Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery - 3rd Edition by Eric Franklin (Paperback)

About the Book

Learn how to use imagery to move better, feel better, and be more self-aware. Classic text updated throughout with new material and exercises. Contains more than 600 anatomical imagery exercises and over 500 illustrations. Includes four audio files of exercises led by Eric Franklin.

Book Synopsis

Eric Franklin's classic reference is back in a new full-color edition, complete with new material and exercises for instructors to use with their dancers, other performing artists, athletes, and classes.

In Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery, Third Edition, Franklin--an internationally renowned teacher, dancer, and choreographer who has been sharing his imagery techniques for more than 35 years--teaches the use of imagery to increase self-awareness, improve body image, and apply anatomical and biomechanical principles for more efficient movement.

This expanded new edition includes

• more than 600 anatomical imagery exercises to improve posture and body alignment, release excess tension, and prevent injuries;
• over 500 full-color illustrations to help readers visualize the exercises and use them in various contexts;
• four audio files containing guided imagery exercises led by Franklin and set to music; and
• updated chapters throughout the book, including new material and exercises to address fasciae and connective tissue.

"The pictures and the words in your mind influence the feelings in your body, which in turn feed your thoughts and mental pictures," Franklin says. "To create powerful and dynamic alignment, you need to fertilize your mind and body with constructive information and weed out destructive thoughts."

This book will help readers do just that as they discover their natural flexibility and increase their power to move. Franklin expertly guides readers through foundational concepts of posture, dynamic alignment, and imagery; explores different types of imagery and guidelines for using them; and delves into biomechanical and anatomical principles, including the body's center and gravity, the laws of motion and force systems, and joint and muscle function. He then provides exercises for anatomical imagery, covering every area of the body from head to toe. The book closes with two critical chapters on defining dynamic alignment and on integrating dynamic alignment exercises into workouts and programs.

Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery, Third Edition, will help readers experience the biomechanical and anatomical principles that are crucial to athletes, dancers, other performing artists, and yoga and Pilates practitioners. The techniques and exercises presented in the book will guide readers in improving their posture--and will positively affect their thoughts and attitudes about themselves and others and help them feel better, both mentally and physically.

Earn continuing education credits/units! A continuing education exam that uses this book is also available. It may be purchased separately or as part of a package that includes both the book and exam.

Review Quotes

"The Franklin Method training as outlined in this book is the most intelligent approach to learning about the workings of the body that I have ever attended. It is not just information but the experience of our design as we learn that is transforming."
--Tom McCook, Fitness Instructor, Founder and Director, Center of Balance

"In Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery, Eric Franklin offers an easy-to-read, practical, and educational resource, which I wholly recommend."
--Dr. Emma Redding, Head of Dance Science, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, President, International Association for Dance Medicine & Science

"Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery is a must-have resource. Eric Franklin creates a truly powerful tool for improving movement and function."
--Marie-Jose Blom, PMA Gold-Certified Master Pilates Teacher, Founder and Owner, Long Beach Dance Conditioning, Founder and Owner, Angel City Body Kinetics, Founder and Partner, SmartSpine Works

"The Franklin Method has had a profound influence on my personal and professional life. Eric Franklin's evolution of imagery and its application contain the knowledge and power to create a quantum leap in our understanding of human movement and our own potential."
--Jan Dunn, M.S., Past President, International Association for Dance Medicine & Science

About the Author

Eric Franklin is director and founder of the Institute for Franklin Method in Wetzikon, Switzerland. He has more than 35 years of experience as a dancer and choreographer, and he has shared imagery techniques in his teaching since 1986.

After earning his bachelor of science degree at the University of Zurich and his bachelor of fine arts degree at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Eric Franklin worked for many years as a dancer and choreographer. He developed his groundbreaking Franklin Method based on this training and his teaching experiences, and he has gone on to teach it at numerous universities and schools around the world, including the Juilliard School in New York, Rutgers University, the University of Vienna, the Royal Ballet School and the Laban Dance Center in London, the Zurich Neurological Institute, New York University, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Ballet School of the Zurich Opera, and the American Dance Festival.

Franklin has presented at numerous scientific conferences, including the Interdisciplinary World Congress on Low Back and Pelvic Pain; the International Fascia Research Congress; the British Fascia Symposium; and the conferences of the Pilates Method Alliance, International Association for Dance Medicine & Science, and the National Dance Education Organization. He is the author of numerous books, such as Conditioning for Dance; Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance; Inner Focus Outer Strength; Pelvic Power; Relax Your Neck, Liberate Your Shoulders; Breathing for Peak Performance; and Fascia Release and Balance.

Created in 1994, the Franklin Method combines dynamic science-based imagery, touch, anatomical embodiment, and educational skills to create lasting positive change in the body and mind as well as improvements in posture, movement, and focus. The Franklin Method uses the Dynamic Neurocognitive Imagery (DNI)(TM) method for movement and postural control retraining. Eric Franklin's books and workshops are available in many languages, as are his teacher certifications.