Have you heard about the Yoga Tune Up craze?! We’ve been a proud supplier of Yoga Tune Up in the UK for over a year now, and the brand has quickly become one of our best-selling ranges. Those who are in the know about Yoga Tune Up cannot stop singing its praises… so we thought you might want to know what it’s all about.

What is yoga?

Yoga originated in ancient India as a spiritual discipline with the aim to attain a state of permanent peace. For centuries people have practised yoga to relax mind, body and spirit and although it is linked closely with Hinduism and Buddhism, modern yoga is now popular throughout the Western world amongst people of all cultures and religious persuasions. Now, yoga is more popular than ever. It is estimated that there are around 30,000 different yoga classes running in the UK alone. The phenomenon is said by some to come from celebrity endorsements, plus an urge amongst us to relax and zone out from our hectic lifestyles. Work-related stress is on the up, so we’re looking for outlets to relieve tension and get fit in the process. Yoga is a form of low-intensity exercise that focuses on creating balance throughout the body. Stretching and breathing exercises are common as yoga requires the body to be held in certain key positions which in turn strengthens muscles and improves stamina. The process of breathing and the need to concentrate on holding these positions helps you to clear your mind and focus on your body, allowing you to feel revived and refreshed.

Why is Yoga Tune Up different?

Jill Miller, creator of Yoga Tune Up, practised yoga along with dance, Pilates and Shiatsu for a number of years before realising there were parts of her body that were simply unused, or unawakened, during her practise. She even found that she was overdoing the yoga, and experienced cracking, painful and stiff joints as a result of pushing her body to the extreme with excessive yoga positions.[1] Jill wanted to create a new form of yoga that would ensure all areas of the body were used and used properly, without the aches, pains and strains that can occur when putting the body into such extreme yoga positions. She created Yoga Tune Up. Yoga Tune Up focuses on the three P’s – Pain, Posture and Performance. It allows you to enjoy the relaxing, revitalising nature of yoga whilst relieving pain, correcting posture and enhancing your physical performance. A big feature of Yoga Tune Up is self-massage using Yoga Tune Up Therapy Balls. These simple but oh-so-effective rubber balls are hard enough to apply pressure deep through layers of stiff tissues to relieve pain and improve flexibility. By incorporating them into your yoga routine you will find your muscles can perform better and you won’t wake up aching the next day.

Who is Yoga Tune Up for?

Anyone! Whether you’re a keen athlete, dedicated dancer or you have a more sedentary lifestyle, Yoga Tune Up can help. Strenuous and repetitive exercise such as running and cycling tends to cause strain on key joints, whether that be the knees, hips, ankles, shoulders or, in the case of golfers or tennis players for example, the wrists and elbows. Although all the exercise you do means you’re generally in good shape, you’ll probably experience stiffness in your joints when you first wake up or after an intense workout. You may find you have to crack or pop these joints to get relief from the pain, and over time you could find these problems begin to inhibit your athletic performance. Yoga Tune Up can teach you how to adopt healthier posture and movement patterns for your body and your afflicted joints. It can help you break the bad habits which cause your joints and muscles to become strained, and heal the areas that have already become damaged. At the opposite end of the spectrum, many people experience muscle and joint pain as a result of doing too little. Many of us have desk-based jobs these days, and as a result we don’t use our bodies. As the old adage goes, use it or lose it – we lose flexibility in our joints and our posture is affected from being sat at a desk all day. Bad backs and sore necks are common, and our shoulders become slouched and stiff. Yoga Tune Up will help you to reawaken dormant muscles and help you regain flexibility in your joints. It will allow you to stretch, flex and strengthen your whole body so that next time you find yourself needing to dash up a flight of stairs your knees won’t crack and give in on you! Yoga Tune Up routines are low intensity and designed to be suitable for any fitness level. It’s a great cool-down technique after cardio exercise as your body will be hot from the workout and you can slowly bring down your heart rate and stretch out your muscles to prevent them from stiffening up. Alternatively, Yoga Tune Up works well as a workout by itself. It’s a great way to gradually build up your fitness levels as you will improve control, strength and stamina by practising the routines regularly. You will also work muscles that you didn’t even know you had, and will find that your flexibility will increase whilst nagging aches and pains disappear.

Which Yoga Tune Up products are right for me?

Therapy Balls

By far our most popular Yoga Tune Up product is the Therapy Balls. This is undoubtedly because they have so many uses. You can use them in conjunction with any of the Yoga Tune Up DVDs, or on their own as part of your personal yoga or fitness regime. The Therapy Balls are placed between you and a hard surface – either a wall or the floor – to allow you to roll your muscles against them. Therapy Balls come in a pack of 2 with a drawstring tote bag. You can either use one ball on its own for precise massage or two balls together inside the bag to work on larger areas of muscle. The rubber outer ensures the balls provide enough grip, whilst firm foam inner applies pressure deep into your muscle bed to relieve trapped nerves and tight knots. They’re soft enough to be used around joints too without trapping any nerves. Yoga Tune Up Therapy Balls can be used anywhere on your body – hips, thighs, knees, calves, feet, hands, elbows, shoulders, back – even on your neck and head. They’re brilliant for sciatica, can help you to relieve tension headaches or can simply help you unwind stiff muscles after an intense workout. For people who need a little extra depth and pressure, perhaps if they have larger bodies or muscle mass, Yoga Tune Up developed the Therapy Balls Plus. This set is exactly the same as the originals, just a little larger and denser for deeper muscle penetration. Then came the Alpha Ball, a single, very large and dense ball designed for massaging large muscle mass areas like the pectorals, thighs and buttock. It could be worthwhile to own the full range of Therapy Balls so that you can ensure you can target different areas of muscles properly. For small knots and twinges use the original balls which can target small areas most effectively. If you’re looking for more general muscle massage the Therapy Balls Plus are perfect. If you find you have tightness in large areas of muscle, it’s an Alpha Ball day. All 3 types of Therapy Balls will last up to 6 to 12 months depending on how often they’re used. They will soften with use, but don’t throw them away when coming to replace them; it’s great to have a few sets with different firmness levels. Softer balls work brilliantly on soft tissue and bony areas like the wrists, elbows and ankles, whereas newer, firmer balls are great for muscle areas that require deeper pressure.

Massage Therapy DVD

Since Jill Miller created the Therapy Balls, who would be better to show you how to use them than the Yoga Tune Up guru herself! The Massage Therapy DVD has 2 disks filled with 11 brilliant routines covering the entire body and detailed instructions on ball placement. This is a fab way to learn how to make the most of your Therapy Balls; once you’ve mastered the basic techniques you’ll be able to pick them up and roll away anytime, whether you’ve got your DVD player nearby or not!

Massage Therapy Full Body Kit

If you’re a complete beginner to Yoga Tune Up’s massage therapy techniques the Full Body Kit gives you everything you need to get started. A set of original Therapy Balls is included along with the 2-disk Massage Therapy DVD and a quick start guide. It’s a great introduction to Yoga Tune Up and also makes a brilliant gift for an athletic loved one!

Coregeous Ball and Coregeous DVD

The Therapy Balls aren’t suitable to use on abs as they’re too firm, so the Coregeous Ball is the perfect tool for abdominal massage. This soft, flexible ball is 9 inches in diameter, filled with air-filled sponge and covered in a stretchy skin which will provide you with good grip. It allows you to access your deepest abdominals which otherwise you may not be able to ‘feel’ yourself until they’re really strong. The accompanying Coregeous DVD shows you how to awaken your core and achieve strong, flat abs. It’s easy to fool ourselves into thinking that a few crunches will give us a taught stomach, but in reality we have to concentrate on improving strength throughout our entire core, and Coregeous can help you do just that. A strong core will improve your posture, reduce chronic back pain, strengthen your pelvic floor and improve flexibility. People who are recovering from abdominal surgery or injury could really benefit from the 7 routines on this DVD, but with that being said Coregeous could be helpful for anyone who feels their abs are underused and underperforming.

Quickfix RX DVDs

We all lead busy lives and that’s why we often put up with annoying muscular and joint pains – we don’t have time to visit our GP or a physiotherapist. The Yoga Tune Up Quickfix RX series is designed to offer you short, sharp and effective routines to loosen up the problems areas. Quickfix RX Upper & Lower Body is a 2 disk DVD covering your Neck, Shoulders, Back, Hips, Ankles, Feet, Elbows, Wrists and Hands. It has 120 minutes of specialised routines, and for each area of the body you can choose between a 5 or 10 minute session depending on how much time you have free. For those who suffer from chronic pain in their knees, Quickfix RX Kneehab is perfect for you. Not only does it help you to relieve acute aches and pains, it also shows you how to correct your posture and give up the bad habits which injured your knees in the first place.

Post Athletic Stretch Routines

This is one for real exercise enthusiasts! Cooling down after a workout is incredibly important, and the Post Athletic Stretch Routines shows you how to do it properly. Failing to stretch out your muscles results in that sore, tight feeling a few hours later or the next day. It can also affect your posture, and leave you hobbling or limping later on.

Dancers, runners, swimmers, cyclers and even golf players will all experience painful muscles by failing to stretch properly after exercise, so make this DVD part of every workout to keep your body at its peak performance. You could try the Double Loop Stretch Strap to help keep you balanced during really deep stretches.

Relaxation Meditation CD

And…. Breeeathe! We all get a little stressed out from time to time and there is no better way to relax than with some breathing exercises. Zone out after a long day with the Yoga Tune Up Relaxation Meditation CD. It’s brilliant to listen to after any Yoga Tune Up workout or simply to unwind when you’re feeling a little tense.

We <3 Yoga Tune Up!

So, now you’ve got the inside knowledge of Yoga Tune Up it’s only a matter of time until your body is finely tuned, flexible and free from pain. Stay tuned for a fab Yoga Tune Up giveaway coming soon, and for info on Yoga Tune Up classes coming to the UK – very exciting stuff!