Judith Sullivan's Creative Side

Tell Me A StoryJudith's Far Side

I am a bodyworker and also a trainer of bodyworkers having worked in this field for 50 years. I teach Zero Balancing, CranioSacral Therapy and Visceral Mobilization. I pretty much get really good feedback, but what students mention most, that they remember most is the stories that I tell or the theatre exercises I have them engage in. Stories seem to engage the imagination better than facts. However, I do like facts, and big words. Sometimes I need to use the big words to impress upon my clients how much I know; sometimes because I need to say them in order to remember them; and sometimes just because it is fun. For instance, did you know that the auditory tube (used to be the eustachian tube) ends in the soft palate between the tensor veli palatini and the levator veli palatini? Now, who doesn’t need to know that? Those two muscles sound like a delicacy in an Italian restaurant! Now they can impress their friends!

Judith Sullivan has spent a lifetime as a professional body work specialist. She has studied bodies in the sky, in water, and on land; and discovered deep and hilarious revelations through her work. In Judith’s stories, she shares decades in of insights and experiences— you see and hear her world, journeys and epiphanies. It's storytelling from the whole body.

She speaks of her own experiences and insights about her own body as well as insights from the viewpoint of being a practitioner and working with bodies since 1972.

Judith's performance at Live Arts in Charlottesville was filmed for posterity. You are invited to enjoy her gifts as a storyteller and watch her Far Side in action.

Inspire Yourself: Volunteer!

At least twenty years ago at a Zero Balancing Faculty meeting, someone mentioned that it would be great if we could offer free ZB sessions. That kept resonating with me, so in 2008 I first volunteered by offering ZBs for a harried staff at the Obama campaign before I started volunteering at the Haven in Charlottesville

The Haven’s mission is to end homelessness in the greater Charlottesville community where I live. Motivated by radical hospitality (the homeless are guests here), The Haven strives to be the point of entry for people seeking stable housing. I like that they open the doors wide for any and everyone, no matter their circumstances. Every day, the trained staff and community volunteers come together, working side by side to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring for our neighbors. Even though it was once a church and has added offices, it functions more as a community meeting place. I have been offering sessions to staff at The Haven since 2009.

Read about the history of Judith's work at The Haven and the experiences of staff receiving ZB treatments.

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