July Book Drop

Iran: A Modern History

By: Abbas Amanat

Holy Tomes Batman! This was a fuuuuuuuucking long ass book. So long, in fact, I earned a special badge for finishing it on Audible. I learned a lot. I also missed a lot that went over my head because this is a book that was not well-suited for audio consumption at times. There were long segments that were Old Testament in style - long diatribes of names and lineages that were difficult to invest in as a listener.

The format of the book is interesting and threw me off at first. Later, I found it useful. The author covers timeframes from the POV of one ruling family or significant historical figure and will often times circle back and cover the same territory from the perspective of someone else significant. Once I realized that was happening it was useful because you get more than one exposure to important events and ideas.

Iran has a rich history. That should be a “duh” for anyone who may be interested in picking this book up. I definitely think the time investment is worthwhile. For me, personally, I enjoyed learning about the religious history of the country. I also learned about some of the cultural elements that have been used in some of the fictional works I enjoy.

Summary Here

Arlo Finch: In The Lake of the Moon

By: John August

Fantastic. The danger and suspense increase appropriately between this and the first book. The setting shifts and is almost fully outside at camp which allows for some great themes to be played out. For parents who love magic and supernatural/sci-fi, this is a great intro to some mind and time-bending that ups the ante from book one. To me, there is no way these won’t be made into a screen adaptation. John August IS a screen-writer. These are going to kick ass as video works just as much as books. I’m a huge fan. I’m honestly super glad I have a kid so that I get to discover these books along with him. Oh yeah, my 5-year-old approves of this one, too. The mains in this book are great role models for kids upward of their tweens. Highest recommendation.

Summary Here

Utopia

By: Thomas More

Its good to read the classics. The concepts from this work are ubiquitous in the higher falootin’ works I read. Case in point: the Red Rising series. I have read so many quotes and excerpts from this book over the years that my familiarity with those quotes kinda stole the bluster of the original.

My thoughts are that this is a very creative work; especially considering when it was written. If you don’t mind reading an older and more formal version of the English language, this is an interesting read. I think its a good framework for playing around with the philosophical underpinnings of socialism and government critique/satire.

I’ll put it this way, I don’t discourage you from reading this book.

Summary Here

Golden Son

By: Pierce Brown

OK…

I loved this series so much that I begged Matt to read it. He acquiesced and immediately fell in love with it as hard as me. As a result, immediately upon finishing the first three books, I turned around started reading them again. I will therefor, address these books in my August book review.

Summary Here

Arlo Finch: In The Kingdom of Shadows

By: John August

A natural ending to the trilogy. There are some really intense moments in this book! Thoroughly enjoyable for mom and son, alike. In addition to the magic and dimension bending themes of the previous two books, you get a heavy dose of real-world suspense as well as Arlo takes on the FBI here and there. Four thumbs up - two from me and two from Vor.

Summary Here

Stella Batts #1: Needs a New Name

By: Courtney Sheinmel

OMG, this was surprisingly enjoyable. I have grown accustom to serialized children’s works being either - blah, gross, annoying OR HOLY SHIT YES! This, however, resides right in the sweet spot of something that is age appropriate and sweet without being overly heady or adult. YET, its not at all saccharine or annoying. Well, done Courtney Sheimel. RIYL Judy Blume books. Vor was immediately invested and learned a lot about going to public elementary school by listening. More below. We read a lot of this series in July.

Summary Here

Stella Batts #2: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

By: Courtney Sheinmel

Valuable lesson territory. The writing between books one and two is consistent. The tone is really conversational. This is a nice way of drawing younger readers in. It feels conspiratorial. Sheinmel is clearly building a readership as the series progresses. Age recommendation would fall from about 5-years-old up to about 8 or 9. I think interest would probably fall off pretty quickly once the age of the reader surpasses the age of the kids in the book - they’re in third grade.

Summary Here

Stella Batts #3: Pardon Me

By: Courtney Sheinmel

Another cute story. There is a perfect amount of tension for a young reader to manage this book on their own without a parent supervising the read. I don’t really believe in gendering things for my son. He seems perfectly into these books regardless of the female mains. At the end of the day, though Stella is a little girl and sometimes skews toward “girly” things, mostly she’s just an 8-year-old kid with a 5-year-old sister. Her personality doesn’t center her femaleness which makes these fun for my 5-year-old son.

Summary Here

The Fall of Hyperion: Cantos #2

By: Dan Simmons

Prepare for a major perspective shift! Ok, so Book One you have seven different POV characters. Book Two you have two. BUT, one of the two characters can voyeuristically engage with the perspective of the characters from Book One. Its pretty wild and creative. As someone who writes, this is a very cool work around in terms of the “voice of the narrator.”

The scope of this book jumps pretty drastically. In Book One you are more or less locked into retrospectives from the main characters. You get a glimpse into the universe as a whole, as a result but understanding the culture of the time doesn’t isn’t the point. You get a much better sense of the cultural context of the characters from Book One, here in Book Two.

You do also get a sense of resolution from Book One to Book Two. That being said, its short-lived if you pick up Book Three and not FULLY resolved if you don’t follow to the end of the series. You really have to read all four books to get a clear understanding of what’s at play throughout.

Summary Here

Endymion: Cantos #3

By: Dan Simmons

I mean, damn. Not since Dune has a series expanded in a way that blew my mind quite like this. In Books One and Two you get that time is going to get a little wonky but damn. Shit gets cray.

In Books One and Two you get some really awesome character building. In Book Three you get that and amazing world-building. This feels more like the middle book of the series. What I mean by that is, it is 100% an alley-oop to Book Four. Additionally, there are call backs and important plot-points you need to have read the first two installments to fully appreciate Endymion.

In Endymion you get a sense of what’s to come. Meaning, when you’re done with this book you know you are about to get the philosophical hammer. From the get-go Simmons has been preparing you for that fact but by Book Three its imminent.

At this point, the only series this compares to is Dune. Yes. That is correct. I did just draw a comparison between this series and my all-time heavy-hitting favorite. Aside from Herbert I can think of no other author that so seamlessly, thoroughly and masterfully interweaves science fiction with philosophy and poetry.

:: un-ironic slow clap::

Summary Here

Stella Batts #4: A Case of The Meanies

By: Courtney Sheinmel

Ok, there’s three more of this series this month and more next month so let’s condense, yeah?

Themes in this book are: being left out and being a team player even if you’re not in the spotlight. You get all the mains you have come to know and love. You get to hang out with Stella in Batt’s Confections and at school. If you liked the first three, you will like this one.

Summary Here

Stella Batts #5: Who’s In Charge

By: Courtney Sheinmel

Stella’s mom is not a dog person. She clearly doesn’t get it. I honestly don’t like her very much. This was actually interesting as a jump off point to talk about animal ownership and responsibility with Vor because I thought Stella was actually more appropriately invested in her role than her parents were.

Of the whole series, this provided some interesting food for thought and discussion points. As far as the writing goes, its more of the same. Sheinmel is a remarkably consistent writer.

Summary Here

Stella Batts #6: Something Blue

By: Courtney Sheinmel

Themes of blending a family, traditions and superstitions, getting into a pickle from bad decision-making.

I’m not a wedding person and was anticipating this book being more annoying than it turned out to be. I liked the resolutions to the tension points of this book.

For a Book Six, it was also nice to change both the pacing and the setting for the mains.

Summary Here

June Book Drop

When I started writing book reviews, I didn't have the foresight to realize I might one day need to indicate the year to which each post belongs. As I approach this fifth Book Drop installment, I realize keeping my website up-to-date and regularly sharing on this platform has become a habit. I enjoy it and hope that one day more people interact with me on here vs. social media. Lately, I have spoken to more and more friends who are fatigued, or just plain done, with social. Social media is flashy. By its flashy nature, it is not intended to keep our attention. I’m surprised things like Instagram have had the longevity they have enjoyed. I mean, they have a place and can be fun and even useful at times, but I don’t think the place for social media is at the centerpiece of a full and actualized human life.

I took a little break from writing weekly because the previous two posts required a big effort to research and write. I’m using this post as a palette cleanse. I managed to read another 11 books this month. I was excited about a few in particular (noted below). If you’re keeping tabs, I've read 11 books per month this year with a running total of 66 books. Is that a humble brag? Maybe a little. Moreso, let this encourage you to get off social, turn off your screens, and embrace literature. For me, listening to audiobooks has made it possible to be an artist, athlete, entrepreneur, mom, and foreign-language student while maintaining a high volume of reading.

Jakes Quest For The Five Stones

By: Hanit Benbassat

This was not a great book. The thought behind the book was nice enough. The world-building was meager. The characterization was lacking. The sound design was distracting. There was absolutely NO nuance to the subject matter. I will have a little grace and say, it is a book meant for children so perhaps there is some benefit to being blunt. It felt terribly rushed. And that was all before I listened to the epilogue wherein the author tries to pass Atlantis off as having been a real place where people could manipulate energy and matter with the use of crystals 😩. I would recommend skipping this book entirely.

Summary Here

Temple Grandin

By: Sy Montgomery

I learned some things about Temple Grandin. Her story is definitely interesting. I wanted to dig a little deeper into books exploring neurodiversity. I’m not sure I loved that this book was written by someone else about Temple. Temple has written books of her own so I think, in the future, if I decide to read about her in greater detail I will choose one of those. This book was a good jump off point for getting the basic understanding of who TG is and what she has done in her life to make her stand out. Not a waste of time but I wasn’t super pumped about it by the time I was done.

Summary Here

The Mystickwick School of Musicraft

By: Jessica Koury

This was a good one! In fact, this is the second time Vor and I read this book. It definitely is giving Harry Potter vibes as far as the magical school is concerned but its it’s own book for sure. The characters deal with loss, failure and social dynamics. There are satisfying obstacles the main characters have to overcome. There’s an implied diversity to the cast of characters. There’s enough drama and resolution to be satisfying but there are some mysteries as yet unsolved so Vor and I both want another installment.

Summary Here

The Doors of Eden

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky

This book started as a mystery/disappearance novel. The scope then started to expand and bloom. The past ramped up significantly from the beginning to the middle. And before I knew it I was careening toward the end. There were no dull moments for me. I was happy to gain some insight into the author’s worldview. He incorporates vibrant and convincing LGBTQ main characters and takes some time to skewer bigotry in a way that is clearly pointed at real-world archetypes. If you enjoy Tchaikovsky’s other works of biological sci-fi or like the lore of cryptid-hunting and want a mind-bending twist, you will enjoy this book for sure.

Summary Here

Camp Cacophony

By: Jessica Khoury

This book was released this month in the “included” catalog for Audible which is why we re-read The Mysticwick School of Musicraft. In the process of writing these reviews I discovered the sequel Vor and I were hoping for has been released as well. This is a prequel. It is a perfect little snack of a book. It is nice and consistent with the vibe of the original and is a nice way to get some more details on the life of our heroine. If you read and enjoy the first Mystwick book I recommend you check this out as well.

Summary Here

The World’s Strongest Librarian

By: Josh Hanagarne

I liked this dude immediately. He is your ever-sensible, metal-loving, always-sardonic, frequently-irreverent dude-friend from high school or college. If you didn’t have one of those, I suggest you find the nearest middle-aged dude in a Black Flag shirt and interview them for the position immediately. Your life will be improved with laughs and refreshingly non-toxic masculinity.

I think we sometimes shy away from listening to neurodivergent or disabled people because of how painful it is to imagine ourselves on the receiving end of the social bullshit they often have to wade through. Furthermore, empathizing with the physicality of such things is not the easiest thing for able-bodied people in our culture. It takes a will to self-teach in order to gain the perspective and compassion to not suck at empathy in general and specifically for the aforementioned communities.

Books like this are important because they allow readers from all communities insights that, one hopes, will engender the kind of empathy discussed above. Its easy to follow Josh from a child to an adult. Its easy to envision him as your friend or brother. It is therefor less difficult to imagine the terror of feeling no control of your body. It is easy to envision yourself, as a parent, worried for the well-being your child who may have inherited one of your less-desirable traits.

This is a great, approachable and relatable read. File it under memoirs and definitely check it out at some point.

Summary Here

Unspoken: A Memoir

By: Luke Daniels

I knew this book was going to rip my heart out. But I also fully trusted the author. Luke Daniels is the narrator of many of Vor and my favorite books. You can tell from the way he handles characterization and the subject matter he gravitates toward that he is a man that knows his way around a story - even a tragic and personal story like the loss of a small child.

I wasn’t wrong to trust him. I also wasn’t wrong about how heart-breaking this story is. Despite the utter tragedy of this story, Luke guides you through steadily and knowingly. He provides levity without making light. He takes pause for breath in the way only a consummate professional knows how to do.

I don’t even know the man personally but I’m proud of him. We need to share our humanity with one another. This book is a triumph to that end.

Summary Here

Red Rising

By: Pierce Brown

My Gawd. I loved this. Not too long ago but before I started writing reviews, I read The Owner Trilogy by Neil Asher. I’m going to draw a couple similarities. Here they are: lots of action, sci-fi, space, very-masculine main character, a grudge against the ruling caste. One can also draw some similarities between this book and The Hunger Games. There are those on the internet that would have me feel basic for liking this book. I dunno, man. First of all, I’m listening to it and Tim Gerard Reynolds is a fucking boss of a narrator. He bodies the fuck out of this. Darrow veritably jumps out of the headphones and into real life the way this guy reads. For that alone, its a masterpiece. But I will take a moment to give some credit to Pierce Brown, too.

Hyper-masculine, though he is, Darrow is a complex character. Furthermore, the way in which his perspective his shared through Brown’s writing is nuanced. This is a first person narration but at times Darrow is unreliable. He is honest with himself in layers and thus, as the reader, you don’t get all of his intention up front. This style of writing keeps things interesting. I’ll also take a moment to acknowledge that I am an Aries moon and rising sign. I identify with Darrow - with his quick temper and aggression. I’ve tempered these traits of mine over the years and learned nuance but I would most certainly be in House Mars if I were in this book. So, there’s that.

Shout out to Shannon who recommended these books to me in 2017. I finally got around to them. This book is not without major losses from start to finish but the end was very satisfying. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

I have more thoughts that veer away from review and more toward speculation and philosophy. I love when a book sends my mind on tangents that get incorporated into my worldview.

RIYL the two series listed above and ASOIF but without the pomposity and 1000 POVs.

SIDENOTE: I almost always read things people recommend to me. Put them in the comments if you want to be my reading bestie.

Summary Here

The Other Animals

By: Rachel Hamburg

The purpose behind this book is very cool. Again, this heads into the territory of mental health and neurodivergence. If you don’t like short-stories you might want to skip this one. That is not my preferred genre but this looked like one of the better offerings in the Audible “included” catalog so I decided to give it a go.

Some of the stories were better than others but they were all enjoyable to me. I will admit that the slightly morbid thread and animal themes tying all the stories together reminded me heavily of one of my friends (also a writer), Seth Meeks. Seth is one of the few people who revels in diction and will discuss word-choice with me ad nauseam. Something that reminds me of Seth is going to get high marks by default.

With Seth as my guiding beacon for this book the two stories that I liked the most are: Death and Company about a trio of vultures and Rectangles the story of a crow attempting to decipher the human ritual of burying rectangles in the ground.

If you enjoy breaking from run-of-the-mill perspectives you will likely find this book worth your time.

Summary Here

Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire

By: John August

YEEEEEEES!!! Vor and I both LOVED this book. What great world building! This guy is a screen-writer and it shows. This book could easily be converted to screen. It is so easy to get wrapped up in this story. Arlo and the scouts are the perfect vehicle to teach life lessons to kids. I think Vor may be a little ahead of the game as far as listening comprehension goes since we have been doing reading and audiobooks in tandem for so long already but I would say the sweet spot is going to be readers/listeners from ages 7-10. And also 36-year-olds.

You get: encouragement to love nature, a push to find wonder in nature, guidelines for being a decent human being that are easy to discuss with young children, action, danger, magic and mystery.

A perfect kids’ adventure novel!

Summary Here

Hyperion: Cantos #1

By: Dan Simmons

Fun fact: I get it from my mama! Yes, my mom has been reading sci-fi since the early 70s. She’s the first person to put a sci-fi book in my hand. She and I still regularly share book recs and reading lists. This be one of them! I can remember being freaked out by the cover of this book my entire childhood! I probably would never have read it for that fact but Matt picked it out and I love sharing reads with him so I went for it.

It was likened by one reviewer to the Canterbury Tales. Its not an obvious comparison but its there. Unsettling at times, the diversity of characterization that you get from one story-line to the next is impressive. The book is a vice, tightening slowly toward the inevitability of The Shrike.

Not my favorite by a long-shot but a worthwhile and well-written read. The story is not at all wrapped-up in the first book so I will refrain from further commentary until reading onward!

Summary Here

Stability Spectrum Pt. 2

INTRO

Ok. Part 2 is about tools to get you moving with better awareness and integration. At the end of the day, a lack of integration is the cause of most of the issues we face in our movement. This is true whether you’re a little or a lot stiff, a little bendy or hyper-mobile. From here forward you need to embrace the fact that there is no template you can follow to get your body to move more comfortably, safer, athletically, etc. You are responsible for creating a path for yourself. As a reminder, I’m not a doctor so this post is to be taken as anecdotal. Consult a physician before undertaking the suggested drills and skills below. For more of the “why” behind this series go read Stability Spectrum Pt. 1.

So now let’s dive into some principles I’ve come up with:

1. Scale Your Core Work

2. Biggest Joints First

3. Create Support

4. Isolation and Isometrics

There are probably others. If you’re a movement specialist you may have some to add as it relates to foundational movement/Range of Motion (ROM) training. If so, drop them in the comments. But let’s dive into each of those because they will come into play heavily once we get moving.

1. SCALE YOUR CORE WORK

All of your movement needs to start with the organization and appropriate activation of your core. In yoga, we take that a step further to suggest that movement starts with breath and intention but really, same-same. Your lungs are in your torso, are connected to your core muscles, et voila!

Everyone has to do core work - serious and casual movers alike. Why? If you are on the stable/stiff side of the equation and you don’t train your core, you are going to over-train your extremities. This disorganization is not good for the body, yet the body adapts and the muscles and tissue of the extremities get stronger to compensate. As you learned if you attended or read Pt. 1 - the amount of tissue you have surrounding your joints effects your ROM. You will build the muscle, lose ROM and keep going in the general direction of disorganization until injury happens. If you are on the flexibly/hyper-mobile side of things, a lack of core activation leads to chronic spinal extension/anterior pelvic tilt. Alternately or additionally, your core does not start and end in your abs. Your core starts in your feet, travels up your inner thighs and connects into the torso via your pelvic floor. Improper or lack of core activation leads to the weight of your body and organs constantly pressing down on your lower body from the Lumbar Spine downwards. This can result in compressed discs, lower body joint pain and Pelvic Organ Prolapse.

As a movement teacher, I see people doing core incorrectly all the time.

*If your core work hurts you you’re doing more harm than good!

*If you don’t feel your targeted core work in your core you’re not working it!

Core work is infinitely scalable. It encompasses breath work, weighted deficit sit ups and everything in between. We will get into examples further down and in real life. But, suffice it to say, as it relates to the asterisks, there is no excuse. You have to do core work so you might as well do it right (effectively and safely). Here are some targets to hit every time you do core work and how you will know you’re doing it right:

1. You have to be able to breathe normally

2. You have to go SLOW. Your surface abs are twitch muscles. They work when you go fast. Your deep core is NOT twitch fiber. It ONLY works when you go slowly.

3. If you are targeting your core muscles and you don’t feel it in your abs and obliques, you’re not really working them.

2. BIGGEST JOINTS FIRST

When it comes down to it, our bodies are comprised of simple machines. Go deep enough down that rabbit hole with enough maths and physics and you will discover that the joint that loads first is the joint that carries the greatest load. Now in yoga, there’s a whole lot more room to get that wrong because you aren’t carrying more than your body weight. But it still makes me cringe when someone does chair and their knees jut forward before their butt goes back. If you’re stepping under a 200lbs rack for a back squat do you want your hips to carry most of that 220lbs or your knees? Your hips!! You can read more about Joint Loading Order as it relates to squatting HERE. Or if you’re brave, I recommend heading into the Crossfit Journal archives. There are good explanations of movement principles in the older material. Try to ignore the chest-beating and tomfoolery.

Biggest Joints First goes for your warm-up, your stretching, your actual athletic endeavors. It is foundational. Aside from the pure physics of it, your circulation and enervation are greatest at your biggest joints. That means moving your shoulders and hips (and spine as a unit) are going to get your hottest first and prime your body’s ability to send/receive neurological feedback.

3. CREATE SUPPORT

Sometimes you have to create support through activation. Let’s go back to weight-lifting. You breathe in and brace your core. In yoga, we go back and forth between active and passive. The support in active yoga poses looks much the same as weight-lifting. There will support from your core and possibly some attenuated bracing. However, in yoga, we get into passive stretching and in this instance, it is both helpful and necessary to recruit props.

Let’s look at a standing vs. a seated forward fold to further elucidate the point. Standing forward fold is active. It is thought of as a hamstring stretch but let me tell you - if you aren’t using the fuck out of your core to create the deepest possible hip flexion, honey you’re doing it wrong. The entire front body is active from the throat to the toes. There is little to no gap between any part of the torso and leg so much so that many long-time practitioners can put the top of their head on the top of their feet. When done properly all of the support that is needed for good organization comes from the posture itself. The position of the body mirrors the position of and is held by the front of the legs so the back body can stretch.

Now a seated forward fold on the other hand can be active or passive. Let’s look at the passive version. The point is to deepen the stretch beyond the muscle fiber and into the fascia which requires longer holds. If one were to be engaged much of the fascial stretch would go away so engaging would defeat the purpose of the passive position. So one must fully lean into the passivity. But then gaps happen. Maybe the back of your knee comes off of the ground or flops to the side. Maybe your upper body doesn’t reach your legs for support. What do you do? You create support. In this instance, you would pull pillows and other such props in to fill the gaps. Not doing so results in two diverging trends depending on your point on the stability spectrum. Tight people tend to tense and hold the position in their muscles rendering the stretch utterly useless. Flexi people tend to hold the weight in the bones of their joints even or especially if they are “all the way” in the shape. Neither scenario is good.

Ok, so that’s yoga. Now we can zoom out again. Let’s go back to the use of support in other realms. A great tool for learning the squat is a box squat. You rack the back squat, lower to the bottom, sit on the box and explode off of the box. Find ways to look at your movement. If you are an athlete, break your sport-specific movement down to fundamental shapes and vectors then put support around those shapes. Do the same for opposing shapes to create balance. Also using props for athletic movement can look like creating resistance with said props and we will dig into that next. For passive and everyday motor patterns do the same. You get into the car a certain way? How can you better support yourself in that movement pattern? Can you hold the steering wheel for support? Do you sit and type all day? Can you passively support your spine in the opposition position to create balance?

4. ISOLATION AND ISOMETRICS

Break it down to fundamentals and create resistance. We are here to create better movement, better integration, resolve pain and kick ass. One does not learn to kick ass with a laissez-faire attitude or a lack of grit. But why wait for life to throw you a curve-ball when you can make your own life harder? Think I’m joking? No! If you’re older than 22 you have probably already lived through many years of unintentionally making your own life harder and growing in the process. But what about applying that theory, mindfully to the body?

To create the kind of change you want in your body - more flexibility or more stability - you have to create challenges that cause your body to adapt. The easiest way to do this is the break things down to components. While the body IS comprised of simple machines, when you put them all together and add movement vector +/- load, things get complex very fast. So its a good thing to work your joints and muscle groups in isolation. Much of what we will do in the workshop, physically is due to just this - drill movements of one joint or a joint system (ex: shoulder + arm) in order to examine what is working and what is not.

This works for people along all points of the spectrum. The emphasis for more mobile people is to isolate the sensation of the joints of the system or the single joint moving on its own - actively. The next step is to add the core back in and notice how the joint or system feels when connected. The body is built with checks and balances. If a joint has more than “normal” mobility AND the checks and balances of core/spinal position are ignored, the joint will take more of a load than it is built to and eventually injury can result. This can work in a positive direction as well. Most high-level contortionists are RIPPED. They train their core to go the whole distance with their hyper-mobile joints.

For the tight folks out there, the game is to get a read on the ROM of each of your joints. The movement is medicine. When you keep your dominant muscles from eating up every movement your body endeavors, your joints will begin to heal themselves and increase in ROM capacity. Myofascial release and muscle stretching is often essential to the process when dealing with a body that has developed a lot of muscle density.

So, that’s the isolation part. The isometrics boil down to resistance. The kind of resistance that comes from within. Sure, you could add weight and you WILL eventually get to that point. But in the beginning, the kind of resistance you can create with your own body and mind is ultimately going to be a much better teacher. Simply find your most integrated, fullest ROM - whatever that happens to be at your starting point - and hold there and breathe. Find your edge, feel it out and let your body map it. The only way to intelligently push past an existing edge in your body is to know, with precision, where it is. Isometric engagement at the end ROM will help you develop strength without bulk and it will help to develop proprioception in that particular position.

OUTRO

Try approaching your movement with these principles in mind. If you don’t already have a movement practice yoga can be a great place to start but the studio experience is not for everyone. If you’ve tried yoga in the past and been frustrated or injured you are not alone. Most yoga teachers these days know how to teach the “ideal” body to do a set sequence. They are not capable of handling your specific needs. Thus, if you endeavor to go to a yoga studio to practice, you need to go armed with knowledge of how to work your edges. If not, but you have the gumption to do it alone, there are tons of online resources to get you moving. And of course, you can always seek private instruction. No matter what, keep in mind what I said at the start - you are responsible for creating a path for yourself. If a yoga pose doesn’t feel good, don’t do it. If lifting heavy only feeds your ego, let it fall away.

There is a world of information on the internet. Movement science is not high-level worm-hole mechanics. You can self-teach to the point of being able to rehab yourself and advocate for yourself. Think of it this way - what do you think humans did while they were sitting around campfires, telling stories or stuck inside during a rainy season? Do you think they did manual labor all day and didn’t stretch? Ancient humans codified the basics of self-maintenance. Aside from maybe needing some accountability - you don’t need a teacher in $100 leggings, a former ballerina, or a person with a fancy degree to tell you how to move your body (until, maybe, you get to the upper levels then everyone needs a coach). Start small, move slowly, breathe deeply. Your body will take care of itself and you if you let it.

Below are some helpful videos for putting your joints or muscles or both through the paces. We will be doing some of these in the actual workshop but not all. This is not an exhaustive list but I’ve tried to give a little something for all parts of the body. As always, thanks for reading and I hope you find this useful.

RESOURCES:

Shoulders

https://www.instagram.com/p/CP3qFPNjJll/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CP0usoGj_cR/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPrbLznMmuv/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CO3x1jjnREO/

Hip

https://www.instagram.com/p/CP6NYfQMUif/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPV5hrsjx_6/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPTQchNsKsk/

Knee and Inner Thigh

https://www.instagram.com/p/COLHtxss_wF/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPqkTKDDSxP/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdofViBpO-U

Spine

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPl2T0bsiEj/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJJh3lelY_q/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5xiKg_hZtO/

Foot/Ankle

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPOIuH7Djzi/

https://instagram.com/p/COqIfrOJQa0/

https://www.instagram.com/p/COlaOIipGtV/?utm_medium=share_sheet

https://www.instagram.com/p/CORmHHgp1zP/?utm_medium=share_sheet

https://www.instagram.com/reel/COMWXd-pkza/?utm_medium=share_sheet

Hamstrings:

https://www.instagram.com/p/COqLdoOjwf0/

Hand/Wrist

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNTGH13MSkn/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMzmGnnsQgn/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CP3p59Flrep/

https://www.instagram.com/p/COvE9V3Mf6n/

Core:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CO9DW9SpTkM/

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CPRXuDrh3b3/?utm_medium=share_sheet

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMM9m3FB13K/?utm_medium=share_sheet

Especially for hyper-mobile athletes (but also for everyone):

https://www.instagram.com/cirque_physio/

Especially for tight muscles and fascia and rehab (but also for everyone):

www.triggerpoints.net

May Book Drop

What If?

By: Randall Munroe

This was interesting but due to the nature of the content and its original format, it felt more like podcast material to me than book material. I appreciate the spirit of this book, however, and did find a lot of the information interesting, if not particularly useful. There were sections, based on my level of interest in the subject, that were less interesting than others. Overall it was entertaining. I read a great many books that are heavy-hitters and for that particular reason, I chose this entertaining read to break up the tone and pace of my reading list. I would not re-read this book but I am not mad that I invested my time to give a once-through.

Summary Here

Dance Dance Dance

By: Haruki Murakami

WARNING: some spoilers if you have read or watched Burning.

My love affair with Murakami’s works remains unbroken. Dance Dance Dance was weird. It was uncanny. It was just the right amount of eery. It reminded me A LOT of a long-format Burning. The characters were rich. The pacing was steady, methodical, detailed. I find Murakami’s writing extremely inspiring. It shows you don’t have to have a story with fantastical leap after leap to create something unique, interesting and beautiful.

Summary Here

Cthulu Casebooks #1

By: James Lovegrove

This was a really cool twist on Sherlock Holmes. But first, let’s deal with some unsavoriness. From wiki: “Reviewers have praised Lovegrove's use of Doyle's characters within a Lovecraftian conceit.” Due discussion is given, in the book’s intro, to the racist worldview of H.P. Lovecraft. I didn’t realize that was the literary style in which this book would be written. What I mean by that is, the author draws heavily from the occult themes popularized by Lovecraft in a re-telling of an otherwise classic Holmesian story. This is what I would consider to be an attempt to NOT throw out the baby with the bathwater, to NOT partake of cancel culture if you will. I just think you should know that ahead of time if you decide to read this book. I thought it was super fun and I thoroughly enjoyed the mysticism interwoven into the narrative style of Sherlock Holmes. Also some useful reviews on GoodReads. Hit the summary button below for more.

Summary Here

The Fairies of Sunflower Grove

By: PJ Ryan

Ugh. I hate everything that PJ Ryan writes. They are, however, the perfect level for my 5 year old. He is such a champ and listens to and reads things far beyond his five years so I have to throw him a bone every once in a while. I cannot stand Gwedolyn Druyor’s narration. She choose the most infantile sounding voices and she is wildly inconsistent in her assumed accents. Its trite and annoying but for a kid its fun, I suppose. In fact it has almost a 5 star rating everywhere. Of Ryan’s catalog, we have listened to this, Rebecca Girl Detective, RJ Boy Detective and the one where everyone teams up. Anyway, they’re all pretty bad as an adult though they are great for emerging readers. RJ is the best. Rebecca was insufferable. The Faires are totally saccharine. You were forewarned.

Summary Here

The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down

By: Haemin Sunim

While the content of this book was valuable, I didn't particularly enjoy the format. Does this mean I’m a picky bitch about books? Yes. I definitely have my opinions. This is a book that was created by transferring tweets to page. Some of the longer tweets that spiraled into narrative were good for listening. The shorter ones were a little disjointed feeling. I do think that a written version of this work would be good for those who like a mindful jump-off point for journaling. I chose this book as a “book to listen to while dozing off.” For that purpose, it really was perfect. Since there wasn’t a narrative, it was easy to double back and re-listen to parts I fell asleep to. It took a little longer to make it through than a fully wakeful listening but as far as subject matter and narration go, it filled its role in my library well.

Summary Here

My Grandmother’s Hands

By: Resmaa Menakem

A great book overall. In short, its about race and trauma with equal emphasis placed on both. I have specific categories of people I think this would be best suited for if I had to prioritize. IMO this book should be a priority for white people who are stepping into social justice and who find themselves uncomfortable with other writer’s tone toward white people (perceived or real). This is the first book I’ve read that does a good job at kindly walking white people through their own historical trauma. Resmaa lays out how simply being white perpetuates systemic racism but he does so in a way that feels devoid of judgement. It also coaches the reader (white) on how to recognize and de-escalate the sometimes knee-jerk push-back to being confronted about white-body privilege. For example, I requested a family member read The New Jim Crow. They made it through and gained a lot from the read but felt very attacked throughout. Had they read this book first, I think they would have been much better equipped for The New Jim Crow.

IMO this book is a less academic (on purpose) handling of the same info metered out by The Body Keeps The Score. There are fewer (at least for white readers) anecdotes that are the same level of triggering as TBKTS. There is also immediate incorporation of the body-work into the writing so you have tools to use while reading. I will say, there is one moment where the author used a hypothetical to elicit a response from the reader and he totally freaking got me. As a reader, you are warned, goaded, cajoled, coached and implored time and again to stop and do the practices laid out by Resmaa. And about 3/4 of the way through he put a scenario out there so infuriating and personally significant to me, that I had a very strong visceral reaction. Immediately after he writes - now stop and do the practices we have been talking about. And I did. Almost immediately after settling myself down, I realized how brilliantly he got me to do the work. I was deeply impressed. This book covers a lot of the same ground as TBKTS but in a totally different way.

There are whole chunks of this book intended to deal with trauma for Black and POC people as well as whole portions devoted to “The Police” as a body and the trauma they endure. I found both of those sections unique and insight-giving. While there are some people who I think would gain more from bumping this up the reading list before other reads, this book is a must for pretty much everyone.

Summary Here

My Dyslexia

By: Philip Schultz

Insightful, poignant, beautifully written once it gets going. This is not my first read about Dyslexia. It probably won’t be my last. What I’ve read in the last was at the intersection of clinical and anecdotal. This book is narrative, poetic and personal. I have quite a few neurodivergent people in my life. You probably do too, it’s not uncommon just not talked about enough. Books like this feel important to me for the sake of learning to be compassionate. If you want to be able to rise above being an asshole to people accidentally, you have to self-teach. We do not live in a society where “non-normative” experiences are culturally mainstreamed let alone championed. Additionally, My Dyslexia functions as a historical primer on Dyslexia and its clinical arc over the last 70 or so years. The author, Phillip Schultz, came up in the 50s and 60s. Some of what he experienced hasn’t changed much, some things are very different. Again, not information you’re likely to know about unless it touches you directly or unless you go out of your way to seek it out. A good, short read.

Noteworthy: This book is only rated a 3.75 on GoodReads. I would rate it higher, a hair over 4. It seems like most of the negative reviews are from people wanting instructions to follow for how Schultz overcame his dyslexia. That seems unfair to me. Everyone’s path is different and this book never claims to be self-help. Its self reflexive and poetic. Insights are there for those who can pick up on nuance. I don’t think this is a book to read if you have an agenda.

Summary Here

The Princess and the Goblin

By: George MacDonald

High falootin language. This was not a modern re-telling so the English was a bit difficult for Vor to follow. It wasn’t impossible nor did he completely miss the narrative arc, it just required more stopping and making sure that he was paying attention, asking questions and explaining than what we are used to. I remember reading this as a kid but I’m not sure at what age. It is definitely good - whimsical, sweet, suspenseful - it did the work. I would recommend finding a modernized version for young readers. For the slightly older crowd, I suggest undertaking a hard-copy read so as to facilitate the absorption of narrative, vocabulary and formal linguistic stylings. Also, I knew this was an old book but damn, it was written in 1872. Does put some perspective on it.

Summary Here

Gulliver’s Travels

By: Jonathan Swift

More of the same as The Princess and The Goblin, really. Also, it’s not written for children. I totally read it as a kid - probably at eight or so years old, Re-reading along with a child, it’s clear that the voice is as an adult to an adult even though the subject matter is fun and imaginative. Le sigh. Good ol’ Vor hung in there nonetheless. Poor thing. Those two older stories really stretched his listening skills. Neither kept his attention very well. Read them if you like, probably skip them for the beginning readers.

Summary Here

The Vor Game

By: Lois McMaster Bujold

Fun! From what I can tell there’s a whole series. Choosing not to get mired down in it currently but I look forward to doing so in the future. Yes, you read the name correctly and yes they are a woman! A woman Sci-Fi author. But Carlina what about Le Guin or Jemisen etc? Great authors, misgenred imo. Those works are Fantasy with a sprinkling of or thread or two of science. McMaster-Bujold’s entire universe hinges on knowing enough about space that you can create an entire universe that abides by its rules. Now, before I get ahead of myself, she demonstrates that she knows enough but this is still not hard sci-if. It’s more like an underdog story inside of an empire-building story with a solid coat of sci-fi paint. Also, if you’re looking for a feminine touch, look elsewhere. My closest comparison here would be John Scalzi. If you like his Collapsing Empire books these will be right up your alley. Returning now to the things I liked: great characters and character development, so many twists and turns, a believable Universe, quick-witted and sometimes acerbic dialog. Thoroughly enjoyable as should anything be that bears my son’s name.

Summary Here

The Claw

By: Patrick Carman

And-a-strike. I managed to pick three books in a row for Vor that just weren’t it. This books was fun for me but a little too scary/suspenseful for him. At the point of choosing this book, I was scraping the bottom of the barrel of children’s books included in my Audible subscription. Thankfully, they have updated offerings for June. Anyhow, RIYL RL Stine’s Goosebumps. This is a serialized offering. It read like a collection of short Goosebumps stories. Fast and fun with a spoooooky narrator and sidekick. It could also be compared to Tales from the Crypt!

Summary Here

Stability Spectrum Pt.1

INTRO & DISCLAIMER:

This is a written resource intended to be supplemental to my workshops on The Stability Spectrum. Most of what is written below will be useful as a stand alone source of information. If something needs clarification, it is likely because this is support for a real-time course, not included. Chances are, an online search will help you to gain further understanding. Or, if you have specific questions or concerns please drop them below in the comments. Remember, I’m a yogi and do not hold a doctoral degree in any medical or sport-related field. Use this information appropriately and with guidance from your doctor if there is any question at all about its safety or efficacy for you, personally.

WHY AM I TEACHING THIS WORKSHOP SERIES?

I’ve been teaching yoga since 2014. I’ve been coaching other movement since 2012 and I’ve been an athlete my whole life. I’m a trained researcher and have spent years accumulating knowledge outside of the academic context to apply to my own body or to give me a different lens by which to view the bodies that come to me for training. In the process of teaching and observing others, I noticed people tend to cluster toward one or the other starting place in their movement endeavors. They are either in Group A - “Flexible” or they are in Group B - “Strong.” I’ve made a diagram to illustrate my thinking. These are loaded terms but I’ve chosen them for a reason - because they both highlight what are considered to be desirable traits AND you don’t need to know special terms to get the idea I’m trying to convey. They do not, however, do a good job of describing what’s going on beneath the surface for either group. We will get into that momentarily. For further illustration of the point, see the graphics below. CAVEAT: we are working off of stereotypes so don’t get too invested…

Static and Motion based characteristics of “strong” and “flexible” people with some examples of overlap.

On the left sample “strong” bodies from a basic Instagram search #strong and on the right an Instagram search for #flexible

Injury happens, discomfort happens, pulled muscles happen, compressed vertebrae happen…right? Yes. They do. But they don’t have to, at least in theory. The two groups above, in addition to having distinct characteristics of what they look like standing and in motion, also have a tendency to accrue injuries, aches and pains and maladaptive motor patterns in divergent ways; with some areas of overlap as well.

Classical injuries/ailments experienced by “strong” or “tight” people, classical injuries/ailments experienced by “flexible” or “hypermobile” people and areas of overlap.

WHY CONTINUED…

In my personal experience I started in the “strong” category. I have experienced stiffness, discomfort, an inability to find good alignment in hand balance leading to chronic shoulder pain, sciatic nerve pain from a hamstring pull, etc. Over the years I have healed all of the above and am continuing to evolve my practice.

It so happens that, of my private clientele, more than half are working with me because of injuries related to hypermobility. These include patellar luxation, bunions, bursitis, hip capsule injuries, etc. We are continually working to re-train motor patterns that keep my clients’ bodies safe.

But in my everyday teaching experience, of which I have accumulated about 4,000 hours, I see people like me and people like my private clients mixed together in a class. As I gained experience, I started to notice these different populations. Listening to students, I started seeing patterns and how a standard yoga class assumes a body that possesses both strength and flexibility as a starting point, when in fact, many people are lacking in one or the other and sometimes both in drastic ways.

This online resource and the accompanying workshop are my first attempt to codify some of what I have observed over the years both in terms of problem areas and in terms of tools to resolve the problem areas. The good news is, the methodology is more or less the same for both groups of people! So below we will get into more technical definitions of “strong” and “flexible,” how to identify those patterns in yourself and from there we will take a look at some resources I’ve found to be of great efficacy over the years.

Definitions

As previously mentioned, the terms “strong” and “flexible” are good to get started but otherwise inadequate for the following conversations. So, let’s keep the general concepts but replace those two words for more meaningful terms.

In this conversation we will now convert “strong” to “stable.”

Stability is the ability to maintain or control joint movement or position. Stability is achieved by the coordinating actions of surrounding tissues and the neuromuscular system.

Instead of “flexible” we will now use “mobile.”

Mobility is the degree to which an articulation (where two bones meet) can move before being restricted by surrounding tissues (ligaments/tendons/muscles etc.) - otherwise known as the range of uninhibited movement around a joint.

In an ideal world these two abilities work together in tandem for a perfectly balanced system where no one get hurt except through external forces. But the real world looks like these two abilities being out of balance in most bodies to the degree that a person ends up in one or the other camp. To visualize this let’s bring back one of my favorite teaching tools from Psych 101 - the bell curve!

The Bell Curve

NOTE: The graphical depictions below are my approximation of things, not based on personal research or study. Real studies do exist if you want more precision.

The Bell Curve

The term "bell curve" is used to describe a graphical depiction of a normal probability distribution, whose underlying standard deviations from the mean create the curved bell shape.

Let’s apply the concepts of the Stability Spectrum to the Bell Curve and see what we get….

0, .5 and -.5 on the Bell Curve with our variables applied. Notice how the Bell Curve is a spectrum with a big bump in the middle.

Referencing the version of the Bell Curve (above), we start at the zero-point or the middle. Here, a person has full use of their joints in a way that is supported by their muscles and other tissue. The given range of motion (ROM) for a joint is determined by examining a wide variety of factors including the shape of the joint itself. We will take a look at the other factors involved a little later as most of the variables factor into where a person falls on the Stability Spectrum. You will also notice above, two points equidistant from the center. If we were talking pure numbers these points would be labeled .5. That is to say they are about half of a point away from the mean, taken here to mean the statistical average. On the Bell Curve, whatever is being measured is less “average” the further away from the middle it gets. At .5 away from the middle, you’re still looking at things most people would consider normative. In our example, someone who has one or two stiff joints or someone who maybe has open shoulders even though their hips are tight would not be considered extreme cases (we will discuss exceptions in the workshop). Since in reality most people don’t have full range of motion with support from surrounding tissue, the above is an idealization. In most circumstances, if you were to actually measure people and create a statistical average ROM, the mean would probably skew toward the tight side of things. The Yoga Dojo is an example of a community or cohort where, perhaps, the mean would skew toward the mobile side.

The Bell Curve - Tails

The further you move away from center on the Bell Curve the further you get from the statistical average. Here is 1+, using our model of mobility. At this point, the manifestations begin to look extreme compared to the middle of the pack.

Here’s where the conversation gets a little interesting. The further you move away from center the higher the number. So this Bell Curve (above) shows +1 and -1 and beyond. This is where, the people in our discussion would start to have congenital joint issues like club foot, or on the other end have Ehler’s Danlos Syndrome. The size of the Bell Curve drops off steeply here. That is because there is a rapidly diminishing number of people at each point. The two differently colored ends of our spectrum or Bell Curve are called the “tails.”

It is through examining the "why” behind the conditions at the tails that we get a really good understanding of what is at play for the rest of us back toward the middle.

Factors

Where you fall on the Stability Spectrum is going to be a combination of many factors. Your joint ROM is the quickest and dirtiest assessment of where you fall. As mentioned previously, there are multiple factors influencing ROM…

Bone Morphology - The shape and angles of the bones in the joint and leading into the joint. For this purpose you can think of all joints as simple machines. The length of the limb leading into the joint will create different leverage and torque in addition to the shape and angle of the joint itself. Ex: Press Handstands

Movement Practices - the regular degree through which a joint is asked to move. Ex: Sedentary lifestyle vs. Professional Athlete

Tissue Properties - Muscles, ligaments, tendons, even skin surrounding a joint have a predisposition to different properties. The assumption is that these tissues are all functioning normally. Changes in tissue function effect the stability or mobility of a joint.

Genetics/Diet/Age - The genes you inherit influence your morphology, tissue composition, how your body processes the raw material you consume as food and how these variables evolve over the course of your lifetime.

Injury - Accute and chronic use injuries can impact one or more joint’s ROM in a sudden and drastic way.

When you’re measuring a “normal” body it is sometimes difficult to see how the above factors relate to one another. It can be hard, for example, to look at my own body and say “Well what came first? Tight muscles? Tight ligaments? Is the tightness genetic? Is it emotional?” We have the people living in the tails to thank for some of the greatest insights about our body as a system. It is through studying communities like the EDS community, that we are able to understand the role genes play on collagen formation and thus joint health. It is through observation of patients undergoing physical therapy after surgery and injury that we are able to examine how large changes in ROM effect the body as a whole. The body is indeed a system. It is very difficult and maybe impossible to isolate any ONE of the above factors as being the definitive reason for where you fall on the Stability Spectrum.

Assessment Tools

Baseline measurements can be found below as well as some definitions of extension, flexion etc:

BASELINE ROM

A quick test for Hypermobility can be found below. Notice, we have not defined Hypermobility in writing. There is a wide range of what Hypermobility can mean and secondly there is no direct antonym or opposite. You can take it to mean greater than baseline ROM in one or more joints OR you can find a more detailed explanation here. The quick test for Hypermobility is called the Beighton Score. There are two links below both showing the criteria for the test with some novel and redundant information:

BEIGHTON SCORE 1

BEIGHTON SCORE 2

So what about the tighter people reading this and participating in the workshop? For you we have some standard flexibility tests ala gym class in primary school. If you want to get fancy - grab a friend, a protractor, ruler and tape measure. The tests after the link below more or less run you through the ROM for your major joints. Get your friend to measure the angle with the ruler and protractor and some of the sit and reach scores with your tape measure. That is what we will be doing in the workshop!

FLEXIBILITY TESTING

Final Thoughts for Pt 1

Ok, how’d you do? If you came away with a couple of hyper mobile joints, congratulations! You are in the approximately 25% of the population who has one or two hypermobile joints. If you your self assessments or the definitions on the Hypermobility page started sounding alarms, this would be a good indication to follow up with your doctor. Severe connective tissue disorders are rare BUT maybe some of the aches and pains you experience are related. Part 2 of this series will address some immediate tools you can use and modifications you can make to your movement to keep you safe in the mean time.

Tight? Chances are you already knew it! But likewise, if you are experiencing limitations in a generalized way, or severely in more than one joint, that’s what part 2 is for.

Perfectly balanced specimen? More power to you my friend. Chances are you already do some of the exercises and drills I’m going to show everyone in part 2. Join us anyways and be my movement model!

Knowledge is the key to moving forward. We aren’t conducting peer reviewed double blind experiments here, but if you can’t use yourself as your life’s greatest experiment and keep notes accordingly what are you even doing? These are the sorts of activities people used to do when screens didn’t exist. Its through just this sort of curiosity and experiment that yoga was born.

We are at a temporal nexus of ancient and modern knowledge coalescing. Disparate practices with esoteric focal points are pooling resources to evolve new Gold Standards. Its an amazing time to be a mover. Today, we know more about moving and the human body than every before. I’m looking forward to part 2 where I will share some of the best tools around for creating happy joints and healthy tissue that I’ve found in the past ten years.

Questions and comments below 👇.

Thanks! 😊🙏