In 2009 I moved to California to go to graduate school and I started developing intense sciatic pain. I couldn't sit too long in any position without discomfort. I stretched and moved and did all kinds of things to keep my body limber which helped but didn't stop the pain from returning.
I'd heard about Rolfing, a series of deep tissue massages designed to reset your posture, while I was in massage school and had a sense that this might be just the fix for my problem.
I went through the 10 session series and afterwards my life was renewed. No sciatic pain and I felt as flexible as a 5 year old.
My therapist gave me the advice to get these Yamuna Foot Wakers as a way to open the flexibility of my feet. The Foot Wakers are hard plastic half domes covered in spiky bumps and come with a 20 min stretching routine on Dvd. They are amazing and I began using them regularly before my yoga practice.
That was my only contact with the company until I looked Yamuna up on the Internet in the spring of 2015 and realized the depth of philosophy behind these therapeutic tools. The company was founded by a woman named Yamuna Zake and is based in NYC. She personally developed this system of self care where you roll different sized balls into your joints and over soft tissue areas. It simulates the effect of a really deep tissue massage but gives you complete control over the depth and focus of the exercise.
Her vision of anatomy is so clear and her practice grounded. I'm obsessed. I got the "Save Your Hips" exercise set which comes with two smaller black balls and a DVD which has a routine for taking the balls on a journey through your hip joint. I am able to get into areas that I haven't been able to feel for years. As my friend Lynsey would say....it's amaze-balls.
You can read more about Yamuna Zake and her work at her website. She has a blog on Facebook and often posts instructional videos on her Youtube page.
And you can order products through her website. If your not sure where to begin try the Total Body Workout package.
Happy rolling!