Meet Rose, a regular gym-goer who diligently practices the Miracle Ball Method. She finds great relief from it, but recently, she’s been experiencing hip pain after exercising. While the Method helps relieve residual tightness in her hips post-workout, the pain returns after her exercise class. She reached out to me, seeking guidance as usual.
To enhance the effectiveness of exercise, it’s crucial to integrate lessons learned from using the Miracle Ball Method into your daily routine and everyday movements. Let me share a few important ways to achieve this. First, it’s important to clarify that aiming to “Relax, Release, and Let Go” is a result of the Method, but these are not specific directions for your brain to adapt to new movement patterns.
Neuroplasticity,* defined below, teaches us that our brains can adapt to new experiences, preventing us from getting stuck. The Miracle Ball Method enhances this adaptive capability by fostering a “Body Dialogue,” as described in The Miracle Ball Method Book Revised Edition. This dialogue is an unconscious exchange between your brain and body in every moment. It’s not something we’re meant to analyze consciously; for example, the split-second decisions we make, like jumping out of the path of an oncoming train. We appreciate how quickly our mind and body work together. But when we do slow down as when doing the Method, we realize our body can adapt to dramatic changes that will influence chronic pain, anxiety and day to day physical experiences.
When practicing the Method, introducing new pleasurable sensations offers your brain new movement options, akin to learning new vocabulary words to express thoughts more effectively. By noticing and acknowledging these new physical sensations, you can begin to move differently. Here are two basic steps to start your Body Dialogue:
- Observe and describe what you notice about your body.
- Acknowledge how these sensations change as you introduce new experiences.
To take advantage of this gift that our brains are able to continue to learn throughout our lifetimes, engage in diverse experiences such as art, music, learning, or taking up new hobbies. This stimulation encourages new thoughts and ideas, allowing you to make choices that bring joy and relief from daily routines. Most of us don’t do this fully when it comes to the body. Exercise many times is repetitive and imitative. We can make it much more by working with our bodies ability to adjust, learn new ways of moving, and even something I find exciting, take feedback from your body. It knows how to move!
When practicing the Miracle Ball Method with specific directions, you provide your body with new experiences. By acknowledging these experiences, your brain can adjust its repetitive dialogue with your body, leading to new ways of moving. This approach can alleviate chronic issues like low backaches and tight shoulders, reducing stiffness and allowing you to explore movement naturally, akin to how children move.
Your brain requires precise cues, such as recognizing when you’re holding your breath, clenching your glutes, or adjusting your posture during exercises. Though this may seem complex, it’s simply about adaptation—your brain learns to change based on the information it receives. Pay close attention to the sensations you experience, especially when using the ball; acknowledging is key. Soak them in, linger longer your brain is learning while you enjoy the feeling!
Rose is now discovering new ways to perform lunges and squats, making subtle adjustments that lead her body in the right direction.