The Psoas Book

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Summary: The Psoas Book: Keys to Core Awareness and Self-Care
Review: In this book, Liz Koch brings together information and insight about the iliopsoas muscle that you can't find anywhere else.

As a professional bodyworker and movement educator for over 25 years, I've met many people - clients, chiropractors, physical therapists, dancers, practitioners of yoga and other somatic therapists - who recognize the importance of the psoas muscle for optimal postural alignment, back health, and over-all well-being. Very few of them, however, can explain the significant and complex relationships that the psoas has with other muscle groups, with our internal organs, and with our emotional experience. And even fewer know how to adequately release their own psoas tension, to fascilitate optimal psoas tone, or to teach others these essential skills.

Liz Koch has spent over 20 years exploring this muscle and its influence, and she generously shares her extraordinary discoveries with us in her book. There are many drawings that help to clarify the text, which not only covers the basics, like location and function of the psoas, but extends into self-care exercises and application of these ideas to everyday considerations, like what kind of shoes or chairs or sports can support psoas health. There's also an entire section addressing the role of the psoas in women's cycles, pregnancy and menopause.

This book is a revelation! I recommend it to anyone who is searching for the keys to self-awareness and more vibrant health.

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Summary: This book is fantastic!
Review: Liz Koch's book is jam-packed with information on an often overlooked but very important muscle. The book was recommended to me by a Rolfer, and I was amazed at how much more there is to our bodies and their functioning than what we know. Liz Koch explains in easy-to-understand language how the psoas encompasses all aspects of our lives. This book is great for anyone with a lumbar lordosis (overarched lower back). I've been doing the exercises in the book for several months and have noticed an improvement in my posture and movement. I highly recommend "The Psoas Book!!"

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Summary: Right on the mark!
Review: This book places a plethora of information around a very specific subject right at your fingertips. I have discovered much information that I can use on my own body as I move to eliminate low back pain. As a mother I found it very informative in regards to allowing children to develop at their own pace; why not to put them in exersaucers, etc from the perspective of the psoas muscle. It is definitely something else to consider if you are experiencing low back pain, menstrual cramps, infertility, etc. Releasing the psoas will not be a cure-all for every body, but this book provides some interesting food for thought! I plan to use a lot of the information on fear and the psoas with my prenatal yoga classes as an extra tool for helping expectant parents with labor and childbirth. Admittedly an editor could address the spelling errors, etc. but the content is valuable and thought-provoking if you can simply release projecting perfectionism onto the author and appreciate her hard work, 20+ years of experience with and passion for this very important muscle!

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Summary: Not a useful resource
Review: This book was chock full of editing errors, some of them quite significant. Some of the errors affected the content and sense of the material. Spelling, grammar, facts and consistency were all extraordinarily poor. In just one of many examples, the text refers to an illustration that is nowhere to be found in the book; yet it is an important reference. There is really very little useful material in this book, even if one can ignore the errors. Those errors, however, make one distrust the entire content. Ms. Koch may be knowledgeable, but she desperately needs an editor!!