Foam Rolling Your Way to Body-Mind-Soul Health!Self Myofascial ReleaseThe practice of foam rolling is more than physical. The purpose of this article is for you to find healing of your body, mind and soul through learning the technique of self myofascial release. I have learned that meditative movement on a hard-core roller can be a very intuitive and spiritual process for you to discover where your own personal body-mind-soul issues lie. These issues manifested in your physical body can be easily discovered when you roll on the roller. Just like discovering the spirituality of the body through traditional Chinese exercises like Yoga My friend, Della, from Practical Spiritual Healing Guide agrees with me. She has Myofascial Pain Syndrome and she uses her roller almost every day in order to break up the scar tissue in her upper back. This practice maintains her body-mind-soul health. ‘Why do we spend years using up our bodies to nurture our minds with experience and find our minds turning then to our exhausted bodies for solace?’ ~ Author Unknown Scroll down the page for a listing of the foam roller exercises and stretches that I will teach you. Understanding Where Your Muscle Knots and Hot Spots Are!You learned in the Body Window that you hold tension in your body as a result of your habitual stress patterns. You hold your breath as you pull in your stomach and tense specific muscles as a result of strong reactions to strong emotions. You also learned in Emotions Affect Our Body that your body is a storage ground for the emotions that you keep suppressed. Your body stores emotions if you are unable feel them and heal them by allowing them to felt fully and released. These emotional responses lead to the holding of stress that leads to the problems of the tight, sore, tension-filled muscles. Your held tension targets certain areas in your body and certain muscles as a result of YOUR specific stress pattern, and YOUR habits of holding stress in your body. That specific area where you hold your tension creates an imbalance in your muscles and in your body. The constant, static tension held in muscles leads to tightness and weakness in the effected muscle. This tightness is called a muscle knot, hot spot or trigger point. Other muscles attempt to take over for the tight and weak ones, which can no longer perform as well. This leads to stiffness, knots in muscles, and poor joint mobility. All of this eventually results in a stiff body that is unbalanced. This lack of balance is more than just physical. As you have learned throughout my website the imbalance is one of the body-mind-soul. In Developing Intuition by using your body, I taught you that often your affected body parts are metaphors for what is really going on in your life. Read What is a Metaphor and Why is it Important to understand body metaphors. Your muscle issues are often issues of your body-mind-soul. We all have a weaker side - a side that is tighter, sorer, more overused. We are all unbalanced and need work! See the body metaphor? Creating balance and health in your body, automatically creates health in your soul (See Intuitive Movement and Self-Love )! Creating health in your body will automatically create emotional health. A healthy mind can only exist in a healthy body. Simple, Most Enlightening Tool for Body HealthNow you are going to learn one of the simplest, most effective way to take care of your body. Those who discover foam rolling, myself included become addicted to its therapeutic effects. Athletes all over the world depend on the roller. No other gym toy works quite like the simple, lowly and inexpensive foam roller. You can purchase a 36" one for under 15 dollars. I personally use the Power Systems foam rollers. They are great rollers for the price and I have tried many different ones. None have compared so far to their comfort and durability. I am particularly fond of the Premium Textured EVA foam roller from Power Systems. The one I purchased is the best I have to date. It is nice and cushioned on the outside, but firm on the inside for effective foam rolling. It also has a textured surface to stick to my Premium Yoga sticky mat better. It is pricier than the cheap ones, but worth every penny. If you choose a foam roller that is not at least a high-density one, it may compress over time and not be as effective. Some people who are highly sensitive may want to use an air roller instead of a foam roller. It is filled with air instead of foam, and is softer and more cushioned than a foam roller. It may be just the ticket to some initial, gentle self myofascial release, especially if you already have painful issues in your muscles. The lower back can be a very sensitive and emotional area if you have lumbar back pain. If you have back pain and wish to try out foam rolling you may want to try an air roller first. I have also read where some really tough guys use PVC pipe for a roller! Now that is some serious self myofascial release! I would not recommend it to start out, for sure. Foam rolling is my personal favorite technique for understanding where your imbalance lies, where your muscle knots and trigger points are (Yoga Muscle knots and hot spots may represent congestion and clutter in your life. You need to clear the ‘toxins’ and clear the clutter. You need to clear your junk in your body, in your life and in your home (See Simple Living and Simplify! Simplify! ). All of your junk, in your body, your home, your heart and in your soul is a metaphor for what is weighing you down, what needs a cleaning out in your life. Think of removing congestion and clutter as you roll your muscle knots and allow simplicity, peace and understanding to flow in instead.
Body-Mind-Soul Reasons for doing Foam RollingFoam Roller exercises provide the following benefits:
Self Myofascial ReleaseFoam rolling is a very effective way for self myofascial release. The fascia of a muscle is simply the fibers or thick layer that surrounds and encapsulates a muscle. Fascia alsosurrounds other tissues and organs of the body. Theprefix ‘myo’ stands for muscle therefore myofascia simply means the fascia of the muscle. The purpose of the myofascia is to support and lubricate the muscle. As the muscle contracts, the fascia prevents the muscle from catching other muscles or tissues. The myofascia consists of microtubules of collagen and elastin that carry the lubricant fluid. Nerves and blood vessels also travel through the myofascia. The fascia is rich in nerve endings. When the fascia becomes compressed or twisted, the sensation of pain or soreness is felt. This is the ‘hot spot’ the muscle knot. The sensation may also be carried down the length of the muscle and to other tissues as well to feel like a sore hip or sore leg. Foam rolling is often called the poor man’s massage. It is very effective at deep tissue muscle work or self myofascial release. You can control the pressure by the amount of weight you apply to the roller. You can also control the exact location for the pressure, by shifting your weight slighty up or down, right or left. Plus you can hold the pressure for as long or as short as you like. Self myofascial release on a foam roller is totally controlled by you. By rolling a muscle you can easily find the knots, loosen them and elongate the muscle by rolling it. It is generally thought that by practicing Pilates, Yoga Feeling longer and taller is more about balance. The feeling of elongation, evenness and balance is felt when your muscles are flexible, relaxed and without tension. Often you don’t know how relaxation and balance feel because you are trapped in abnormal ways of holding and sensing your body. When you start using the foam roller, you will learn where your imbalance lies. You will know which hamstring or which quadriceps group is pulling more of the weight, because that side will be sorer or tighter. You will focus your self myofascial release exercises on that sore and tight area. Re-balancing your body through foam rolling uses self myofascial release techniques that help you balance each side more effectively. You become cognitively aware that one hip is sorer than the other, or one IT band is tighter than the other. If one side is tighter or sorer than the other, most likely you are using the one side more than the other. When you do your body rolling and physical movements, meditate on your weaker side and tell it to pull the load evenly. Reflect on your balance, both physically and your life balance. Listen to your body’s message.
Self Myofascial Release and Emotional ReleaseThe added benefit of foam rolling if you make it a meditative practice, it can also be a tool for emotional release. When you roll your muscles, the physical tension is released. The feeling of well being is enormous if you add the meditative dimension and really open your heart to what the significance of the tension in the particular area may represent in your life. You can read Intuitive Movement if you want to understand this concept more. I always seem to have lower back and hip issues, especially on the right side. I deeply roll the lower back and hip areas and say personal affirmations for health. For me it is: “The Universe supports me in all things. I release control and surrender to a larger plan that awaits me with all good things, so that I may prosper and be well.” These are my issues. Do your body scan (See Developing Intuition ) to discover your area(s) that need attention. As you roll your muscles, meditate on the meaning of your sore areas. Create Positive Affirmations for Health to heal your body-mind-soul. Just remember that foam roller exercises may bring up feelings you did not expect. The emotional response is unique to you and may be ‘weird,’ frightening, confusing or just different. Embrace the emotions by just staying aware of them, and if you feel safe, move into them to feel them fully. (See Emotions Affect Our Body for more information on this technique). Thank your body for its message and sit with the emotions along with the pressure on the muscle until they are released. Eventually over time, as the physical and emotional congestion is cleared, the rolling exercises will bring you great feelings of release and therefore peace and calm. Foam Roller ExercisesPlease see the exercises that I have posted below, to help you with your Intuitive Movement on the foam roller. You can use a 36 inch roller or a smaller, 18 inch one, it doesn't matter. However, I have found that the 36 inch one is much easier to manipulate and balance on, so if you are a beginner, choose the larger one. I love my foam roller from Power Systems. I use the Premium Textured EVA foam roller. It is cushy on the exterior and firm on the interior and gives me the right amount of pressure that is comfortable yet effective. Because of the textured surface, it sticks to my Premium Yoga sticky mat better for much more stability when I roll. My videos are meant to be a starting point only. As you start your foam rolling on a particular muscle, don't forget to follow your own intuition, close your eyes, and sense where you need to move. There is no real right or wrong way to do it. Roll your body slightly to the left, the right, up or down, to get your sore spots and the areas that you discover need work. When you do this, all parts of the muscle can be targeted, which may be very important for you personally. Body awareness is vital in this practice, so use your right-brain to increase your own personal body awareness. Related Foam Rolling Articles that You May Enjoy!:
Foam Roller Exercises for the Upper Body and Upper Back:
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