Emily Bogard, Certified Yamuna Body Rolling Practitioner
Emily Bogard is a certified Yamuna Body Rolling Practitioner. She began her training in Louisville, KY with Nicole Romph and completed her certification in Chicago studying with Yamuna Zake. Emily is also a certified Pilates instructor and is owner/director of the Pilates Annex.
Yamuna Body Rolling is a method of self-massage, a stretching technique and a fitness tool to improve abdominal strength and posture. Developed over the past 23 years by renowned bodywork practitioner and educator Yamuna Zake, Body Rolling is a technique consisting of a series of routines using six-to ten-inch balls to stretch and relax muscles. When body weight is strategically placed on the ball, connective tissue is massaged and made more pliable. Circulation is stimulated, resulting in a release of tension and a freeing of restrictions in all parts of the body.
The Body Rolling routines follow specific sequences that match the body's own logic and order. The routines provide deep, soft tissue release and better body and anatomical awareness. Body Rolling gets past the superficial muscle tissue into the deepest muscles used for alignment and postural support. Body Rolling is also an excellent way to improve bone quality. It's actually a mild form of weight-bearing exercise. Body weight sinking into the ball applies pressure directly into the bone, stimulating bone-building cells. The pressure brings increased circulation to bone, tendons and muscles, all at the same time. (top)
Yamuna states, “You can become freer and more flexible in your own body - even if you feel fine, you can feel finer.”
Yamuna Zake grew up in Chicago, where she became a student of yoga at the age of fourteen. At sixteen she began teaching yoga. She was an education major at the University of Redlands, California, and then came to New York to get a master's degree at the Bank Street College of Education.
In 1980 she began to develop and practice a body therapy she called Body Logic. Motivated by the need for physical therapy while living in Spain, Zake decided to literally take matters into her own hands, to heal a hip injury. Picking up a 99-cent ball in a grocery store, she began experimenting with letting her own weight sink into the ball. Gradually rolling along the length of her muscles, Zake discovered a technique that enabled her to release muscle tension. As a physical therapist, she knew how to work each muscle from its origin to its insertion, and thus developed the routines for Body Rolling. According to Zake, the key is “working from bigger to smaller muscle - always in gentle traction, in every range of motion. Body Rolling takes the muscle and stretches it. When you use the ball, it is affordable self-therapy.”
How do I get started? It's simple! Come to a class or arrange a private session. Body Rolling is easy to learn, and with the guidance of an instructor you can quickly become comfortable on the ball, learning how to move around on it according to the directions in the routines. Your instructor will also help you to understand the importance of using your breath. By focusing your breath wherever the ball is, you expand against the ball as you inhale, then sink into the ball as you exhale. This deep, focused breathing will help you to achieve relaxation that will profoundly increase your sense of well-being.
To get rolling right now, call Emily Bogard at 824-9075 to obtain class information. Single classes are $25 usually lasting 60-75 minutes. Buy two or more classes and pay just $20 per class. Private and semi-private fees are listed under our Class Info page. (top)
The Pilates Annex is an official distributor of Yamuna Body Rolling equipment:
- The specifically designed Yamuna Body Rolling balls for the body and feet.
- A small, easily packable pump that you can take with you to deflate and reinflate your ball while traveling.
- The newest book "The Ultimate Body Rolling Workout" by Yamuna Zake explaining routines for the spine, neck, chest, legs and more.
Yamuna Body Rolling
www.yamunabodyrolling.com
Information for text from the following sources:
"The Ultimate Body Rolling Workout" by Yamuna Zake & Stephanie Golden
"Rock and Roll" by Kate Mattingly, Dance Spirit, November, 2003
"Body Rolling, Fitness, Wellness, Oneness by Sarah McKechnie,
Washington Woman, October, 2003
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Web site © 2008 Emily Bogard