Customer Reviews

The Vance Stance

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I've had this book for several years. I did the program faithfully several years ago when I had a lot of spare time on my hands, but then stopped once my husband and I were living in the same city again (but that's another story...).

Anyway, several years and two small children later, here I am with back pain, neck pain, knee pain. I remembered this book and dug it out of the bookshelf. After reviewing the concepts and the 34 exercises, I did just 3 of the 34 exercises. I know it sounds unbelievable, but just after doing those three, my body felt different. It felt more like NOTHING than ever before. And believe me, if you've got back and neck pain, feeling NOTHING is where it's at!

I woke up the next morning and still felt NOTHING. Went through that day quite conscious of the difference in my posture and movements. Decided that I need to practice this method regularly, even if it's just 15 minutes a day, or on those really crazy, busy days, just 5 minutes to do 3 exercises.

And that's where this book fits reality. Although 34 exercises sounds like A LOT (and it is!), Bonner says that you don't have to do all of them at once. She suggests that you try them all to find out where you need work, but you can put your own set of exercises together to put the focus on where YOU need help. She identifies which exercises are helpful for certain problems or certain activities that you are involved in.

It was easy for me to pinpoint a few exercises that I need to do faithfully and another handful that are helpful to sprinkle in occasionally. If I had even more time, I'd do more exercises. But doing something is better than nothing...try it and I think you'll agree.

I have spent nearly 20 years researching and studying various forms of self-care type body-mind awareness techniques and modalites. I had been searching for one that made sense, produced obvious results, and would allow the student to eventually be independent (or at least not fully dependent) of or on the teacher and still get results. Much to my delight, I found all that and more with The Bonner System of Structural Reprograming! The book is written in a very friendly and encouraging tone, with clear photographs and instructions. An added bonus are the many true-life accounts of some of her actual students. I highly recommend it for preventative self-care as well as injury or surgery recovery, or if you are just plain tired of your chronic pain. A great investment in yourself! A good book to have on hand even if you don't think you need it now. (I recognized this as such extraordinary work that I sought out Dr. Bonner and became trained by her to do this work myself!)

Since I have started reading this book, I have been amazed by the changes in my body. I have only started the program and my chronic hip pain is already subsiding. The book doesn't waste time with long explanations and stories. Rather, it illustrates how an imbalanced posture can lead to stressed joints and back pain. I thought I understood what "good posture" was until I compared my own posture to her illustrations of bad posture. I am amazed that one slight adjustment can make such a difference. This book is by no means a replacement for medical care, but I highly recommend it as a manual for those who wish to discover more about the relationship between posture and chronic pain, and what they can do to correct it. Bonner provides a series of exercises that are easy to do and that don't require any special equipment. I think it is a "must read" for anyone who suffers from chronic back pain.

I interviewed Ms. Bonner in 1994 on her book tour. This book is beautifully illustrated and easy to follow. She certainly practices what she writes as her posture was picture perfect. I own the book and find it helpful.

Like most things, practice makes perfect, and her system of posture is no exception. However, it does work!

This book provides excellent imagery and photos to help you see what good posture really means. The images are helpful to be able to recall as necessary and bring yourself back into alignment. I found it to be the most helpful book that I could locate on the very specific subject of posture.

Attitudes toward posture have changed. I remember how my grandparents carried themselves: the thought of slumping in a chair or standing with rounded shoulders would not have entered minds. Although we accept these postures as normal today, many are seeking the good look and health benefits of Standing Up Straight.

If you are looking for help, this book provides some answers: most of the pages are filled with descriptions and pictures of posture-friendly stretches and exercises. A daily regimen of these will tone muscles and form habits of good carriage. (But, like any "book" answer, the real challenge is the daily discipline to exercise.)

Beyond its stretches, what makes this book so very different is the "Vance Stance." Ready? Stand up straight as you can, bend your knees slightly, and place your feet about six inches apart: you have the Vance Stance. With a very noticeable bend at the knees, the Stance goes beyond the good sense admonition not to lock your knees while standing.

Vance has credentials and convincing arguments, but not everyone is a believer. My grandparents would have found the Stance odd-looking and unnecessary: our posture problems, they would declare, result from our lack of training as children and our unconcerned attitude as adults. My only objection to this useful book is the great energy and space devoted to defending the peculiar Vance Stance at the expense, perhaps, of more practical advice for the rest of us.

Point of confusion for readers new to this book: the Stance, w/ very bent knees, is NOT intended to be permanent. It is a therapeutic posture to correct problems caused by tight back and hamstring muscles.

What is confusing, however, is to see the author pictured on the front and back cover of the book, which says, "The Vance Stance," when she is actually not standing in the Stance. I believe she is illustrating the final result, the balanced posture that following her book will bring. She doesn't advocate walking around and standing as if you're a foot shorter than you really are.

The book describes many variations of incorrect posture, and then institutes the Stance to START the process of both stretching and strengthening to be able to have a free, flexible body.

Page 71: "We are aiming at an alignment in which the feet are straight ahead, the knees straight ahead and bent quite a bit (at first you may have to bend them more sharply, more than you think you should, until your leg muscles have lengthened and your hip joints have become free). . . ."

Page 77: "You may need to bend your knees quite sharply for a while, until the muscles along the outsides of your legs have lengthened somewhat and your ankles have become more flexible. Eventually you won't need such a sharp bend in the knees and can just keep them lightly and easily flexed."

Careful inspection of the author photos throughout the book will show her standing w/o having her knees sharply bent over her toes. See the front and back cover, for instance. She has lengthened her hip and back muscles enough to be in "balanced alignment" as she calls it.

Best of all to me is the gradation of the 34 movements explained in the book--for each one there is help for "if this is impossible," "if this is easy," and many times an "advanced version." Thus you can start and continue to use this method at any level of flexibility.

I follow the Wharton principle about holding a stretch, however--only two seconds at a time. See books by Jim and Phil Wharton or Aaron Mattes, their teacher, for more details.