(turning into anatomy geek …)
SO … athletes often experience soreness or tightness in these regions… I suggest some nice woolen balls found at TJ’s to try Yoga Tuneup as shown by Jill Miller in her videos (found on utube) using these therapeutic balls; except woolen balls from TJ’s (used as dryer balls to pick up lint off your clothes apparently) makes for perfect therapeutic balls – at less than half the cost. It’s better than tennis balls or any other so-called “massage” balls out there – as it’s wool and soft and a little bigger which suits us just fine with folded blankets under the head:) Better than foam rollers for more that trigger point acupressure … way better than karate chops, really, as the sensation is steady. These are temporary fixes, but routine therapeutic yoga for the long term addresses overall flexibility for better self-maintenance. Normally I don’t suffer from pulled muscle, muscle inflammation or tear (because I do them right !) BUT last week inadvertently had 5 yoga classes to teach in 2 day period – out of the norm due to subbing 2 classes – which brought about this out of the norm pain in my _ _ _ _ … Lesson learned ? Never demo without a warm-up:)
Besides Tiger Balm, China Gel … there’s bath salts – questions arises when to ice; when to heat – common question. Ice when it’s fresh and new, acute inflamed hot injury which mine isn’t – for chronic aches or aches that’s past a day – a dull pulled muscle kind of pain or tightening or stiffness – heat. In Japan, there would be nightly ritual of ofuro – or mineral rich onsen for the lucky ones.
Soak after a pretty rigorous yoga session is lovely … to melt away any residual tightness or soreness … it’s all about self-care. The sessions have allowed me to discover the need to balance the flexibility with strength in my own training.
Having been hyper-mobile, one needs to exercise care in modulating the movements and expanding the range of motion. One breath at a time … listening to one’s body.
