationship arises. As Jon Kabbat Zinn eloquently declares:
‘We discover who we are by coming into felt relationship with the world around
us. The more deeply we come into felt relationship with the world - the more
deeply we discover who we are, not as a fixed known entity but as a responsive
presence illuminated by the world’ (2)
Main Body
On Doing I was thrilled to hear Zero Balancing founder Fritz Smith talking about the life
principles of Being and Doing, during his Zoom ZBUK call in July 2020. Especially as I
had already begun writing and reflecting on this subject myself, a wonderful
synchronicity and lots of food for thought.
‘We’re all doers caught up in and programmed to do, which always involves the
future and the world of duality.’ Fritz Smith (3)
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Zero Balancing and the practice of interface touch finds it’s anchor in the me - the you
and the place we meet Fritz refers to as duality but with a recognition of the ever more
subtle shifts and refinements of attention/awareness, that can liberate amplified states
of consciousness and experience ultimately of the non dual. A non dual dissolution of
the separateness of subject/object perceiver/perceived relationality and thus becoming
absorbed into a blissful union. This may sound lofty and conceptual but ZB is actually
very practical and grounded too. In ZB we aim to work without an agenda, holding a
space where the receiver is free to have their own experience without judgement or
over influencing from the practitioner.
Doing comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. There's the kind of doing that involves
doing the dishes, completing a task, driving the car or cooking a meal. There's a lot right
with being in doing however if the doing has become our modus operandi, that is a
different matter entirely. There's a virtue associated with being a do’er, of getting things
done which left unchecked can become an addiction to the shrine of accomplishment
and attainment. The shadow side of which can often be dissatisfaction and greed as
nothing is ever enough. There are maybe times where getting stuck into doing
something is a healthy distraction and can actually give some respite from the
overpowering directness of an experience or event like with a bereavement. However
taken to its extreme, being stuck in doing can escalate into a long term strategy and
avoidance tactic but how long can you keep going in that lane?
Stuck in doing & Getting Unstuck. Doing clearly has its rewards and is a necessary
agent of change and growth. However, finding yourself stuck in perpetual states of
doing is ultimately unsatisfactory and can have disastrous outcomes on our health, even
if what we are doing is nothing. Don't we see this state of unrest and exhaustion invoked
in the faces, bodies, energies, histories and health crisis of those around us. Are we
able to notice how stuckness and ill health present in our own lives that extend
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outwards to acknowledge not simply others but other species, life forms and the planet
itself.
Author and Teacher Dr Joe Dispenza draws the analogy of being stuck, as someone
who is ‘caught in the narrow margins of Beta brain waves for example whilst driving a
car in 1st gear with the foot on the gas’ (4a) which is unsustainable - destination
burnout.
Apologies for the driving analogies but they’re useful and there's more to come.
According to Dispenza ‘people drive through their lives without ever stopping to
consider shifting gears, changing and forming new behaviours and brain wave states’
(4b). Most adults in their everyday waking conscious states inhabit the three upper Beta
brain wave frequencies of the analytical mind. The highest of the Beta’s being a
hyperarousal stress induced state.
For clarity here is a summary of Dispenza’s Beta brainwave activity.
● Low range Beta is characterised by a relaxed attention with an absence of
vigilance, like when reading a book that you're enjoying.
● Mid range Beta is characterised by learning, analytical reflexive rational thinking.
● High range Beta is characterised by hyper arousal and stress.
‘In high Beta the outside world appears to be more real than the inner world, with
our attention awareness primarily focussed on everything that makes up the
external environment. In high Beta we are preoccupied by time, have a tendency
towards criticising others as well as judging ourselves, becoming overly focussed
and obsessed with ourselves. In this emergency state the nervous system
prioritizes survival over anything else, activating the biochemical arousal of the
fight flight freeze response’. Dr Joe Dispenza (4c)
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I want to emphasise that being in high Beta can be absolutely the appropriate place to
be, serving us well when we need to respond quickly and get the job done. Our
tendency however to overutilize and become dependent on this innate ability can be an
issue. We can become obsessive and compulsive in our behaviours, overly attached,
chronically fatigued and disempowered. As a caution, Dispenza further illustrates:
‘the potentiality of unconsciously seeking out emergency situations in our lives to
fuel our addiction to stress hormones’ (4d).
The three main players of which are adrenaline (epinephrine), norepinephrine and
cortisol. Fascinating considerations of more recent research discoveries that Dr
Karsenty and his team at Columbia University have made into the role Osteocalcin, a
molecule found in bone - has to play in the fight flight stress response. (5) Yella
Hewings Martin.
In my understanding the primary role of adrenaline and norepinephrine are arousal,
activated when we're stressed and need to respond quickly. For example we’re
changing lanes on the motorway (told you) and out of our blind spot races a car at
100mph. Without hesitation we get back into our lane, our heart is pounding, our
muscles are tense, breathing is faster and we’re sweating. That’s adrenaline which also
gives us the surge in energy we need to get out of danger. But also we may have a
spike in adrenaline when we receive an unwanted email from the boss, whilst waiting in
a queue to buy groceries (heightened during pandemics), walking alone in the dark or
any perceived threat be it real or imagined.
According to Amit Sood MD ‘Depending on the long term impact of what is
stressing you out and how you handle stress, it could take anything from half an
hour to a couple of days to return to your normal resting state’ Sarah Klein (6a).
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A year or so ago I recall an experience of being in a hyper arousal stress response, the
result of an unprovoked attack from someone I knew. In fight - flight - freeze mode I
managed to get away and find safety. Yet a day later I was still feeling troubled,
unsettled by the experience as the stress hormones coursed through me. I felt
traumatised, confused, angry and also a victim. Blaming myself, what had I
unintentionally done to provoke such an attack and betrayal of trust. Knowing that I
needed support to help integrate the experience and move on from it, I received an
impromptu ZB session from my nearest practitioner. The session helped immensely and
I was able to feel safe again in my body and return to a restful neutral state pretty much
immediately. To my knowledge this was the first time I’d called upon ZB within a context
of emergency and crisis. As a result I understood experientially how ZB and the ZB’er
are so perfectly placed to support this kind of integration and regulation of body
chemistry. It is remarkable to me, this ability to support a gentle yet rapid return to the
normal resting state, in contrast with what can ordinarily take much longer periods of
time. Also to recognise the very real potential of getting stuck in endless loops and
cycles of stress response that can present in chronic autoimmune conditions. I myself
had a fibromyalgia diagnosis several years ago, of which some of symptoms include
exhaustion, body held pain, inflammation and brain fog.
Cortisol releases into our system more slowly and helps to regulate body functions that
aren't crucial at that time like our reproductive, digestive and immune systems.
‘When we stew on problems the body continually releases cortisol whereby
chronic elevated levels can lead to serious problems suppressing the immune
system, increasing blood pressure and more’ Dr Amit Sood (6b).
Completing tasks and getting things done thus takes on another hue, in the knowledge
that leaving things unfinished can be incredibly fatiguing. Unfinished business, an often
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outcome of stuckness is a tough behaviour and mindset to remedy, but also is
damaging within a context of body chemistry and developing chronic health conditions.
Whilst in the survival mode of high Beta like a serpent eating its tail we are stuck in
hypervigilance, stress and emergency response, which creates a massive burden on
our bodies functions and systems in the long term. The continuous repetition of survival
based thoughts can also create feelings of anger and fear, sadness and anxiety to
name a few. The stress response can be activated by thought alone and isn't
necessarily an appropriate intelligent response to ‘real’ perceived threats and dangers.
Everyday existence can for some be traumatising with a potential minefield of triggers,
threats and dangers apparent. We see this more and more with the abundance of
autoimmune disorders, mental health conditions., PTSD and depression.
Dr David Hanscom similarly talks about how crucial mindset is in relation to our sense of
stuckness. Mindset is defined as:
‘how the things we think about govern the world in which we live’ but also how
our ‘mindset determines body chemistry’ (7a)
When we feel trapped, angry, anxious, in survival and hyperarousal mode our central
nervous system and inflammatory responses are fired up. When the body is under
threat as Dr Hanscom states then:
‘The inflammatory and immune systems fire up and being in a constant
inflammatory response, actually destroys the bodies tissues and increases
degeneration. Whatever poses a threat, be that real or imagined, fires an
inflammatory response and so chronic pain is a response to perceived threats
and dangers. Anxiety, Parkinsons, Alzheimers and Schizophrenia are all
inflammatory disorders. Being trapped in negative thinking and repressed
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emotions are also threats that trigger inflammatory responses.’ Dr D Hanscom
(7b)
The loop of how mindset affects body chemistry - which affects life outcomes needs to
be interrupted and the key to this according to Hanscom is ‘safety’. When we learn how
to feel safe then we learn how to be resilient in the face of perceived threats and
danger.
‘feeling safe is learning how to stop’ Dr David Hanscom (7c)
Getting a glimpse of insight and understanding into the value and significance of safety,
especially within the context of healing and wellbeing fills me with gratitude. A Gratitude
in knowing that safety is so deeply embedded within the fabric and practice of Zero
Balancing through our practice of interface touch. Of establishing and maintaining a
healthy boundary that allows someone to be just as they are. I have as an outcome
grown to feel more safe within my own practice, a long process of acknowledging
certain overly empathic/listener/rescuer behaviours and traits. Learning that my own self
value isn’t dependent on what I can produce in other people. Learning to care a little
less actually feels more broadly like coming into a sense of wholeness and clarity.
Paradoxically then, being able to support others with more discretion and less need, is a
natural expression of how well I can support myself.
On Being Fritz Smith in talking about the spiritual nature of Zero Balancing explored the
principals of being and transcendence within a context of his own world view.
‘Being is a state of stillness which is the doorway to the transcendent, being in
the bliss of consciousness’ (8a) Fritz Smith
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Being touched on bone opens up possibilities and experiences of consciousness that
aren’t bound to everyday waking states. My view is there are no higher teachings, only
deeper experiences and therefore ZB is perfectly placed as a tool for transformation. As
Fritz says:
‘Bone has no looseness, so the minute you are touching bone you are touching
vibration (energy) and the minute you touch vibration you are touching the
mystery. The minute you touch the mystery you are touching the creative force of
possibility’ (8b)
Perhaps touching into the unknown, the mystery of the creative force of possibility is
synonymous with an experience of Being in the Bliss of Consciousness. The Sanskrit
word and epithet Satchithananda is a compound form of being, bliss and
consciousness, deconstructed by Fritz to illustrate the kind of states people can have
when being touched on bone and receiving what might be called ‘spiritual fulcrums’ (8c)
Sat - pure existence (being)
Chit - pure consciousness
Anandam - pure bliss
Ways Of Being This is what I am most captivated by and wish to practice in my
everyday and ZB life alike. Being in skillful relationship rather than being separate from,
actually includes the unwanted experiences and emotions, pains and discomforts that
can be so readily abandoned and denied. Being in skillful relationship with the actuality
of things whether they be pleasant, unpleasant or neutral is as Jon Kabbat Zinn
suggests:
‘not a technique in the McMindfulness tonic & cure all sense but as a way of being’ (9a).
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Therefore to practice Zero Balancing as both giver and receiver is also a way of
practicing Being. Of being with one's ever present unfolding moment to moment
experience, synonymous with Jon Kabbat Zinn's own definition of mindfulness as:
‘the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present
moment and non-judgmentally’ sometimes adding ‘in the service of self
understanding and wisdom’ (9b)
If the practitioner embodies the principles of skillful relationship, of unconditional positive
regard, non judgement, no agenda nor attachment to outcomes etc by being in moment
to moment experience then it’s possible a modelling and mirroring of behaviour can take
place. Like an imprint or transmission from one to the other without the intention to do
so, or to contrive this in any way. Perhaps this is a natural phenomenon, an occurrence
of coherence, just like what happens when adding a drummer to a group of people with
drums but unable to keep a unified rhythm. The modelling of rhythm invites the others
into harmony and balance of coherent energy wave patterns. (10) Dr Joe Dispenza
Being alone and the practice of solitude The etymology of solitude originates from
the Latin word ‘solus’ meaning to be alone. Solitude can be seen as either a practice of
liberation, or a punishment and descent into madness and hell. Ascetics, hermits, yogis
& mystics of old have embraced solitude, in their quest for God and oneness with
creation. For someone who has been incarcerated, where solitude has been forced
upon them they will need to be kept on scuicide watch. There are always exceptions to
the rule and I once had the privilege to meet an old Tibetan monk Palden Gyatso, who
gained notoriety with his book Fire Under The Snow. Palden Gyatso spent 33 years of
his life in Chinese concentration camps from the beginning of the Cultural Revolution,
had been systematically brutalised and tortured yet miraculously he survived. I
remember how he explained so humbly (through a translator) his ability to remain stable
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and continue to practice meditation, the isolation was in a sense like being in retreat and
though imprisoned he felt free within his mind. Despite the hatred felt for his torturers,
he was ultimately able to find compassion for them and therefore not be tortured by his
own hatred. Palden Gyatso was clearly a remarkable man with an indefatigable spirit
who escaped the Gulag and his occupied Country to find sanctuary in India. Doing so
with several torture instruments that had been used on him, so that he may explain to
the world and find justice. In 1998 Palden Gyatso was awarded the John Humphrey
Freedom Award during the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. (11)
Is suffering a choice
On the flip side there's also a kind of privilege to living in solitude like that of the Artist,
painter and writer who sharpen their minds and refine their tools unencumbered by the
grind of everyday existence.
Eminent Buddhist Scholar and Author Stephen Batchelor explores solitude as an artistic
practice, particularly inspired by the life and works of Painter Agnes Martin:
‘Solitude, the expression of which Art becomes a means of making solitude
visible’ (12a) Stephen Batchelor
The Art of being alone with ourselves can be paved with challenges, perhaps the
greatest challenge is the one we’ve been avoiding all our lives and that is the challenge
of ourselves. The French Renaissance Philosopher Michel De Montaigne wrote about
his own solitary experience:
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‘Retreat into yourself but make sure you're ready to receive yourself there. If you
don't know how to govern yourself, it would be madness to entrust yourself to
yourself’ (12b)
I would say the madness of a perpetual outward orientation and projection of
personality, is also the madness of having never stepped inside yourself to taste and
touch as Rilke so intimately illustrates:
‘the great gift, great sorrow and necessity of being alone’ (13) Rainer Maria Rilke
RIilke’s solitude isnt a solitude of despair or alienation but a recognition that solitude is
our natural home and we must love and protect the solitude of ourselves and others.
Zero Balancing could also in this way be framed as a practice of solitary experience in
which we receive the great gift of ourselves whilst in relation to another. Again isn’t this
a most delicious paradox. Entrusting oneself to another is perhaps less daunting than
Montaigne's madness of entrusting oneself to oneself. Entrusting oneself to another and
being in therapeutic skillful relationship could be for some, a precursor to being able to
entrust themselves to themselves.
Unlike De Montaigne who had the privilege of retreating to the southern tower of his
Chateau in search of solitude, most people have neither the space, place nor taste for
solitude in their lives. Yet we can find solitude in the most ordinary places and in
everyday kinds of ways like whilst travelling on a bus to work, or sat fishing by the lake.
There is actually nothing to do but to simply be - in this very moment illuminated by our
encounter with life itself.
‘You'll never have a greater opportunity to wake up and give yourself over to the
full dimensionality of who you already are than this one’ (14) Jon Kabbat Zinn
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Batchelor's expression of solitude as being a practice of Art made visible, caused me to
consider what artistic, solitary expressions co emerging with the experience of Zero
Balancing might be. The clues to which I believe are embedded in the words of
Montaigne:
‘the greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself’ (15) Sterling
quotes Montaigne.
To be introduced to ourselves with such discretion, skill and safety is the Art of the
practitioner. Perhaps the art emerging from and made visible, is in the lived experience
of the receiver and the embodied qualities they wish to move forward with in their lives.
The art emerging from the mindful touch of ZB expresses itself in that quiet new sense
of groundedness, a releasing of something old that weighed us down, a spontaneous
joy and reverence for life, or in my case tears that had been held down for far too long.
‘The sorrow which has no vent in tears may cause other organs to weep’ (16)
Henry Maudsley
Similarities exist between the practices of solitude and the practice of interface that we
in ZB refine as fundamental aspects and hallmarks of what makes ZB [ZB]. The
interface between energy and structure - the interface between self and other.
To paraphrase John Hamwee in his book Zero Balancing, the guiding principle of
interface may sound simple but if you get it and therefore understand it - you’ll have a
lifetime of possibilities that open up to practice. The infinite possibilities and ways to
practice interface, a practice of discernment and discretion - of knowing where you are
in relation to where you are not. Of where we need to be and where we don't need to
be. In the perception of objects be they other people, concepts, inner and outer
environments, emotions, landscapes, sensations, pain, joy, of how we are in our
relationships be they intimate or otherwise. There's a clarity in understanding and
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experiencing interface, a clarity that isn't always needed or appropriate in other aspects
of our lives. Getting stuck in or attached to Interface could be a hindrance, for instance
to developing close intimate bonds and relationships with others. In ZB we acknowledge
how interface isn’t the panacea but simply one way to be relational with another.
Nonetheless interface touch is the method we work with.
I have not just an instinct but experiential understanding that to practice Zero Balancing
most effectively, facing ourselves becomes necessary. That we can best serve another
by serving ourselves or as Ram Dass so clearly states;
‘I can do nothing for you but work on myself and you can do nothing for me but
work on yourself’ (17)
Somehow this statement sums up what I so often feel when giving a ZB, in the sense
that we both are free to do our work, collaboratively through the felt sense.
This also feels well and truly in the domain of interface that references Rilke's Two
Solitudes. A refinement of ZB skills ought to be matched also with deeper work on
ourselves in multi disciplinary ways, talk therapy, voice dialogue, dreams, embodiment
practices, Feldenkrais, Chi Gong, contemplative practices, artistic practices, working
with our disowned shadow selves etc. Jim McCormick in his recent ZB Webinar calls
this processing. A term that comes from the work of Psychologist Carl Rogers who
founded a psychotherapeutic humanistic approach. (18)
Creatures or Beings Sadhguru’s incisive question to his audience ‘are you a human
being or are you a human creature’ (19) is a provocation, a call to wake up and restore
one's humanity in the skillful compassionate service of others. As the only creatures on
this planet that are afforded the title of being a Being, it is evident that our species
despite its magnificence, hasn’t risen to embody this title wholeheartedly. Is this not now
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the greatest existential responsibility, our race to be human, a human being? Humans
are a paradoxical species, capable of great feats of altruism, compassion and intelligent
evolution whilst also being primitive, violent, cruel and destructive. Is not our rallying call
now to create safety, not just for ourselves but for everyone else and this planet we
belong to. How can we protect the solitude of this planet with it’s fragile planetary
biodiversity and ecosystems instead of taking, consuming and destroying its limited
resources? What is the alternative? Not being human at all?
As it turns out, we may be less human than we think? Many strides are being made in
understanding the human microbiome ‘the hidden half of ourselves’ (20a) and how the
causal factors of a compromised immune system and proliferation of autoimmune
disorders lie in our modern pharmaceutical attack in the thus named ‘microbial
battleground’.
‘We have over the past 50 years done a terrific job on eliminating infectious
disease but we've seen an enormous and terrifying increase in autoimmune
disease and allergy’ (20b) Prof Ruth Ley
‘You're more microbe than human’ says professor Knight our ‘human cells make
up 43% of the body's total cell count, the rest are microscopic colonists’ which
include ‘bacteria, virus’s, fungi and archaea’ (20c)
To be is to inter- be Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and his community of Interbeings
teach that we can not be by ourselves alone but only always in relation to something
else.
‘If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in a sheet of
paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain, the trees cannot grow and without
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trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the
cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. Interbeing is a word
combining the prefix ‘inter’ with the verb ‘to be’ then we have a new verb,
inter-be. Therefore we can say the cloud and the paper inter-are recognising that
‘to be’ is to inter-be. You cannot be just by yourself alone, you have to inter-be
with every other thing. This sheet of paper [is] because everything else is’ (21)
Thich Nhat hahn
A: What’s the difference between a baker who makes bread and a baker who doesn't?
B: I don't know, what is the difference between a baker who makes bread and a baker
who doesn’t?
A: A baker who makes bread doesn't understand they are simply a participant in the
process of its making, whereas a baker who doesn't make bread appreciates that they &
the bread, along with the living yeast culture, the seed & flour, the farmer & the field, the
sun cloud & rain - inter are.
Interface might exist within a context of interbeing as a recognition of being distinct yet
not separate from each other. That a non solid and impermanent I, comes into being
through the inter relational play of our sense perceptions and conscious awareness.
‘Unless I’m stimulated I don't know who I am’ (22) Fritz Smith
Interface and interbeing might also exist within a context of tensegrity. The body with its
rods and poles, bone and connective tissue, organs, systems, fascial networks all exist
interconnectedly rather than independently. Therefore we know when holding a
scapulae or a tarsal bone we’re also holding and connecting with the life that is lived
with its history and memory, traumas, wounds, blind spots, successes, achievements,
joys and pains all inter are’ing.
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Being with Crisis The stark reality of how fragile and uncertain life realy is, has now
come into sharp focus in a way that is perhaps unprecedented as a global universal
phenomenon. As the news spread, the world watched as the realisation hit home that
life may never be the same again. Nation by nation in quick succession turned their
lights out and told its citizens to lock down, stay at home and isolate themselves. The
days became weeks, months and now just falling short of a year the world can seems a
very dark, confusing and distressing place to be. We call this the Global Coronavirus
Pandemic. Many months have passed since our first lockdown period and now into our
third and soon to be fourth lockdown with a confusion of tiers and ever changing
approaches to managing this public health and economic crisis.
How to be in extraordinary circumstances
At large people and populations simply haven't been able to cope with being forced into
isolation, fearful of contagion with a sky rocketing surge in mental health issues,
domestic violence etc.
How to bear witness to suffering
My own experience has been largely wholesome, applying myself to this new
opportunity to practice solitude, however the effects of long term closure and social
restrictions have become more challenging to live with and sustain as time goes by.
What has become clearer throughout is that as humans we’re unable to survive very
well in isolation as we are by our very nature social beings. I've been disappointed in the
language our leaders have used throughout and I believe the language has amplified
the panic, fear and anxiety in people. Instead of socially distancing we can maintain our
social networks whilst physically distancing from others. Rather than becoming isolated
and on our own could we begin to perceive solitude in a different much more healthy
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way. Of course when a vulnerable person becomes isolated this is a huge problem as
we have seen during the pandemic who suffer, unable to access resources and
healthcare. The psychological effects of lockdowns, isolation, loneliness, fear, anxiety
accompanied by economic downturn, loss of income, loss of livelihood and purpose,
dignity, self respect are a tragedy unfolding.
Are we now on a precipice where the complex balance between peace and war, human
growth - productivity - technological advancement and the utter devastation of our
planet is at a critical point of no return? Are we truly living in a time of extinction and of
life potentially never being the same again.
Ecologically ‘extinction is the metric we use to recognise wildlife decline’ (23a) and yet
Naturalist and writer Michael McCarthy also states that in comparison ‘declines don't
make the headlines in the tabloid press and we don't hear about them until it's too late’
(23b).
Examples of ecological impoverishment and decline are often to be found in quiter
almost unnoticeable ways as with the decline of insect life across Britain and the world,
a result of pesticides and the industrialisation of food production. The act of de bugging
our car windscreens is well and truly a thing of the past. This is not simply a theory:
‘Scientific tests on the windshield phenomenon measured an 80% decline of
insects over a 20 year period on a Danish road. In 63 nature reserves across
Germany the abundance of flying insects since the fall of the Berlin Wall had
declined by 76%’ (24) Gretchen Vogel.
With Insects being at the bottom of food chains, their disappearance is none other than
catastrophic for the interdependent biodiversity of our planet and eco systems. Similarly
the phenomenon of the moth snowstorm as McCarthy poetically puts it has completely
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disappeared. Those of us a certain age may remember the flight and fluttering of moths
caught in our car headlights on a balmy summer's night.
How to be when the world is dying
I have become all too aware in subsequent years of declines in various aspects of my
mental/physical health and wellbeing that have similarly gone unnoticed until not
noticing has no longer been an option. As unaware as we are of much of our bodily
functions that are regulated by the autonomic nervous system, like breath and breathing
for instance, it is possible to go through life in a kind of willful ignorance and blind faith
that our physical and mental health will always be there for us. Until a time comes
where we can no longer function in the way we used to, having not paid attention to how
decline is presenting, to the aches, pains and their potential causes. We may not notice
how much we live in our armchairs, sedentarism and sitting disease are:
‘major contributors to increased risks of heart disease, colon cancer,
hypertension, diabetes and death according to the World Health Organisation
(25).
Let us not forget how sedentarism impacts the musculoskeletal systems of the body.
Is comfort killing us
Addiction to thinking often goes unnoticed, yet can literally drive us insane and embed
deeper negativity and unconscious behaviours. How do we change this mindset?
Perhaps through starting to notice and by paying attention. Making a conscious effort
helps us then to be able to make intelligent rational choices, freeing up the stuckness
and stagnation that lead to healthier changes and outcomes. In ZB we are alo working
below the level of everyday conscious states that are characterised by arousal and
20
analysis. As we move from beta brain wave states into Alpha for instance, we become
less preoccupied with our external environment which according to Dispenza:
‘allows us to dream or imagine more creatively in pictures and images’ (26).
Alpha brainwave states are essentially resting states of the body and coming back to
our bodies is what we do so well in ZB. Zero Balancing seems to me to be the perfect
antidote to our frenzied modern lifestyles and gives a potent opportunity for the receiver
to experience themselves in profoundly restful ways.
The scarcity of rest
Living with threats, dangers and declines seems unavoidable, yet more to the point is
how we deal with them. What is the nature of our relationship, how are we interfacing?
Living with a virus that has the power to kill is most certainly not a new phenomenon in
our collective human *herstory. I wonder what gay men may teach the world about how
to live with, die with and ultimately survive a virus that over four decades later still has
no known cure.
Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome When a deadly virus hit the gay community first
in the early 1980’s, a 15 year period of unmitigated death ensued before an effective
treatment made the virus survivable. It was common for people to be blamed for their
illness, said to be caused by their own behaviour which led to the further stigmatisation
of an already marginalised group of people. The virus persists with an estimated 75
million HIV infections globally and a death toll of 32 million people 40 yrs later. (27)
How it all started timeline,Terrence Higgins Trust UK
Bearing witness to suffering
21
HIV & Aids exist as a deep collective trauma and the LGBT community has learned to
adapt, organise and survive. To be gay is to know your status, regular blood tests are a
fact of life. The process is a lot quicker these days and the results can be texted over
but it's always an agonising wait (Disclosure - HIV Neg). There's no doubt that my teens
and into my twenties were characterised by feelings of alienation and inadequacy,
anger and fear. Society felt oppressive growing up accompanied by a deadly virus and
a Government that was hostile, introducing the first anti gay legislation in the UK for 100
yrs. ‘Clause 28’ a vitriolic response to calls for equality for LGBT people so famously
captured in Thatchers ‘Family Values’ party conference speech to rapturous applause:
“Children who need to be taught to respect traditional family values are being
taught that they have an inalienable right to be Gay. All of these children are
being cheated of a sound start in life, Yes Cheated” (28) *cue applause.
I still to this day hold contempt and hate for the above politicians and their authoritarian
bashing of the Gays and the Miners. An unlikely alliance seemingly poles apart, yet
famously finding mutual respect and support in their shared fight and right to exist.
Being both gay and the son of a miner, I not only identified strongly with the cause but
furthermore on a certain level it made me who I am. The armouring of heritage,
identification with the historic self image and that familiar quality of being obscured by
the past. Can the sense of past and its contents begin to take on a different role, no
longer a heavy burdensome weight but as a resource and source for acceptance, love
and transformation..
How to not become a victim
Turning hatred into compassion
22
As a 14 yrs old kid in 1981 I watched with horror the early news reports on how gay
men were dying lonely agonising deaths, caused by a mystery illness the media
irresponsibly called a Gay Plague. I was far from being a fully formed Homo at this
tender age, I knew I identified with the men on the screen but had not yet the language
nor experience to validate that. Only my secret longings that for the time being would
remain unexplored. Feeling alone and somewhat cautious, I wondered if my life and
death would be characterised by loneliness just like the men on the news and in some
ways, so far it has. Rather than being a sad indulgence, I’ve learned to accept and
empower the aloneness I feel as solitude. I’d not yet heard of the term coming out, not
knowing the Mother of all rights of passage was awaiting my monumental next step, a
step into selfhood. Coming out is more than a declaration to the world ... *cue drum roll
... ‘I am what I am’ ... but is also a coming in - into self acceptance and embracing not
just a sexual truth but reclaiming one's own agency and desire to live authentically in a
world that would rather you didn't exist at all.
It would be another 5 years until I breached that closet, meeting my first partner Fred at
an Aids awareness benefit disco in the beautiful Ballroom of Sheffield City Hall. As a 19
yr old and considered under age, Fred risked arrest, a criminal record and/or
imprisonment. So there we stood not knowing how to be, should we kiss and hold each
other? Are we safe? Will we survive?
How not to be in a perpetual state of anxiety
Just a few years later in 1991, 169 men were convicted of underage sex in England and
Wales of which 13 of them received prison sentences. The age of consent would
eventually be lowered to 18 yrs and then subsequently lowered to 16 yrs bringing Epic
Equality to all in the UK, regardless of sexual orientation in 2001.
23
Trauma seems to be unavoidable, have we not all had experiences we failed to have
the resources to handle at that time. For instance the trauma of not being validated or
loved as a child, or trauma in the sense of the post traumatic stress of the combat
veteran. How about the shame based trauma of difference and self loathing that's
embodied in the LGBT experience or that of being neuro diverse in a world that doesn't
understand you. Historic protections are worn like a suits of clothes, and yet are we
being held back by the compensation of safety and governance of the limbic system.
How can we meet difficulty and challenge in more resourced ways, so that experiences
of shock are recoverable and we live life thriving not simply surviving.
I think I’m safe to say that the people we work with in our ZB practice will all
undoubtedly have their own unique experience of trauma and how this plays out in their
lives. Some may even be traumatised but that is a very different condition that may
need referral to a psychotherapist or counsellor, as was discussed during Amanada
Brauman King’s brilliant Zoom webinar: ZB and working with trauma. (29)
Not only is trauma a universal truth but so is the truth of suffering. The historical Buddha
taught the four noble truths, a framework for liberating Wisdom. The first noble truth is
‘Dukkha’ the truth of suffering or unsatisfactoriness, inherent in our basic ordinary
experience of life. Remembering that the Buddha's teachings are not presented as
something to believe in (necessarily) but are an invitation to be curious, to look deeply
and reflect on for ourselves.
Being with Truth and the truth of suffering. Presented in the 4 noble truths are three
major categories and differences in the causes of suffering. American Author and
Insight Meditation Teacher Joseph Goldstein's clear illustration, helps to frame and
contextualise the complexity of suffering into a surprisingly distilled format:
24
1. The suffering of experiences that are painful in themselves (where suffering most
frequently applies) in wars, violence, pain, hunger, political oppression etc
externally. Internally the pain of childbirth, ageing, sickness and death.
The optional but deeply conditioned suffering of pain in the mind, of fear, envy,
paranoia, greed along with numerous other conflicting emotions and mind states.
2. Suffering through the direct perception of changing nature, that whatever has the
nature to arise (which is everything we experience) will also pass away. Due to
the impermanent nature, nothing can be relied upon to bring lasting fulfilment.
3. Suffering caused by the burdensomeness of conditioned experience, inherent in
acquiring what is needed to fulfil the basic necessities of life like clean water,
food, shelter, medicine that often take a lot of effort and struggle. Joseph
Goldstein (30a)
There is a distinction to be drawn between pain and suffering, being two differing
experiences. The underlying theme of the four noble truths as a whole is the suffering of
attachment, aversion and craving that can be overcome by awakening.
‘Suffering is not inherent in the phenomenon of the world, only in the way the
unawakened mind experiences them’ Analyo (30b)
Suffering is a choice
The Budhha taught a path that leads to the cessation of suffering called the Noble
Eightfold Path, which is the fourth noble truth. This path involves ‘eight comprehensive
categories to practice, that can be refined into three dimensions of:
25
‘Mindfulness practice, ethical behaviour and compassionate action, or
understanding, cultivation and embodiment’. (31a) Jack Kornfield
The eight dimensions of awakened living are:
Skillful understanding, skillful resolve, skillful speech, skillful action, skillful livelihood,
skillful effort, skillful mindfulness & skillful concentration.
Taking this both literally and experientially, the eight dimensions of awakened living
could be an essential treatise on how to be a ZB’er. As Fritz says ‘spirituality is built into
ZB’. In the right circumstances, a comparative study could be insightful and worthy of
further exploration. The Venerable Ajahn Chah’s following statement however inspires
me greatly as an exploration of awakened living. Not alive on the page in thoughts and
concepts but in our everyday experience. A path we can all walk and embody for
ourselves:
‘The real Eightfold path is two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, a mouth, a tongue and
a body. It is the actual life you live, this is the Eightfold path. As you sit and as
you walk, you are the Eightfold path.’ (31b)
Jack Kornfield quoting his teacher Ajahn Chah.
Zero Balancing and being at interface [is] a practice of non grasping, avoiding extremes
and meeting in the middle. Neither getting lost in self, nor negating the other but by
being in the essential moment to moment with clarity and wholeness. As Fritz explains
when giving spiritual fulcrums:
‘I go deeper into myself, I become more quiet and more into my own being. But if
I’m totally in my own being space, then I’m no longer in doing and I can't do that.
Someone has to steer the ship and navigate the space of duality’ (32a)
26
Navigating the space of duality at interface surely takes a lot of practice. However it is a
skill to be learned in the unlearning and letting go of constructs, of how we think things
should or could be, with an ever deepening awareness of how things actually are.
‘There's nothing outside of awareness. Resting in mindful awareness itself is the
gateway to the liberated heart. Or we could translate that as Loving awareness.
The middle path neither removes you from the world nor gets you lost in it. To be
present and to love but without grasping’ (31c) Jack Kornfield
Conclusion
What I feel is being expressed in the unfolding of my writing are reflections on the
nature of human suffering and our relationship with it. Understanding how suffering isn’t
a necessity of living a life and can be brought to an end. Or at the least we can suffer
less. Made up of pairs of opposites our human experience is both animal and being,
sadness and joy, love and loss, pain and ease, illness and health, kindness and cruelty,
attraction and aversion, solitary and social, around and around in cycles of being and
doing, life and death. All of this somehow within a context of Zero Balancing and
specifically interface touch that is rooted in and promotes clarity of the oppositional
pairings of self and other, emptiness and form, energy and structure, cause and effect,
time and space. Whilst also opening up a space and potential to include and transcend
mundane experience, into more subtle states on consciousness and being. Somehow
within the many paradoxical truths of ZB, selfhood is both necessary and yet ceases to
be a major instrument in what unfolds as Fritz explains:
‘I relax into myself, into something deeper & beyond myself when someone
touches me on bone’. Fritz Smith (32b)
27
Clearly Fritz is referring to states of consciousness and having what we might call
a spiritual experience. Perhaps this is what separates the human being from the
human animal, or as Sadhguru suggests ‘the human creature’. In this way ZB is
also a practice and experience of resting into our essential nature, beyond the
dualisms of time and space, beyond an experience that is mine and into an
experience that lies beneath the constructs and personality we might call Unity,
God or oneness.
A thread of safety has emerged within my musings as a fundamental experience
necessary for change, wellbeing and transformation. Feeling safe is an essential
component of being able to survive and also to thrive. When we feel safe, our lives tend
to progress in happier healthier ways. Yet we can also become stuck in the habit of
safety, unable to venture into the deeper more turbulent waters. However I've shown
that Zero Balancing, amongst many things is a practice of safety. Through the practice
of interface touch, we define and support the integrity & autonomy of the individual. If
that’s not a skillful and wise relationship then I don't know what is. By anchoring into the
felt experience of whatever is happening, whilst it’s happening with presence, attention
and awareness we maintain a healthy boundary.
‘When we create a safe space by working from interface we create very clear
boundaries and connection with the other person. All of this adds to creating
safety, feelings of love and possibility’ Fritz Smith (32c)
Science has for some time now been evolving methods that measure the effects of
mindfulness based practices. This opening of a whole new interface and dialogue
between the historically polarising scientific, religious traditions and modern technology
and science is according to Dispenza:
‘demystifying the mystical, science has now become the contemporary language
of mysticism’ (33)
28
Finding new language to evidence the effects of mindful touch and Zero Balancing has
on the body, mind & spirit of recipients is precisely what the Zero Balancing Touch
Foundation ‘ZBTF’ is discovering. The ZBTF is able to show evidence based changes in
heart rate variability, potential brain wave states, polygraph testing etc that indicate
reductions in stress accompanied by a new sense of equilibrium and balance.
‘As a result of the new environment the body mind and spirit finds itself in,
positive changes to lifestyle and behaviour are more likely to occur’ (34) ZBTF
The scientific interface and measuring of the cause & effect of ZB is an exciting and
crucial leap forward. An advancement in ways not only we as ZB’ers can appreciate and
have confidence in the work we do, but also in the way Zero Balancing is perceived and
understood by the world around us. It is my hope and ambition for the art of Zero
Balancing to be elevated by new science, giving ZB even greater legitimacy and
potential to grow, flourish and reach others.
Looking at the broader implications of interface as a way of being with past experiences,
emotions and traumas. To perhaps look through a different lens and rediscover with the
clarity interface brings, how certain emotions, mindsets and behaviours run our lives
that are calling for closure and a clean disconnect. We've become so enmeshed and
identified with who we are, in relation to the heritage of the past. I marvel at the simple
elegance and wonder of ZB to offer someone an experience of themselves, as they are
without fabrication. Perhaps a momentary freedom from the complex enmeshment of
their lives into a truer felt sense of themselves, with their own agency and solitude.
Within the balance of Zero Balancing lies equanimity, which isn't an indifference and
retreating in fear from the world but a balance and openness to the dance of life, just as
it is.
This is the do be do be do - our human song
29
Resources
1. IMH (2017) Dukkha: All Things Suffering, Insight Meditation Houston [Blog]
Quoted from The Alagaddupama Sutta: The Water Snake Simili and The Raft,
Buddha
https://imhouston.wordpress.com/dharma-talks/guest-speakers/marvin-lummis/d
ukkha-all-things-suffering-10232017/
2. Jon Kabat Zinn - Mindfulness Wisdom and Healing in a time of Coronavirus
(Uploaded 2020) Youtube video added by Wisdom 2.0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2efOoRF_pw
3. Dr Fritz Smith (2020), Fritz ZBUK Zoom Call, Youtube Video added by ZBAUK
https://zerobalancinguk.org/fritz-zoom-call-for-zb-uk/
4. (a,b,c) Dispenza, J. (2012) Breaking The Habit Of Being Yourself, Hay House
Publishers
5. Yella Hewings Martin PHD (2019) ‘Fight or flight: Do our bones play a part’
Medical News Today [online]
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326326#Stress-response-not-possibl
e-without-bone
6. (a,b) Sarah Klein (2013) Quoting Sood, A. ‘Adrenaline, Norepinephrine and
Cortisol, three main stress hormones’, Huffington Post
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/adrenaline-cortisol-stress-hormones_n_31
12800
30
7. (a,b,c,) Dr David Hanscom (2020) Introducing Plan A - Thrive and Survive
Covid-19 [Podcast] Back in Control
https://www.blogtalkradio.com/backincontrol/2020/06/03/introducing-plan-a-thrive
-and-survive-covid-19
8. (a,b,c) Smith, F. (2020) Fritz - ZBUK Zoom Call, Youtube Video added by
ZBAUK https://zerobalancinguk.org/fritz-zoom-call-for-zb-uk/
9. (a,b) Jon Kabat Zinn (2017), Defining Mindfulness. Mindful [online]
https://www.mindful.org/jon-kabat-zinn-defining-mindfulness/
10.Dispenza, J. (2012) Breaking The Habit Of Being Yourself, Hay House
Publishers
11.ICFT (2018) Palden Gyatso Tibetan Monk. International Campaign For Tibet
[online]
https://savetibet.org/palden-gyatso-tibetan-monk-who-was-tortured-and-jailed-for-
33-years-passes-away/
12. (a,b) Batchelor, S. (2020) The Art Of Solitude, [Podcast] Upaya Zen Center
https://www.upaya.org/2020/03/batchelor-art-solitude/
13.Hermitary (2007) Rilke - Rainer Maria Rilke and Solitude, Resources and
Reflections on Hermits and Solitude [online]
https://www.hermitary.com/solitude/rilke.html
31
14.Jon Kabat Zinn - Mindfulness Wisdom and Healing in a time of Coronavirus
(Uploaded 2020) Youtube video added by Wisdom 2.0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2efOoRF_pw
15.Sterling, J.W. (2020) “The Greatest thing in the World is to know how to belong to
oneself” Reflecting with Montaigne on liberation of the intellect and education in
times of crisis, St Johns Digital Archives [online]
https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/show/7342
16.Maudsley, H. (1835-1918) The sorrow which has no vent in tears may cause
other organs to weep, Quotes [online]
https://www.quotes.net/quote/15503
17.Ram Dass (1971) Be Here Now, Lama Foundation Publishers
18.ZB and the power of transformation, Jim McCormick
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/u5AlJO2o_2k3H9aTtwSDCv56W9W0L66s0yM
b_aENn0u0BSNWOgL1YLIRN-EVeWjP0u6RObT7bK-ZvZwo
19.SadhGuru (2020)Covid Talk - Creature Or Being Youtube Video, added by Jaggi
Vasudev Path of Mukti
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfTM6sQcfaM
20.(a,b,c) James Gallagher (2017) More than half of your body is non human, BBC
Health News [online]
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43674270
21.Thich Nhat hanh (1987) Clouds In Each Paper [online] Wisdom2be, Quoted from
Being Peace, Parallax Press Publishers
32
https://www.wisdom2be.com/gems-poetry-wisdomstories/clouds-in-each-paper-b
y-thich-nhat-hanh
22.Tim Newman (1996) Chapter 14 Evidencing energy: experiences in Acupuncture
and therapeutic bodywork (Zero Balancing) Energy Medicine East and West,
Mayor, D.F. Churchill Livingstone Publishers (2011)
23.(a,b) Krista Tippett (2020) Michael McCarthy: Nature Joy and human becoming,
[Podcast] On Being.
https://onbeing.org/programs/michael-mccarthy-nature-joy-and-human-becoming
/
24.Gretchen Vogel (2017) Where Have All the Insects Gone, Science Mag [online]
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/where-have-all-insects-gone
25.Jon Muller (2020) Sedentary Lifestyle: The Shocking Statistics, Ergonomic
Trends [online]
http://ergonomictrends.com/sedentary-lifestyle-sitting-statistics/
26.Dr Joe Dispenza (2020) The role of Brain Waves in Meditation: Part One,
Unlimited Dr Joe Dispenza [Online]
https://drjoedispenza.com/blogs/dr-joe-s-blog/the-role-of-brainwaves-in-meditatio
n-part-i
27.Terrence Higgins Trust (2021) The 1980’s - Our History [online]
https://www.tht.org.uk/our-work/about-our-charity/our-history/1980s
33
28.The Gaily Grind (2013) LGBT History:Margaret Thatchers Anti Gay Speech
1987, Youtube Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3_9JbwcCJ8
29.Katy Chase, Amanda Brauman King (2020) Working with ZB and Trauma,
Building Bridges Recordings, Zoom [online]
https://zoom.us/rec/play/7sUkIe37_T83H93D4gSDUPJ_W428fKisgXQcr6UInUjnU3U
AZlr3Z-MSZ-U15MqGQplvEdOwIzeahDKX
30.(a,b) Joseph Goldstein (2017) Insight Hour - Episode 30 - The Four Noble
Truths, Be Here Now Network [Podcast]
https://beherenownetwork.com/joseph-goldstein-ep-30-four-noble-truths/
31.(a,b,c) Jack Kornfield (2018) Ep.72 Exploring the Eightfold Path, Be Here Now
Network [Podcast]
https://beherenownetwork.com/jack-kornfield-ep-72-exploring-eightfold-path/
32.(a,b,c) Dr Fritz Smith (2020), Fritz ZBUK Zoom Call,Youtube Video added by
ZBAUK https://zerobalancinguk.org/fritz-zoom-call-for-zb-uk/
33.Joe Dispenza (2021) Scientific Research and case studies, Unlimited Dr Joe
[online]
https://drjoedispenza.com/pages/scientific-research
34.ZBTF (2017) NSI Research Results and Overview, Zero Balancing Touch
Foundation [Online]
https://zbtouch.org/2017-nsi-research-results-and-overview/
34
Further listening and reading
Harry Theaker (2020) James Salomons: Integration at the heart of
transformation, [Podcast] Listen Notes
https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/in-coherence-harry-theaker-z_mUy8JWhR
V/
Fischer, D. Jon Kabbat Zinn (2010) Mindfulness and the cessation of suffering.
Lions Roar, [online]
https://www.lionsroar.com/mindfulness-and-the-cessation-of-suffering-an-exclusi
ve-new-interview-with-mindfulness-pioneer-jon-kabat-zinn/
Batchelor, S. (2020) The Art Of Solitude. Tricycle Magazine [online]
https://tricycle.org/magazine/solitude-in-buddhism/
Thich Nhat hahn (2017) The Insight Of Interbeing, Garrison Institute [online]
https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/blog/insight-of-interbeing/
Strudwick, P. (2021) The Unique Catharsis of It’s A Sin, Vice [online]
https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7mq8x/its-a-sin-aids-tv-drama-review?fbclid=Iw
AR1TIr5hWzl3g1eMNZjNN0jCgNLatHB0sjBbXYRwwtAwv7HFzZ0OQ-hKnsI
Stonewall (2021) Love Wins: Age of consent equalised for gay and bi men,
Stonewall [online]
https://www.stonewall.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/love-wins-age-consent-equalis
ed-gay-and-bi-men
Bhodi Anjo Daishin (2021) 8 Rights: The Noble Eightfold Path, Buddha Weekly
[Online]
35
https://buddhaweekly.com/the-noble-eightfold-path/
Joe Dispenza (2020) The Role of Brain Waves in Meditation: Part One, Dr Joe
Dispenza [Blog]
https://blog.drjoedispenza.com/the-role-of-brainwaves-in-meditation-part-i
Palden Gyatso Obituary
https://tibethouse.us/obituary-palden-gyatso/
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