~ How come
this feels so tight / sore?
~ How often should I do this at home?
~ Why there's that many more women then men practicing yoga (I might be under-qualified to answer this one...)?
I also wanted to let you know that I am going to do my best to answer all of your yoga questions. Here is I am thinking: each week I'm gonna pluck a question out of the pile and answer it on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon. How does that sound, ?
Back over to our yoga practice:
Now that you are familiar with the background of yin yoga a natural question might be, "What's up with the ball rolling - and why does it hurt so bad?"
Ball rolling wasn't a part of my yin yoga training - and it is most
definitely not a part of a traditional yin yoga practice. I was introduced to ball rolling by one of my compatriots (now you know why it hurts so bad.... Nah, just kidding!) during Wonderlust Whistler Yoga festival a few years ago.
This guy (he was actually a sleep scientist from Massachusetts University) had us do this interesting practice: we tried a certain yoga
stretch, then ball out the area, and then test the stretch again. The results were nothing short of mind blowing - as any yoga practice really should be - so I took note.
A few years later, and upon finishing the second of my two yin trainings I got to thinking: both yin and ball rolling target the connective tissue, but they do this in very different ways. What if I
combine the two?
I tried... and you know the rest.
Here is some science behind ball rolling:
A muscle stays short, tense and contracted because the nervous system is telling it to do so.
Muscles that have become locked up due to stress, injury or poor movement patterns create an internal dam effect – nutrients aren’t delivered into the hungry tissues, and waste products aren’t filtered out.
This is one of the reasons why knots are tender to touch: the inflammation locked into the tissues
irritates the nerve cells within the knots, causing pain.
Balls increase circulation and stretch wherever they are rolled. The rolling and kneading action unglues persistent myofascial restrictions by unwinding knots, sticky lumps, and adhesions.
One of the reasons ball rolling is so effective is that we move in a different pattern on them than we usually do when standing up. This results in a kind of cross-training effect, where you relieve the muscles and joints of the usual stresses, and also activate them in fresh, innovative ways.
The nervous system gets a chance to try out new pathways for movement control, and gravity tugs on the body at different angles. Ball rolling and its direct effect on the nervous system is what makes this technique a perfect go-to tool for pain management.
Deliberate ball work coupled with a mindful attitude alters the nervous tone, induces relaxation, helps your body breathe better, which, in turn, further reduces nervousness and anxiety.
In other
words, I love ball + yin; after meditation, this is my most favorite go - to tool.
Here are two printouts to help you navigate ball rolling at home:
BALL 101 (ball on the wall)
BALL 201
