Several months ago the Institute of Medicine issued a detailed report addressing what it called a “public health crisis” of pain in the United States. According to the report, which was commissioned by the Obama Administration, nearly 1 in 3 Americans suffer with some kind of chronic pain. Unfortunately, the medical system is simply not equipped to address this crisis. The report found that there were only about 3,000 pain specialists in the United States, a tiny number compared to the estimated 116 million individuals suffering with chronic pain, and most of those specialists focus on managing pain with drugs. The report calls for a “cultural transformation” — an attitude shift on the level of that seen over the last 50 years toward smoking — to spur a more coordinated action to help treat Americans’ pain.
Our body-based conditioning programs are therapeutic in nature, they have been designed to educate and transform chronically tight muscle groups and connective tissue back to health. These basic home exercises changed my life and are improving the quality of life of individuals around the world. Our recent medical endorsement is an extremely proud moment for our fledgling business and confirms we are heading towards our goal of providing the most effective and affordable solution to overcoming chronic pain.
World-renowned sports medicine doctor and former Olympic team physician, Dr. Karlis Ullis, M.D., has used, benefited from and recommended the Bula Ball Method to his patients. Knowing the benefits that our Method can offer millions of people suffering with chronic pain, Dr. Ullis has offered his full endorsement of the life-changing Bula Ball Method! Watch this short video to see what Dr. Ullis has to say!
In other news … Bula Ball is now widely available in Europe!
Recent sales in Germany, Singapore and South Korea bring the total number of countries where people are feeling the benefits of the Bula Ball Method to 9!
If you live in Europe, it is now even easier for you to purchase Bula Ball products.
The fascial fitness specialists at www.fascia-fit.com have begun carrying the full line of Bula Ball products. This is a perfect fit for our company and we are very excited to be able to make our products readily available to more people in the Euro Zone.
Bula Ball recently had the amazing opportunity to present its first formal demonstration of the Bula Ball Method to a group of physical therapists and alternative therapist practitioners at ALTA Physical Therapy & Pilates in Denver, Coloardo.
We could not be more excited to have had the opportunity to address a group of health care practitioners who are treating chronic pain patients on a daily basis. I learned a great deal from these amazing practitioners and came away even more excited about the benefits of the Bula Ball Method. A special thank you goes out to Charlie Merrill for allowing us to use the ALTA Physical Therapy studio for the demonstration.
This opportunity came our way through one of our customers, physical therapist Christine Buzzell. Christine has suffered with a long-term chronic hamstring problem and wanted to try a new approach. This is what Christine had to say:
“I have been using the Bula Ball directly after running and have had much success treating a chronic upper hamstring injury. I have used foam rollers in the past, but the ball allows me to get onto very specific areas of my hamstring tendon as well as piriformis and gluteal muscles. I would recommend the ball for self-myofascial release and cross-friction massage to tendonous areas.”
Before traveling to Colorado, Christine wanted to learn more about how I came to develop the Bula Ball Method and what experiences influenced how I sequenced each program, which is what makes them so effective. Suitably impressed with my journey of self-discovery and recovery and after learning that I was going to be passing through Denver on my way to the Aspen Ruggerfest where I helped my team, the Misfits, defend last years championship, Christine suggested that I stop in Denver and deliver an interactive presentation to a group of her peers. After spending so much time face down on physical therapists’ treatment tables and benefiting so much from their expertise, it was a huge honor to be addressing a group of PTs about what I’ve done to overcome my chronic pain and how they can use the Bula Ball Method to help their clientele.
The Aspen Ruggerfest 2011 Winning Team - The Misfits
Christine tells me that while there are a whole host of new self-therapy products entering the market every year, physical therapists are often skeptical of many of their claims. Nevertheless, after reviewing the Bula Ball Method, Christine found that our programs were the most comprehensive and effective of the ones she had seen. We could not agree more! As a further testament to her belief in the program, the hospital where Christine practices has recently bought several Bula Ball’s and are using them in their practice to great success!
This is another great boost for our small business, and we owe a huge debt of gratitude to both Christine Buzzell and Charlie Merrill.
With so many muscle groups connecting in and around our shoulders, it is important to release and stretch them all to successfully overcome shoulder pain. In our next video clip Summer demonstrates 1 of our 10 shoulder pain exercises that work to eliminate shoulder pain. To do this exercise, you lay face down and place either your 5″ or 7″ Bula Ball under your front deltoid and take a moment for your body to relax into this new and foreign position.
While relaxed you will feel a nice easy stretch through the front of your pectoral muscle and sternocleidomastoid (neck muscle) which connects to your collar bone closest to your throat. The downward pressure of your front deltoid on your Bula Ball will also help this muscle release tension, once you feel comfortable with this position and feel you need more of a release add more downward pressure by pushing your shoulder into your Bula Ball. This should be more than enough for most but as you progress, you can lift your arm and add movement to the exercise and really increase both the stretch and the soft tissue massage to your front deltoid. This is a great exercise to correct shoulders that are rolled forward because it gently pushing your shoulders back and releases the muscles that are holding them in a forward rolled position.
Since launching Bula Ball seven months ago from a laptop in our Costa Rican home, we have been astounded by the response we have gotten from our customers. We started this company with limited resources and a tiny marketing budget and relied primarily on the word-of-mouth of the people who have benefitted from Bula Balls. Today we are proud to announce that Bula Ball products have been sold in six different countries around the world and our customers – from top athletes to retirees – are telling us how Bula Ball is making a positive difference in their lives!
Recently, we received a message from our very first customer. Jorge Caraval is a 46-year old Performance Enhancement Specialist from Florida. He wrote,
After suffering from terrible neck pain for over 2 years, and countless therapies, chiropractic, massage, ART, trigger point injections, physical therapy, and on and on, I realized I had become a chronic pain patient much to my dismay. I decided to try the Bula Balls and 2 months later I was pain free … The Bula Balls Neck & Shoulder and Low Back & Legs routines helped release my frontal, lateral and back myofacial lines — where my problems lay — the chronic pain in my neck was simply the end result of all that tight fasica. What do you say about a method that helped make you and keeps you pain free? THANKS!!!
How awesome!
We knew before we launched our business that we had produced a strong and comprehensive product, but we have been truly blown away by the response we have gotten. Bula Ball is making a difference in people’s lives and we could not be more excited!
L.A. Bound
We’re at the end of our stay here in Costa Rica. After completing our first ever Bula Ball/Koha Yoga joint workshop at the beautiful Montezuma Yoga studio, the benefits of the Bula Ball Method are being felt all over Montezuma.
Since the workshop, Riaz has had several 1-on-1 Bula Ball sessions with locals, tourists and ex pats alike. All of our clients have gone away feeling looser, stronger and more relaxed. Though our time here in Montezuma has been amazing, we are excited to get back to Los Angeles where we hope to set up a regular practice that will allow Riaz to continue to have further group and 1-on-1 sessions. Stay tuned for more details!
Calling All Affiliates!
One thing we have learned after 7 months in business is that the best marketing is word-of-mouth marketing. So many of our sales have come from one person telling another how helpful the Bula Ball Method has been for them. We are immensely grateful to all of our customers and especially to those that have recommended Bula Balls to friends and family!
In keeping with our word-of-mouth marketing campaign, we have set up an affiliate program that allows like-minded business and websites to market Bula Ball products. Those business and websites will earn a substantial percentage of all sales attributed to them. We hope that through this program we can generate more sales, help our partners earn more money and, most importantly, spread the good word about the benefits of Bula Ball! If you are interested, click here to learn more about our affiliate program.
The bridge pose is a staple exercise in any yoga, pilates or strength training regimen. The pose can be modified for beginners, intermediate and advanced practitioners and is therefore a great exercise for everyone, regardless of your fitness level.
The bridge is a simple exercise that provides significant benefits to several different key muscle groups. Physical therapists regularly recommend this exercise to patients suffering with lower back pain because it strengthens the core, stabilizes the spine, helps correct hip rotation and works the glutes all with minimal strain on the back.
(Images courtesy of Science Photo Library)
The bridge pose is easy to do, effective and it feels great! Everyone should be doing this exercise regularly to maintain a healthy back and spine.
In the below video, Nathan demonstrates the bridge pose.
Our dear friends from Koha Yoga were in Costa Rica this past March to practice their unique brand of flying yoga at the Envision Festival in Dominical. While in Costa Rica, they visited us here in Montezuma and were able to “fly” some of the locals. They made such an impression that when they were asked to return to Dominical to look after the Bamboo Yoga studio for two months, we asked them to make another trip to Montezuma to take part in a flying yoga/Bula Ball retreat.
The retreat was held last weekend at the beautiful Montezuma Yoga studio and was a resounding success. Koha Yoga combines the fun and restorative properties of flying (or “acro”) yoga with the healing benefits of Thai massage to stretch, align and strengthen the whole body. The self-myofascial release techniques taught in the Bula Ball Method were a natural fit with Koha Yoga’s holistic approach.
Retreat participants spent the retreat learning flying yoga techniques, Thai massage practices and the Bula Ball Method. Everyone came away from the weekend feeling longer, leaner, stronger and more confident. The weekend was such a success that we are hoping to plan more Bula Ball retreats in the future. Stay tuned!
The sternocleidomastoid neck muscles are the long muscles on the side of the neck that extend up from the thorax to the base of the skull behind the ear. The muscles are responsible for controlling head movement from left to right.
When the sternocleidomastoid muscles have shortened, they can refer pain throughout the neck and shoulder area as well as cause headaches around the eyes. Releasing this muscle is crucial to correcting chronic neck and shoulder pain. When working this muscle using the Bula Ball Method, you may feel some dizziness; if you do feel light-headed, decrease the pressure in your Bula Ball and ease off the downward pressure you are applying, eventually, this muscle will release and you will begin to feel the tension in your neck and shoulders releasing with it!
In the below video Summer demonstrates how to best release your sternocleidomastoid muscle using your 5” Bula Ball. This is one of my favorite exercises, it feels so good!
Iliotibial band syndrome is one of the leading causes of lateral knee pain. Though it is most commonly associated with knee problems, the tightening of the iliotibial band or IT Band also plays a big part in hip rotation and lower back sciatic pain.
The IT Band is made up of thick superficial tissue that runs on the outside of the thigh — extending from the outside of the pelvis, over the hip and knee, and inserting just below the knee. The IT Band is crucial to stabilizing the knee during running, hiking and cycling, the shortening of the band causes it to continually rub over the lateral femoral which leads to chronic knee pain.
I suffered with hip rotation from a very young age and I found the shortening of my IT Bands played a big part in keeping my hips rotated and out of alignment. Releasing the tension from my IT’s and creating length in the bands, through my regular practice of the Bula Ball Method, has really helped with relieving pain in my lower back and played a big part in helping me correct my own hip rotation.
My IT bands were by far my most painful connective tissue in my body and releasing it took time, but the results are well worth the effort.
In the below video Nathan demonstrates how to release the IT Band with your 7” Bula Ball.
Bula Ball announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued patent pending status to The Bula Ball Method. As many of you know, the Bula Ball Method is a unique chronic pain treatment program that works to synchronize the muscular, fascial and skeletal systems, restoring harmony and creating long-term health benefits.
The Bula Ball Method treats chronic muscle pain caused by repetitive stress, poor posture or traumatic injuries. The Bula Ball Method works on three levels to address the underlying causes of chronic pain: (1) soft tissue massage/self-myofascial release; (2) stretching and flexibility; and (3) core stability and strengthening. The practices employed by the Bula Ball Method are not new, but never before have not been put together in a comprehensive fitness program designed specifically to overcome chronic muscle pain.
The Bula Ball Method’s approach to rebalancing the body has led to profound results and is empowering pain sufferers to finally take control of their chronic pain. About filing for the patent, Bula Ball founder, Riaz Fredericks, says, “I have been exposed to every kind of chronic pain therapy imaginable and none were able to rid me of the pain I felt on a daily basis. We decided to apply for a patent on the Bula Ball Method because we truly believe that the Method and the way it addresses chronic pain are both revolutionary and unique in the industry.”
Receiving patent pending status caps an otherwise exciting month for Bula Ball. The company recently partnered with Koha Yoga for a 3-day long workshop from June 10-12 at Montezuma Yoga in Montezuma, Costa Rica. The workshop will combine several yoga classes with seminars on the Bula Ball Method. A regular yoga practice and the Bula Ball Method are a natural fit and the workshop should be immensely beneficial for the participants.
