Pelvic Power: Mind/Body Exercises for Strength, Flexibility, Posture and Balance for Men and Women

"I found this book difficult to follow. Some exercises seem badly explained. I gained nothing from reading it."
~ Written on 2008-04-02

"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."
~ Written on 2006-07-11