is it possible to change the colour of the line "You have recovered balance on your right/left arm", to something other than grey so that it stands out more? when a lot of stuff is happening its really difficult to know when you can strike next

Make a trigger with that pattern and use #CW

so something like #TRIG {You have recovered balance on your {right|left} arm} {#CW pink}

Yep, use the power of your client!

If you use ZMUD/CMUD don't forget your ^ and $.

#trigger {{^You have recovered balance on your (*) arm.$} {#cw coloryouwanthere}}

Something like that (just can't remember if I added too many brackets)

edit- or you could use {left|right} instead of (*)

hmm its not working, i must be doing it wrong. im using zmud so maybe someone could tell me where to put that line? i tried "triggers" -> "new" -> and then i put it under the "pattern" tab in the "pattern" text field.

No, just copy/paste it into the input line where you'd type commands for playing the game.

okay i typed #trigger {{^You have recovered balance on your (*) arm.$} {#cw green} into the command line but it didnt change anything

If you want to use that one, the correct syntax is:

I must say though, using (*) to capture is -really- bad practice. You are much better being more specific and maybe using RegEx. (Check my example above for what I mean here)

You would do well to trigger it off your prompt instead, though that is getting pretty advanced. Of course, do ask when you feel you are ready to do it this way. (Most people I know do)

EDIT: Best thing I can suggest is to just look over some code....A LOT. I have a system base available for you to peruse if you like to get some example of what zMUD can do.
http://pastehere.com/?ehlsfu