Shirley Marcus brings her Rollness technique to the S.B. Yoga Center on February 26.
Paul Wellman

Inhale, exhale. Focusing on these simple actions, you can bring your body into greater alignment, ease stress, and relax your mind.

This is the basic premise of Rollness, a gentle, breathing-centered exercise akin to yoga, Pilates, or tai chi that will be taught by Franco-American fitness specialist Shirley Marcus at the Santa Barbara Yoga Center on Sunday. Using principles of Chinese energetic meridians, the low-impact exercise fosters improvement of posture, bone alignment, and lymphatic circulation.

“The movements are easy, but they’re precise,” explained Marcus. The techniques definitely appeal to those looking for a low-exertion, at-home fitness routine or a moving meditation, or to injured athletes or yogis who want to maintain the benefits of their practice during recovery.

In fact, Marcus discovered the routine through her doctors after a car accident. She developed a following in France, where she conducted online classes, before moving here to spread the exercise stateside. Her students report great benefits, said Marcus, explaining, “Their back straightens; they’re more flexible; they’re more toned; their digestion and skin are better.”

I tried out the Rollness technique in a one-on-one session and can vouch for the benefits. Though the forward-backward, contraction-expansion exercises were small and simple, I was standing straighter afterward, and the rather chronic stress-related pains in my shoulders and hips were very noticeably gone. I practice yoga, so the principles of balance and counterbalance were familiar to me, but the exercise achieved similar effects with much less exertion. With Rollness, a little goes a long way.

Rollness is at S.B. Yoga Center (32 E. Micheltorena St.) on Sunday, February, 26, at 11 a.m. To register, call 825-7865, email rollnessonline@gmail.com, or visit rollnessusa.com

Shirley Marcus
Paul Wellman

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