Customer Reviews

Move into Life: The Nine Essentials for Lifelong Vitality

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Off and on for the past year, I've used Anat's online service, Desk-Trainer. It lets you sit at your desk and follow animated instructions that loosen your hips, shoulders, neck and pelvis. The effect is near-magical. In one sitting, I go from stiff and sore to relaxed and happy. No kidding.

The only challenge with Desk-Trainer is that I get tired of listening to the little animated guy say the same thing over and over. (The book lets me turn the page whenever I want.)

Just holding this book in my hand for the first time was a joy. Its beautiful cover instantly imparts some of the vitality it promises. Written in a warm, personal, yet highly informative style, there's amazing scientific information about neuroplasticity and the regenerative powers of our brains. For 30 years, before it was quantified by science, the author applied principles of neuroplasticity in her practice, with people from nine months to ninety years of age. She tells how she first noticed that her students and clients radiated vitality in their voices and enthusiasm, and moved with greater grace, energy, flexibility and confidence. Mental abilities became sharper and their communications clearer. Not just another book with prescriptions for supplements and doing crossword puzzles, the exercises here work with our brains to build new connections that will be reflected in everything we do. Instructions for Baniel's exercises are beautifully and clearly illustrated by world famous artist David Gerstein, no less! I experienced greater freedom of movement but also more energy after doing the exercises. The "moves" she describe seem so easy to do yet the changes I felt were so profound. The benefits are not about strength or a flatter belly but about being lighter, more flexible, more vital, and awakening your own brain. The author reveals things I haven't read in any other book--at least not in books for the layperson--about the capacities of our brains to change and grow and ultimately lift our spirits! I recommend this book for anyone interested in feeling healthier and more youthful.

This book offers life changing guidance to greater health and wellness. I thought I had read everything there was about mind/body health, but this was new for me. It offers easy to implement solutions to improving quality of life: physical, emotional and spiritual. I think about the 9 essentials every day and find that using them really does make my life better. It's easy to read, offering scientific substantiation, body movement exercises that improved my flexibility immediately, and astounding anecdotes. It's something I will give to family and friends and put in my library and refer to often.

I am excited that Anat is finally giving the world her knowledge. I call Anat's book a best kept secret because many people have not realized her knowledge or that she is a brilliant teacher.

Anat mentions in her book that our brain thrives with new information, and she giving us exactly that in her book. Anat's book is an easy read. Anat reaches out and speaks to the listening many individuals. Her message is simple: whatever you do (i.e. athlete, businessman, yoga participant, pain sufferer) or whatever your interests, the 9 essentials can improve easily what you do and your interests. Her book is warm, empowering and non-threatening. She enhances learning like any gifted teacher would by summarizing each chapter with clever thought provoking quizzes. She leads you through movements supported with pictures that capture the flavor of what she describes. I found the story of the baboon as really funny because I like many of us can connect with the story.

Anat's book today should impact our culture as much as Ken Cooper MD's book did 41 years ago popularizing exercise & aerobics. I say that because many of us know about exercise or eating right, but what about brain health or thinking health being just as important? Using the 9 essentials in our world could possibly create more productive, vibrant people living well past their 40's through the golden years. Additional perks of the 9 essentials could be taking less pain medication, not needing so many orthopedic surgeries, or maybe not living the later years of our lives with so many Alzheimer/dementia difficulties.

Anat's book is pure preventative medicine and the fountain of youth all in one book. If you are into health and wellness you have to read this book.

The author comes at the holy grail of vitality from an angle founded on thirty years of clinical success with helping people experience greater freedom of movement. The author worked closely with Moshe Feldenkreis, apparently mastered his technique, and evolved his technique to the system set forth in this book.

The nine essentials for lifelong vitality include: movement with attention; turning on the learning switch; experiencing the power of subtlety; variations; slowing down; enthusiasm; making goals flexible; using imagination; and developing true awareness. The author makes a compelling case for why each is essential, supported with scientific references, and explains how they apply in every realm of life, including the physical, the emotional, the spiritual, and the social.

The author illuminates the advantages in understanding brain plasticity and provides practical steps to tap into those advantages.

I have to confess that, as a woman in mid-life, I found this book to be profoundly reassuring because it gainsays the idea that cognitive and physical decline is inevitable with advancing years.

As a parent of a special needs child I found this book to be priceless. I was at a standstill with my daughter's progress and looking for new direction. This book is just what I needed. Bringing a "beginner's mind" into my work helped me get more creative and enthusiastic and opened up new possibilities for the people I work with. My daughter literally transformed before my eyes as I looked for the small changes and got excited about them. In 2 months, she went from not being able to get on her knees, to getting on her knees, crawling all over the house, and bearing weight on her feet. I attribute much of my daughter's success to my application of "the nine essentials." Personally, I experienced huge shifts as I began getting curious and differentiating my own emotions. I realized that my stories equal stress and that I needed to clear the clutter and make way for new information. Doing this helped me to see the powerful connection between my mind and body. As my thinking got clearer, I began to have more energy and move with more ease. Thanks Anat for the precise,simple and practical ways to "move into life." I recommend this book to everyone!!

Anat's ideas are simple: pay attention while you move, move slowly, use less force, do whatever you are doing in new ways, do new things, be flexible, enthusiastic, and above all, be aware of what you are feeling. As a musician, I learned very early to ignore when I was tired, or had aches or pains, that the way to get ahead was to push myself. I first heard of Anat's work two years ago. And, at the age of 65, I signed up for her basic training. It is difficult to describe transformational changes and make them believable. I don't just feel a little younger. I have learned to better use my body. I walk firmly over my skeleton, upright, with an energy unknown to me, at least in my adult life. I easily keep up with my grandchildren. I sit differently at my instrument (the harp). I learn music more quickly. I am more attuned to the conductor. I play with greater ease and more enjoyment. I don't mean to brag. I am just trying to espress how Anat's work has changed my life. Until her book was published in April, her training and workshops were the best way to experience her work. Can such changes really be packaged into a book? I would like to challenge you to read it and then write your own review and let us all know what you think. The term "paradigm shift" has become somewhat of a cliche, these days. But I find it entirely appropriate to describe Anat's approach. She begins her book with a quote from Albert Einstein: "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle." Could your life be lived as though everything is a miracle? Could life be that wonderful? Does this sound too good to be true? Or might it actually be your first step into a better more vital life? I wonder.

I have read so many self development books which talk about being in the present moment but without actually teaching you how to "do it". (Eckhart Tolle, Byron Katie etc.) As I was reading this book I realized that doing Anat's lessons has been the only way I have been able to develop the skill of being present and aware. When I began the training with Anat I had so many random thoughts flying through my head and so little awareness of what I was actually doing with myself. It is a skill which needs to be learned. This is an incredible book which explains Anat's principles (The Nine Essentials) and how to put them into practice right away.

The Anat Baniel Method has been life changing for me. After an injury I was told I would be permanently disabled in 30% of my body. Today I am pain free and move better than I have in my entire life! Thank you Anat!!!

As an engineer by training, I have never been one to follow the latest "new age" fads. This book really surprised me because it is well-written, beautifully illustrated, and the exercises and techniques in the book really worked for me. I am shocked how well these (seemingly) simple exercises / movements can have such dramatic effects.

I work at a computer all day long and have had occasional problems with wrist pain, back pain and neck pain. Much to my surprise, I was able to do some of these exercises the first time and feel immediate relief to the "crick" in my neck. I also found the companion web site developed by Anat Baniel to be really well designed and useful (www.desk-trainer.com). This little site is a great way to remind myself to take a break and do a little something good for myself.

So, I bought this book based on a friend's recommendation, sort of expecting to find it was mostly new age pep talk, and instead, I was pleasantly surprised to see it really is based on fundamental science, and more importantly to me at least, these exercises really work! Now, I can just take a 5 minute break at my desk and do a couple of the exercises and the only one is who not so happy is my chiropractor because I don't need to visit him on a regular basis like I always used to.... So, that just made me realize, this little book is saving me big bucks in reduced chiro bills.... Hence, a BIG 5 star rating from me.

Anat Baniel has written a great book. Many of the other reviews have said wonderful things about Move Into Life. I can only reiterate them and confirm that they are true.

If you have the opportunity to hear Anat in person, it will make your experience with her book more personal and important to you. She is a delight.

There's a lot in this book that will make you smile at a particularly poignant thought, have you shaking your head in agreement as a revelation dawns upon you, and cause a peacefulness of spirit after setting the book down. But that's not to say it's a fuzzy New Age feel-good read. Anat gives real, practical advice about how to live a better life.

I'll give you just a little peek to, well, pique your interest. On page 224 Anat talks about the importance of living your passion and following your dreams. She quotes from Boris Pasternak's novel "Doctor Zhivago." "Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, if you grovel before what you dislike and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune. Our nervouse system isn't just a fiction, it's a part of our physical body, and our soul exists in space and is inside us, like the teeth in our mouth. It can't be forever violated with impunity."

Following your dreams, Anat points out, provides a deep sense of purpose about what you do in life---and you are rewarded with an inexhaustible supply of energy. Because when you love what you do it is never work.

For anyone with the capacity to realize their dreams, even remotely, it's imperative that you pursue those dreams---or live a life of regret. You couldn't have a better guide through life than Anat Baniel.