Happy Solstice and a warm welcome to the summer edition of my on-line newsletter.

Earlier this year I explored a form of fitness and bodywork called Yamuna Body Rolling, a revolutionary fitness technique that uses six to ten-inch inflatable balls to strengthen, tone, and realign the body, while providing sensations that emulate the bliss of a massage. I loved it so much, I immediately signed up for and completed Level I Practitioner Certification and am very excited to incorporate YBR principles in my practice. This fall I hope to complete Level II Instructor Certification too.

This edition of my newsletter features more information about Yamuna Body Rolling. In addition, Greta Hill, one of LA's finest (and one of my favorite) yoga instructors, offers her philosophic approach to the practice and teachings of yoga.

I hope you have a fun-filled, hot and sizzlin' yet cool and chillin' summer.

Best,
Tanja Barnes, LMT.

Yamuna Body Rolling, created over 20 years ago by veteran yoga teacher Yamuna Zake, is health, fitness and massage rolled into one. Yamuna Body Rolling works the way a hands-on practitioner works deep tissue release -- only using a ball. The ball replaces hands as it moves and stretches muscle, dislodges tension and discomfort, increases blood flow, and promotes healing.

Lying over the ball, you literally roll your body out almost like dough, stretching and elongating your muscles. The YBR technique follows specific sequences that match the body's own logic and order. Starting where each muscle begins, at its origin, you roll toward where it attaches to the point called its insertion.

Yamuna Body Rolling has profoundly enhanced my well-being. From personal experience I can attest it has corrected a foot injury I've suffered from since last October, alleviated my bouts of low back and sciatica pain and has enhanced my yoga practice. YBR has also earned respect from chiropractors, physical therapists, yoga instructors, Pilates and Gyrotonic instructors, massage therapists, bodyworkers, fitness instructors and dance teachers. The next step for yoga and Pilates enthusiasts, body rolling is the ultimate way to streamline your figure and promote physical wellbeing without the bulked-up results of conventional body-building workout methods.

YBR conditions and lengthens your muscles, improves core strength, and enhances posture, flexibility, and balance. YBR also realigns your spine and joints, relieving pain and muscle tension and provides a workout, a massage, and a chiropractic session all at once. The result: you will be not only stronger and more fit with a longer, leaner shape, you'll stand taller, you'll move more gracefully, and best of all, you'll feel terrific.

Other benefits include:

• Increase range of motion, muscle length and tone, and circulation as muscles are freed from each other, from bone and from connective tissue.

• Improved musculoskeletal alignment.

• Better bone quality.

• A healthier spine, as decompressed nerve roots allow a free flow of energy to revitalize internal organs and calm the nervous system.

• Freedom from old restrictive patterns caused by injury.

• Better balance and freedom as core strength develops.

• Increased lung capacity and fuller use of breath.

• Stress reduction as the ball directly stimulates the spinal nerve roots, soothing the nervous system.

• Greater body awareness as you learn to listen to the messages the body sends.

• Freedom from emotional restrictions held in the body, as trauma and old memories are released from the tissues.

We undoubtedly live in a demanding society. Los Angeles is a vibrant place with boundless opportunity where there is seldom a dull moment. There is so much activity and expectation and competition that sometimes our heads and necks arrive in a room several minutes before the rest of our bodies! There is no time to waste! The pace and intensity of the city can take a serious toll if we are not mindful to sit back and open to present. In the practice of Anusara yoga we always begin by opening to grace. Grace is the seen and the unseen support that imbibes us all consciously or unconsciously at all times. When we sit for a moment and allow ourselves to soften, to open and receive the messages of the moment, we are effectively opening ourselves up to grace.

Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines grace as "unmerited divine assistance given to man, a state of ease and suppleness of movement, the quality of being considerate and thoughtful." We expand this definition to include the seen and unseen force that seemingly supports us all the time. Grace is like a web that connects us all. Essentially our hearts long for the same things, we breathe from the same atmosphere. We are indelibly connected. Imagine the power of grace from the universe, the web of support from every living thing, form our ancestors, our teachers, Mother Nature, our loved ones past and present. Grace is like a warm blanket on a windy night, it comforts and eases the abruptness of circumstance. It soothes the soul and allows the physical body to relax and let go. We initiate grace in a yoga practice to facilitate the opening physically, mentally and spiritually that the poses evoke. If it is all effort and the self will without the balancing qualities of softness, surrender, and grace, we become rigid and shut down. We first open ourselves to something bigger, a force greater than our ego that exists within and without. We soften and release the limited concepts about ourselves, our bodies, and others as we remember the greatness and goodness existing inside which is our true nature.

Grace is available to all of us regardless of spiritual beliefs. It is the act of softening the mind and body and prepare to receive. Opening to this energy is easy to do. Simply sit and take a breath. Open to the present moment; draw in life's goodness through an inhalation. With the exhale consciously release the doubts, the tensions and fears that we often habitually carry that do not serve us. By opening to the moment, to grace, allow you skin and muscles to soften. By relaxing the facial muscles, unfurling the brow and releasing the jaw, an entire mood can shift. Space enters between the thoughts and the heart rate slows down. Stress dissipates. Allow yourself to simply be soft, in body and mind. Expand your awareness as you soften your physical and mental edges. Let your breath grow and observe. Become sensitive to all sensations in the body, to the thoughts that arise and to the expansion of breath. Receive the support of grace. Drink it in.

Begin each day by opening to grace and watch as your day unfolds revealing the universal support and comfort within event he most difficult of circumstances.

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Greta Hill was introduced to yoga in 1995 and has been practicing diligently ever since. Her approach to teaching is the result of studying with a wide variety of instructors including John Friend, Shiva Rea, Desiree Rumbaugh and Saul David Raye, whom she credits among her strongest influences. Greta completed her first teacher training in 2000 at the Center For Yoga, and has completed four other trainings since. In addition, she spent many months traveling through India and Southeast Asia studying yoga, meditation and Thai Massage. Greta believes that advanced postures can be safely taught and modified for students of all levels to invoke a deeper mind-body awareness and re-inspire people about their lives. She teaches privately as well as public classes at Black Dog Yoga and Silverlake Yoga. Greta is teaching an Introduction to Yoga Workshop at Black Dog Yoga in Sherman Oaks on June 27th; a golden opportunity to build a solid foundation in the basics. For more information or schedules, contact: greta_hill@hotmail.com.