Pelvic Power: Mind/Body Exercises for Strength, Flexibility, Posture, and Balance for Men and Women

Why should we care? Because the pelvis is a fundamental structure in the body. Having proper mobility in the pelvis is a keystone of sitting and walking. If we lack proper strength in our pelvis -- or proper flexibility -- we cannot really be happy with our bodies. Franklin has already addressed the shoulder area in his other book "Relax Your Neck, Liberate Your Shoulders". These two books together are a potent prescription to a fully functional and integrated body.

Typically, these concepts are difficult to understand -- even for massage therapists and other professionals in the bodywork industry. However, Franklin is gifted in his use of imagery to get his point across. There are many titles worthy for students to explore (Anatomy of Movement, Anatomy Trains, etc.) but this is one of the most accessible books for the lay person to read. Highly recommended.

The title of this book will put off some people; I appreciate the direcness of Franklin. It really is about having your pelvis be a powerful foundation for your body. There's no way to expand our understanding without talking about it! It is not a book about sex, but developing your pelvic strength and flexibilty will almost certainly have a positive impact in that area of your life. How could that possibly be a bad thing?


Review by former physiology teaching fellow....   February 2, 2007
Patrick D. Goonan (Pleasanton, CA)
39 out of 39 found this review helpful

In my earlier years, I was a teaching fellow in physiology and a research biochemist. I have a strong background in physiology, but later I went back to school for psychology and my studies included work in somatic psychology. I am also a meditation instructor and do a lot of public speaking on various topics related to the mind-body issue. I also use biofeedback in my practice, so these kinds of books are part of my meat and potatoes living.

In this volume, Mr. Franklin has done an EXCEPTIONAL job of describing the structure, function and importance of the pelvic area and how to strengthen and balance it. He takes a very integral approach to the connection between mind and body and the book although a bit of a difficult read for people without some background in biology is still very accessible. This accessibility is partly due to the detailed and easy to follow descriptions, organization of material and excellent diagrams that clearly illustrate key points.

This book also covers beliefs about the flow of energy through the pelvis and it's relationship to other body systems and the mind as understood by the various world's wisdom traditions. There are also good exercises to explore these concepts from the inside yourself.

I think this is a most own book for any massage therapist, athlete, dancer or yoga instructor who wants a deep understanding of the pelvis, how to strengthen it and how it contributes to the overall health of the body. This is truly a unique book and worthwhile read.


Superlative techniques   August 27, 2005
Kerry Obrien (Valley Glen, CA)
40 out of 40 found this review helpful

As a somatic practitioner using neuromuscular techniques, Pilates, Gyrotonic and Yoga, Eric's innovative work in dance medicine has always been solid and inspirational. Here he tackles the structures of the pelvis with sound functional anatomy, visualization and awareness exercises that are challenging for the professional and accessible to the lay person. Incorporating the information in this book into my teaching always brings positive comments from my students and sets me apart as an instructor.


Franklin nailed it   July 18, 2005
Jenice C. Lange (FLA)
36 out of 40 found this review helpful

After getting Relax your Neck Liberate your Shoulders and experiencing the exercises and visuals I had to get Pelvic Power and I was not disappointed. Franklin studied the best of the bodymovement practitioners from east, west and all islands farther south and inbetween to put together this gem of book with exercises that are easy to do and easy to understand and very effective. There are about as many exercises in this book as there are blueberries in a pint. Most of the the exercises are completely new and the ones that aren't are more effective with a great explanation of how to do them, why to do them, what muscles they work and in what direction are natural for the body. The anatomy illustrations are the easiest to understand that I have seen in any exercise book. For example I have page 171 of The Sports Medicine Patient Advisor that my doctor gave me for brachial plexus injury, the illustrations are adequate but in comparison to the illustrations in Pelvic Power they are pathetic, Kind of like comparing a Lincoln Towncar to BMW 7 series. Page 25 of Pelvic Power has what appears to be the same exercise in the illustrations as far as the neck movement as for page 171. The difference is the focal point and tolerance for the excercise, for me Franklins exercise focusing on the pelvis instead of the neck was a fun and painless learning experience where as the excercise in the sports medicine book is a mindless useless pain inducing repetitive bore that I only enjoyed doing two days after a visit to the osteopath. Since I like feeling like a BMW I have also modified all of page 171, I am doing the exercises my doctor advised but in a way that is educational, comfortable, stylish, fluid, and related to everyday activities like walking up stairs, picking up bags, and getting it up from chairs. The back cover mentions back problems and back problems usually come in the form of pain, so if you are experiencing pain I can wholeheartily recommend this book whether the pain is from injury or strain, It will help your life, help your recovery and your state of mind. I bought a great pilates book and cried cause I could not do one exercise in the book after 6 months of therapy from a car accident. I looked good I felt better but I could not function let alone have any fun without pain. I followed all my doctors advice until I started learning about exercises. What I learned is all of the exercises they gave me were inspired by the great movement genious's such as Todd, Blandine Calais-Germain, Hanna, Feldenkrais, Dao Mo, Cohen, and far eastern tradition. I felt cheated by the directions and visual aids when I discovered the source and tradition gave better instructions. With Pelvic Power you won't feel cheated because Eric Franklin is a modern living genious that is adding to the past, present, and future of exercise. As a surfer with 20 years experience I always wanted to know Kelly Slater's (6 time world champ) secrets, time and time again he said visualization. Kelly ate healthy but always advocated visualization as the most important part of his training regimen and surfing. This book is full of visualizations. In addition this book is truly for everyone, from pain to performance from web surfer to Bonzai Pipeline master. The Pelvis is definately the red headed stepchild in American exercise, Franklin pulled it off with this one.


best exercise book purchase ever   October 8, 2005
Eva Bravo (California)
36 out of 37 found this review helpful

This book has helped me more than a very expensive pelvic floor workshop I attended which just taught me how to become tense. These are the best fourteen bucks I have spent in exercise literature. The book has to be slowly digested and paced to fully grasp the content. The explanations are simple and the visuals are wonderful, but the simplicity is deceptive: the subtle movements require complete calm and focus. I have a lot of problems around the pelvic/hip/lumbar region and these exercises are a treasure to me. I feel I have only started taping into the benefits they can bring if done correctly. I keep coming back to the book and the exercises again and again. Totally recommended!