Yoga kit delivers as pain, stress reliever

So the delivery guy said the new cabinet we purchased was scheduled to arrive the next day.

Should have listened closer to those words, “was scheduled.” (It was coming from out of town.)

But, I didn’t, and decided that I couldn’t wait for the males of my household to arrive to move the furniture that was in that room. I could do it alone.

I did, but I should not have. My left arm and shoulder ended up hurting for weeks. No amount of ice, heat or stretching seemed to make things better.

(You probably already guessed, the furniture didn’t show up the next day, either.)

And then I remembered the Element Yoga Kit ($29.98) I’d been meaning to try. Time to open that up and see if I could find some pain relief.

The kit comes with two massage balls that you use much the same way as you would a foam roller. I put them to use with one of the two DVDs included in the kit, “Stretch Release & Restore Yoga.” Led by Los Angeles-based yoga instructor Ashley Turner, you go through a series of yoga moves using the massage balls to relieve pain or tension in muscles and connective tissue.

In a very relaxing voice, Turner explains throughout why what she’s doing is helping that particular spot on your bod. She also instinctively seems to know when to remind you to breathe.

Don’t be discouraged if it takes you a few times to figure out exactly where you should be positioning the massage ball; you’ll get it. And, I gotta tell you, by the next day the pain I’d been experiencing had lessened dramatically.

No time for an entire DVD? The kit also includes cards that show 10 moves that you can use to relieve tension. Each card shows the pose, explains how it is done and tells you what the move does for your body. Nice idea when you want to zero in on one vulnerable area.

Like that old commercial used to say, but wait, there’s more. There are two additional workouts on another DVD, “Yoga for Energy & Relaxation.” This one’s taught by Tamal Dodge, who was raised in his family’s yoga ashram in Hawaii and has done yoga his entire life. He, too, is LA-based and has a studio there. His instruction is very clear and one move flows nicely into the next. He does a nice job explaining how breathing correctly is so important.

This is a nice set that brings relief from tension and pain, and also includes a solid DVD of other yoga moves as well.