What’s all this about balls and tissues? And what does it have to do with your body and yoga? YD had a chance to ask Jill Miller, founder of Yoga Tune Up and author of The Roll Model, a few questions about her highly reviewed and mightily thorough new book as well as her method of the same name utilizing therapy and massage balls of various sizes and textures to help yogis and “movers” live more freely and find clarity in their bodies. Check out our brief interview with Jill below and then enter to win a copy of The Roll Model book plus the Roll Model Starter Kit – the whole kaboodle of balls to get yourself rolling.
YD: We’ve seen a growing interest in modern science and biomechanics with relation to our old familiar yoga practice. What is The Roll Model Method and how does it fit into that? The Roll Model Method is an adjunct practice to help students of any style of yoga (or movement) to increase your own body familiarity pre or post practice. It can enhance the mobility of your soft tissues and awaken your proprioceptive sense (body sense). The grippy, pliable Roll Model Balls introduce you to the multiple textures of your own body and over time helps you identify specific soft and hard tissue structures.
They help you map your own anatomy and befriend it. Mapping yourself is empowering, it helps you to distinguish and differentiate your different parts so that they cooperate better as a whole. Each body part and YOU become more intelligent while performing in motion or stillness. This helps you become a better cartographer of your own internal landscape so that your movements within the context of asana (or any movement practice) can be done with magnified awareness. The Roll Model Method is also a self-rehabilitative tool to help yogis (and movers) of every discipline to take care of their own aches and pains or reduce stress whether from daily living, an injury or practice.
The Roll Model is not solely targeted to yogis, but what are some ways yoga practitioners, specifically, might benefit from the book and from using massage balls?
There are many ways this work supports a yoga practice. Here are just a few highlights:
1) Yogis are brilliant at tuning in to their parasympathetic nervous system, the “rest/digest/repair” phenomenon of being down-regulated. The Roll Model tools are like an express train to help you relax. The tools and the sequences carve pathways to hasten relaxation as well as improve your ability to switch into a deeply relaxed state.
2) Additionally, the Roll Model Balls are a wonderful way to quickly prepare tissues that may be sore, bound up from accidents & injuries or are stiff from sitting in cars or chairs. Some strategic rolling can rub away obstacles to practice so that you can practice more safely and effectively (see answers to question #1).
3) Sole Searching: At a minimum, the Roll Model Balls can quickly sensitize your feet for the barefoot practice of yoga. I personally never skip a day of doing a few minutes of rolling underneath my feet. With much their days trapped in shoes, your feet lose the gift of their tactile sensitivity. A brief rollout before you practice will have a ripple effect throughout your whole body and help your feet to find better footing on the mat in all of your positions. #Toeprioception
Many of us might practice yoga for stress relief and relaxation, but how do massage and myofascial release relate to our stress levels, too?
One of the stories in The Roll Model book is of a yogini who was raped in her teens. Her trauma haunted her for years. One day she found herself in a Yoga Tune Up class lying on a Coregeous Ball for her abdomen while doing pranayama (breath exercises) and found it impossible to breathe. She recognized her breath restriction as a physical manifestation of body armor she was still using to protect herself with from the assault. The self-myofascial massage with the ball slowly helped her to peel it away layer by layer.
Your body has a habit of holding itself in a certain way, even when you are completely relaxed, this is often referred to as “resting tone.” Your resting tone is not always very restful as it is regulated by your brain in ways that are both conscious and unconscious. You can message yourself to “let go,” but often times, there are still remnants of contracted tissue that refuse to yield. Massage and myofascial release (when applied sensitively) helps to minimize this unconscious muscle bracing and reverse the habit of hidden muscle tension. The Therapy Balls apply local stretch into your tissues, this ultimately assists to unbind stiffness in hypertonic muscles resulting in global relaxation for the whole body. Unlocking your tension also can help relieve pent up emotion or unexpressed feelings. When the therapy balls loosen your tight tissues, they may also alleviate the emotional component that is intimately connected with stress, anxiety and trauma.
As with interest in biomechanics, yoga-related injuries have been a big topic of discussion recently, too. You advise in a section of the book (excerpted here) not to mistake yoga as a general Rx. What advice would you give a newbie yoga practitioner concerned about getting hurt during yoga class?
1) Find a teacher who understands how to customize poses for your body, structure, issues, and capability.
2) Do not be in a hurry to “go deeper.”
3) Learn to find stability as well as mobility in your practice.
4) Cultivate the concentration to stay focused on the variety of sensations and feelings emanating from the different areas of your body rather than disassociating from your body or simply enduring a pose that feels painful
5) Practice Savasana and respect your body’s need for rest and repair when you first start. You may need to take a couple of days off between classes when you first begin. Gradually increase your “dose” of practice as your tissues acclimate to this new exploration.
And now…the GIVEAWAY!
WIN: We’re giving away The Roll Model super roller kit: a copy of The Roll Model: A Step-by-Step Guide to Erase Pain, Improve Mobility, and Live Better in Your Body by Jill Miller PLUS The Roll Model Starter Kit which includes all of the balls used in the book, courtesy of Jill Miller and Yoga Tune Up Fitness Worldwide.
TO ENTER: Some days things are just great. And other days, well, we shake our fists at retrograding Mercury, pick up our pieces and carry on. In other words, we roll with it. And on those certain days, dang if we aren’t super lucky to have yoga and meditation to help us keep things rolling. To enter in this giveaway, share with how yoga, meditation, pranayama or another practice helps you roll with it (or could potentially help you – hey, we’re not perfect!) when the road seems rockier than Sylvester Stallone. Be however brief or verbose as you like. Post your entry in the comments below, OR on our facebook page, OR on twitter (tag @yogadork and @YogaTuneUp and add #yogarollwithit).
The giveaway will remain open until 11:59pm Monday, March 9, 2015. A winner will be randomly chosen and announced soon after. Good luck!
Update: Thank you all for sharing the helpful ways you keep things rolling. Our winner comes from twitter this time around. Congrats to Jeni Kocher Zerphy @steelcrab_inc! It’s been great reading all of your entries.
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Earlier…
What an awesome giveaway!
The pranayama I’ve learned through my yoga practice has really helped me when anxiety and panic try to get the upper hand…
I build tight balls of stress in my shoulders, and yoga is the best (and sometimes the only) way to work them out. During stressful times, I feel myself tense up everywhere, and pain begins almost instantly as the knots grow in my shoulders. Getting on my mat, finding my breath, and saluting the sun always does the trick!
Yoga helps me deal with long winters where I live. Without yoga, I’d be much less active and less happy during the weeks that it’s too cold to realistically do much outside!
I have wanted to start rolling and this book will help me learn how.
Yoga helps me confront issues inside and out. It seems to have a kind of magical parallelism for me. I find that doing poses that enhance physical flexibility, for instance, increases my intellectual agility, that building body strength enhances my mental endurance, and that working on physical balance improves my emotional stability.
Shoulder yoga stretches like down-puppy & twisted sage get the cracks out for stress tightness buildup in the neck/shoulders for migraines. I can imagine properly lying on a ball could open the chest to help even more.
Yoga helps me in every way. Living in NYC, sometimes the ability to let things go seems nearly impossible. Coming to my mat privides a real space for me to work on living life in the present, whatever it throws at me. Also, my amazing teacher uses the yoga tune up balls in her class and they are always wonderful! #yogarollwithit
Just as in yoga, I try to remember to ‘rest in the pose’. When I’m getting impatient, am tired but still need to run after my son, etc., I remember to breathe and enjoy the moment.
Between the knots in my shoulders from stress and the wear-and-tear my calves take from being on my feet all day, yoga helps me relax and refocus on an almost daily basis. My body loves me for being devoted to it, and I have yoga and meditation to thank for that!
I discovered Ashtanga yoga 2 and a half years ago, after being an avid hot vinyasa yoga goer for a couple of years. I’ve found the linking of the breath, movement, and drishti in Ashtanga to be profoundly meditative. The sequencing of poses and 6 day a week practice has really allowed me to tune into my body in ways I would never have imagined. I leave my mat each morning, ready to start the rest of my day with an understanding of myself (where I am in that moment, that day) and a deep appreciation for myself, my body, and those around me. I can’t imagine going back to a world in which I do not do this practice. It’s truly life changing, and I am forever grateful.
On my worst days, I come home, turn on my playlist, and tune out with some vinyasa flow. Moving my body helps me feel energized and in control. Pranayma calms me down and empowers me to take action. I’m a runner and I’m dealing with some injuries – I’d love to check out this kit!
I would absolutely love to win this giveaway!! Yoga has been a constant in my life for many many years. I recently became pregnant, which I am absolutely thrilled about, but experiencing the first trimester symptoms for the first time has been really overwhelming. I am exhausted, but can’t sleep, am nauseous, but somehow so hungry! 😉 I know that it is only for a few months, but from what I have heard of this program I think it would really help me relax and soften into this period of change. Fingers crossed!!
Yoga and meditation bring me back to the breath, and it’s by focusing on the breath that I can be in the moment and “just roll with it.”
Yoga and Yoga Tune Up has helped my maintain and improve my mobility. Many days I am stuck working at a desk and then studying school stuff at a desk. I get so stiff that it can be painful just to stretch out and lay flat in bed. Yoga and YTU really helps the pain relief!
I am pregnant and have hypothyroid at the moment. My moods are crazy. When I am feeling especially emotionally charged I send my kids to play somewhere and take 15-20 minutes to do some yoga/relaxation. I also go to a gentle yoga class on Fridays that has helped me get a nice big chunk of MEditation/ yoga time. I’ve been following Jill Miller for about a year now and I’m hoping to do some further teacher training with her after my baby is big enough to be left home with my hubby.
Yoga has helped me get to know my body and once again fall in love with it. After seeing how amazing the body can be when building two human beings, it has been nice to see it work at healing itself and growing from the inside out.
Finding Yoga Tune Up has been a huge step in the process of getting to know my body. I now can speak to most of my muscles by name when they are aching and then use the balls to help them feel better.
Yoga has helped me get to know my body and once again fall in love with it. After seeing how amazing the body can be when building two human beings, it has been nice to see it work on healing itself and growing from the inside out.
Finding Yoga Tune Up has been a huge step in the process of getting to know my body. I now can speak to most of my muscles by name when they are aching and then use the balls to help them feel better.
I like doing yoga in my bed before I sleep
I am so busy, always on the go. Yoga forces me to slow down and just breath. I enjoy hot yoga! The room is silent except for the instructors voice and our breathing, and it is awesome!
Yoga allows me to unwind at the end of a stressful day, and it also complements my strength training routine.
Meditation allows me to take the time to breathe! Forces me to relax and when it’s done I feel much clearer. I’d love to learn how to roll with it better!
I have anxiety and dysthymia, and yoga pushes those into the background and lets me breathe again. It’s my moving meditation, since I can’t sit still long enough to do a not-moving meditation!
Yoga has reconnected me to me! Knowing my body and how it works allows mess much freedom – of awareness, of breath, of peace.
Yoga has reconnected me to me! Knowing my body and how it works allow mucfreedom – of awareness, of breath, of peace.
I LOVED your recent interview with Barbell Shrugged- I rolled and listened and tapped into my breathing to help me focus! I am a Yoga instructor as well as a CrossFit coach, a mom a business owner a wife and a leader. Each morning I get up at 5:00 to get my yoga practice in before heading to the gym and coaching for the day. Most days I would much rather push snooze but I know that my practice (panyama, meditation, asana) helps me find the space between my thoughts and allows me to be my true self. THANK YOU for sharing your knowledge, and inspiring us all to roll with it.
Yoga has helped increase my understanding of my mind and body and helped heal old injuries and trauma.
At first, yoga was just my hour to myself. I was attracted to the concept of connecting body and mind and went to classes to get out of the house and discover how to make that connection. Having to really focus on breathing and “wipe my mat free of stress” really helped me make that connection in class and even more beneficially, when I was in the “real world” and just needed to decompress quickly to face the day. Now, I feel stronger and more focused then ever before in my life. I know I can breathe and connect to a “happy place” anywhere.
I just took my first mindful meditation class on Tuesday, and it was AWESOME. I’ve found just taking a few moments to practice meditation each day (10 minutes) makes me feel centered, calm, and more able to face little stressors each day without having them affect my mood. Wonderful!
I’m a Freerunning yogi…or at least I made the realization recently that both practices are an integral part of my life…My Freerunning helps me keep pace through the obstacles (haha pun) that crop up in life and my Yoga practice keeps me grounded against the forces that aim to move me…both have that effect to minimize stress…when I’m feeling anxious I get out and move..when I’m tight or stressed I hit the mat and work it out. Both operate on opposite ends of the spectrum and work to help keep my life balanced.
I love rolling out, whether it be with a ball or a roller. It resets the body, eases my tension and stress, and makes me feel rejuvenated. I’m always telling my students they need to roll to prevent injuries as well.
I’m desperate for the Role Model Super Kit! Even with a daily practice I still experience painful tightness in my quads and traps so this would be so very helpful!
Yoga. When I was young it was about the ego. Hey, this is really easy for me. Hiatus during kids. Then Power walking five miles in a hour everyday. Still about the ego. Now working around aches and pains of early sixties, but finding yoga the place where I can still move and breath and observe this crazy world I live in.
Yoga and Rolling work, gives me a body and mind clear of stress – which I seem to collect in my body easily. Breath and Movement work for me.
I have been in chronic pain for over 10 years, diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and instability , have seen countless physiotherapist and massage therapist and a number of doctors. I first encountered rolling on balls with a physio who teachs people how to do in one on one and I started doing it with some good results. But when I used Jill’s book it went into so much more detail and there was an area for every body part. What a difference it has made in my life! I have recommended her book to a bunch of friends. I would love to get this package as I don’t have all her balls yet
Through self study, inquiry and exploration into my physical and emotional self and learning how to move, heal, feel and grow as a human and teacher, ultimately I can share and give all I learn to students, family and friends and then they can share as well. So, it’s not about me only, but about a community and creating a ripple effect of healing and uplifting and feeling the best we can in our bodies and minds for all of our days. When we feel better mentally and physically, we are in a place to give and love from our best selves. 🙂
I like yoga because it’s a good way to start my day relaxed. I’m striving to become better at it 🙂
Just remembering to exhale is a good thing and some days a challenge.
As a senior caregiver…I know the need of a solid & grounding selfcare practice… though, not always easy to do with a everchanging schedule.
My meditation begins with choosing any kind of “mantra” I need – visual, prayer, sound… or one that is “given” to me, generally before lacing up for a walk, run or hike.
My yoga is for later or another day, as I stretch out the rest of the kinks and breath in the beauty of the nature I got to see and smell and touch, along the trail. The book “Running with the Mind of Meditation” has helped immensely, with both.
Mercury’s retrograde??
Yes. Just lost a longtime friend to suicide, so struggling with ROLLING along part, BUT am grateful for my selfcare practice, when I can do it, and for learning more on how to do it more effectively!
back to center. exhale. move.
I’ve had leg pain for a few years now. And I’ve tried a lot of things to alleviate it, including going to different practitioners. But I think yoga is an empowerment for me to take care of myself.
Even though I haven’t started a formal yoga or meditation, etc. practice yet, I have learned a lot about it and I really feel that it’s going to help. I need more things in my routine to take care of my body. I get beaten up by mental and emotional and work-related stresses, so I’m hoping yoga can fit in to help me with that. This YogaTuneUp kit could help also 😉
I have lots of aches and pains from years of sports and workouts that took a toll on my body. The Yoga TuneUp ball kit and this wonderful book sound like they could be an answer for my pain.
I am a Massage Therapist and Pilates Instructor and would love this set not only for my own body but my clients as well. Pilates has helped my flegibility and core as well as my mental health.
I am a yoga instructor and work with a lot of athletes. I am interested in finding new techniques for helping relieve pain and reduce stress. The Yoga Tuneup seems very interesting. I always try to introduce mediation to my classes, I found a little resistance at first, but after about 2 minutes you can feel the room just start to mellow out, it is amazing.
I struggle with getting to sleep at night, but rolling out any kinks and practicing a few restorative poses before bed has made a huge difference for me! I have been using a foam roller, but these yoga tune up balls sound amazing!
I have a lot of anxiety issues in the past few years, always lessened by a steady yoga and meditation practice and always made so much worse when I tell myself I don’t have time for a steady yoga and meditation practice. they are like an anchor that keeps my anxiety from completely running out of control.
I love Jill Miller and have been a fan of hers for a long time. it would be brilliant to win this!
My yoga teacher begins each session rolling out with tune-up balls. It helps loosen us up for poses and helps you to leave your tension behind. It’s awesome!
What an amazeBALLS giveaway and another resource to help tune into your body!
Yoga has impacted each single area of my life. Working for decades on most kinds of sea-going vessels, in a very physical and emotionally demanding environment, I depleted myself on many levels. Yoga has helped me heal and grow in healthy directions, leading me to pursue my 200 & 500 Yoga teachers trainings many years ago. I am now able to share these healthy directions with my friends and students. Having taken a workshop with Jill years ago in Alaska, I have come to admire her work in the healing arts of yoga. I often use Rollers and balls of all sorts in my yoga classes but would be very appreciative of deepening my knowledge in this arena. Thank you for the opportunity of growth.
My yoga practice and teaching has become softer and deeper over time. No more power yoga. Now it’s slow flow and yin with trail running, hiking and stength classes for a healthy balance for my body. I’ve incorporated YTU therapy balls to help with shoulder mobility and pain and general aches and pains. They are amazing! Even my 9 year daughter uses them to help with her pain and to fall asleep at night.
Not so long ago, I was a serious soccer player and marathon runner, and I let go of all my stress on the field or on the pavement. After several knee surgeries, though, my medial meniscus had to be removed, and running was no longer an option. I biked and swam (and still do), but yoga is the space that allows me to breathe into my body and just let go. Now a yoga teacher, I am not only interested in self care and stress release for myself but also for my students, and would love to introduce them to the roll model method and YTU balls.
Yoga improves my life and stress in a million ways. The process of turning off my outward self and sinking into my body is the ultimate relaxation. Why is it that thinking about where your body is puts everything in to perspective. 🙂
Been using for a year. First saw Jill on creative live. Was having spine pain. Did the session with her and Kelly. Pain was gone. 🙂
Deep abdominal breathing is my go-to practice for when life/moments are getting too hectic and crazy. It is a great way to quickly reset things.
And at the end of the day, if I’m wired and tense, I spend a few minutes on some therapy balls to release the tension before I get into bed.
My yoga mat (sometimes my couch) are the place I go for house cleaning. The messes depend on alot of different factors and so require alot of different mental, emotional and physical approaches to get myself back to presentable and feeling good. I come from a Southern Victorian family so its all about that clean house!
I love Jill Miller and yoga tune-up. Her system helped me recover from a total knee replacement! Now I’m practicing yoga like a pro!
doing dishes! yes, doing the dishes has been my daily dose — sometimes double dose — of quiet and mindfulness.
when the children were teens, they wouldn’t dare come into the kitchen after they heard the sink filling for fear of being pressed into service. that ensured me alone time.
having my hands in soothing hot water, watching a mess resolve into neatness, into organization, gazing out the window across the fields. and concentrating on the movements, the rituals and the service i was providing my family. all of these things are what makes me appreciate a dirty kitchen.
okay, so i have a daily sitting practice too and love to mindfully move heavy kettlebells.
these are the practices that help me roll with it.
_/l\_
Yoga has been an everlasting journey of discovery for me. As layers of self doubt peel away and I continue to bear my soul and roll with the waves as they crash or cruise, incredible talents and resources shine through. All the wisdom and courage I need is inside and yoga helps me lower down the bucket to drink from that endless well inside. namaste
As a former dancer who now practices Ashtanga yoga, I find that yoga allows me to still “dance” everyday and brings joy to my life. It also teaches me to breathe and be in my body when I’d rather be somewhere else.
The 8 limbs remind me that caring for myself is caring for the people around me, which is caring for the world, and that helps live every day.
Yoga has helped me release a lot of tension that I hold in my shoulders and hips. It is time that allows me to step away from the 9-5 grind and try to be present.
Yoga has help me release tension in my shoulders and hips. Keeping me present helps me manage the 9-5 grind.
I am struggling to build a yoga practice. In middle age, I find that my body has changed so much I don’t know it anymore. This kit sounds like it could help.
Yoga has helped me to manage the effects of Multiple Sclerosis and the ravages it can wreak on the body. This sounds like a wonderful tool to add to my practice!
The rolling from YTU is amazing. The shoulder soreness from workouts and back soreness from day to day life is nearly a thing of the past thanks to Jill.
As I move into the upper reaches of middle age, my restorative practice becomes increasingly important. Props only deepen the quality of the practice, allowing my body and – most importantly – my mind to release. #healingbliss
Yoga keeps me and my clients rolling, literally. With a home yoga studio, and all of this snow, I have had to push five client’s cars out of my driveway. I give it my best Warrior I footing and push, using my Bhanda and Cleansing Breaths. A few others from class joined in to help. After we got the cars out, we were high fiving and jumping up and down like a bunch of grade schoolers. It was nice to add an aerobic element to our experience after our relaxing yoga class.
Every yoga pose is a lesson to me-whether in ego, physicality or emotions.
After years of caring for my Mom and all the unbelievable stress, feelings of not doing enough, the guilt when you lose patience. The feeling of losing “you”. My yoga practice was my grounding force. My life line that kept me focused, centered, peaceful. It gave and gives me the tools and clarity to focus and be grateful. It was and is an affirmation that ” I am”…
Restorative yoga helps melt away all the tightness built up through each day.
Thanks to the yoga tune up balls I have been able to reclaim the mobility that I lost from years of poor posture and bad body mechanics as a child athlete.
WoW! I would love that. Every morning my pranayama and mediation and yoga asana help me to be awake and fully present to my young family, work and all my other life responsibilities. It calms my pitta and moves my kapha. My evening routine involves my love affair with rolling on some tennis balls and an old foam roller. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE this. Thank you.
Yoga saved me at a time when nothing else seemed to help years ago. It was the practice of all 8 limbs applied that truly made the difference and seamlessly seem to transfer off my mat and into my life. I felt compelled to shared the life giving tools yoga and my teachers so generously gave me. After a 500hr program, 5 years ago, I began teaching close friends and family and seen transformations. One of my cousins who attended my free weekly class was able to go up an elevator without anxiety medication for the first time in years! I could share numerous stories but that’s just one of my favorites.
I continue to teacher family members for free and teach out of my home for friends and at 2 gyms. One of the gyms is DA8 Training Facility. This place is a local business with AZ home grown owners who believe in the benefits of yoga for all of their clients and incorporates it into their Professional Dirt Biking Program. Destry Abbott is a professional dirt bike rider who owns the gym with his wonderful wife. I teach yoga to all his clients including the professional dirt bikers. We use the Yoga Tune Up Balls to release ‘arm pump’ and forearm soreness from races and practices along with neck release, back muscle release, etc… WE LOVE the difference yoga and incorporating the Tune Up Balls makes! Thanks Jill for sharing your gift and knowledge!
I do yoga because I don’t like how it feels when I don’t.
For me it’s all about being present and remaining in the moment. I can roll with it because yoga helps me stay present and opens me to the ebbs and flows of life. 🙂
I go for a walk in nature, barefoot, under the trees. I pause and breathe and feel so much gratitude for all the people in my life who love and support me, and for the beauty of nature. I take in that moment, cherishing being alive.
Yoga helps me get through the days that I sometimes don’t want to deal with. I go and roll out my mat and face my body and my thoughts head on, by clearing a space for me to reflect on whatever it is that I want to ignore.
Years of practicing yoga, meditation and pranayama helped me to deal with a parent’s long-term illness and eventual death, as well as all of the family drama that was going on and continues to go on. These mindful practices allowed me to stay calm and act with grace.
I am 53 years old and I redesigned myself 2 years ago and became a neuromuscular massage therapist. I never stop learning. In reading Anatomy Trains, by Tom Myers I noticed how the practice of asana matches very closely with facial continuities. I signed up for 2 yoga classes to learn and feel how this can benefit not only me, but my clients. This was many months ago. And now, when I help people out of pain I can show them very simple Yoga poses to strengthen a weak muscle or bring elasticity to another. I have crappy tennis balls I use to keep myself tuned up, but, my oh my, I have some serious ball envy when I look at what is going to be given away. Thanks for all you do. You and the others out there “keepin it rolling” safe and smart.
I came to yoga through a chronic illness and my practice for over 15 years has sustained me on multiple levels. I also started teaching about 8 years ago and even if I’m not have a great day, for those hours I’m teaching all that melts away. I am so grateful to the practice of yoga and I love learning new ways to alleviate chronic pain for myself and others. It would be great to win this package!
I love yoga. When I practice, I’ve become good stilling my mind by focusing on my breath and postures. I leave the mat feeling calmer, lighter and brighter, like I can tackle anything. I’ve gone through a rough patch recently and found myself on the mat more often than ever before. I know it’s helped me “roll with the punches” and now everything is looking up and I believe it has a lot to do with the positive mindset I kept during it all.