The last newsletter left off with the question, “What is the difference between Foam Rolling and Yamuna® Body Rolling (YBR)?” In case you missed the last edition, you can catch up on some fun and fundamental facts about YBR here. To answer the question more fully, this article is dedicated to comparing and contrasting the difference between these two ways to roll.
To start, the foam roller and the Yamuna® ball were invented by two different people and represent two separate modalities. The foam roller originates from a movement system called Feldenkrais and is named after the inventor of that method, Moshe Feldenkrais. He started with wood rollers in the the 1950’s and then in the 1970’s started using foam instead.* Sean Gallagher is credited with introducing the foam roller to the Pilates world in the 1980’s. The foam roller has also made it’s way into lots of other settings from the gym to Physical Therapy.
The Yamuna ball was developed by Yamuna Zake and based on her hands-on Body Logic method. YBR is Body Logic applied on the ball where the ball acts as a practitioner’s hands. Body Logic works with the natural order of the body and goes from the bone, to the tendon and then through the muscle.
Besides being invented by different people, the foam roller and the ball have some other differences. There are a variety of foam rollers, ranging in different lengths and textures. Some foam rollers have spikes and there are some made of softer foam. There are even some rollers with a flatter surface on one side. The surface of a foam roller is harder/denser than the ball.
Yamuna balls are obviously fully round and not long like the roller. YBR balls run 6-10 inches in size and are smooth (except for the half sphere footwakers)! They are filled with air and inflatable rather than solid all the way through. This makes the balls easier to transport and travel with as they can be deflated and packed more readily. Within the family of YBR balls, the silver is the harder and the pearl and gold balls a little softer density for more sensitive areas, for beginners and for petite sizes. Even though the Yamuna balls are a little “softer” than foam rollers that doesn’t make them easier. As they are smaller, the balls can be more specific and go even deeper.
While having some obvious structural differences between the foam roller and the ball, there are also different approaches to rolling. With foam rolling as it is used to release muscles, generally there are multiple passes/repetitions rolling along a muscle. With YBR, one pass through a muscle is sufficient and the focus is going slow to get deeper. It’s Yamuna’s belief that rolling too quickly can confuse the body’s nervous system.
Mr. Feldenkrais passed away in the 1980’s while Yamuna is still alive, vibrant and teaching today. As foam rolling has branched out into other modalities, so has the uses of the foam roller. Yamuna continues to add to her work and guides its’ development. As a creative force, she is still on a roll…
Foam rolling and YBR differ in their origin and structure. There are different ways to roll with varying effect. Both methods share common ground as positive ways to promote health and improve well-being.