Mind-Body Fitness For Dummies [Paperback]

Therese Iknoian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 22, 2000

Mind-Body Fitness For Dummies is the complete guide to the world of holistic fitness -- from Yoga and Tai Chi to Pilates and Qigong. Get started the smart way with expert advice on the essentials, such as breathing, posture, and choosing a program that best fits you and your fitness goals. Filled with instructional photos and illustrations, this book also features expert advice on warming up and cooling down, as well as taking your workout program beyond the basics with coverage of bodywork techniques including NIA and the Alexander technique. Mind-Body Fitness For Dummies will also help answer common questions about equipment and space needs, as well as other issues to consider before committing to a new fitness plan.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

To reap the holistic benefits of any mind-body exercise, students must relax and stay focused throughout their class. That's tough to do when the instructor seems to be--or actually is--speaking a foreign language, or when the physical movements seem equally foreign to the body. In Mind-Body Fitness for Dummies, Therese Iknoian, president of the Total Fitness Network, successfully breaks through such "language barriers," providing beginners with the confidence to explore new classes. Iknoian draws from her impressive health, fitness, and journalistic background to offer the insider's skinny on 11 holistic exercise methods. She divides these into three basic groups: the centuries-old (yoga, tai chi chuan, and qigong), the "modern classics" (Pilates, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, inversion therapy, and Laban), and the "new kids" (NIA [neuromuscular integrative action], body rolling, chi ball). Then, with plenty of humor and empathy for her reader, she quite ably dissects each. Complete how-to information about each fitness method reads easily and leaves little mystery. The history, philosophy, principles, and postures of each style simply flow across the book's 300-plus pages; clearly, this project was no chore for its world record-breaking author (race walking, 1994 Indoor 3K) who also holds a master's degree in exercise physiology. Understandable illustrations, accompanied by Iknoian's lucid instructions, will help readers practice specific moves and stances before going public. Anyone who has heard about improved physical and mental health as a result of a mind-body exercise regime--but has hesitated to dabble--will be encouraged by this thoroughly enjoyable and educational primer. --Liane Thomas

From the Back Cover

"This comprehensive guide offers the tools and information you need…"
—Ken Germano, American Council on Excercise (ACE)

Motivate your mind + excercise your body = Results!

Take your energy to a new level with a holistic fitness program If you're looking for a fitness program that targets your mind as well as your body, look no further. Illuminating the leading holistic traditions and techniques, this friendly guide shows you how to set up a personalized workout that can not only increase your strength and flexibility, but also help you relax, focus, and maintain balance.

Discover how to: Create a customized mind-body workout Gain flexibility and balance with Yoga Shape up with Chinese martial arts Tune your body with Pilates Explore the Alexander Technique, Body Rolling, and more

"…Mind-Body Fitness For Dummies is an important contribution in making these excercises more accessible to everyone."
—Kathie Davis, Executive Director of IDEA, The Health & Fitness Source

Get smart! www.dummies.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (November 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764553046
• ISBN-13: 978-0764553042
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #642,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MindBody Fitness for Dummies, May 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Mind-Body Fitness For Dummies (Paperback)

This book wins the "fitness relevance" award for being virtually the first to apolitically and respectfully describe the major mindful exercise modalities that exist in the West today - in one concise volume. There are hundreds of yoga, tai chi, Pilates, martial arts and derivative publications today each extolling the papal and fitness-related virtues of their own species of mind-body exercise. Therese has put together a utilitarian compendium of the classical and contemporary forms, yes in somewhat abstract form, but always with skillful instruction and quite meaningful resources. This is a wonderfully organized reference for those desiring a wide-angle and descriptive view of the major players in mind-body exercise modalities.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview of mind-body exercises, March 1, 2007

By 

xraylionel (Houston TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mind-Body Fitness For Dummies (Paperback)

I borrowed this book to read. I am so pleased with it that I am ordering it. Therese Ikonian is a superior writer. She writes clearly and logically.

This book summarises a great number of different exercise/fitness methods in a clear coherent manner. It gives enough examples of the exercises so that the reader can select what he/she needs. For example her discussions of the Feldenkrais and Alexander methods are the best I have seen.

There are a slew of web sites listed so that it is easy to get more information on any and all of the desciplines discussed. (Of course you can first take a look in the public library or a warehouse bookstore.)