Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27283 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 127 pages

Marika Molnar; P.T. Director, Physical Therapy Services; member, New York City Ballet; director, West Side Dance Physical Therapy
"By far the most stimulating and visually articulate book on the subject. A must read for everyone."

Glenna Batson, M.A., P.T. Director, Wellness Partners in the Arts
"[D]irect, clear, and congenial. Pelvic power can be yours with this simply sound approach of sensing, visualizing, and moving!"

Jenn Dunn, M.S. Board of Directors
"Eric Franklin has once again written a phenomenal book—useful for practitioners, and exercise specialists."

Customer Reviews

Disappointed
I found this book difficult to follow. Some exercises seem badly explained. I gained nothing from reading it.

Impressive, helpful
I have read this book through once and can honestly say I will be referring to it over and again. It will not be sold on at a car boot sale in a few months along with many other impressively titled texts, instead I know I will refer to it again and again.

In a western, industrial culture that shrouds the pelvic area of the body with mystery and/or shame, there is a lot of excessive medicalisation or, on the flipside, an abundance of exotic and untranslated terminology, euphemism and side-talking going on in physiotherapy, antenatal, yoga, Pilates, and other forms of body work classes and sessions in relation to just what parts of the body we are talking about. Terms like "the bandhas" are not always mentally present to the Westerner (we have to translate before we can visualise before we can engage); and terms like "the core muscles" don't say much to many people not already involved in fitness. Or the most useless phrase yet used "the smile muscles" -- still don't know what that particular speaker was talking about.

But Franklin by-passes the nonsense. He credits and gives respect to the Eastern philosophies and their terms, he introduces and explains the Western medical terms -- but then he gets on to discuss, with humour and clarity, just what parts of the body we are dealing with. How to feel those muscles and to work them.

The basis of his method is a unique set of visualisation exercises -- solidly grounded in human physiology and how the body really works -- that you can adapt for your own use. The muscles follow the mind. Visualisation is the key to proper alignment, muscle recruitment and movement.

Insightful, amusing, clear and, most importantly, very very helpful.