A Woman's Book of Power: Using Dancing to Cultivate Energy and Health in Mind, Body, and Spirit Karen Andes

Karen Andes Web site & email

Synopsis: A simple approach to a simple idea--using dance and movement to feed the soul and keep you lean and fit. This book addresses different aspects of our beings with Andes' unique combination of the physical and spiritual.

Karen Andes: Dance can be a prayer. Women once used dance as a form of prayer--a way to embody the Divine. I wrote this book because my soul craved this re-union--and I couldn't find this in traditional, militaristic fitness moves. Dancing from the inside, with rounded shapes that come naturally to women, is one way to heal the collective wound of body self-loathing that has kept women down. As we heal, we become radiant and we leave for our daughters, a legacy of love, not shame.

A Woman's Book of Strength Karen Andes

Karen Andes Web site & email

Booklist: Strength is as much an emotional and psychological quality as it is physical. This meld of mind and body is the foundation upon which this intelligent guide to sensible bodybuilding and overall fitness for women is built.

Synopsis: A unique book that offers a new treatment of female empowerment, blending spiritual and physical strength in the tradition of Deepak Chopra's New York Times bestseller, Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. Strength is the foundation I believe the body is a pathway into spirit. Strong muscles supply us with a foundation and a discipline--but only if we build them with care and love--not with struggle or obsession. The act of muscle building can give us a hand in our own creation--and keep us healthy longer.

A Woman's Book of Balance: Finding Your Physical, Spiritual, and Emotional Center With Yaga, Strenth Training, and Dance Karen Andes

Karen Andes Web site & email

Synopsis: Tailor-made for a woman's needs and sensibilities, A Woman's Book of Balance uses yoga, strength training, and dance to build the body as a healthy, beautiful and sacred space. With easy, step-by-step instructions, Karen Andes offers full mind-body-spirit exercises that can be done throughout life. The benefits for women are many:

• Strength training thickens muscles and bones and improves sense of self
• Dance quickens the heart rate and unlocks passion
• Yoga kneads away tension, improves flexibility and helps achieve hormonal balance
• Proper alignment allows energy to flow freely through the body

"An integral approach to fitness--one that involves body, mind, heart and soul."-- Michael Murphy, co-founder, Esalen Institute and author of The Future of the Body

The New York City Ballet Workout: Fifty Stretches and Exercises Anyone Can Do for a Strong, Graceful, and Sculpted Body Peter Martins

Fitness: Want to add a little grace and dignity -- not to mention strength and flexibility- -to your workout? Pick up a copy of The New York City Ballet Workout (William Morrow, 1997). With exquisite black and white photos by Richard Corman and Paul Kolnik, the book illustrates the stretches and workout routines used by dancers of the world-renowned New York City Ballet (NYCB). "This is a full-body conditioning workout," says Melinda Roy, a former principal dancer with the NYCB and co-creator of the book. "It will help you strengthen and lengthen your muscles, and improve your posture."

Amazon.com: Following his routine might not get you into the corps de ballet, but it may get you hard, lean abs and firm buttocks; a contoured waist; and that perfect posture and flexibility you've yearned for. Three hundred striking black-and-white photographs of company members performing and demonstrating each movement motivate you to get into your tights and onto the floor.

The Supple Body: The Way to Fitness, Strength, and Flexibility Sara Black, Liliana Djurovic

Synopsis: Gone are the days of the "hard body." Today, a fit body is one that is strong, flexible, and firm. This book guides readers to that strength and flexibility through a program of gentle exercise. Striking, sensual photos and beautiful color illustrations depict a variety of exercises designed to target specific areas of the body. 300 photos.

Reader's Review: ...You don't need much space. ALL the exercises are do-able for an average person. The book combines stretching, yoga, and calisthenic exercises. No special equipment (other than an ordinary kitchen chair) is required. There are different routines to for varying time commitments and busy schedules. Even if you do other forms of exercise (weights, aerobics), I would heartily recommend this book.

Body Control: Using Techniques Developed by Joseph H. Pilates Joseph Pilates, Lynne Robinson, Gordon Thomson

The Pilates method is highly recommended by many dancers, both in and out of the Middle Eastern field...

Publisher: This book uses the techniques of Joseph H. Pilates, offering 40 exercises to relieve stress; lengthen the body; improve flexibility, body strength, joint mobility, coordination, and balance; relieve back pain; help prevent osteoporosis; and control weight disorder-with minimal effort and without building bulk. "The Body Control method," says co-author Lynne Robinson, "leaves nothing to chance. It has a completely holistic approach. As with Eastern exercise programs, it shares the training of the mind to control the body."

Stretching Bob Anderson, Jean E. Anderson

I have this one - it's my first-choice reference book...

Publisher: The book Stretching was first published in 1975 when fitness awareness was in its infancy. Stretching has since sold over two million copies in the USA and has been published in 24 foreign editions worldwide. Now after twenty-one years and with many other books on the market, it has become the most widely-used and recommended book on stretching and its popularity continues to grow each year. The reasons for this may be the book's simple, user-friendly organization, the easy to follow individual stretches and principles, the ample line drawings by Jean Anderson, and the need for every body to stretch.

The Whartons' Stretch Book: Featuring the Breakthrough Method of Active-Isolated Stretching Jim Wharton, Phil Wharton, Bev Browning

Synopsis: From the trainers of 13 medal winners in the 1992 Olympics comes a clear guide to the revolutionary technique of Active Isolated Stretching. This easy-to-follow program includes special considerations for dozens of different sports and activities plus special tips for pregnant women, older athletes, and more.

Reader's Review: Take the time to try the program for three weeks. Amazing. I've trained for 15 years and used a lot of stretching techniques with limited success. This system makes sense. It's better than anything I learned as a decathlete, and much better than traditional martial arts stretching routines. Anyone who follows the Wharton's advice and adopts these techniques for 21 days will have a hard time quitting.

Sport Stretch Michael J. Alter

311 stretches for 41 sports...

Reader's Review: Michael J. Alter's Sport Stretch is one of the best sources out there for the Modern Athlete. I have used the book to assist in my Martial Arts training and it has helped to greatly improve my whole training program. Ideal for any athlete who needs to work on flexibility.

Dance Technique and Injury Prevention Justin Howse, Shirley Hancock

And another one I haven't seen yet...

The Healing Energies of Music Hal A. Lingerman

Midwest Book Review: Music affects human beings. A lively Bach concerto encourages attention and clear thinking, while a CD of harp music and the sounds of ocean waves relaxes us and relieves stress. The Healing Energies Of Music can help determine just the right music to complement a state of mind, heal an emotional or physical ill, or further spiritual yearning. Musical therapist and teacher Hal Lingerman presents a wealth of resources for choosing and locating just the right music for just the right purpose. With comprehensive lists of current recordings (including new and remastered CDs), Lingerman's exhaustive sourcebook will guide the reader in finding music to benefit their temperament, lifestyle, and spiritual aspirations.

The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind and Unlock the Creative Spirit, Also in Audio Book Don G. Campbell

Classical Music and Scores: Don Campbell's premise is reasonably straightforward: he asserts that the kind of noise to which one is exposed can have important effects on mental and bodily health. As a trial, try protecting your hearing for a few days from the continuous barrage of noise in a typical urban environment; it really does seem to improve one's attitude and fatigue levels.

Where Campbell's ideas become more provocative is in the realm of music. Supported by much anecdotal evidence, he proposes that Classical music with a big "C" (the music of Mozart's period) can reach out to those who are mentally isolated from their fellows, like the autistic, and can help infants react and think better. In addition, the music of Mozart contributes to the improved functioning of the higher cerebellar functions, including the ability to deal with logical and mathematical concepts, while contemporary rock actually decreases mental acuity.

Awareness Through Movement: Health Exercises for Personal Growth Moshe Feldenkrais

Synopsis: Awareness Through Movement written by Moshe Feldenkrais provides a modern-day, practical program for the perennial ideal of a healthy mind in a healthy body. Feldenkrais directs in a way for people of every age to integrate physical and mental development into a new, invigorating wholeness. The classic guide on how to maintain a healthy, active body and mind through the Feldenkrais Method.

Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing Christiane Northrup

Amazon Review: Quite possibly every female over the age of 12 will find this huge book enlightening, pain saving, and perhaps even lifesaving. Think of it as a much more empowering and holistic Our Bodies, Ourselves. Northrup is a gynecologist who acknowledges the power of natural therapies and herbs, but also maintains that allopathic treatments, including surgery, are sometimes best. In Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, she covers the treatment of many physical concerns... explaining how many of these physical problems have roots in emotional upsets.

Northrup has obviously unconventional ways of thinking. Her medical approach is decidedly feminist... Northrup also delineates the best way to go about tuning in to one's body and mind in order to start the healing process, a self-induced therapy of sorts. She also includes in the book a copy of the eye-opening health inventory she gives her clients.