Yamuna Body Rolling
On a chilly Saturday morning, I ventured downtown to the West Village to a place called Yamuna Studio, the home of the Yamuna Body Rolling technique. Located in the trendiest neighborhood in Manhattan, Yamuna Studio was not at all what I expected. Instead of snobby New York City women in designer workout gear, I saw people of all kinds—men and women, both young and old, in loose fitting comfy clothes. Many exercise facilities in New York can be off-putting and intimidating, but not Yamuna Studio. I felt welcome immediately.
After singing a consent form, I placed my shoes and bag in the cubbies and entered the studio. I watched the other Yamuna practitioners as they placed their mats on the floor and grabbed 4 balls—a larger yellow ball, a medium-sized red ball, a softer green one and a tiny black one. I did the same and sat down on my mat.
When the instructor entered, she began explaining some of the concepts we’d be covering in the class. She introduced herself as Mary and used a skeleton to demonstrate which parts of the body we’d be targeting. Using the balls, which vary in size and firmness, we’d roll them along different muscles in order to loosen, lengthen and create a greater range of motion in our bodies. Created by Yamuna herself, internationally acclaimed educator, bodyworker, herbalist and aromatherapist, we learned how the technique re-educates muscles and stimulates bone to create a positive, long-term change in the body.
Mary asked if any of us had any specific injuries or problem areas, so I mentioned a back problem I had recently been struggling with. I woke up one morning with an intense muscle spasm, and it was still causing pain a few weeks later. I hoped Yamuna Body Rolling would help reduce the discomfort I was experiencing.
Sure enough it did. We spent a considerable amount of time working through the back muscles, as well as the rest of the body. First, we used the red ball, which is rather firm. We began by sitting on the ball on our right sits bone, making circles both clockwise and counterclockwise to loosen up the muscles. We did the same thing on the left side.
After circling, we moved the ball down the leg, stretching out the hamstrings. As a dancer, I can never seem to stretch the hamstrings enough—placing the leg on the ballet barre just doesn’t get deep enough. But this stretch was so satisfying. I could go as deep as I wanted, moving the ball further down my leg to just above the back of the knee. We did this on both sides, then relaxed on our backs for a few moments to feel and internalize what parts of the body were just worked.
Next, we focused on the hip with the small black ball, starting at the trochanter and working our way around to the back of the pelvis. We did this exercise lying on our side, lifting the bottom leg off the ground slowly and lowering it back down to get a deeper stretch in the hip joint. During this exercise, I was able to feel a considerable lengthening in my leg. After doing it on both sides, we relaxed on our backs to reflect on the exercise. Lying there on the mat, I felt at least two inches taller.
After we worked the hip, it was time to focus on our backs. We used the red ball and started on our right sits bone. We slowly moved the red ball up the right side of the back, eventually ending up at the base of the neck near the cranium. This exercise felt better and more satisfying than a deep tissue massage. After we worked both the right and left sides, my back felt stress free. Initially, I was worried about my injury, unsure how the Yamuna technique would affect the spasm. After the exercise, I felt as if the muscle spasm had never even occurred.
The last exercise was one that may take a while to get used to. We used the softer yellow ball and placed it just above our pelvic bone, lying face down on the mat. We slowly rolled the ball upward to just below the naval. This exercise was supposed to stretch out the muscles covering the internal organs, bringing more blood flow to the area. It wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t exactly comfortable either. Mary explained that it might take a few classes to stretch out the muscles above the pelvis enough so it feels comfortable.
Overall, my experience taking Yamuna Body Rolling was a positive one and I would highly recommend it to all dancers. It was like doing yoga and Pilates while receiving a deep tissue massage all at the same time. I left the class feeling renewed, invigorated and completely in touch with my body. I was ready to tackle my Saturday afternoon!
For more information on Yamuna Body Rolling or to find a class, visit yamunabodyrolling.com.