By Mark Yanai

This Is How I Roll

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Book Review: The Roll Model by Jill Miller

As part of my series of blogs about my morning routine, this book review is an essential read to understand how I prep my body for the day. After reading this book earlier in the year, I’ve added the practice of mobilizing my soft tissues every morning. It’s been a huge benefit to my well being and feel that it’s an essential component to my day.

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Jill Miller is the co-founder of Tune Up Fitness Worldwide, creator of the corrective exercise format Yoga Tune Up® and The Roll Model® Method. Jill and her products have been featured on various top rated television shows such as The Today Show and Good Morning America, and in popular publications such as O, Shape, and Fitness.

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Jill has created a system with tools and techniques that anyone can use. Her Roll Model® Method has become one of my favorite ways to release the myofascial tension in my body. In her book, The Roll Model, she describes the system of connective tissue that shapes and forms our soft tissue structures and the type of dysfunction that can arise with disruption to this system. The pictures and drawings in the book are excellent and the step by step description on how to address each body region are invaluable. The unique Yoga Tune Up balls are the focus of the technique and are essential in delivering the best results in her system.

She also includes short testimonials by those who have benefitted from using her system, including another of my favorite authors, Kelly Starett. These stories of life changing improvements in using these inexpensive balls are impressive and motivating to invest in her system.

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All of our clinics use the balls daily and instruct our patients on how to use them properly. We’ve found them to be more effective than foam rollers and lacrosse balls. The balls are soft and tacky which are key ingredients when addressing both pain and restriction for our patients.

The uses of these Yoga Tune Up balls are becoming more popular in other physical therapy clinics as well. They come in various sizes and some techniques require more than one ball.

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Physical therapists are experts in evaluating and improving movement patterns. I’ve had great success in using the Roll Model® Method in addressing limitations in the soft tissues. One example is that when I recognize a limitation in the cervical spine for someone who has difficulty looking down, I assess if there’s a restriction in the posterior muscle chain. If my assessment is accurate, I’ve been able to use a tune up ball on either the sole of the foot or in their hamstrings, which frees up the restriction and improves cervical flexion.

If you’re interested in how Jill Miller’s system works, contact us at [email protected] for a consultation or physical therapy appointment.

 

Mark's Blog
By Mark Yanai

The Most Important Exercise

I’m often asked by patients “What’s THE most important exercise I should do?” My answer changes as my experience as a physical therapist evolves throughout the years. I would normally tell my patients to do some form of stretching or strengthening, until recently, when I started doing deep, abdominal breathing exercises as part of my morning routine. I now tell my patients that abdominal breathing is one of the most important exercises they can do.

There are a number of contributing factors that make abdominal breathing so important. A couple of years ago, I began focusing on abdominal or diaphragmatic breathing after studying Heart Rate Variability (HRV) which is a measurement of the balance between your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. By measuring your HRV, you are able to assess your body’s response to stress. The body reacts to stress by changing breathing patterns, which leads to physiological changes including hormonal responses and neurological patterning.

In normal breathing patterns, we SHOULD use abdominal breathing, which is focused on using the diaphragm, a muscle located below the lungs. This muscle is controlled by our parasympathetic nervous system via the Vagus nerve. Because of the daily stresses of life, we’ve adapted our body’s most vital need: to breathe. Abdominal breathing has such profound effects on our ability to handle stress, anxiety and physical activity. However, some of us have changed our breathing patterns and use more of a thoracic breathing pattern. This pattern is shallow, shorter and typically used when we are reacting to a “fight or flight” situation and triggers the production of cortisol leading to a weakened immune system.

“Habitual chest breathing not only reflects physical and mental problems. It creates them. It mildly but chronically over-stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, keeping the heart rate and blood pressure too high, precipitating difficulties with digestion and elimination, and causing cold and clammy hands and feet.” – David Coulter, The Anatomy of Hatha Yoga

I often see this shallow breathing pattern in my patients. Pain is a factor in changing the way we breathe and we unconsciously respond to pain by holding or shortening our breath. When I see this response, I spend time educating the patient on focused abdominal breathing exercises which helps moderate pain.

One of my favorite references on how to breath correctly is Jill Miller’s The Role Model. Her book is excellent in explaining how the body breathes, the anatomy involved, and how to correct your breathing pattern. I incorporate her “Breathing Primer” into my breathing exercise routine each morning and it has positively affected everything that I do.

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After learning about the importance of breathing correctly, I discovered Breath Reset, a type of meditative breathing that helps me to focus my thoughts, settle my body, and allow me to get in touch with my body. This breathing practice has been performed by many for centuries and has been the foundation of Buddhism.

 

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Chapter 4 of The Breath of Life

One who has gradually practiced,
Developed and brought to perfection
Mindfulness of the in-and-out breath
As taught by the Enlightened One,
Illuminates the entire world
Like the moon when freed from clouds.  

(Theragatha 548)

Each morning, I perform a routine of meditation, yoga, body weight exercises and reading while drinking my Bulletproof Coffee. This routine usually takes about an hour which is why my alarm goes off every morning at 5 A.M., even on the weekends. But the most important part of my routine, is my “belly breathing”.

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I start by walking out to my backyard deck, a place that is quiet and peaceful. A regular spot in your home will help your routine become permanent. I usually sit with my back supported and with my legs crossed. With my eyes closed, I begin by taking a long inhale through my nostrils and exhale through pursed lips. I focus on my abdomen drawing in and out, trying to feel as if my diaphragm is elevating and depressing. My thoughts usually wander which is normal. I think it’s impossible to expect my brain to stop having random thoughts or emotions, so I don’t put pressure on myself to suppress them. Instead, I try to focus on feeling my body breathing.

During my breathing exercises, I am able to quiet my mind, induce a relaxed feeling, and trigger the hormones in my body that create an improved level of function. I start every morning this way so that I can control my thoughts and emotions throughout the day. The value of this ten minute practice is more valuable to me than an extra hour of sleep. It has helped me become more focused, productive, and clear about what my life’s journey is about. It has also improved my posture, breathing capacity and has taught me how to reduce my stress level at any time. No other exercise has had as much profound affect on my life as meditation and breathing. It is a simple practice that anyone can learn to improve your life immediately.

 

References:

Wikipedia contributors. “Heart rate variability.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 4 Jul. 2015. Web. 5 Jul. 2015.

 

 

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