My friend gave me a gift the other day and when I looked at it I was like, "Huh? What's this for?" She explained to me that a few series of exercises using a couple little rubber balls on the parts of the body that carry most of the body's weight and motion - hips, shoulders, pelvis, neck - can create total relaxation. I graciously thanked her for the gift and still quietly in my mind was thinking, "how are these little balls going to create utter Nirvana?"
As someone who has used exercise balls before at the gym many times, I was skeptical of my friend's "gift". Skeptical because whenever I have used these rubberized exercise balls, it's always been for the purpose of doing lots of ab work and crunches at the gym. My tummy always feels tight afterwards but I don't get a sense of total relaxation from the exercise balls as my friend was trying to convince me I would with her gift.
Well, later that same night, I was upstairs in our bedroom, the twins were fast asleep and my hubby was sitting in our bed working on his laptop, so I decided "why not give these little balls a try?" So I did. I laid down on the floor on my back and began to place the little grape-fruit sized rubber balls underneath my hips and lower back as illustrated in the little booklet that came with the starter kit. No sooner did I do this, did I feel the little rubber balls soften and "give" beneath me and I was amazed. After a couple good stretches along my spine, I then started rolling those little rubber balls under the backs of my arms and again, I was amazed. I thought, this is unbelievable. My friend was so right! This was the perfect gift! I felt like I'd found Nirvana. Like magic, as my body began to release its weight onto those little rubberized balls, the tension in my back, shoulders and neck instantly went away.
10 minutes later, I lifted myself from the floor and felt totally rejuvenated. What a great way to end the day. In fact, what a great way to end every day from this point forward....
