[.uk] Body Rolling: An Experiential Approach to Complete ... (ISBN 0892817305)

Amazon.com Review:
Here's a workout with one big difference from all the others: it uses a ball. Among others, the kind of lightweight vinyl ball you often see stacked up in huge cages in toy stores (perhaps the cheapest piece of workout equipment ever). Zake, a yoga teacher and bodywork practitioner, began developing her techniques 20 years ago to help herself recover from a hip injury. She believes that rolling on the ball in various ways stimulates muscles at their origins, causing them to relax and elongate; at the same time, the gentle pressure increases circulation to the muscles and tendons. This in turn helps balance the body and relieve all kinds of painful conditions in the back, neck, shoulders, and legs, as well as improving the results produced by any other bodywork techniques. Body Rolling is structured for bodywork practitioners to use with their clients, and the anatomical language is somewhat technical. Still, the exercises are well illustrated, and there's no reason readers with a certain amount of fitness knowledge can't do these routines themselves. If you really get into it, you can order more flexible, reinflatable balls from Zake's company.

A breakthrough in self-exploration:
This book is not for the person who wants an easy fix. But for anyone willing to put in the time it is just this side of miraculous. You will likely add inches and flexibility to your ribcage - increasing room for your lungs and other internal organs (I added 1-1/2 inches in 3 weeks). Your posture will improve, and as a result, you will likely add to your height (I added 1/2"). But best of all, you will look and feel rejuvinated. I have done yoga, weight lifting, walking, running - all the normal stuff. Body Rolling beats it all hands down for relaxing and energizing your body (and face - I added a face routine of my own based on the same principles.) It helps to have a knowledge of anatomy, but, with one of the anatomy books she lists at the back, this can definitely be acquired as you work through the protocols. This will increase the time it takes to learn these routines - I found just working the back to take about 1-1/2 hours the first time or two. But now it takes about a half an hour. Additionally, in areas where you are very stiff, ie: the rib cage, you may end up very sore for awhile, requiring ice and heat, but stick with it, the results are more than worth it.

Technical - For Professionals and Wannabes:
I figured out on my own that rolling on a ball was a very effective way to deal with my back problems. According to the book I even figured out the exactly correct size ball for my size. I figured that this book would provide some great additional info. Frankly, it probably does, but the terminology and assumed knowledge of anatomy is so great that I quickly got glassy-eyed. Bottom line: The technique is great, and the book is informative, but unless you have a technical background in body work, or are highly motivated to learn about this technique on your own, it's too difficult of a read to get a lot out of.

Your body will thank you:
This is a technical book, as mentioned by the other reviewers. I am a certified personal trainer but I had to think pretty hard sometimes to visualise where I was supposed to be during the exercises. Due to that fact I also purchased Yamuna Zake's second book 'The Ultimate Body Rolling Workout' to fully understand the exercises in lay terms. I cannot express enough how wonderful Zake's program is. For years I have been working out religiously at the gym but have seen more results in a month of rolling than in a year of cardio, weights and yoga. To think all this time I could have been way ahead of the game if I had known about body rolling. When I studied for my certification I learnt about self-myofascial release to undo muscle spasms and relax muscles. Zake's work is an extension of that, but by using a ball instead of a foam roll, one can really work muscles that have ceased to function optimally. If you have cellulite you will finally be able to get rid of it as you massage over the connective tissue and break up deposits. Not only are the physical benefits of body rolling impressive but your emotional wellbeing will be high. After a body rolling session, especially for the back, you are left with an amazing sense of relaxation and a release of all tension. One can use sports balls to do this workout, however, I recommend purchasing a body rolling ball from yamunabodyrolling.com to get maximum benefit from the program. The balls are very durable and are made of thick rubber - they are much thicker than a regular inflatable ball. So, I gave this book 4 stars out of 5 because of its very technical nature. However, I give the body rolling workout 10 stars for what it has done for me. Get Zake's second book and you will be very, very happy.

Not light reading - A technical book for correcting real musculoskeletal issues:
This book is not a good intro into body rolling if you are a lay person. It is designed to present routines to be used as corrective exercises and for training her instructors. For a good intro, buy the kit and the DVD and the newer book. If you are really "motivated" and understand what the muscle origin and insertion is and are interested in rolling through and releasing various levels and layers of muscle tissue, then buy the book. I own both books, and unlike most authors, did not find any redundency between the two.

For Massage Therapists, Body Workers...ONLY:
This book was not written for the lay person. It was meant for Therapists or anyone else with a good working knowledge of Anatomy. Seek out someone certified in Body Rolling if you don't have these requirements. Make your life easier. Or wait until they release a Video. The basic idea behind Body Rolling is to work from the bone to the tendon to the muscle. Working from the origin to the insertion creating length. It has great therapeutic uses. Don't judge it until you've tried it.