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Rethink Your Position: Reshape Your Exercise, Yoga, and Everyday Movement, One Part at a Time
A nutritious ‘movement diet’ is essential to our well-being. This book contains all the ingredients we need. –Mark Hyman, MD, New York Times #1 Bestselling Author of Young Forever, The Pegan Diet, and The Blood Sugar Solution
This book is elegant and immediately actionable. You cannot help but be changed simply by reading it. –Kelly Starrett, DPT, New York Times bestselling author of Becoming a Supple Leopard, Deskbound, and Built to Move
We make hundreds of movement choices all day long, whether we know it or Walk or drive? Sit or stand? Hip to the right or to the left? Heels or flats? So how can we make the choices that leave us feeling and moving—even thinking—our best? It starts with the ways in which our body is positioned throughout the day, whether working, exercising, or resting.
Rethink Your Position is your guide to everyday anatomy and alignment—part by part.
Daily aches and pains can feel unavoidable, but we can start feeling better by moving better.
And moving better starts with our individual body parts, and the relationship between and among those parts and the forces or loads they experience.
Professionals, experienced exercisers, and new-to-movement newbies alike will discover the big and little ways our body parts move. Rethink Your Position explains how to check the way different areas are moving now, includes precision exercises to get important parts moving better, and shows how to support better health by making small changes —not only at the gym, but at the office, in the kitchen, on a walk with friends….even while you’re sleeping.
With her trademark clarity and humor, biomechanist, movement teacher, and bestselling author Katy Bowman provides simple, engaging instructions that will have you rethinking your position by reshaping what you’re already doing. Learn how
Avoid a tech neck by adjusting your head while looking at your phone Set up your computer space to open tight shouldersSwitch up the way you walk for happier feet and kneesCare for your hips and psoas muscles by sitting differentlyAdjust your pelvic tilt for a stronger pelvic floor and glutes Wake up feeling refreshed by changing your sleep shapeFind even better form in your regular yoga, Pilates, or fitness workoutCare for your brain (and mind) with simple movements—like chewing!
Transform how you think about movement. Then watch your whole life change!
This book is elegant and immediately actionable. You cannot help but be changed simply by reading it. –Kelly Starrett, DPT, New York Times bestselling author of Becoming a Supple Leopard, Deskbound, and Built to Move
We make hundreds of movement choices all day long, whether we know it or Walk or drive? Sit or stand? Hip to the right or to the left? Heels or flats? So how can we make the choices that leave us feeling and moving—even thinking—our best? It starts with the ways in which our body is positioned throughout the day, whether working, exercising, or resting.
Rethink Your Position is your guide to everyday anatomy and alignment—part by part.
Daily aches and pains can feel unavoidable, but we can start feeling better by moving better.
And moving better starts with our individual body parts, and the relationship between and among those parts and the forces or loads they experience.
Professionals, experienced exercisers, and new-to-movement newbies alike will discover the big and little ways our body parts move. Rethink Your Position explains how to check the way different areas are moving now, includes precision exercises to get important parts moving better, and shows how to support better health by making small changes —not only at the gym, but at the office, in the kitchen, on a walk with friends….even while you’re sleeping.
With her trademark clarity and humor, biomechanist, movement teacher, and bestselling author Katy Bowman provides simple, engaging instructions that will have you rethinking your position by reshaping what you’re already doing. Learn how
Avoid a tech neck by adjusting your head while looking at your phone Set up your computer space to open tight shouldersSwitch up the way you walk for happier feet and kneesCare for your hips and psoas muscles by sitting differentlyAdjust your pelvic tilt for a stronger pelvic floor and glutes Wake up feeling refreshed by changing your sleep shapeFind even better form in your regular yoga, Pilates, or fitness workoutCare for your brain (and mind) with simple movements—like chewing!
Transform how you think about movement. Then watch your whole life change!
296 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 11, 2023
158 people are currently reading
923 people want to read
About the author
Katy Bowman
26 books394 followersBestselling author, speaker, and a leader of the Movement movement, biomechanist Katy Bowman, M.S. is changing the way we move and think about our need for movement. Her ten books, including the groundbreaking Move Your DNA, have been translated into more than 16 languages worldwide.
Bowman is the creator and host of the "Move Your DNA" podcast, teaches movement globally, and speaks about sedentarism and movement ecology to academic and scientific audiences such as the Ancestral Health Summit and the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Her work has been featured in such diverse media as the Today Show, CBC Radio One, the Seattle Times, NPR, the Joe Rogan Experience, and Good Housekeeping.
One of Maria Shriver’s “Architects of Change” and an America Walks “Woman of the Walking Movement,” Bowman consults on educational and living space design to encourage movement-rich habitats. She has worked with companies like Patagonia, Nike, and Google as well as a wide range of non-profits and other communities to create greater access to her “move more, move more body parts, move more for what you need” message.
Her movement education company, Nutritious Movement, is based in Washington State, where she lives with her family.
Bowman is the creator and host of the "Move Your DNA" podcast, teaches movement globally, and speaks about sedentarism and movement ecology to academic and scientific audiences such as the Ancestral Health Summit and the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Her work has been featured in such diverse media as the Today Show, CBC Radio One, the Seattle Times, NPR, the Joe Rogan Experience, and Good Housekeeping.
One of Maria Shriver’s “Architects of Change” and an America Walks “Woman of the Walking Movement,” Bowman consults on educational and living space design to encourage movement-rich habitats. She has worked with companies like Patagonia, Nike, and Google as well as a wide range of non-profits and other communities to create greater access to her “move more, move more body parts, move more for what you need” message.
Her movement education company, Nutritious Movement, is based in Washington State, where she lives with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
March 1, 2024
Like all of Bowman's book, this made me more conscious of how I'm moving (or not moving) my body throughout the day. It includes good ideas, (mostly) simple explanations, and helpful exercises.
The interior design of the book drove me nuts, though. The lines are literally double-spaced, which makes reading harder on the eyes and is just a waste of paper. Then, ironically, the references are not included in the book, but are only available online, partly to “save paper.” There are full sentences written in caps (instead of small caps), which is always obnoxious.
Also, there are so many typographical and grammatical errors. This needed a better proofreader and designer.
The interior design of the book drove me nuts, though. The lines are literally double-spaced, which makes reading harder on the eyes and is just a waste of paper. Then, ironically, the references are not included in the book, but are only available online, partly to “save paper.” There are full sentences written in caps (instead of small caps), which is always obnoxious.
Also, there are so many typographical and grammatical errors. This needed a better proofreader and designer.
June 22, 2023
My guru! I will always read any book Katy Bowman publishes, even if it is more or less the same thing as all of her other books. Reading this revived my further goal to increase all kinds of movement in my life, especially at this stage, and I want to pledge to read one of her books at least once every season. (My sole irritating designer complaint is that the type-setting is terrible—double-spaced 14-point Times New Roman!—which makes it unpleasant to read.) Otherwise, 5 huge stars. Want to give a copy to everyone I know (especially my parents).
June 21, 2023
4.5 stars
21 June 2023 - Do lot allow the amount of time it took me to finish reading this book deter you! This is an excellent book to get you thinking about moving -- and get you moving. I love Katy's work, so she will most likely always get 4-5 stars from me.
4 May 2023 - With my attention focused on caregiving for my parents, I have not given this book the love and attention that it (and I) deserves. Truthfully, this is more of a reference book, a primer, than the sort of book that you should sit and read for an extended time.
12 April 2023 - I have publicly proclaimed my love of Katy's work, and after two months of watching my parents deal with restricted movement (one from surgery and the other from myriad health concerns and chronic pain), I have come to value my ability to move! Am as flexible as I was 3 decades ago? Nope! But that's not a reason to give up.
I adore Katy Bowman's work, and it was wonderful serendipity that my pre-order of Rethink Your Position arrived just as I finished an ok mystery. The irony here is that I started reading this book lying flat on my back, exhausted from a mere two hours of sleep and many hours of caregiving.
The book is a mix of new information, previously published information, and previously published information which the author has updated. If you already own one of Bowman's functional books (vs. her essay books such as Movement Matters) then you may or may not need/want this one, but I really like that Bowman addressed how to "fix" your exercise and yoga.
I was disappointed to learn that no audiobook version is planned because there's no greater treat than Katy reading her work -- especially the flub reel at the end!
21 June 2023 - Do lot allow the amount of time it took me to finish reading this book deter you! This is an excellent book to get you thinking about moving -- and get you moving. I love Katy's work, so she will most likely always get 4-5 stars from me.
4 May 2023 - With my attention focused on caregiving for my parents, I have not given this book the love and attention that it (and I) deserves. Truthfully, this is more of a reference book, a primer, than the sort of book that you should sit and read for an extended time.
12 April 2023 - I have publicly proclaimed my love of Katy's work, and after two months of watching my parents deal with restricted movement (one from surgery and the other from myriad health concerns and chronic pain), I have come to value my ability to move! Am as flexible as I was 3 decades ago? Nope! But that's not a reason to give up.
I adore Katy Bowman's work, and it was wonderful serendipity that my pre-order of Rethink Your Position arrived just as I finished an ok mystery. The irony here is that I started reading this book lying flat on my back, exhausted from a mere two hours of sleep and many hours of caregiving.
The book is a mix of new information, previously published information, and previously published information which the author has updated. If you already own one of Bowman's functional books (vs. her essay books such as Movement Matters) then you may or may not need/want this one, but I really like that Bowman addressed how to "fix" your exercise and yoga.
I was disappointed to learn that no audiobook version is planned because there's no greater treat than Katy reading her work -- especially the flub reel at the end!
January 21, 2024
Loved this! The chapters are short so you can easily start and stop if you’re reading the actual book like I did. I would recommend reading over listening because there are lots of helpful pictures and diagrams. Great for anyone who wants to live with fewer aches and pains. Lots of actionable tips laced with good humor.
June 18, 2024
I found this chock full of easily digestible information. I did find myself wanting more information up front, but she would get to it eventually. Some good info.
October 16, 2023
Actionable tips; and author has a great sense of humour too
October 24, 2023
I find pretty much anything Bowman writes to be fascinating and very helpful. It took me a long time to get through the final chapters of this one, but it’s a great read. Highly recommend.
Bowman is that rare kind of teacher who makes *everything* seem important, yet somehow not overwhelming. I can implement any of the ideas she explains and be confident that it will help, even while knowing there’s a lot more work to be done. A month+ of doing head ramping is already making a big difference!
Bowman is that rare kind of teacher who makes *everything* seem important, yet somehow not overwhelming. I can implement any of the ideas she explains and be confident that it will help, even while knowing there’s a lot more work to be done. A month+ of doing head ramping is already making a big difference!
March 8, 2024
This is my 3rd book by Ms. Bowman, and while I enjoyed this one, I wish there was an appendix where she collected all the movements mentioned throughout the book as she did in Dynamic Aging.
October 19, 2024
Calling all movement nerds!!
This book has me reimagining my office setup. Contemplating alternative seats and perhaps setting timers to avoid sitting too long and/or changing position. Can I walk 2-4 miles a day? Outside?
These are my thoughts after finishing this one up!
I borrowed this book from the Library and am considering purchasing a copy for my petite library (those who know me, know this is a big compliment to the book!). 📗
It is because I can see myself returning to it as a reference for proper alignment and various small ways I can incorporate more movement into my life. 💃🏼
As I am rounding the bend to the later half of my 40's, improving my mobility muscles is more important than ever to me. 💪🏼
💗Special thanks to my dear friend, Betsy Ball, who reacquainted me with Katy Bowman after a long hiatus. She isn't on Goodreads, but it is because of her, I picked this one up! 💗
TLDR: This book is accessible and a quick, important read!
This book has me reimagining my office setup. Contemplating alternative seats and perhaps setting timers to avoid sitting too long and/or changing position. Can I walk 2-4 miles a day? Outside?
These are my thoughts after finishing this one up!
I borrowed this book from the Library and am considering purchasing a copy for my petite library (those who know me, know this is a big compliment to the book!). 📗
It is because I can see myself returning to it as a reference for proper alignment and various small ways I can incorporate more movement into my life. 💃🏼
As I am rounding the bend to the later half of my 40's, improving my mobility muscles is more important than ever to me. 💪🏼
💗Special thanks to my dear friend, Betsy Ball, who reacquainted me with Katy Bowman after a long hiatus. She isn't on Goodreads, but it is because of her, I picked this one up! 💗
TLDR: This book is accessible and a quick, important read!
April 2, 2025
While I have really enjoyed most everything that Katy Bowman has created so far, this book just fell a little flat for me. It was printed with very large text, and was so many pages longer than it needed to be. A really strange fusion of super sciency deep dives (into sometimes uninteresting topics) coupled with surfacy reiterations of previous material and longwinded explanations.
The whole book, other than maybe the beginning and the neck stretch, just kind of felt like a rushed half-finished job. Like WHERE is the actual substance??? Feels like I read a lot of words, but learned very little for my effort.
2.5 stars rounded up for good photos and the good cause of getting more people to move and feel better.
The whole book, other than maybe the beginning and the neck stretch, just kind of felt like a rushed half-finished job. Like WHERE is the actual substance??? Feels like I read a lot of words, but learned very little for my effort.
2.5 stars rounded up for good photos and the good cause of getting more people to move and feel better.
October 18, 2023
Katy Bowman specializes in biomechanics and kinesiology; here she discusses the importance of good posture and diversity of movement. An interesting perspective taken by Ms. Bowman is to view movement as nutrition, with the dearth of such (which she refers to as “loads”) being the culprit for a variety of ailments - including why we tend to get shorter as we age (i.e., a lifetime of poor posture has made us too weak to hold our bodies upright). Imo much of this was a rehash of her seminal book Move Your DNA (5/5 stars).
April 10, 2024
I love Katy Bowman, but this book felt like a messy afterthought. I think they just took any old blog posts that hadn’t been included in previous books and tried to organize them into a few categories. But it was all over the place and had little flow and continuity. Plus, much of it I’d heard from her before in a better format. It took me almost a year to finally get through this book, and I am leaving it feeling only slightly inspired. I’m still giving three stars because I like her and her ideas. But I would read Movement Matters first if you are new to KB.
July 8, 2023
I own all of the books written by this author, and this one is a must. It takes her earlier work in Alignment Matters and condenses it down to the most important and useful information in a very easy to understand format. It flows much more naturally than the earlier book and between the two, I'd definitely recommend this one more, especially to anybody who is unfamiliar with the entire concept of biomechanics and its importance in our day to day lives.
October 8, 2024
Rethink your Position by Katy Bowman is a helpful guide for stretching. I liked that this book is designed differently, like a collection of yoga positions with a more in depth description. The author encourages the reader to get moving, to stretch more, and increase heart rate for longevity. If you want to try yoga, you could read this book and get comfortable with these stretches. The best part: I can do these stretches almost everywhere.
April 26, 2023
I’ve been familiar with Katy Bowman’s work for years but have only read a couple of her books and not much of her online material. I found this one to be both comprehensive and practical, and hope to convince my family to work through parts of this book with me so that we can all rethink our positions.
July 4, 2023
This book is for everyone - movement is medicine. As a yoga teacher, I enjoyed the book's organization by body segment. As a visual learner, I appreciated the photos of alignments/misalignments and accessible exercises. As a human, Katy's relatable and witty writing paired with her expertise on functional movement had me craving for more. On to her next book!
November 6, 2023
We can love our bodies, ourselves and others through moving our bodies more. Not exercising more (or maybe a little bit), but just by changing the shapes we hold each day. Katy insightfully educates us in this book on scientific biomechanical concepts that movement professionals can learn from and in a humorous, easy to understand everyday language for any person with a body.
June 12, 2025
Took me about a year to read this book, but don't let that detract you! So many important principles here about our bodies, movement, alignment, communities and minds. Katy's perspective and approach really resonate with me and I've made lots of small simple changes that are making a big difference in my life.
October 11, 2023
I am a big fan of Katy Bowman. I love all her books and this one is just as good.
Katy makes me think about how I sit, how I walk, how I take the stairs both up and down. I love her movements and use them all the time.
Katy makes me think about how I sit, how I walk, how I take the stairs both up and down. I love her movements and use them all the time.
November 25, 2023
Super great read. I like how short it was. It addressed the most common issues for each body region and gave a small selection of movements or exercises to correct them. It’s changed some of my go to exercises and I’m already seeing fruit from the priority change.
January 18, 2024
"Rethink Your Position" by Katy Bowman provides an invaluable perspective on exercise and movement. The book is accessible and caters to a diverse readership, offering transformative insights in an intelligible and engaging manner. I highly recommend this book.
May 9, 2023
Katy Bowman is a national treasure! All bodies should read this book and learn tips on how to align with daily activities and find new ways to move.
July 21, 2023
The information is great, and I will be referring back to this book a lot. I had a little bit of trouble with the organization of the book.
August 12, 2023
Katy's books make me want to move. I love that this is broken into different areas of the body but many of the exercises will benefit many different areas
December 12, 2023
Her books are a bit repetitive. Same material packaged differently.
January 16, 2024
Really good explanations and solutions
July 24, 2024
Not my favorite of Katy's books. It is a watered-down version of "Move Your DNA." Good for people new to the Bowman empire but I am too deep in the sauce
March 12, 2025
I preferred her earlier books a bit more, but appreciated how straight forward each section read.
August 8, 2025
I wish I had read this about 8 years ago. I’ve already started putting some things into practice. It’s absolutely crazy how little I knew about how my own body moved before reading this.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews