Yamuna Body Rolling Gold Ball Kit

I first saw this product at my sister's, and she inroduced it to me with the video. The ball was great, but the video was very poor. Didn't care. After using the ball for 15 minutes my back felt better for the rest of the day. Stretchy and open, and I was getting little spontaneous "pops". When I bought my own and I fired up the DVD it was different than the one I'd seen. Very professional, clean background, clear instructions, and--delightfully--no woo-woo music or hype. Yamuna is standing, and gives the instructions to a small group of students who are working on mats. Yamuna's voice is clear; she is easy to understand; and the students look like ordinary people (OK, thinner and more flexible than the average American, but not super-models, thank you). Anyway, I guess Yamuna got the message and hired a professional production company.Yamuna Zake absolutely knows what she's doing here with this body rolling routine. I mostly do the back and hip (sit bones) routine, and it really helps. I would say my hip pain has been reduced by about 60%.A couple of other comments:The routine is easy and intuitive. I only had to watch the DVD a few times, and sometimes I use it again to refresh.Once you use it a few times, it's easy to keep going. This is not some hard workout routine that I have to "find time" for. I leave the ball laying around, and, sometime during the day I just get on it. It's not a checklist item--IT FEELS GOOD! Like, hey do you want another little back massage? YES, yes I do... How about getting that kink out of your thoracic spine, would that be nice before dinner?--well, yeah, uh, now that you mention it that sounds like a good idea.Regardless of the what she shows on the DVD or in the book, you can just use the ball to stretch and massage by experimenting. It's nice to have routines, and they do work, but once you've worked with it a bit, you can also just improvise. You use the weight of your body in different position with the ball underneath you to massage and stretch that area.I don't know if the product info says this anywhere, but you need a certain amount of flexibility and balance to do this routine. I have a friend with very tight hamstrings and lower back, and he had a hard time lowering himself onto the ball and keeping his balance. If you are starting with a bad injury, particularly in your middle or upper back, you might want to have a spotter work with you the first few times, until you figure out how to get on and move the ball without straining at your point of injury. Yamuna's students support their neck with one hand while working up the spine, but I just put my whole upper back down and work the ball upward until I have to lift my head. Otherwise it's too much strain on my neck.The abdominal routine is probably too intense for most people; work your way into it slowly. I have had body workers at $120 an hour work in this area and get far less results than I got by working the ball myself. But slowly. A little every day, and supporting my weight to control the intensity.I was at a hotel gym recently, didn't have my ball with me, and tried to use some of the other balls they had. Although I managed to get my back unkinked, it was really uncomfortable. So if you've tried other balls you've seen around the gym or studio, don't judge this before you've actually tried it. This ball is NOT typical. The texture, the softness, how it slightly grabs at bare skin to give you a fascial stretch--don't know what makes it special, but it does work.If this review was helpful, please click the button.

I have practiced Iyengar yoga for 8+ years with the use of many props to aide in my scoliosis and resultant chronic back pain. Yoga alone has helped, but some days it made things worse and also other days it was difficult to do the positions that were required because of the pain.I got the Yamuna ball and incorporated it into a daily stretching/exercise practice and I have been able to address the direct muscular pain associated with my scoliosis. The Yamuna ball has provided a direct way to apply therapeutic pressure which alleviates the pain. It has really made such an improvement to include the Yamuna ball in my stretching practice.I have a lumbar curve which leavs a concavity (where the curve dips in) in my right lumbar where the muscles then become painful and contracted. The muscle's there become tightened and very painful if I don’t help them. It is hard to access these muscles with the yoga postures alone and the Yamuna ball has been the amazing tool to directly access these muscles. I roll directly on these muscles, being careful of the lower ribs which also become painful due to them pulling inward from the concave spine position pulling them and pinching the muscles around them.I roll all along my buttocks and also in upper back not on the spine but on the muscles around the spine. I spend 10-15 minutes and also allow the body there to release over the ball and it really relaxes and softens the tightened, inflamed muscles effected by my scoliosis.The pain has decreased so much since incorporating the Yamuna ball in my day to day life.In addition to this ball I also use a small trigger point ball https://www.amazon.com/TriggerPoint-Foam-Massage-Deep-Tissue-2-6-inch/dp/B016L9K7X8/ref=sr_1_8?crid=3VIP6Y1LQW6SZ&dchild=1&keywords=trigger+point+ball&qid=1578175506&sprefix=trigger+point+%2Caps%2C233&sr=8-8And also a back massage roller with 2 hard balls to get the deeper muscular pain:https://www.amazon.com/Gaiam-Restore-Dual-Zone-Massage-Roller/dp/B00LY9P6DC/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Gaiam+back+roller&qid=1578175527&sr=8-2I always thought I would live with chronic back pain but realized with some focused work with these three items I am able to alleviate 95% of the pain on my own.Also, I have seen chiropractors and massage therapists, and they often don't know exactly how to help a scoliotic body because every person with scoliosis has different pain and different concavity/convexity. Getting to know exactly where my spine dips and arches myself (and thus where my muscles become tight and painful) has helped me to adapt the exercises and stretches to what I specifically need.When I visited a Chiro for more than 7 months I only experienced more pain because he never addressed the muscular pain, just the spinal misalignment which he tried to correct rather harshly when my body was still gripped and inflamed. I wished he would of known to help me soften the areas around the scoliosis first which would of help me accept the adjustments. The Yamuna ball helps with this softening. Instead the Chiro's adjustments caused me a lot more pain. I wish more Chiro's knew more about how to help people with scoliosis but my experience has shown they don't fully understand as most address more through force instead of incorporating other methods which would help the overall adjustment.I am so glad to have gotten the Yamuna ball and incorporated it into my exercise and pain management.

This is a really good set for someone just starting out with Yamuna body rolling.The gold ball is considered the beginner ball and can be used for many routines that are shown on various Yamuna dvds and online. The pump is pretty good though not necessary if you already have a ball pump.This ball is of great quality. I will admit that initially, I did not want to spend so much money on the original Yamuna balls and I tried using various alternatives. It turns out that none of those are even close to the Yamuna balls. These are made in Italy and non-toxic. They are designed to be used for body rolling and can carry a lot of weight. The gold ball is somehow thick and the surface is not rough but not super slippery either. It is just right.The dvd is not fancy but well made in all aspects that matter. The number of "exercises" or routines is limited but they are very effective.I used to have a pain in one foot which I thought was plantar fasciitis. I had tried a lot of different stretches and exercises and that helped a bit. But what really got rid of my foot pain was doing the hamstring routine for a week. I don't really understand Yamuna's method but it works and that is all that matters.

It is usable for what is write down in the advertise

This has helped me with my back pain by releasing my hip flexors and pelvic/abdominal muscles - more than anything else I've tried. SUCH A RELIEF. I use it in combination with a foam roller, but sometimes the places I need to get to are too tender or just can't be gotten to with a foam roller, and this does the trick.(Side note: I haven't tried the video yet.I worked with a physical therapist who showed me the helpful moves pertaining to my issues and who in fact first recommended the Yamuna ball to me.)

This is a must for those that experience occasional or frequent back pain from unaligned discs. I have one for home and office. AMAZING

DVD has scratches and misses sections but the content is excellent. GM