Athletes, individuals who struggle with chronic pain and you lucky birds without chronic pain can all benefit from both foam rolling and small ball release. You are likely familiar with foam rolling. Foam rollers can be large or small, relatively short or longer than the average torso. These dense rollers allow individuals to engage in self-directed myofascial release along longer planes and relatively broad and flat areas of the body.
Myofascial release stimulates the muscles as if they were being stretched through direct pressure. You have experienced myofascial release if you have ever gotten a massage. This pressure helps to relax muscles, improves circulation and breaks up fascia and other connective tissues. This is a critical process, given that if fascia becomes overused and tight, it can restrict movement, cause muscle pain and decrease circulation.
I have a love/hate relationship with my foam roller (I love rolling out my back but rolling out my calves tends to hurt so bad that I swear when I’m doing it if I’m alone) but I soon discovered after beginning to use it regularly that my foam roller just isn’t enough for me. I am a relatively petite woman and the long, flat, broad parts of my body that are easy to foam roll just are not very long, flat or broad. Plus, the foam roller isn’t great for directing pressure at sensitive areas like underneath my shoulder blades, right next to my spine and my hip flexors. In addition, I LOVE my masseuse, but massages are expensive and are therefore rare for me.
So, thank goodness I discovered small ball release. I took a complimentary class in this technique a few years back from Time Out Studio in Minneapolis. After class, I immediately went online and purchased a set of the small balls used in class (with the tote, as some exercises are done with the balls in the tote) from a site called Yoga Tune Up (https://www.yogatuneup.com/ytu-therapy-balls-wtote - If you are a bigger person, this site also sells slightly bigger balls in a tote as well).
You use these balls much like you would use a foam roller. However, because they are small (smaller and denser than tennis balls) they work great for spinal release, hip flexor release and should blade release. The more often you use them, the more it feels fantastic to roll out. If I miss a few days, the direct pressure becomes more difficult to breathe through, which lets me know that my fascia is too dang tight. I once read that foam rolling (and small ball release) is like flossing… you have to do it every day to see real benefits. And that observation rings very true.
If you have any questions about small ball release, just send them my way. I am a huge advocate and would be happy to provide you with any feedback that I can.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Tension and Release
I learned a valuable lesson recently at the pain clinic that can apply to anyone, even if you are not currently dealing with physical pain. The lesson has to do with how the body often copes with both psychological and physical pain through the process of tension and release.
As I have previously noted, I am currently able to get through most workdays without too much trouble. Some days are unquestionably harder than others, but I feel fairly okay about not taking medical leave at this exact point in time. However, it seems that as soon as my workday ends, my body falls apart. I struggle with fatigue and pain during the day, but at night I have fatigue, severe pain, vomiting, fever symptoms, etc. that tend to be far, far less present during the day.
My doctors recently explained to me that I seem to be extraordinarily tense throughout the day. Although this tension is complicating issues I’m having with my neck, shoulders and jaw, the doctors explained that my body has fooled me into thinking that this tension is ultimately beneficial.
Essentially, this tension builds against the sensation of pain that is present during the day. Overall, significant tension is how my body is allowing itself to push through the tasks I absolutely must get through to pay the bills. When I finally allow my body to relax, the pain that has been there all along floods my system.
Apparently this is a very human and very common response to both physical and psychological pain, especially among those of us who struggle with rest, relaxation and achieving peace (cough, cough… ahem. Excuse me…). The body naturally guards itself against feeling pain by tensing up and remaining on high alert. When the body relaxes, the already-present pain is felt far more fully.
“Ummm…” I stuttered, “Does this mean that I have to relax and feel severe pain all the time?” The answer to this question is complex. However, it seems that by gradually learning not to tense against feeling pain that I will better be able to deal with pain as it occurs throughout the day instead of pushing myself to breaking and then cracking in half after my work is through.
I realize that for a great deal of my life I responded to psychological pain in this way. Though I do far less so now, I surely do when it comes to physical pain. If you are struggling with tensing against physical or psychological pain, I encourage you to think about the phenomenon of tension and release. Even though you may not yet be ready to let down and allow yourself to feel your pain in order to better work through it, a little awareness of what may be happening inside your body may be beneficial whenever you are ready to exhale a bit.
As I have previously noted, I am currently able to get through most workdays without too much trouble. Some days are unquestionably harder than others, but I feel fairly okay about not taking medical leave at this exact point in time. However, it seems that as soon as my workday ends, my body falls apart. I struggle with fatigue and pain during the day, but at night I have fatigue, severe pain, vomiting, fever symptoms, etc. that tend to be far, far less present during the day.
My doctors recently explained to me that I seem to be extraordinarily tense throughout the day. Although this tension is complicating issues I’m having with my neck, shoulders and jaw, the doctors explained that my body has fooled me into thinking that this tension is ultimately beneficial.
Essentially, this tension builds against the sensation of pain that is present during the day. Overall, significant tension is how my body is allowing itself to push through the tasks I absolutely must get through to pay the bills. When I finally allow my body to relax, the pain that has been there all along floods my system.
Apparently this is a very human and very common response to both physical and psychological pain, especially among those of us who struggle with rest, relaxation and achieving peace (cough, cough… ahem. Excuse me…). The body naturally guards itself against feeling pain by tensing up and remaining on high alert. When the body relaxes, the already-present pain is felt far more fully.
“Ummm…” I stuttered, “Does this mean that I have to relax and feel severe pain all the time?” The answer to this question is complex. However, it seems that by gradually learning not to tense against feeling pain that I will better be able to deal with pain as it occurs throughout the day instead of pushing myself to breaking and then cracking in half after my work is through.
I realize that for a great deal of my life I responded to psychological pain in this way. Though I do far less so now, I surely do when it comes to physical pain. If you are struggling with tensing against physical or psychological pain, I encourage you to think about the phenomenon of tension and release. Even though you may not yet be ready to let down and allow yourself to feel your pain in order to better work through it, a little awareness of what may be happening inside your body may be beneficial whenever you are ready to exhale a bit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)