Understanding Expanded States of Consciousness
Our brain drops into a deep Expanded State of Consciousness during a Zero Balancing session, which is where the body’s innate wisdom (our Inner Physician) activates the healing process.
Have you ever noticed how your mind feels after deep meditation, a quiet moment of stillness at the end of yoga, or the state of relaxation during a Zero Balancing session? That sense of openness, timelessness, and inner peace is part of what researchers call altered or expanded states of consciousness. This is a natural state of a shift in brain wave patterns that happens when the mind and body shift from high alert to deep rest and relaxation.
Expanded states of consciousness occur when brainwave activity slows from the busy beta frequencies of everyday thinking into the calmer alpha and theta ranges. These are the same patterns seen in meditation, light sleep, or the creative flow state. These are states of deep presence and receptivity, where the body’s stress response quiets and the parasympathetic nervous system of “rest and digest” can do its healing work.
As our body begins the process of neuroregulation (balancing the nervous system to shift out of our stress responses), we notice that our breath slows, muscle tension melts, and our sense of separation fades. This is where our whole being (body, mind, and emotions) naturally realigns, releasing stress patterns, restoring balance, and cultivating whole-being health.
There are many ways to enter states of expanded consciousness. Somatic practices help us soften and slow our thinking mind and connect with deeper inner rhythms:
Mindfulness and meditation help anchor our awareness in the present moment
Yoga or gentle movement assists with synchronizing breath and body for relaxation
Breathwork calms the nervous system and brings coherence
Zero Balancing (ZB) helps us feel calmer, more aware and connected to ourselves
Insight Acupressure restores energy flows and connects us with soul wisdom
All these approaches invite your nervous system to return to its natural state of harmony, where the body’s innate wisdom (our inner physician) can guide us towards greater health.
I like to recommend approaches like Conscious Breathwork, Zero Balancing and Insight Acupressure which are all ideal options for reducing the body’s stress response. They allow the body to move gently into expanded states, with full choice and awareness.
If strong emotions or memories do arise, working with a skilled trauma-attuned practitioner who can pause, ground, and bring you back into the present moment is essential. This integration of the trauma response as it arises can be a pathway to transformation.
In recent months, I’ve experienced two different Conscious Breathwork sessions paired with sound healing, guided by skilled, trauma-attuned facilitators. Both experiences were profoundly relaxing and offered a doorway into deeper inner work. I was actively engaged in the breathing practice while feeling safely supported, which invited a deep sense of release and renewal.
When I receive a Zero Balancing or Insight Acupressure session, the experience feels similar yet distinct. Both of these bodywork techniques invite the body and mind into an expanded state of awareness where deep healing can occur. Breathwork asks me to participate; bodywork invites me to surrender. In those moments of stillness and trust, I enter an expanded state where my body’s innate healing unfolds through compassionate, mindful touch.
¨Experience has taught us that as people move into expanded states they are less bound by specific definitions of themselves, definitions in which illnesses are often embedded. People seem more prone to change and healing … Expanded states can be brought about by introducing two contrary sensations simultaneously, such as pain and pleasure, or structure and energy. Holding a fulcrum with these characteristics can induce an expanded state of consciousness, or give the person an experience of unity, which is also an expanded or enhanced awareness.¨ (Core Zero Balancing Study Guide, Sullivan & Smith, 2020)
In recent years, medical research has explored psychedelic-assisted therapy and microdosing as methods to reach expanded states of consciousness for mental health and trauma recovery. This is such a big conversation with many different perspectives. While these studies show great promise for working with trauma, psychedelics also carry risks of potential re-traumatization if used without trained practitioners and integration. Once a psychedelic process begins, you cannot “stop” the experience if a trauma response surfaces. I was recently invited to work with a client at a local hospital using Zero Balancing and Process Acupressure for integration during microdosing, with very positive results. The bodywork allowed the process to unfold andintegrate in a safe and transformational way. This makes me very curious about how Zero Balancing and Process Acupressure can help integrate these deeper level of expanded consciousness in supervised settings in the future for those who need more assistance than breathwork or bodywork alone.
True healing occurs when the mind, body, and spirit align in a state of coherence. That’s when our internal rhythms (heart, breath, and brainwaves) synchronize and our inner physician knows what is needed to restore health and well-being. Expanded states naturally create a state of coherence and invite the body’s wisdom to restore balance. Our body recalibrates at the cellular level and releases those imprinted vibrational patterns (from habits, thoughts, childhood patterns and stressful experiences) trapped in the fabric of our whole being. Both Zero Balancing and Insight Acupressure (Clinical and Process Acupressure) bring a clearer, stronger, more organized field of high personal regard and unconditional love through the whole person, allowing other vibrational patterns of old habits and learned patterns of response to let go at the deepest levels of our being.
Recent research published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Transformative Touch has shown the benefits of Zero Balancing for reducing anxiety and improving overall well-being. The results are backed by rigorous research and validate what somatic and body-mind practitioners, psychotherapists, and clients already know: working with the body effectively reduces anxiety in a measurable way. It’s inspiring to see modern science affirm what practitioners have known for decades: when we touch the whole person, transformation happens naturally.
If you’re curious as a holistic practitioner about training in Zero Balancing and Insight Acupressure, consider joining one of my Zero Balancing or Clinical Acupressure classes. You’ll learn how skilled touch at the interface of energy and structure can safely, gently, and effectively open the opportunity for our clients let go of these old patterns of response while reaching the more peaceful expanded states of stillness and coherence. Follow my class listing on Linktr.ee/DWaggy for future classes in 2026.
For more information on Expanded States of Awareness from a Zero Balancing perspective, read Zero Balancing: Conscious Touch and Transformation by James McCormick or the various research and media at Zero Balancing Health Foundation website.
This article was originally sent out to my Newsletter mailing list in November 2025. Consider joining my newsletter list at DWaggy.com/newsletter-signup.
