A dense but thoughtful somatic framework best suited to movement professionals.
A veteran movement educator reframes the concept of the “core” as a dynamic, whole-body relationship rather than a set of muscles to control.
LeBlanc-Arbuckle draws on decades of experience in Pilates, yoga, Rolf Structural Integration, and somatic bodywork to challenge the familiar fitness premise that the “core” is a set of abdominal muscles to be tightened and controlled. Instead, she reframes the core as relational—an ongoing exchange between the body, gravity, breath, and environment. This philosophy underpins her central framework, “3CoreConnections” (grounding, centering, and uplift), which she applies across movement, touch, and self-regulation. The book’s strength lies in its synthesis. The author brings together a wide range of influences—embryology, fascial research, polyvagal theory, biotensegrity, and the work of major somatic thinkers—into a cohesive, if highly specialized, worldview. Her comparison of biomechanical and “biointelligent” approaches clearly articulates the conceptual shift she’s advocating, and certain passages, such as an extended metaphor of breath as a living root bridge, offer moments of real insight. Personal anecdotes, including a car accident that reshaped LeBlanc-Arbuckle’s understanding of breath, provide welcome grounding in the technical narrative. At times, however, the density of both language and structure may limit the book’s accessibility. Key phrases and concepts recur frequently, reinforcing the central ideas, but also contributing to a sense of repetition. The later chapters, which present detailed movement sequences, read more like transcriptions of in-person workshops than material composed for the page and may be challenging to follow without prior familiarity (despite visual guidance). While technical terms are defined, the overall framework assumes that readers are already comfortable with somatic vocabulary and theory—terms like “biotensegrity,” “proprioceptive innerness,” and “lemniscate patterning” are explained but may intimidate lay readers. This guide is a thoughtful and deeply informed work aimed primarily at movement professionals—Pilates and yoga teachers, bodyworkers, and somatic practitioners—who are interested in expanding their theoretical lens. For that audience, the book offers a rich and integrated perspective. Readers seeking a more introductory or broadly accessible guide to embodied movement may find the work intellectually engaging but excessively demanding.
A dense but thoughtful somatic framework best suited to movement professionals.Pub Date: Feb. 19, 2026
ISBN: 9781913426477
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Handspring Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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