Mindfulness Archives - Zena Kidd-May

What is the Ball Rolling method?

My Ball Rolling class is a powerful self-treatment method that uses 2 or more grippy and pliable rubber balls, to help eradicate aches and pains to restore your natural movement.

This method helps you identify blind spot areas that are catalyst for pain and injury. These areas are usually underused, overused, misused, abused, exhausted or totally confused and need to be felt, seen and heard by you!

In the 20 years I have been teaching and practising yoga, I have come to understand that we must integrate our painful and achy blind spots into our movement and self-care practice, otherwise we are moving & exercising from an unconscious place and we may struggle to find peace in every day life.

First picture – Ball at the top of spine/base of neck is showing me releasing out my tight shoulders, realigning my posture from sitting at my desk for 60-minutes and soothing an achy back. Always working mindfully, pausing and breathing.

Second picture – Ball over the shoulder-blades I am stretching out the front of my chest/diaphragm for better breathing & oxygenation, releasing tightness in my upper back, stretching out through the armpits and intercostal muscles around the ribcage. One can go as deep as your body will allow you, we listen and stop if there is pain.

Who are Ball Rolling classes for?

Whether you are a busy Mum running after your toddler with a sore shoulder, a top athlete who wants to improve their performance, a surgeon who suffers with back pain or a desk bound office worker who has painful wrists, the treatment is the same. Dysfunction is dysfunction in whatever ways it shows up.

My Ball Rolling method restores optimal performance in your tissue so that you can do what you want to do, better and pain free and at the same time become aware of your bad movement habits!

In this weekly class you will learn tools to take care of your soft tissue, posture and breath that you will have to hand whenever your body needs it, or as a support system for better living and being in your body … It’s a self-care massage for life.

Why would you attend my Ball Rolling class?

With regular practice Ball Rolling will:

1. Relieve aches and pains
2. Enhance breathing function
3. Increase mobility & energy
4. Reduce stress on your body & mind
5. Improve your posture & performance

Ball Rolling WORKSHOP timetable

Dates: Saturday 18th March, Saturday 29th April, Saturday 10th June

Time: 8:30 – 10:30

Cost: £25 per workshop

Small groups of only 6 students

Email me or call to book

If you have any questions, concerns or not sure if Ball Rolling is for you then please CONTACT ME, I’d love to hear from you.

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Why I trained to teach Face Yoga and set up FaceYogology?

Over the years of teaching yoga (more than 25 years now!), I gradually started to incorporate some kind of face relaxation techniques and stagnant energy shifting for the face, head, ears, neck and eyes. It intuitively made complete sense to me, to also work the 57 muscles of the face/neck and my students loved it … the feedback was “We want more!”.

I noticed when I was regularly doing these simple face yoga techniques, it gave me a connection and awareness of where I was holding tension, my dull headaches and eye strain disappeared and my skin look vibrant again!

Two and a half years ago when I researched the techniques, and looked into the training, I was astounded by the huge benefits and why it was super important I train and introduce face yoga to my students.

Eighteen months on and fully qualified, I set up FaceYogology – the study of facial movements. I have termly group Zoom classes for all levels and an 8 week beginners programme that is suitable for everyone. I will launch the advance course in the coming months.

Who is my face yoga course for?

A 30-minute, twice weekly Zoom class, that will work on the upper & lower portions of the face. We do lots of repetition to allow students to really become familiar with the techniques, so they are empowered to fit them in on a daily basis. I encourage students to take a photo of their face at the beginning of the course, this is a great way to see positive changes at the end of our 10 or 20 sessions together.

The benefits of doing my face yoga programme & what we will work on

1. Lifted muscles
2. Removing facial tension … everyone’s favourite!
3. Less eye strain
4. Relaxed jaws
5. Become familiar with your facial strain and stress points
6. Better circulation and oxygenation
7. Calmer mind
8. Overall feeling of wellbeing
9. Better sitting posture – I talk through the importance of sitting tall, so a good chair and cushion is helpful
10. Better breathing – always reminding you to pause and breathe slowly and deeply
11. Plumper skin

Do I need to use a moisturiser and if so, which one?

Yes, using a good quality organic oil is really important for face Yoga exercises. The oil will help with the glide on some of the movement and it will stop the fingers dragging at the skin, especially on areas of the skin that are sensitive and thin, like around the eyes and neck. Also, these oils don’t get absorbed into the skin straight away, which is what normal facial moisturises tend to do.

The products I recommend are raw organic coconut oil and Fushi almond oil. These are easily purchased from any good health store. What we put on our skin is very important because our skin is our biggest organ and everything gets absorbed into the body and blood circulation.

Can I do face yoga everyday and how long will it take for me to see results?

Face yoga has so many benefits (as you can read above). However, one must do a little everyday or every other day to get the full benefits. I would suggest do a little everyday, either in the morning or evening before bed. If you can manage to do it 4/5 days per week you will see and feel a vast difference. Even if you only manage to fit in 5-minutes on these days, it will make a difference to your overall wellbeing, this will become part of your daily self-care routine.

Results from face yoga will vary from person to person. There are many factors that play a part in how quickly you will see results, like overall stress levels, diet, lifestyle and age. The most important advice is to try to do a little everyday for best and quickest results.

With daily practice, you will begin to see and feel a notable difference within 10 days. Most students see some changes within a month.

Face Yoga tips

1. Wash your hands before starting to stop the spread of bacteria
2. Have a full glass of water for drinking during the session to hydrate your skin
3. Remove all make-up and apply a small amount of oil (not too much otherwise the fingers will be too slippy)
4. If it feels comfortable for you, remove your glasses or contact lenses
5. Use a mirror to see you are not tensing your facial muscles while doing the exercises
6. Keep checking in with your breath that you are breathing deeply and slowly
7. Good standing or sitting posture is important for your breath and wellbeing

There is so much more I can say about face yoga … book into one of my Zoom sessions or purchase a beginners bundle from my shop and feel the full benefits for yourself!

Category: Mindfulness

Ball Rolling Method