Elaine Petrone Method: "How Long Should I Stay On The Ball?"

Spending time on the balls. A common question has been how long do you stay
on the ball. I suggest in the book that you stay on a short time in the
beginning (1-3 minutes),come off immediately if you have pain, and you do
NOT have to place the ball directly on the area that hurts in order to get
relief.

Although I mention in the Miracle Ball Method Book that I spent hours on the
balls it was part of my learning experience as I was developing the method.
The ball only works when you are getting a response. If you feel nothing
that is a different kind of response. There are only 2 responses you feel
reactions or you feel nothing. If you do not feel anything that lets you
know that your body is reacting by resisting letting go.

No reaction is a very big clue to how you may be holding your breath and
your muscles. Our objective is not to stay on the balls as long as we can.
It doesn't say that anywhere. More is not better. We are not trying to
achieve anything. We are experiencing the feeling or lack of feeling in the
body. This is done thru observing. That feeling is what leads us to make the
next choice. It is not necessary to stay on the balls for a long time. Much
of your changes will be inspired after you remove the ball. Does your body
rests on the floor differently? Were you responsive in some way? I ask you to
sense any change in your breathing; did you feel other parts of your body
become involved? Encourage yourself but do not wallpaper over wallpaper. DO
not do more of the same that you have done your whole life. If your objective
is to control all reactions in your life then you will probably be
controlling these reactions as well.

We are not machines and yet many of us live lives that are very
mechanistic.We wake up, rush in our usual ways, go to the usual places and
move in the usual ways. Some of us have more hectic lives than others, but
even a very easy life can have challenges if we have had an illness or
injury of some kind. Psychological stresses, behavioral issues, emotional
problems. Many people as a result make up their responses. For example
people will imagine they are very relaxed and are happy with that,or they
will leave the ball there for a long time and "think" they are letting go.
That is why I made the directions as simply as I could and will continue to
try to do that.

In the need to be good at something we reach into our bag of tricks and make
up a response. You will know if you did that because your body will not
respond positively.
Every day life can make having a responsive body a little more challenging
than most people might believe. We think we need to do something. Even those
that meditate and do yoga seem to have to make it a success story. More is
better, work harder and you will get more. This is not the way your body
recovers.

In this method we are not trying to relax. I am setting up a set of
directions that will help you to feel your body. In that sometimes what we
feel can be misleading and then we get angry that our body has failed us. I
wish I could say it is that black and white, you follow the directions and
you will relax and feel better. That is superficial . Our bodies are much
more complicated. They require us to investigate and be truly honest with
what we find. Did we hold our breath while on the ball? DO we tend to "try"
to relax and "think" we are in a state of peace and joy. These have never
been my directions. You see when we feel, even if the felings are not
pleasant, it is in that moment that our body improves. It is in that moment that our
bodies unwind and evolve.

What does your body feel like really? Not where you "think"it should be or
how you"make it relax".What does it really feel like and that takes some
stripping away of preconceived notions about this process and good and bad.
It means we must be open on a physical as well a psychological level. You
may have one response today and a totally different response tomorrow until
you start to learn from your body. Your physical feeling will lead you
totally and honestly to another place if you are open. If you judge quickly
your responses, if you try to change the directions and work a little harder
for a particular result, you may find your body resists more and you will
feel it. Your body can only speak to you with pain and with pleasure. That
is it. It cannot send you an e-mail or a text. Pain is probably our biggest
teacher. Whoever changed their life when things were goind well? I always
tell my students pain can be a blessing in disguise. Just listen and learn.
Don't try to relax,don't make the work something it is not. You are not a
machine. You are flesh and blood with all kinds of ways to resist and
respond. Be open and you will change for the better.

Best,
Elaine
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