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The New Rules of Posture: How to Sit, Stand, and Move in the Modern World
A manual for understanding the anatomical and emotional components of posture in order to heal chronic pain
• Contains self-help exercises and ergonomics information to help correct unhealthy movement patterns
• Teaches how to adopt suitable posture in the modern sedentary world
Many people cause their own back and body pain through their everyday bad postural and movement habits. Many sense that their poor posture is probably the root of the problem, but they are unable to change long-standing habits.
In The New Rules of Posture , Mary Bond approaches postural changes from the inside out. She explains that healthy posture comes from a new sense we can learn to feel, not by training our muscles into an ideal shape. Drawing from 35 years of helping people improve their bodies, she shows how habitual movement patterns and emotional factors lead to unhealthy posture. She contends that posture is the physical action we take to orient ourselves in relation to situations, emotions, and people; in order to improve our posture, we need to examine both our physical postural traits and the self-expression that underlies the way we sit, stand, and move. The way we walk, she says, is our body’s signature.
Bond identifies the key anatomical features that impact alignment, particularly in light of our modern sedentary lives, and proposes six zones that help create postural changes: the pelvic floor, the breathing muscles, the abdomen, the hands, the feet, and the head. She offers self-help exercises that enable healthy function in each zone as well as information on basic ergonomics and case histories to inspire us to think about our own habitual movements. This book is a resource for Pilates, yoga, and dance instructors as well as healthcare professionals in educating people about postural self-care so they can relieve chronic pain and enjoy all life activities with greater ease.
• Contains self-help exercises and ergonomics information to help correct unhealthy movement patterns
• Teaches how to adopt suitable posture in the modern sedentary world
Many people cause their own back and body pain through their everyday bad postural and movement habits. Many sense that their poor posture is probably the root of the problem, but they are unable to change long-standing habits.
In The New Rules of Posture , Mary Bond approaches postural changes from the inside out. She explains that healthy posture comes from a new sense we can learn to feel, not by training our muscles into an ideal shape. Drawing from 35 years of helping people improve their bodies, she shows how habitual movement patterns and emotional factors lead to unhealthy posture. She contends that posture is the physical action we take to orient ourselves in relation to situations, emotions, and people; in order to improve our posture, we need to examine both our physical postural traits and the self-expression that underlies the way we sit, stand, and move. The way we walk, she says, is our body’s signature.
Bond identifies the key anatomical features that impact alignment, particularly in light of our modern sedentary lives, and proposes six zones that help create postural changes: the pelvic floor, the breathing muscles, the abdomen, the hands, the feet, and the head. She offers self-help exercises that enable healthy function in each zone as well as information on basic ergonomics and case histories to inspire us to think about our own habitual movements. This book is a resource for Pilates, yoga, and dance instructors as well as healthcare professionals in educating people about postural self-care so they can relieve chronic pain and enjoy all life activities with greater ease.
240 pages, Paperback
First published November 29, 2006
179 people are currently reading
761 people want to read
About the author
Mary Bond
9 books9 followersI’ve been a student of the human body since I donned my first dancing shoes at age six. After receiving an MA degree in Dance from UCLA, I was privileged to study with Ida Rolf, originator of a type of body therapy known as Structural Integration. I’m proud to have been certified as a Structural Integration practitioner by Dr. Rolf herself. Rolf taught that gravity organizes human structures and that people can achieve an optimal relationship with this determining force through bodywork and education.
It has been my experience that people who understand and respect their bodies tend to have an open and compassionate perspective on life. My mission, as a writer, teacher and Structural Integration practitioner, is to help people further that understanding and respect. I believe that becoming more attuned to our physical experience affects the choices we make in relation to ourselves, to our fellow human beings, our environment and to our planet. My mission, then, is to contribute to humanity’s deeper embodiment. My books, The New Rules of Posture and Your Body Mandala are my best efforts at sharing what I've learned about bodies and the mindbody relationship with the general public.
Formerly Chair of the Movement Faculty of The Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration in Boulder, CO, I began teaching movement and bodywork courses in 1994. I currently teach workshops tailored to the needs and interests of various groups such as runners, dancers, Pilates and yoga instructors, and massage therapists.
It has been my experience that people who understand and respect their bodies tend to have an open and compassionate perspective on life. My mission, as a writer, teacher and Structural Integration practitioner, is to help people further that understanding and respect. I believe that becoming more attuned to our physical experience affects the choices we make in relation to ourselves, to our fellow human beings, our environment and to our planet. My mission, then, is to contribute to humanity’s deeper embodiment. My books, The New Rules of Posture and Your Body Mandala are my best efforts at sharing what I've learned about bodies and the mindbody relationship with the general public.
Formerly Chair of the Movement Faculty of The Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration in Boulder, CO, I began teaching movement and bodywork courses in 1994. I currently teach workshops tailored to the needs and interests of various groups such as runners, dancers, Pilates and yoga instructors, and massage therapists.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
April 4, 2019
(3.5 star read for me)
Just the existence of this book made me think how little chance I have of seeing some tv health document on posture - mostly it's about what you eat, or exercise, or something like that. But this is a good, thorough book on posture: it's not just how right you hold your back - good posture involved also your hands, shoulders, head, neck, eyes, feet... pretty much your whole body. This book is about making bad posture habits into good ones that save one from pains and some illnesses, now or later. The author really knows this stuff, first being a dancer, then making good posture her business for some decades now.
The book is full of info, stories and tools to make one's posture good, both when still and when moving around. Ways of exploring one's body's dimension and various practices are included throughout (these are also collected at the start in contents-page). At the end are some resources, online and books. Her method is called "rolfing", after the developer, Ida Rolf (I keep thinking of the shortening ROFL unintentionally, sorry about that *cough*).
Breathing is also important in this. Breathing through the nose is recommended, and watching it so it remains good even when you're in a hurry. It's good for your heart.
It was also interesting to read what influences your posture (personality, the past, culture, religion, geography, weather, clothing, media, gravity...). To move from tensions in your body to graceful stability. The exercises improve certain parts gradually.
I did feel that some parts felt a little hippie-ish, and do confess that not all parts held my attention. I kind of wish there had been a more focused summary of everything learned. I did pick up some ideas I want to use, and some exercises I marked for later. Some of her thoughts brought to mind the practice of mindfulness; I'm a little surprised she didn't mention it even once. But although a lot of it was just reading to me, there was also great, interesting stuff to balance it all. Useful for later, not just an interesting read.
Just the existence of this book made me think how little chance I have of seeing some tv health document on posture - mostly it's about what you eat, or exercise, or something like that. But this is a good, thorough book on posture: it's not just how right you hold your back - good posture involved also your hands, shoulders, head, neck, eyes, feet... pretty much your whole body. This book is about making bad posture habits into good ones that save one from pains and some illnesses, now or later. The author really knows this stuff, first being a dancer, then making good posture her business for some decades now.
The book is full of info, stories and tools to make one's posture good, both when still and when moving around. Ways of exploring one's body's dimension and various practices are included throughout (these are also collected at the start in contents-page). At the end are some resources, online and books. Her method is called "rolfing", after the developer, Ida Rolf (I keep thinking of the shortening ROFL unintentionally, sorry about that *cough*).
Breathing is also important in this. Breathing through the nose is recommended, and watching it so it remains good even when you're in a hurry. It's good for your heart.
It was also interesting to read what influences your posture (personality, the past, culture, religion, geography, weather, clothing, media, gravity...). To move from tensions in your body to graceful stability. The exercises improve certain parts gradually.
I did feel that some parts felt a little hippie-ish, and do confess that not all parts held my attention. I kind of wish there had been a more focused summary of everything learned. I did pick up some ideas I want to use, and some exercises I marked for later. Some of her thoughts brought to mind the practice of mindfulness; I'm a little surprised she didn't mention it even once. But although a lot of it was just reading to me, there was also great, interesting stuff to balance it all. Useful for later, not just an interesting read.
July 25, 2015
This book’s author, Mary Bond, was a UCLA-trained dancer who became an Ida Rolf-trained Rolfer. If that sentence makes no sense, you’re probably unaware Dr. Ida Rolf and her self-named system. Rolfing was popular decades ago, but fell out of favor—possibly owing to its reputation for being agonizing. (However, I did recently read an article suggesting renewed interest in this practice.) Rolf’s system is generically called Structural Integration, and it’s intended to better align the body with respect to the force of gravity. The heart of the practice (though not addressed in this book) is a massage-like system that focuses on fascia (connective tissue) rather than musculature (as massage generally does.)
[This paragraph is background, but isn’t about the book per se. Feel free to skip it if you are familiar with structural integration or don’t care.] It should be noted that Rolfing is controversial. I’m not sure what to make of this controversy. On the one hand, the system hasn’t been helped by zealous advocates and practitioners. In any such system, zealots often suggest their beloved system is a panacea for all that ails one. Furthermore, the more hippie-esque practitioners try to reconcile / unify Structural Integration with ancient systems like Ayurveda or Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM.) This neither helps to validate those ancient systems nor improves the case of Rolfing as a methodology rooted in science. On the other hand, not even yoga has been free of haters. There is a sector of humanity that is openly hostile to the notion that the only way for many people to feel better is for them to do the work of improving their bodies (e.g. posture, range of motion, strength, etc.) (i.e. If your problem is rooted in your shoulders not being over your hips or you have an imbalance in your core between your ab and back muscles, there is no pill nor surgery to cure you—you’ve got work to do. And—it should be noted--both of my examples can cause a person to feel like crap in a number of different ways.) Another element of controversy is that Structural Integration places special emphasis on fascia (connective tissue.) While it’s not clear from scientific evidence that fascia deserve special attention, I’m also not sure that Rolfers don’t have a point when they note that everyone else completely ignores this tissue.
Having written all that, The New Rules of Posture isn’t a book about Rolfing as massage-like practice. Instead, as its subtitle (how to sit, stand, and move in the modern world) suggests, this is a book about how one can improve one’s posture, breathing, and movement (i.e. most notably walking). It’s arranged as a workbook, and it contains over 90 exercises and observations for the reader to perform. The author calls these exercises “explorations” and “practices”; the latter are more extensive and are more likely to require revisiting.
The ten chapters are arranged into four parts: awareness, stability, orientation, and motion. Each part has two or three chapters. The author divides the body into six zones (pelvic floor, breathing muscles, abdomen/core, hands, feet, and head)—the first three of which are associated with stability and the latter three with orienting the body. The six middle chapters (parts 2 and 3) are each tied to one of these zones. The book uses vignettes and side-bars in an attempt to make the material more palatable to readers who aren’t deeply interested in the topic.
The author gives attention to a wide variety of modern-day activities that can have an adverse impact on bodily alignment such as driving, computer time, and rushing about. I suspect this book will offer something useful to almost anyone.
The book’s graphics are line drawings—some are anatomical drawings and others demonstrate postural problems or exercises. The drawings are clear, well drawn, and useful. In addition to the usual front and back matter, there’s a brief bibliography and a resources appendix.
I’d recommend this book for yoga teachers and those interested in the body generally and movement and postural improvement specifically. If you’re having problems that you think may be linked to postural problems, this isn’t a bad place to start thinking about how one might improve one’s situation. It’s very readable and clear.
[This paragraph is background, but isn’t about the book per se. Feel free to skip it if you are familiar with structural integration or don’t care.] It should be noted that Rolfing is controversial. I’m not sure what to make of this controversy. On the one hand, the system hasn’t been helped by zealous advocates and practitioners. In any such system, zealots often suggest their beloved system is a panacea for all that ails one. Furthermore, the more hippie-esque practitioners try to reconcile / unify Structural Integration with ancient systems like Ayurveda or Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM.) This neither helps to validate those ancient systems nor improves the case of Rolfing as a methodology rooted in science. On the other hand, not even yoga has been free of haters. There is a sector of humanity that is openly hostile to the notion that the only way for many people to feel better is for them to do the work of improving their bodies (e.g. posture, range of motion, strength, etc.) (i.e. If your problem is rooted in your shoulders not being over your hips or you have an imbalance in your core between your ab and back muscles, there is no pill nor surgery to cure you—you’ve got work to do. And—it should be noted--both of my examples can cause a person to feel like crap in a number of different ways.) Another element of controversy is that Structural Integration places special emphasis on fascia (connective tissue.) While it’s not clear from scientific evidence that fascia deserve special attention, I’m also not sure that Rolfers don’t have a point when they note that everyone else completely ignores this tissue.
Having written all that, The New Rules of Posture isn’t a book about Rolfing as massage-like practice. Instead, as its subtitle (how to sit, stand, and move in the modern world) suggests, this is a book about how one can improve one’s posture, breathing, and movement (i.e. most notably walking). It’s arranged as a workbook, and it contains over 90 exercises and observations for the reader to perform. The author calls these exercises “explorations” and “practices”; the latter are more extensive and are more likely to require revisiting.
The ten chapters are arranged into four parts: awareness, stability, orientation, and motion. Each part has two or three chapters. The author divides the body into six zones (pelvic floor, breathing muscles, abdomen/core, hands, feet, and head)—the first three of which are associated with stability and the latter three with orienting the body. The six middle chapters (parts 2 and 3) are each tied to one of these zones. The book uses vignettes and side-bars in an attempt to make the material more palatable to readers who aren’t deeply interested in the topic.
The author gives attention to a wide variety of modern-day activities that can have an adverse impact on bodily alignment such as driving, computer time, and rushing about. I suspect this book will offer something useful to almost anyone.
The book’s graphics are line drawings—some are anatomical drawings and others demonstrate postural problems or exercises. The drawings are clear, well drawn, and useful. In addition to the usual front and back matter, there’s a brief bibliography and a resources appendix.
I’d recommend this book for yoga teachers and those interested in the body generally and movement and postural improvement specifically. If you’re having problems that you think may be linked to postural problems, this isn’t a bad place to start thinking about how one might improve one’s situation. It’s very readable and clear.
August 25, 2008
While the author uses vignettes to illustrate issues (it becomes like a soap opera with the different people meeting...weird), she methodically goes through the different parts of the body and how they relate to your posture, with exercises for you to do to illustrate what she is talking about. Most of the sensations are pretty subtle, but you start to realize how small modifications of you posture, due to social constraints or your emotional state, can ultimately cause you pain in the long run. I haven't thought much about how I walk, but now I know why my hamstrings have always been so tight. Plus, the 10-year-old within has been snickering for weeks over the phrase "anal triangle", in the chapter about the pelvis.
May 10, 2018
I see a physical therapist for my repetitive motion tendonitis, and he recommended that I read this book. I would recommend that anyone with any sort of physical pain read this immediately. I am sure I will be referring back to it regularly for years to come. Wish I had found it sooner.
October 2, 2024
Jammer, ik kon hier echt weinig mee. Enige voordeel, door het lezen van dit boek werd ik af en toe herinnerd aan m’n houding. Maar inhoudelijk eigenlijk niks aan gehad. Misschien te moeilijk om dit thema uit een boek te leren en zou het beter zijn om dit met iemand te doen.
March 25, 2020
What a lovely and fascinating book - breathy and beautiful! Every athlete - from recreational to elite - should read this.
After a series of competitive losses and a major health crisis in my life for the past two years, I am only now looking to seriously look at and dismantle my usual training habits. I have been hungry to dig deep into why certain movements come to my body naturally and why I utterly hit a brick wall with others. It's been incredibly frustrating starting over and finding unfamiliar ways to make inroads in my brain to increase my endurance and my ability to shift between strength and suppleness, but it's been so fantastic and rewarding.
I've had so many a-ha! moments as I read this book, and I'm excited to implement a lot of the perceptional and spatial exercises offered within. I'm a karate girl who is looking to take her kata training to the next level, and that involves diving deep into bodily awareness and literally rewiring the way I move and how I teach myself the intrinsic memory for my growing muscles to take over from my mind.
Also, the yoga-instructor-in-remission in me is so delighted to have a greater anatomical and holistic framework from which to draw upon when I do decide to teach again.
After a series of competitive losses and a major health crisis in my life for the past two years, I am only now looking to seriously look at and dismantle my usual training habits. I have been hungry to dig deep into why certain movements come to my body naturally and why I utterly hit a brick wall with others. It's been incredibly frustrating starting over and finding unfamiliar ways to make inroads in my brain to increase my endurance and my ability to shift between strength and suppleness, but it's been so fantastic and rewarding.
I've had so many a-ha! moments as I read this book, and I'm excited to implement a lot of the perceptional and spatial exercises offered within. I'm a karate girl who is looking to take her kata training to the next level, and that involves diving deep into bodily awareness and literally rewiring the way I move and how I teach myself the intrinsic memory for my growing muscles to take over from my mind.
Also, the yoga-instructor-in-remission in me is so delighted to have a greater anatomical and holistic framework from which to draw upon when I do decide to teach again.
March 25, 2013
Superb writing. A borrowed book that leads me to find a copy for my own collection. The Stabilization work in chapter 5, Core Connections gives comprehensive road map to the elusive pelvic floor and the inner and outer corsets of the core musculature.
As a practitioner of physical medicines, I found this text to be essential reading to understand the impact of alignment. I loved her breathing chapter as well...
Quote: You must fall in love with our own breath. Then you can begin to love others. Adnan Sarhan, Contemporary Sufi Master.
As a practitioner of physical medicines, I found this text to be essential reading to understand the impact of alignment. I loved her breathing chapter as well...
Quote: You must fall in love with our own breath. Then you can begin to love others. Adnan Sarhan, Contemporary Sufi Master.
September 12, 2008
Out of all my resources for recovering from lower back pain and surgery, this is one of my favorites. The author articulates concepts about breathing, stretches, posture more clearly and more comprehensively than any other author, doctor or physical therapist I've met or read.
May 20, 2015
This book has depth.
December 7, 2019
There aren't' that many life-changing books out there, this is one of them. So glad I found this gem.
November 21, 2023
Книга о премудростях "правильной осанки" и "правильной походки", сфокусированная на исправлении управления собственным телом, которые закрепились у людей в течение многих лет и отражают историю их анатомического развития. Автор утверждает, что правильная осанка несет в себе мириады полезных эффектов, с чем можно было бы согласиться, правда, когда эти полезности распространяются на совсем уж далекие сферы жизни, начинаешь задумываться, а не считает ли автор свою методику панацеей от всех бед. Тем более что Мэри Бонд - адепт Структурной Интеграции (R) и Рольфинга (R), которые общепринято считаются псевдонаукой.
Я не вдавался в подробности рольфинга, но, похоже, упражнения из этой книги гораздо более лайтовые и человечные. Многие вещи пересекаются с материалом из друг��х книг, посвященных здоровому движению (таких книг я прочитал две - про ударные и про естественный бег) - например, фокус на важной роли фасции в движении; tensegrity ("напряженная целостность") человеческого тела; утверждения о необходимости при ходьбе приземляться на стопу целиком (а не на пятку). Есть здесь и довольно много йогоподобной философии о связи тела и духа, что делает книгу не слишком научной, хотя она и снабжена богатым справочным материалом по анатомии и даже ссылками на источники.
Можно выделить несколько центральных моментов кни��и: дыхание диафрагмой; устранение напряжения тазового дна; прокачивание поперечной мышцы живота; расслабление верхней трапециевидной мышцы с перемещением основной работы по поддрежке спины на нижнюю трапециевидную и переднюю зубчатую мышцы (как следствие - нужно стараться опустить лопатки); фокус на задней ноге при ходьбе (ходьба начинается с задней ноги - она начинает перемещение корпуса), фокус на отталкивании пальцев задней ноги от земли; устранение приземления на пятку при ходьбе и использование "пружинящего механизма" стопы; свободное движение (скорее, микро-покачивание) тела в трех плоскостях при ходьбе; skintelligence (это когда фокусируешься на осязании); устранение ненужного напряжения лица (челюсти, языка, глаз; чтобы устранить напряжение глаз, предлагается замечать детали фона при концентрации - например, при чтении).
Для отрабатывания всех этих вещей предлагается куча ненапряжных упражнений, эффект от которых, по словам автора, наступает далеко не сразу, так что сходу и не скажешь, насколько они помогают.
В общем, такая вот книга - не слишком строгая в научном плане, и потому не очень понятно, насколько эффективная. Но требующая достаточно много времени для полного освоения. Верить всему этому или нет - вопрос дискуссионный; ведь многим людям альтернативно-мануальные практики (йога, массаж и т.п.) облегчают жизнь. Утверждать, что все оно не работает, тоже не стану - многие вещи кажутся довольно здравыми, хоть и неочевидными, и их не проверишь, пока не потратишь время. Главный вопрос - решить для себя, стоит ли оно того.
Я не вдавался в подробности рольфинга, но, похоже, упражнения из этой книги гораздо более лайтовые и человечные. Многие вещи пересекаются с материалом из друг��х книг, посвященных здоровому движению (таких книг я прочитал две - про ударные и про естественный бег) - например, фокус на важной роли фасции в движении; tensegrity ("напряженная целостность") человеческого тела; утверждения о необходимости при ходьбе приземляться на стопу целиком (а не на пятку). Есть здесь и довольно много йогоподобной философии о связи тела и духа, что делает книгу не слишком научной, хотя она и снабжена богатым справочным материалом по анатомии и даже ссылками на источники.
Можно выделить несколько центральных моментов кни��и: дыхание диафрагмой; устранение напряжения тазового дна; прокачивание поперечной мышцы живота; расслабление верхней трапециевидной мышцы с перемещением основной работы по поддрежке спины на нижнюю трапециевидную и переднюю зубчатую мышцы (как следствие - нужно стараться опустить лопатки); фокус на задней ноге при ходьбе (ходьба начинается с задней ноги - она начинает перемещение корпуса), фокус на отталкивании пальцев задней ноги от земли; устранение приземления на пятку при ходьбе и использование "пружинящего механизма" стопы; свободное движение (скорее, микро-покачивание) тела в трех плоскостях при ходьбе; skintelligence (это когда фокусируешься на осязании); устранение ненужного напряжения лица (челюсти, языка, глаз; чтобы устранить напряжение глаз, предлагается замечать детали фона при концентрации - например, при чтении).
Для отрабатывания всех этих вещей предлагается куча ненапряжных упражнений, эффект от которых, по словам автора, наступает далеко не сразу, так что сходу и не скажешь, насколько они помогают.
В общем, такая вот книга - не слишком строгая в научном плане, и потому не очень понятно, насколько эффективная. Но требующая достаточно много времени для полного освоения. Верить всему этому или нет - вопрос дискуссионный; ведь многим людям альтернативно-мануальные практики (йога, массаж и т.п.) облегчают жизнь. Утверждать, что все оно не работает, тоже не стану - многие вещи кажутся довольно здравыми, хоть и неочевидными, и их не проверишь, пока не потратишь время. Главный вопрос - решить для себя, стоит ли оно того.
November 16, 2025
This book is a masterclass in body awareness disguised as a posture guide. Mary Bond doesn't treat posture as static alignment - she reframes it as dynamic movement, emotional expression, and your ongoing relationship with gravity. The core insight? Your posture is your story. How you carry yourself isn't accidental; it's the accumulated result of your experiences, traumas, habits, and choices.
What Works Brilliantly
Bond's holistic approach is genuinely revolutionary. She doesn't say "shoulders back, spine straight" she explores why your shoulders hunch (blocked breathing, emotional restraint, protection). She connects breathing to posture, fascia to movement, pelvic tension to digestive problems. The extensive explorations and practices are beautifully designed. You don't just read about your diaphragm; you feel it. You don't just learn about your feet; you practice sensing them. Real transformation happens through these sensory-based exercises, not through willpower or "correct" positioning. Bond also acknowledges that every body is unique there's no single "right" posture, only what feels balanced and open for you. The character examples (Carmen, Nick, Alison) ground abstract concepts in real human struggles.
The book is long and sometimes repetitive. Core concepts appear multiple times across different chapters from slightly different angles. Some readers might find this reinforcement helpful; others will find it exhausting. Also, while the explorations are gold, they require genuine time, quiet, and focus not casual skimming. If you're looking for quick fixes or simple exercises, this will frustrate you. The explanations, while thorough, occasionally veer into spiritual or philosophical territory that some readers might find precious or overwrought.
This book works because it treats you as intelligent and capable of self-coaching. Bond trusts your body's wisdom. She guides you to feel what healthy posture means rather than imposing it. The practices actually work people report less pain, better breathing, increased energy—but only if you engage deeply and patiently. This isn't a gym-style transformation; it's a fundamental rewiring of how you inhabit your body.
What Works Brilliantly
Bond's holistic approach is genuinely revolutionary. She doesn't say "shoulders back, spine straight" she explores why your shoulders hunch (blocked breathing, emotional restraint, protection). She connects breathing to posture, fascia to movement, pelvic tension to digestive problems. The extensive explorations and practices are beautifully designed. You don't just read about your diaphragm; you feel it. You don't just learn about your feet; you practice sensing them. Real transformation happens through these sensory-based exercises, not through willpower or "correct" positioning. Bond also acknowledges that every body is unique there's no single "right" posture, only what feels balanced and open for you. The character examples (Carmen, Nick, Alison) ground abstract concepts in real human struggles.
The book is long and sometimes repetitive. Core concepts appear multiple times across different chapters from slightly different angles. Some readers might find this reinforcement helpful; others will find it exhausting. Also, while the explorations are gold, they require genuine time, quiet, and focus not casual skimming. If you're looking for quick fixes or simple exercises, this will frustrate you. The explanations, while thorough, occasionally veer into spiritual or philosophical territory that some readers might find precious or overwrought.
This book works because it treats you as intelligent and capable of self-coaching. Bond trusts your body's wisdom. She guides you to feel what healthy posture means rather than imposing it. The practices actually work people report less pain, better breathing, increased energy—but only if you engage deeply and patiently. This isn't a gym-style transformation; it's a fundamental rewiring of how you inhabit your body.
October 23, 2018
Wonderful book to know about how our body posture habits affect us and how creating awareness about our body can heal it. Mary bond has articulated about practices and exploration about our inner body parts which help us move along in the world. Author has explained that our body is designed for the movement and how current sedentary urban life is not helping us to alleviate the pain caused due to poor posture habits. With the examples of characters which familiarise us with daily complains of body pain and how using the practices detailed in the book they are able to live their life with healthy body postures, Mary has created nice flow in the book. This book as suggested by author must be explored again and again to have good body posture as poor body habits can't be rid off easily. A must read for everyone !
November 5, 2019
This book was life-changing. Mary does a remarkable job of using words to guide the reader through movements and actions, and feel very small and nuanced changes in the body. The exercises have helped me notice how my posture habits are impacting me on a larger level, and how to change these habits. It's been a perfect companion to read while going through a Rolfing 10-series.
July 26, 2020
Excellent exploration of the concept of posture zones and their interrelationship with fascia as well as our orientation with gravity. Full of experiential exercises that help to deepen awareness of posture and subtle ways to open and support healthy posture and pain-free living.
May 9, 2022
A book for lifetime practices. Offer refreshing perspective & instantly effective exploration. It's address the core issues & really effective.
Even it's bit difficult & took me so long. It's talk about the no books I've read talked about before. 5 star
Even it's bit difficult & took me so long. It's talk about the no books I've read talked about before. 5 star
June 24, 2017
great advice.
I just didn't find it a fluid read.
I just didn't find it a fluid read.
August 12, 2018
A new way of looking at posture and movement. Highly recommended
September 25, 2019
Everyone with a body should read this book.
October 21, 2021
It misses pictures. From such kind of a book I expect much more pictures showing positions and exercises.
January 1, 2022
So much more than the title would give one to believe.
Want to read
November 3, 2009I'm not trying the follow the exercises in this book. I'm working through it slowly to apply the exercises as I learn them. At first you go through some exploratory exercises to feel how your body works. I'm doing those now.
Original review.....
Ok....I like an enjoyable easy book to read and this wasn't but.....I liked this book's approach. It gave you the physicalogical reason to support what it was telling you. I plan to start doing the exploration activities and the exercises it gives you. I've already started doing most of them and am aware of when I'm out of allignment. I feel that what little I've done has helped my posture
Original review.....
Ok....I like an enjoyable easy book to read and this wasn't but.....I liked this book's approach. It gave you the physicalogical reason to support what it was telling you. I plan to start doing the exploration activities and the exercises it gives you. I've already started doing most of them and am aware of when I'm out of allignment. I feel that what little I've done has helped my posture
April 23, 2011
This book is awesome. She explains posture as a result of movement, not statically sitting and standing, and she gives simple exercises that address your connective and supportive tissues from your feet all the way up to your head. Problems I've had for years are melting away as I follow her suggestions!
April 21, 2009
It doesn't sound easy, but it does sound like a reasonable way to manage pain.
A very useful book for anyone who experiences pain in their body. Easy to follow, though the exercises are tough and take time.
A very useful book for anyone who experiences pain in their body. Easy to follow, though the exercises are tough and take time.
August 13, 2009
Excellent resource. One is taken through steps with clear illustrations and understandable language.
July 16, 2010
Handed down from a Physician here on Saipan. Very good so far. It's all about proper breathing, much like yoga.
January 12, 2013
Another book that I feel everyone should read and could greatly benefit from. It changed my perspective.
September 10, 2013
Excellent explanations and simple exercises that change your posture.
July 30, 2015
Fantastic book, especially for someone like me who predates Title 9 and hasn't had much coaching--a klutz in other words--and needs to counteract the effects of age on body mechanics.
September 20, 2017
Not enough pictures to be useful
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