Fun with Tennis Balls

     Though I love yoga, there are somedays where I just can't get motivated to settle down and do a formal practice.  This often happens after I've had a vigorous day playing in the snowy mountains and come home tired and lazy.  However, a little stretching and movement work goes a long way in preparing your body for the adventures to come.  One way that I've learned to trick myself into settling down and doing some stretching is by using a prop--in this case, a couple tennis balls (the newer and fresher, the better!). 

I always start with my feet.  As engineers say, "As goes the foundation, so goes the building".  Before starting any movement exercise, do a check-in first to see where your body is at, in the moment.  Stand upright and gaze forward.  Does one foot feel as if it is bearing more weight?  Do you feel more pressure on the balls of the feet or heels?  Do you bear more weight to the outer edges of your feet or the inner edges? Just get a starting impression of your relationship with your feet and your feet's relationship with the earth. 

Extra Credit:  Before starting the tennis ball foot massage, you can also see how your hamstrings feel in a forward bend.  Notice the what level of tension or ease is in the hamstrings (the muscles on the back of the thighs).  Come back up into standing.  Then, do the massage under one foot only.  Do the forward bend again before massaging the second leg.  Notice the difference in tension between the hamstrings of the left and right leg.  The work you did on the fascia (connective tissue) of the foot impacted the tensional strain on the entire back line of the body!  Massaging your feet is really a whole-body massage!

Make sure to massage the ball into those tender spots!

How to do the Massage:  Place the ball under the arch of one foot.  You may use the wall to help you balance.  Pretend that you are giving the tennis ball a massage by pressing down on the ball with as much weight as is comfortable for you.  Roll the ball under the ball of your foot, on the inside and outside arches, and under the heel.  Spend extra time on those tender areas.  Work the entire surface for at least 4 minutes.  Try to pick up the ball with your toes.  Don't worry if you can't do it!  You are still waking up those toes that have been squeezed into too-tight ski boots all day!  After completing one foot, check in to your standing posture again.  Does the foot that was massaged feel different compared to the un-massaged one?  How does it affect your posture on that whole side of the body?  If you fall in love with this quick massage (like I have), next time you come in for a session, ask me for a cork ball.  You thought the tennis ball was hard work!

I will then introduce one tennis ball to my tight hips.  Sit on the floor.  Your legs can be in any position that is comfortable for you.  I tend to have both legs in front of me, with knees bent.  The leg of the hip that is being worked is more bent than the other one.   

Use your feet to massage the ball into all the tight places. 

I like to place the tennis ball close to bony margins, first.  This is especially true if you are dealing with sciatica.  You don't need that nerve any more compressed than it already is.  Start at the line where your sacrum meets your pelvis.  You can once again pretend that you are massaging the tennis ball.  Let your weight press down onto it.  Use your feet to roll your pelvis over the ball.  You can also place the tennis ball more on the outside of the hip.  Roll more onto the side of your pelvis to work the array of muscles that attach to your greater trochanter.  You can also experiment with rolling ball into the belly of the buttock muscles.  Be cautious if you are currently experiencing sciatica. 

Especially if you experience sciatica, keep the ball at the bony margins (where the muscles attach) and avoid the belly of the muscles. Here, you can see two great places to work: the edge of the femur's greater trochanter and the edge of the sacrum.

I finish by using two tennis balls to lengthen the layers of muscles running along both sides of the spine.  First, lay on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.  Take a moment to find your breath.  Observe where the breath likes to go and where it doesn't as easily go.  Feel the floor supporting the weight of your whole body.  I like to start with the tennis balls at the top of my spine--around where the first rib attaches to the spine.  Some people place the tennis balls in a sock that is tied off so the balls don't move around too much, but I prefer the balls without anything holding them.  Place one ball on each side of your spine, but as close together as possible.  Your spine should feel like it is nestled into the groove between the two tennis balls perfectly.  Let your weight settle into the balls.  Sometimes, I lift my pelvis off of the floor to see how that changes the sensation.  Or, leave your pelvis heavy on the ground.  You can do micromovements to the right and the left.  You can make tiny circles with the balls--clockwise and counter-clockwise.

Start the balls at the top of the spine (Image 1). Use your feet to push your body over the balls so that they travel down towards the sacrum.