Rethink Your Position: Reshape Your Exercise, Yoga, and Everyday Movement, One Part at a Time

Katy has written other books with similar ideas, however this one is broken down into parts of the body. That is helpful if you have a shoulder problem, knee problem, etc. because you can go directly to that section. Her tips are always helpful, it can just be a problem to remember to follow them! For example, I have a knee problem from an old injury and have found it helps greatly to have my foot on that side properly aligned (like "parenthesis") rather than pointing a bit out. Same with shoulder alignment. It is great too that her humor comes through in this book. I also have her book "Dynamic Aging" which details four older women who worked with Katy and had amazing results. It is a true inspiration. Her website "Nutritious Movement" is very helpful as well.

The information in the first chapter alone was worth the price of the book. Author gives helpful and practical advice with easy-to-understand illustrations.

I have reread this book twice. It contains lots of suggestions for repositioning one’s body, during exercising and every day life.

(Copied from my Goodreads review) In some ways, while I have read this book once through, I haven't really read this book in the best possible manner. To truly read this book means that you are moving and trying out every single suggested change of position offered by Katy Bowman. Katy is a biomechanist, someone who studies movement and, in Katy's case, specifically human movement. This book presents myriad approaches to rethinking not just your position (what is your reading position right now, as you read this sentence?) but how you include movement in your life. Do you exercise but not move regularly throughout your day? Do you exercise the same way each time? How can you add more movement vitamins (Katy's term) to your movement diet? How is daily movement different from exercise? With occasionally entertaining intros or vignettes, Katy clearly explains each aspect of why and how to rethink your body position as she begins with the head and neck, and cycles downwards through other body parts to eventually arrive at the ankles and feet. Each chapter also includes exercises to assist you in rethinking your position. However, refer back to my opening paragraph. Yes, you need to read about the exercises; you also need to do them! In the final chapter she discusses the impact of movement on brain health. All of her writing is supported by research available online for ease of access. My favorite new position for reading, which alas does not have an image in the book, is to lie on my belly with a folded blanket or bolster horizontally placed under my pelvis with the tailbone hanging off the back of the bolster. My upper body is supported by my forearms, book placed between my hands. Legs are extended long behind me and I gradually slide each leg, one at a time, a little further back so my low back is not scrunched. I found this a surprisingly comfortable way to read and a most excellent antidote to always reading in the same position of sitting on a chair with my knees bent.

Exercise and carrying my position

Just got back from two hours of pain-free pickleball (my happy place) - which wouldn’t have been possible without this book. I’m writing this as I lay on my back for a psoas stretch - so helpful after a long drive yesterday - this book helped me finally figure out how to do this with the simple instructions and helpful images. I’m a 51 yo former triathlete who got caught in the slippery slope of aging + covid making my teaching job a desk job, then knee, hip, and lower back pain, leading to limited movement - a vicious cycle (did you know that moving better and moving MORE can help your joints?!?). I’ve been reading and following Katy’s work since I was a new mom. She helped me see that moving well all day is the “nutrition” a body needs, not the “30 minutes of exercise.” I love her fun & academic style- but this book is more practical and accessible, just what I needed right now. It brings all the major advice to one place. I’ve already recommend it to folks who don’t think of themselves as athletes or “active” but are having similar struggles.

I have followed Katy's podcasts, books and online practice classes for several years and always enjoy her conversational writing and speaking style , and appreciate her ability to present difficult biomechanical concepts in an easy to understood format. This book is more succinct and still able to highlight the key points that are so important for all of us in our daily movement... Katy wants to find ways to make her information accessible to many people and wants all of us to have a far greater understanding of how our sedentary lives and our postural and movement habits are affecting our bodies and healt. I bought one for myself and one for my good friend. Katy's other (longer books) have many more photographs and diagrams but this time she superimposed boxes and arrows over photographs to illustrate and simplify the biomechanical concepts to make them clear and informative and a quicker read or resource text. She loves to write and could have made the book 10 times longer. a truly excellent book and an amazing author. Shirley

I love Katy's knowledge, approach and enthusiasm, but this book didn't share anything new that her prior books hadn’t shared. I'll pass it along to someone who can use it. Also: what was up with the HUGE linespacing in the whole book?