Download The New Rules of Posture How to Sit Stand and Move in the Modern World Mary Bond 9781594771248 Books

Product details Paperback 240 pages Publisher Healing Arts Press; 32555th edition (November 29, 2006) Language English ISBN-10 1594771243

The New Rules of Posture How to Sit Stand and Move in the Modern World Mary Bond 9781594771248 Books Reviews

• I can't believe I only found this book now. I struggled with back pain and posture problems for many years despite being an athletic, gym-going, healthy-weight guy in his 30's. I did searches on and tried so many things -- Alexander technique, Feldenkrais, yoga, somatic meditation, and much more. I picked up bits and pieces which seemed to help, but I couldn't find anything that explained *all* the components of good posture and how they all fit together.
  
  Finally, while researching books on Rolfing, I found this book. I just finished reading it and it is literally the holy grail of posture. Finally, someone is actually explaining *all* aspects of posture, not in a handwavy new-agey way but with plenty of references to scientific papers... but also admitting and embracing fully how much posture is related to emotions and attitudes. It explains the theory but is also chock-full of exercises for both discovery and practice. And this knowledge is so vitally important and can affect so many aspects of your life, it deserves to be read by *everyone*, seriously.
  
  When I was trying to understand my back pain, one of the first books I came to was the top result on for "back pain", specifically "8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back" by Esther Gokhale. Not only did that book not help, but it actually made things *worse* (e.g. her advice to center weight over the heels, or to breathe more with chest and less with belly, both of are terrible and contradict what Mary Bond teaches, and don't even get me started on Gokhale's truly bizarre "kidney bean" standing which actually left me in pain for a week). It really bothers me that Gokhale's book is currently ranked #4,000 while Bond's is ranked #30,000.
  
  If you're reading this review, buy this book -- if you read it and practice the exercises, it will literally change your life.
• This book treat posture not as a problem that can be mechanically "fixed" by doing some exercises (e.g. wall stands) but as an expression of our bodies. To me it was very helpful to understand how different zones in our body contribute to our posture and how doing simple exercises when can change it.
  
  It can be dense in medical terms (I used a dictionary a lot) but you get a clear picture how your body works. So much more than just a book on fixing a posture.
• This book was suggested to me by a highly regarded body worker.
  It is not your average book on correct posture or ergonomic workplace tips.
  This book teaches you how to engage with the world through your body in a light, effortless manner. The suggestions can challenge your ideas of how our minds, bodies and environment relate. By following the suggestions years of subtle habits of tightness and self-consciousness slowly fade and a more fluid way of moving in the world emerges.
  I am 62, male, have worked blue collar and white collar jobs. Had poor posture since childhood.
  I am more comfortable and am more interested in interacting with my surroundings than just wanting to feel a bit less stiff in the morning.
• An extremely clear guide to facilitating change in the body through simple changes in posture and movement. Don't let the simplicity fool you. What Mary Bond is teaching is very effective. Good illustrations too.
• I was always a bit skeptical of all these vaguely new age-y fitness books. Then I reluctantly started doing Yoga after a car accident a few years back. Long story short, yoga really helped me a lot, so after that I read some books like these. I'm still a bit skeptical of these books, but it turns out some of these people are onto something - like the author of this book. Buy it. It's great. If you've been injured and you read it, there's a decent chance it'll help you recover better once you're done healing if you're anything like me.
  
  A lot of the fitness field of late is nonsense about chakras and auras and whatnot that seems to be making it up as it goes along, but this book is the real deal. It has exercises and activities that work, it promotes bodily awareness and wonderful insight into ergonomics through real-life examples. No chakras (OK, a little about chakras, I think) or auras or Mayan 2012 anything here. The author is a dance instructor with a Master's degree who really seems to have a way with explaining this stuff and how to be more aware of your body. She is also very aware of anatomy and the book often has good pictures to show what she's talking about and which muscles are involved. Most importantly, her methods work.
  
  I was running slower than usual and I wasn't doing very well on my squat. No clue why. Then I read this book. I realized that after an ankle sprain a few months ago, I'd still been holding on to the rails on stairs, ramps, etc even though the ankle on that side had healed. I consciously altered that behavior. Before, I hadn't even realized it.
  
  Back to adding weight to my squat and jogging up and down the stairs (I didn't even notice I'd stopped doing that!). The closest analogy I can come up with is when I teach kids reading skills and they have that "uh-huh" moment where they finally comprehend what they read as they do it. That's how I felt after reading this and started to think about how I sit and stand and walk as I do it and how I could make it better. The wall exercise was really interesting in demonstrating the pelvic floor. This book teaches you body awareness skills. Simple, but really quite profound stuff.
  
  Highly recommended to anyone who likes to stay fit. Helpful in setting up office ergonomics, too.