This month I am excited to offer my personal review of “Pathways to a Centered Body: Gentle Yoga Therapy for Core Stability, Healing Back Pain, and Moving with Ease.”

This new yoga text by Donna Farhi and Leila Stuart was published in 2017 and I’m thrilled to have it in my personal library!

After having read and thoroughly enjoyed Donna Farhi’s first publication, “The Breathing Book,” I was anxious to receive her latest work, “Pathways to a Centered Body: Gentle Yoga Therapy for Core Stability, Healing Back Pain, and Moving with Ease.” I felt that the subject matter could benefit my personal practice as well as my work with students. Many of us can profit from a healing perspective which is rooted in functional anatomy and many years of yoga experience.

This book addresses the techniques for realignment through core strengthening, stabilizing and balancing. Donna brings her thoroughness and passion into this volume just as she has done in the past. The addition of Leila Stuart as co-author gives this textbook an added layer of depth with a therapist’s perspective of anatomy and movement.

Core awareness is a deep subject and Farhi and Stuart tackle it head on. Each chapter provides key information, exercises and ways to examine the core musculature with a focus on the sacrum and pelvis. It specifically addresses back pain, sciatica, scoliosis imbalances and SI joint dysfunction. Personally, I have already practiced and privately taught many of this book’s concepts for spinal biases. They are brilliant for cases of instability as well as hip and sacral pain.

This volume has the clearest and highest quality drawings and figures that I have ever seen in a yoga book. The clarity of the diagrams and text disentangle the complex systems involved. It is anatomy in action – you will easily learn the muscles and their functions through the concise explorations offered. The book’s “Inquiries” harken back to The Breathing Book and work well to explain even the subtlest concepts.

In general, “Pathways to a Centered Body” is very comprehensive and efficient – all of the text included is vital. In fact, if you are a “highlighter,” you’ll want to purchase a bonus pack of pens to identify all of the important information inside. This book takes dedication and time to read, understand and apply but the conscious awareness that you walk away with is worth every minute. I wholeheartedly recommend this valuable book and will give reference to it time and time again.

Please offer up your comments or questions below so that we can share our thoughts! ☮️