Talk to any runner, dancer, tennis player, martial artist, etc. and they will tell you how important healthy, happy knees are to the rest of their body. But as a lot of us experience — athlete or not – our knees aren’t always happy.
Think of your knees as an important link to all the other parts of our body, especially the hips. The pressure on our knees can often be greatly improved day to day if we are mindful of that hip joint connection. If you have been running, dancing, playing a sport or simply sitting for a long time, your hips can get stiff. This stiffness will put a good deal of pressure on your knees. Knee on the Ball (see the video) is another one of my absolute favorite moves. Try it out and see (and hopefully become aware of and feel) the other end of the knee joint — your hips!! As you gently move your knee on the ball you can feel your hip also moving. On a personal note, I love to do this move after a long car ride. I get sciatic pain on my right side when I sit too long and I eventually realized that it was because I was clenching the muscles of my right hip. Knee on the Ball helps me to ease that right side pain and allows my body to realign. Knee on the Ball is also a great way to allow your body to basically “tune up” after a hard gym workout (and run) and relieve some chronic holding (tensing?) in the glutes (located in your buttocks). Remember: Don’t force anything. Just resting on the ball allows you to feel the weight and realign yourself. Remember to check in with your breathing…sssss! Check out pages 154-157 in the Miracle Ball Method book for more information. Don’t have the book? Get on the Ball and go to the SHOP page.
Good luck to all you runners in the New York City Marathon on the 4th!