“Get on the Ball!”
By Sharon Sklar, Certifi ed Advanced Rolfer
two years of anatomy and my last two years had a project each year of a life size sculp- ture. We built armatures which were the skeletal support and then modelled the clay, covering the “bones” in realistic, anatomy- specifi c muscles. Over those years, I grew to love the human body.
M A year out of college, my fascination
with the body-mind connection had me reading everything I could on the subject. It made total sense to me that we can’t sepa- rate the body from the mind and vice versa. Stuckness in the body creates a stuckness in the mind. An out of balance hip from a fall on the ice last year can create physical stress and strain patterns that don’t allow the body to heal or move freely. This imbal- ance can then lead to hip, knee and back problems, perhaps resulting in a hip re- placement in the coming years. Depression and sadness can develop from the pain.
I have spent the last 40 years study- ing and doing structural bodywork called Rolfi ng®
. It is direct manipulation of the
connective tissue of the body that brings us back to organization and balance after disruption. The accidents, injuries and traumas of life can shift our physical reality so that we are out of balance. Our traumas, our grief and our injuries can get stuck in the body. I found in my work as a Rolfer; a way to promote relief and release.
In the late 70’s, I came across an in- credible book, “The Body Has Its Reasons,” (now out of print) written by a French physical therapist Therese Bertherat. Her premise was to use our own body weight over balls of different sizes to release mus- cular tightness throughout the body. In my
www.NaturalNutmeg.com 17
y undergraduate degree was in sculpture from Boston University. We studied the human form with
Roll out stress, roll in ease with
Yamuna® Rolfi ng® Body Rolling practice, I taught all of my clients
to use a raquetball to juice up and soften the tension around the mid to upper back which released tightness in the neck, shoul- ders and between the shoulder blades. The other place of great benefi t was working in the fl eshy part of the buttocks to release deep tightness that led to lower back and hamstring tightness.
What a success! People loved their
raquetballs. They felt looser and could commit to two or three minutes a day for self-care. The down side was that a raquetball was too small to work the low back, waist and abdomen without causing spasms and risking injury.
Flash forward to 2004. I was intro- duced to another form of ball release work called Yamuna® Body Rolling (YBR). It involved rolling on a series of balls that are
smaller than basketballs. The technique was specifi c and had structure behind it, not the arbitrary “roll it out” that I knew be- fore. I was intrigued and entered a training in NYC right away.
This self-massage technique uses specially designed balls that absorb weight and deliver maximum benefi ts. YBR is tailored to your body by changing the pres- sure you use and is the perfect choice for at-home care.
The benefi ts of YBR include:
• effective self-massage • releases and re-educates muscles • strengthens and tones your body • provides weight-bearing exercise • improves bone density • core strengthening • heals and prevents injury
I designed and am teaching a two-hour introductory workshop that explores move- ment and freedom from your feet to your head. The workshop is fun and informative. Much of the work is done on a yoga mat or
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
