[.ca] Body Rolling (ISBN 0892817305)

From Amazon.com:
Here's a workout with one big difference from all the others: it uses a ball. Among others, the kind of lightweight vinyl ball you often see stacked up in huge cages in toy stores (perhaps the cheapest piece of workout equipment ever). Zake, a yoga teacher and bodywork practitioner, began developing her techniques 20 years ago to help herself recover from a hip injury. She believes that rolling on the ball in various ways stimulates muscles at their origins, causing them to relax and elongate; at the same time, the gentle pressure increases circulation to the muscles and tendons. This in turn helps balance the body and relieve all kinds of painful conditions in the back, neck, shoulders, and legs, as well as improving the results produced by any other bodywork techniques. Body Rolling is structured for bodywork practitioners to use with their clients, and the anatomical language is somewhat technical. Still, the exercises are well illustrated, and there's no reason readers with a certain amount of fitness knowledge can't do these routines themselves. If you really get into it, you can order more flexible, reinflatable balls from Zake's company.

For Massage Therapists, Body Workers...ONLY:
This book was not written for the lay person. It was meant for Therapists or anyone else with a good working knowledge of Anatomy. Seek out someone certified in Body Rolling if you don't have these requirements. Make your life easier. Or wait until they release a Video. The basic idea behind Body Rolling is to work from the bone to the tendon to the muscle. Working from the origin to the insertion creating length. It has great therapeutic uses. Don't judge it until you've tried it.

A breakthrough in self-exploration:
This book is not for the person who wants an easy fix. But for anyone willing to put in the time it is just this side of miraculous. You will likely add inches and flexibility to your ribcage - increasing room for your lungs and other internal organs (I added 1-1/2 inches in 3 weeks). Your posture will improve, and as a result, you will likely add to your height (I added 1/2"). But best of all, you will look and feel rejuvinated. I have done yoga, weight lifting, walking, running - all the normal stuff. Body Rolling beats it all hands down for relaxing and energizing your body (and face - I added a face routine of my own based on the same principles.) It helps to have a knowledge of anatomy, but, with one of the anatomy books she lists at the back, this can definitely be acquired as you work through the protocols. This will increase the time it takes to learn these routines - I found just working the back to take about 1-1/2 hours the first time or two. But now it takes about a half an hour. Additionally, in areas where you are very stiff, ie: the rib cage, you may end up very sore for awhile, requiring ice and heat, but stick with it, the results are more than worth it.

Technical - For Professionals and Wannabes:
I figured out on my own that rolling on a ball was a very effective way to deal with my back problems. According to the book I even figured out the exactly correct size ball for my size. I figured that this book would provide some great additional info. Frankly, it probably does, but the terminology and assumed knowledge of anatomy is so great that I quickly got glassy-eyed. Bottom line: The technique is great, and the book is informative, but unless you have a technical background in body work, or are highly motivated to learn about this technique on your own, it's too difficult of a read to get a lot out of.

A remarkable method for loosening and repositioning the body:
This remarkable book promises great rewards for those willing to take the time needed to go carefully through each sequence. I studied ballet for 20 years, regularly do a series of floor exercises and do Pilates work. Yamuna Zake's Body Rolling, however, has done things for my back, shoulders, neck and feet that I've found truly astonishing. I have yet to try the other sequences in the book but expect to find the same impressive results. The book is technical; for the first few sessions, one needs to have an anatomy book close by and carefully chart out the trajectory of a particular sequence. There might well be a lot of starting and stopping as one reexamines the text and plots one's course. And above all, one should understand that this work is not about continuous rolling, but rather about finding a series of points along an identified path and STOPPING to breathe (at least one full slow breath, but more is better) every 1/2 inch or so. Most people are not accustomed to working this slowly; the benefits reaped will make it well worth your while. The work is progressive; at first my arms trembled from having to support my body in a particular position for so long, and my buttocks and legs longed to rest. But after a few sessions, I no longer feel that struggle--besides opening up the parts of the body targeted by the ball, this work also strenghtens arms and legs and works the buttocks. To become familiar with the work required time and patience; in return, I have a body that hasn't felt this free in many years--a loose pelvis, lower, repositioned shoulders, a free neck, flexible feet. I now find the process thoroughly enjoyable. I found this book by accident and consider it a treasure.

Too technical and not user-friendly:
very hard book to get to grips with. I gave up after the first chapter