Reviews (7)

Great except for one very key point
(I currently have the German version of this book, but I assume that the English one includes the same info.)I have just finished a course in Thai massage, and the traditional technique, as taught by Asokananda (aka Harald Brust), the man who brought Thai massage to the Western world, does NOT begin in the sitting position.Asokananda teaches the importance of beginning a massage at the feet, and then working upwards.From what I understand, this is important because Thai massage balances the energy in a body and the flow must go upwards through the chakras to the head.That said, this book includes some excellent photographs and the rest of its content is extremely helpful to anyone learning Thai massage.I think that Asokananda's book should still be the starting point for everyone, though.

perfect.
Finally a book that lives up to the title.
easy to learn this massage techinique
thorough, user-friendly, and helpful. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Acupressure & Acupuncture    2. Alternative Therapies    3. Consumer Health    4. Hatha Yoga    5. Healing    6. Health & Fitness    7. Health/Fitness    8. Massage & Reflexotherapy    9. Massage therapy    10. Medicine, Thai    11. Therapeutic use    12. Yoga    13. Health & Fitness / Healing    14. Massage    15. Thailand    16. Yoga for exercise   

Subjects:  1. Chronic fatigue syndrome    2. Diet / Health / Fitness    3. Diseases    4. Diseases - General    5. Exercise    6. Exercise Therapy    7. Health & Fitness    8. Health/Fitness    9. Infectious Diseases   

Reviews (4)

IT REALLY WORKS GREAT!!
I AM 53 AND HAVE SUFFERED FOR YEARS WITH A BAD BACK. I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING INCLUDING THERAPY. NOTHING WORKS AS WELL AS CALLANS BACK EXERCISES! I BOUGHT THIS BOOK USED RECENTLY. I WISH I WOULD HAVE FOUND IT YEARS AGO! IT WOULD HAVE SAVED ME YEARS OF PAIN! WHAT A SHAME ITS OUT OF PRINT.

Immediate relief for lower back spasm
The first few pages of this book are devoted to emergency relief of lowerback spasm. If you've ever had to get out of bed by rolling out onto thefloor, getting onto your knees, then slowly & painfully rising to yourfeet by supporting yourself by leaning on the nightstand...you know whatI'm talking about. Her emergency exercises work. Callanetics for Your Back
I found the book and 2 sets of audio tapes of Callanetics for Your Back years ago. I purchased 5 sets and only have one set left.Is that version still available?Callan Pinckney's easy lying down back exercises are themost valuable and helpful found anywhere.Help me find more copies,please!I'm searching for friends. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Backache    2. Diet / Health / Fitness    3. Exercise    4. Exercise therapy    5. Health/Fitness    6. Prevention    7. Stretching exercises    8. Therapeutic use   

Reviews (39)

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
To the author, a great big THANK YOU! I have read dozens of books about back pain, been to physiotherapists and doctors, taken medication and tried numerous exercise programs, and nothing worked. However, thanks to this book, I finally have relief from long-term, chronic back pain.(Herniated disk in lower back.)
It works!
Great investment for those with back pain.Just from bits and pieces of what I have read and practiced so far, I've been able to recover from a recent back injury in a very short period of time and will hopefully lead to a pain-free back for life.

The "Bible" of Back Care
This book is awesome and helped me through a lot of pain during a very difficult time time in my life.It's a positive book filled with great advise, an awesome "if I can do it, you can too" story by the author, and is well written and easy to read.I highly recommend it for anyone dealing with any kind of physical pain, not just back pain! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Allied Health Services - General    2. Alternative treatment    3. Backache    4. Consumer Health    5. Diet / Health / Fitness    6. Exercise therapy    7. General    8. Health & Fitness    9. Health/Fitness    10. Mind and body    11. Pain Management    12. Health & Fitness / Pain Management   

Reviews (5)

A mind opening experience
This book is simply amazing. From the moment I started reading this book Iwas hooked. I just could not put it down. Once I started incorporating thesimple breathing techniques discussed in the book,I noticed immediateimprove ments in my circulation, energy level,flexibility,and mentalclarity. Then after trying some of the moving exercises I felt totallycharged as if I was being pumped with electricity,I have never feltbetter. This book is a must if you are interested in learning more aboutyourself, your inner strength, and your place in the universe.

Good overall guide to Chi Gung
This is a very compact book. It covers many things in CHinese Chi Gung, like Breathing exercises,self-massaging, acupressure, postures, meditation, health. It also covers the philosophy of Tao which Chi Gung itself is basedon. Reid explains it in a clear way that's easy to read for Westerners.Personally, I've tried Chi Gung and it does really increase my energy andvitality and clarity. Especially the breathing exercises, god if there'sone thing you should improve to make your vitality 'explode', it's byimproving your BREATHING. Even Anthony Robbins teaches the 'power ofbreathing'! So it's not traditional mumbo jumbo. What chi gung is mainlyabout is, Chi (Air/Energy) Gong (Work/practice) that's what it means!Overall, this is a good guide for those who wants to know what chi gung is.You might also want to read another good book by the same author "TheTao Of Health, Sex and Longvity", it's a thicker book but it coversmore subjects like diet, nutrition,fasting,breathing,exercises,correctsexual practice for vitality,meditation etc. Read it and most importantly,USE IT AND DO IT!

Chi-gung, all you ever wanted to know and much, much more...
Bold, interesting, exciting, surprising, elucidating, sharp... and maybe a little bit too sharp at the edges. Daniel Reid is a wonderfully eloquent spokesman for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in general, andparticularly of Chi-gung,which he has studied for many years. His opinionabout the subject, stated elsewhere, is that "...Chinese chi-gung isby far the most profound and effective sytem for self-cultivation of healthand longevity ever developed", and he is probably right, and he goesto great lengths to prove it. This book is Reid's latest, and it isthoroughly researched; his argument presented beautifully, artfully,intelligently, showing true love for and conviction to the philosophy andpractice of Chi-gung. There is not a single statement in the book which isnot documented by scientific evidence, accompanied by quotes from expertsin the fields of biomedicine, TCM, martial arts, meditation, physics, andso on. However, and eventhough Daniel Reid is perhaps one of the bestqualified persons in the Western world today to present such a thorough andlucid dissertation on the subject, (in my very humble opinion) I find someof his conclusions a bit too forward, and this, I think, could misleadnewcomes to Chi-gung into expecting a bit too much. Now, do not get mewrong, I loved this book. I practice Chi-gung and T'ai chi ch'uan myself,and am deeply interested and involved in the study of Chinese philosophyand the Tao of Cultivating life. And Mr. Reid also states clearly, severaltimes throughout the book, that chi-gung requires serious commitment, butanyway, an ounce of prevention and a good dose of pragmatism is myrecommendation for those who read this book as a first introduction toChi-gung (which is one of the author's main intentions). It's worth whatyou'll pay for it, as long as you remember that reading about somethinglike chi-gung is only the half of it, and that experiencing it is asthorough and complete a thing as the contents of this great book! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Health & Fitness    2. Taoism    3. Religious aspects    4. Health/Fitness    5. Consumer Health    6. Medical / Alternative Medicine    7. Exercise    8. Alternative Therapies    9. Qi gong    10. Exercise therapy    11. Health    12. Healing   

Editorial Review

Pete Egoscue learned a lot about pain when, as a Marine officer, he waswounded in Vietnam. He segued from patient to physical therapist, and now runs afamous clinic in San Diego, where he claims he's helped 95 percent of his patients curechronic pain--including Jack Nicklaus and Charles Barkley, whose athletic careers hehelped prolong. At the heart of his program are stretches and motion exercises to restoreproper function to muscles and joints. His methods are often surprising andcounterintuitive. For example, for foot pain, he suggests a series of hip exercises. In fact,this is one of the most startling books you'll read about the human organism. Egoscue hasstrong opinions about how modern life is changing the way our bodies function, reducingthe tasks we must perform and thus reducing the functional range of motion of ourmuscles and joints. Fortunately, he offers movement exercises to restore what naturemeant us to have. ... Read more

Reviews (83)

Miracles do happen!
I am an athlete who has had a chronic low back problem for twenty years. I exercised regularly utilizing exercises from the best physical therapists and chiropractors in the Los Angeles area. These exercises and stretch routines barley made a dent in the regular back pain I experienced. The day I received Pain Free I read the book cover to cover and did the chronic pain exercises. It was like a light switch was flipped in my back. I have been almost pain free for the last year since reading the book. The major test for me was whether I could return to running. Having been a marathoner before my back problem I had never been able to run regularly without severe repercussions. I now run three times a week with no repercussions and each week I am increasing my mileage. The maintenance exercises are great and they keep my back well.
After Long Term Use
I have practiced the material in this book diligently for the past 8 months, and I think that sets me apart from the many who review this book after shorter use.The methods described in the book offer short-term relief positions for those in pain from musculosleletal problems.They are not unique, as yoga and physical therapy help in a similar fashion. They did not cure my back/disc related pain. Egoscue's claim that 95% of people doing these excercises will recover in a week is absurd, and his theories, though interesting, are unproven.Who is to say that his "successes" would not have recovered naturally in time?Having said that, I do think the book can give comfort to those in pain, but don't expect a cure.

Some simple exercises can really help
I have just begun to get through this book.I quickly went to the section on back pain and tried the isometric exercises involving squeezing a pillow between your knees.Results were immediate and very beneficial.My back is feeling better than it has in years. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chronic pain    2. Exercise therapy    3. Health/Fitness    4. Medical    5. Pain    6. Pain Medicine    7. Health & Fitness / General   

Reviews (1)

"Time Management" in paperback
As a Social Worker leading two groups daily, this book has given me more time for my other duties.The book is geared towards all age levels, both adults and children, and can be adapted accordingly.There are pages whichcan be copied and used as written material for the clients, and some whichcan be used to reinforce the topic of group discussion.My co-workers comein and ask to borrow the book frequently and now have ordered the nexteditions. I strongly recommend this book to any professional who needs newcreativity in leading groups. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Psychology    2. Psychotherapy - Group   

Reviews (4)

Simply Wonderful
Qigong (Chi Kung) is a Chinese art and science that means working with and cultivating the vitality of life.This book is an outstanding method to learn this ancient and modern tradition for staying young, healthy, and in harmony with all and everything. A Must Have
"Qigong for Staying Young" has a permanent place on my night table. Shoshanna teaches us how to achieve wellness through the mindful practice of this unique form of gentle exercise.Beautifully written, this book artfully interweaves ancient Chinese medical philosophy into a modern model for understanding what health actually is.Shoshanna's own voice of wisdom and experience guides us through the chapters, providing the inspiration to achieve and maintain balance and wholeness in our lives.
What are you waiting for?
This book is unique among the ever growing catalogue of Qi Gong books now available. It is written by a woman who is a practitioner of of Oriental Medicine. Rarely do we see this type of book written by a medical professional with the practical experience to support what she teaches. It is written specifically for women. It was recognized early on that women have different health needs from men. Therefore treatment, including Qi gong exercises should be different. It teaches a full workout plan. Many books merely show exercises, leaving it up to you how to use them. And it includes the treatment of various disease to take your practice further and utilize Qi Gong as a personal tool.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Consumer Health    2. Exercise    3. General    4. Health & Fitness    5. Health aspects    6. Health/Fitness    7. Healthy Living    8. Physical Fitness    9. Qi gong    10. Qigong    11. Systems Of Medicine    12. Exercise & workout books    13. Health & Fitness / Alternative Therapies    14. Oriental martial arts   

Reviews (10)

Fascinating Read
An in-depth look at Master Hong's journey in becoming a Qi Gong Master. I have purchased and given away many copies of this book to friends as an introduction of what Qi Gong can do in the hands of a true master and how Qi Gong is so important in maintaining and keeping our health in harmony.

Change your life: Amazing stories and tutorial for health
If you've never heard of Qi Gong, or are interested in learning more about Eastern medicine, definitely give this book a try. Qi Gong is a healing art which can be both applied externally by a master, or internally by yourself.
The Healing Artof Qigong by Hong Liu
This book would be very good for a beginning to intermediate practitioner who would like to gain an introduction to the therapeutic effects of qigong. The surface information is adequate, gives an insight (nothing more) into qigong but it fails to motivate the knowledgeable practitioner who is looking for MD level insight.Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Therapies    2. Ch°i kung    3. Consumer Health    4. Diet / Health / Fitness    5. Exercise therapy    6. Healing    7. Health & Fitness    8. Health/Fitness    9. Holism    10. Qigong    11. Health & Fitness / Healing    12. Traditional medicine & remedies   

Reviews (4)

Essential Exercises is a great exercise book!
This excellent book will help anyone regain strength after breast surgery. The exercises are divided by level of difficulty. They are clearly explained with text and many, easy-to-follow pictures. The authors include tips to cover all the different kinds of breast cancer surgery. This book would be a very good guide for the beginner as well as someone who was exercising regularly before surgery. Patricia J. Anderson, RN, MN, Author, Breast Cancer: A Patient Guide

Essential Exercises is a great exercise book!
This excellent book will help anyone regain strength after breast surgery. The exercises are divided by level of difficulty. They are clearly explained with text and many, easy-to-follow pictures. The authors include tips to cover all the different kinds of breast cancer surgery. This book would be a very good guide for the beginner as well as someone who was exercising regularly before surgery. Patricia J. Anderson, RN, MN, Author, Breast Cancer: A Patient Guide

Essential is right!
Being a personal trainer, I contacted one of the authors (Andrea Leonard) who was offering a training course based on her book. I jumped at the chance. The book is filled with great exercises, information and resources. The book is not only essential for exercising, but essential to personal trainers who want to work with breast cancer clients. This book is a groundbreaking standard in the field. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Breast    2. Cancer    3. Consumer Health    4. Diseases - Breast Cancer    5. Exercise    6. Exercise for women    7. Exercise therapy    8. General    9. Health & Fitness    10. Health/Fitness    11. Exercise & workout books    12. Health    13. Health & Fitness / General    14. Women's health   

Editorial Review

A year or so ago, a Feldenkreis instructor conducted a seminar for a handful of fitness journalists. The movements we tried were based on the way infants twist to roll themselves over and get around. Within a couple of hours, my flexibility and posture had improved dramatically. Feldenkreis, as Read more

Reviews (2)

Very good book
I got Shafarman's book in the hopes that the exercises in it would relieve pain I experience at night and it does.I exercises are very gentle and effective.

Magical healing
Feldenkrais was the only thing that brought me back to living pain free after a very bad back injury. I had tried every single thing without lasting results! But this works! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Therapies    2. Consumer Health    3. Diet / Health / Fitness    4. Exercise    5. Feldenkrais method    6. Health & Fitness    7. Health/Fitness    8. Holism    9. Holistic Medicine    10. Exercise & workout books    11. Mind, body, spirit: disciplines & techniques   

Reviews (5)

Low Chronic Back Pain sufferers, MUST READ this book
This book opened my eyes to a whole new world of back pain treatment.After 15 years of chronic back pain ranging from mild to incapacitating, I was running out of options.Back bracing, ice, anti-inflamatories, and cortisone shots only left me in worse shape.After reading this book, I had a consultation for Prolotherapy.Immediate relief was forthcoming after the first treatment.After receiving 4 treatments of prolotherapy, I am 90% free of back pain. Avoided Spinal Fusion With Prolo-Therapy
Largely as a result of reading this informative book, I undertook prolotherapy for "severe degenerative disc disease" in in the L5-S1 area.It was a last ditch effort to head off a spinal fusion operation. Prolo Your Back Pain Away
This book had some valuable information on the subject, however, I was offended and appalled by the religious propaganda and shameless self promotion contained within. It made me wonder how helpful prolotherapy REALLY is, or if the authors are just trying to convince people to get business. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Therapies    2. Consumer Health    3. Diet / Health / Fitness    4. Exercise    5. Health & Fitness    6. Health Care Issues    7. Health/Fitness    8. Pain Management    9. Coping with illness   

Reviews (2)

A must have for anyone into the touch therapies
I was fortunate to find out about this book back in 1999 through acasual converstion with a Licensed massage therapist just before I had finished my own training for LMT. An excellent book for both novice and experts!
I really loved this book. It clearly explains the western and eastern views on body energy meridians. The diagrams that are used are some of the best I have seen. I have been able to find exact pressure points with theauthor's precise instructions very easily. I have used the pressure pointsto relieve headaches and pain associated with kidney infections. I knowthat this book will benefit anyone who takes the time to read and apply it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Acupressure    2. Acupressure & Acupuncture    3. Acupuncture points    4. Consumer Health    5. Exercise therapy    6. Health & Fitness    7. Health/Fitness    8. Self-care, Health   

Subjects:  1. Acupressure    2. Alternative Therapies    3. Diet / Health / Fitness    4. Exercise    5. Exercise therapy    6. Physical Fitness    7. Psychology    8. Qi gong    9. Budgeting & financial management    10. Mind, body, spirit: disciplines & techniques   

Reviews (2)

Very practical
The accupuncture/accupressure system of self-healing is millenia-old, and I was looking for a book that would serve as a quick how-to rather than a lengthy thesis.I compared this book to the Michael Reed Gach book which seems very popular, and I have to say that this book works much better.It is brief, and yet leaves very little out.The format is well-suited for someone who just wants to get started, rather than be reading a textbook for the next few hours before getting started.

Excellent for Beginners
This was the first book I picked up to find out more about Acupressure and I found it to be very helpful and convincing.It was easy to understand and start practicing on myself.The techniques worked and were easy toremember.It definately piqued my interest to find out more on the topic. I would recommend it for those who are new to acupressure. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Acupressure    2. Acupressure & Acupuncture    3. Consumer Health    4. Exercise    5. Health & Fitness    6. Health/Fitness    7. Physical Therapy    8. Popular works    9. Health & Fitness / Exercise    10. Massage    11. Physiotherapy   

Reviews (6)

Weekend athlete
I received this book as a Christmas gift from my daughter.I was skeptical at first that Pilates could help out a weekend softball player like myself.As a new years resolution I work out 3 times per week at home. Through the first 3 weeks of the year I have lost 10lbs via working out with IM=X and a new diet.It's a great workout and I don't have to worry about injuring my arm lifting heavy weights at the gym.Thanks to McNergney for this wonderful program.

Great for Golf
On the recommendation of my personal trainer, I started learning IM=X Pilates to improve my golf game.Through regular IM=X Pilates workouts I have been able to improve my core strenght an increase my drives by about 30 feet.
Pilates for Men
I highly recommend this book to any men out there who are looking to get in shape.Traditional Pilates was created for dancers as a rehabilitation program (which is not the general male population).
Read more

Subjects:  1. Consumer Health    2. Exercise    3. Exercise Therapy    4. Health & Fitness    5. Health/Fitness    6. Men's Health    7. Physical fitness for men    8. Pilates method    9. Exercise & workout books    10. Health & Fitness / Yoga   

Reviews (6)

A Must Have!
As a massage therapist I often work with muscle injuries.This book is a must have for both therapeutic technique and for client education.I highly reccommend it.

Dangerous
Although some of the assisted exercises might work well, I found many of the other stretches inflamed a number of joints after several weeks on this program.The solo stretching exercises seem to be poorly researched.

Excellent resource for anyone interested in stretching
This book gives sufficient physiological background to grasp the very detailed description of the process. The use of photos and written descriptions makes it easy to learn the stretches. Included are bothoperator assisted and self stretches. Most individual muscles are taught. ROM assessments are also included. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Athletes    2. Athletic Training And Conditioning    3. Consumer Health    4. Exercise    5. Health & Fitness    6. Health/Fitness    7. Physical therapy    8. Popular works    9. Sports Medicine    10. Stretching exercises    11. Exercise & workout books    12. Fitness training   

Reviews (1)

Excellent Book
This is a great reference to have for anyone involved in or wanting to learn more about clinical exercise physiology.Written in a very easy to understand format with lots of up-to-date and relevant information.Well worth the investment. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Allied Health Services - Physical Therapy    2. Case Report    3. Exercise    4. Exercise Therapy    5. Medical    6. Medical / Nursing    7. Physiology    8. Sports Medicine    9. Biomechanics, human kinetics   

Reviews (2)

A very healing modality
I am an acupuncturist, with some training in orthobionomy by seminar. This book is a wonderful aid for reviewing the techniques taught in person and beyond. Orthobionomy is a fantastic way of relieving trigger points and other aches and glitches in the body that more traditional healing therapies have a hard time fixing. I use many modalities, but this therapy seems to be the one my patients most ask for.

Ortho Bionomy Manual - Great for practicing therapists
Ortho Bionomy, a practical manual is a good summation of the various techniques for practicing this theraputic modality. I consider Ortho Bionomy to be a bit like Chiropractic, in that it deals with manipulatingthe joints. It is a great technique for massage therapists to add to thierrepertoire. I would recommend taking a weekend seminar in this methodology,rather than just trying to pick it up from the book. Many techniques aresuch that you need to observe them first person. For therapists wishing toutilize Ortho Bionomy as part of thier practice, the book is certainlyuseful, even more so when combined with a seminar taught by a qualifiedinstructor. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Medicine    2. Alternative Therapies    3. Diet / Health / Fitness    4. Health/Fitness    5. Manipulation (Therapeutics)    6. Medical    7. Osteopathic orthopedics    8. Rheumatology    9. Systems Of Medicine    10. Complementary Medicine    11. Exercise & workout books   

Subjects:  1. Anxiety in children    2. Behavior Therapy    3. Child Care/Parenting    4. Children    5. Cognitive Therapy    6. Cognitive therapy for children    7. Developmental - Child    8. Family & Relationships    9. Medical / Nursing    10. Mental health services    11. Parenting - Child Rearing    12. Pediatrics    13. Problems, exercises, etc    14. Psychology    15. Psychotherapy - Child & Adolescent    16. Treatment