Release stress and tension in the body using only rubber balls with this illustrated, step-by-step guide Yoga and bodywork teacher Ellen Saltonstall introduces a self-directed, gentle practice to help release tension in the body. The Bodymind Ballwork Method features the use of rubber balls in a range of sizes to support, massage, and stretch the body in specific places, with clear instructions for techniques from head to toe. An integrative body-mind practice, Bodymind Ballwork works to relieve soft tissue pain as well as emotional stress and trauma and is designed to empower readers to maintain their own health and mobility.

This book is about empowerment for chronic pain patients and care providers alike. Every chronic pain condition has a treatable myofascial trigger point component, including fibromyalgia. Many of the localized symptoms now considered as fibromyalgia are actually due to trigger points. The central sensitization of fibromyalgia amplifies symptoms that trigger points cause, and this book teaches care providers and patients how to identify and treat those causes. Chronic myofascial pain due to trigger points can be body-wide, and can cause or maintain fibromyalgia central sensitization. Trigger points can cause and/or maintain or contribute to many types of pain and dysfunction, including numbness and tingling, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, plantar fasciitis, osteoarthritis, cognitive dysfunctions and disorientation, impotence, incontinence, loss of voice, pelvic pain, muscle weakness, menstrual pain, TMJ dysfunction, shortness of breath, and many symptoms attributed to old age or "atypical" or psychological sources. Trigger point therapy has been around for decades, but only recently have trigger points been imaged at the Mayo Clinic and National Institutes of Health. Their ubiquity and importance is only now being recognized. Devin Starlanyl is a medically trained chronic myofascial pain and fibromyalgia researcher and educator, as well as a patient with both of these conditions. She has provided chronic pain education and support to thousands of patients and care providers around the world for decades. John Sharkey is a physiologist with more than twenty-seven years of anatomy experience, and the director of a myofascial pain facility. Together they have written a comprehensive reference to trigger point treatment to help patients with fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, and many other conditions. This guide will be useful for all types of doctors, nurses, therapists, bodyworkers, and lay people, facilitating communication between care providers and patients and empowering patients who now struggle with all kinds of misunderstood and unexplained symptoms. Part 1 explains what trigger points are and how they generate symptoms, refer pain and other symptoms to other parts of the body, and create a downward spiral of dysfunction. The authors look at the interconnection between fibromyalgia and myofascial trigger points and their possible causes and symptoms; identify stressors that perpetuate trigger points such as poor posture, poor breathing habits, nutritional inadequacies, lack of sleep, and environmental and psychological factors; and provide a list of over one hundred pain symptoms and their most common corresponding trigger point sources. Part 2 describes the sites of trigger points and their referral patterns within each region of the body, and provides pain relief solutions for fibromyalgia and trigger point patients and others with debilitating symptoms. Pain treatment plans include both self-help remedies for the patient—stretching or postural exercises, self-massage techniques and prevention strategies—as well as diagnostic and treatment hints for care providers. Part 3 offers guidance for both patients and care providers in history taking, examination, and palpation skills, as well as treatment options. It offers a vision for the future that includes early assessment, adequate medical training, prevention of fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis, changes to chronic pain management and possible solutions to the health care crisis, and a healthier version of our middle age and golden years, asserting that patients have a vital role to play in the management of their own health.

In this enhanced digital edition of The MELT Method, Sue Hitzmann shows you how to live without pain, illustrating her MELT techniques with 20 instructional videos plus 10 audio clips, so you can listen hands-free while you start your journey toward a pain-free body. In The MELT Method, therapist Sue Hitzmann offers a breakthrough self-treatment system to combat chronic pain and erase the effects of aging and active living—in as little as ten minutes a day. With a focus on the body's connective tissues and the role they play in pain, stress, weight gain, and overall health, Hitzmann's life-changing program features techniques that can be done in your own home. A nationally known manual therapist and educator, Hitzmann helps her clients find relief from pain and suffering by taking advantage of the body's natural restorative properties. The MELT Method shows you how to eliminate pain, no matter what the cause, and embrace a happier, healthier lifestyle.

'Anatomy and Yoga: A Guide for Teachers and Students'' is a valuable resource for yoga practitioners who are curious about what happens in the body as they practice yoga. Structures of the body--muscles, bones, joints, nerves and connective tissue--are described in a user-friendly style, with short, interactive practice sessions to bring the information alive in the moment. The rapidly growing yoga community needs this essential knowledge of biomechanics, especially in yoga teacher training programs.

Pain is an epidemic. It prevents you from performing at your best because it robs you of concentration, power, and peace of mind. But most pain is preventable and treatable, and healing is within your grasp. Hundreds of thousands of people around the globe have taken life “by the balls” and circumvented a dismal future of painkillers, surgeries, and hopelessness by using Jill Miller’s groundbreaking Roll Model Method. The Roll Model gives you the tools to change the course of your life in less than 5 minutes a day. You are a fully equipped self-healing organism, and this book will guide you through easy-to-perform self-massage techniques that will erase pain and improve your performance in whatever activities you pursue. The Roll Model teaches you how to improve the quality of your life no matter your size, shape, or condition. Within these pages you will find: • Inspiring stories of people just like you who have altered the course of their lives by using the Roll Model Method • Accessible explanations of how and why this system works based on the science of your body and the physiological effects of rolling • Step-by-step rolling techniques to help awaken your body’s resilience from head to toe so that you have more energy, less stress, and greater performance Whether you’re living with constant discomfort, seeking to improve your mobility, or trying to avoid medication and surgery, this book provides empowering and effective solutions for becoming your own best Roll Model.

Moving through yoga postures while using the exercise ball is meditation in motion. The exercise ball provides a cushioning base for the strong stretches and graceful movements of the yoga exercises, and with only a slight roll of the ball, the deep stretches can be altered to target different areas of the muscles.