Name: The new rules of posture
ISBN: 9781594771248

The new rules of posture

HEALTH / EXERCISE"The New Rules of Posture is a good adjunct to bodywork of all kinds, from chiropractic and osteopathy to Pilates and yoga. Read it thoroughly, let it soak into your experience—your body will thank you."—Thomas Myers, author of Anatomy Trains"Few things are as overlooked and yet absolutely critical to our health and well-being as our posture. Mary Bond offers information, stories, and tools for learning how to stand and move with ease and elegance."—Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., PT, author of 30 Essential Yoga PosesMany 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 thirty-five 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.

What Hacker News says

crazygringoJan 2019

Sorry, but please don't follow the advice in that book, it's terrible.

A far, far better book is "The New Rules of Posture". [1] See my review at [2] which also briefly explains why "8 Steps" is bad.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/New-Rules-Posture-Stand-Modern/dp/159...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2CVZCSXVLQ1EM

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crazygringoDec 2018

I mean there's so much, but to start: it was Alexander Technique (see Gelb's "Body Learning" for an overview) that started it all, with regards to voice in acting. For the link between psychology and vocal production, see Jennifer Hamady's "The Art of Singing". The classic text on acting voice production and the psychology behind it is Kristin Linklater's "Freeing the Natural Voice", which also draws from neuroscientist Antonio Damasio's work such as "Descartes' Error" which provides a scientific basis for how our mind is reflected in our body. In terms of bodywork, start with Mary Bond's "The New Rules of Posture" and Davies' "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook".

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crazygringoOct 2018

As someone who long suffered from back pain, I studied all the relevant techniques -- Alexander, Feldenkrais, Structural Integration, and more. And they work in pieces, but they're different and confusing and each seem to claim to be able to solve more than any of them can individually.

But for anyone reading this comment, there are two things I want to share, from hard-won experience:

1) Back pain and posture are incredibly complex and counter-intuitive, and come from a complex interplay of biomechanics, perception, and emotion. Anyone who says "just sit up straighter" or "just strengthen your core" or "use a standing desk" or "stretch more" or "it's a muscle imbalance, go to the gym" or "do yoga" doesn't know anything. Even if you think one of these helped you, it depends on the individual and they can do even more harm than good depending on the person. I think there's even more popular quackery in posture and back pain than there is in nutrition, and that's saying a lot. Even most doctors don't have the slightest clue -- which should be self-evident, given how many people have back pain and how it's not getting fixed.

2) The best place to start is "The New Rules of Posture: How to Sit, Stand, and Move in the Modern World" by Mary Bond. [1] It's the only book I've come across that takes the right holistic approach, but still maintains respect for "hard" science, explains the theory (medically, not according to any "school") but also gives you guided exercises. Start there, and then once you've gained a decent understanding of your body, you'll be in a place where you can figure out what more specific techniques you need, if you do (e.g. whether Alexander technique or psychotherapy).

[1] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594771243

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mamoswinedDec 2012

My experience with yoga is that it is not enough for serious structural issues. For a strength-building workout, it is not systematic enough at most schools. It also usually fails to correct the day to day movement problems at the root of many problems.

I've done a lot of research into correcting my issues and it seems like this is what is happening with me. After reading Mary Bond's New Rules of Posture and Esther Gokhale's book, I realized that the way I do everything is pretty much wrong. I walk wrong, sit wrong, lie down wrong, and stand wrong (which is why a standing desk also didn't help). A great example is after implementing what I thought were really healthy changes to my lifestyle- the standing desk and walking to work, I developed an unpleasant heel pain and a rather ugly callus on my right side. After reading the Bond book I figured out that it was because that side is my dominant foot, but I was getting all my energy from walking from the heel strike there, rather than pushing off from the non-dominant foot through the hamstring/toes. Correcting that got rid of the pain and also had the side effect that my rear is more toned. That's just one example, and I'm not done with improving my posture, but it has made a great difference in my life. I also have implemented more systematic weight training (making sure I get ALL areas worked out) and core training (pilates). I still do yoga for the mobility benefits. I also have seen a Rolfing and Feldenkrais coach, but I think those services are generally over-rated and overpriced and you can get similar benefits from taking an adult dance class. I would like to try Alexander too.

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