Foundations of Health: Harnessing the Restorative Power of Movement, Heat, Breath, and the Endocannabinoid System to Heal Pain and Actively Adapt for a Healthy Life

Dr. Goodman lays out a tremendous plan for self-directed healing and well being. Those familiar with his work as the inventor and leader of the Foundation Training method (and have read his previous two books) will be familiar with the postural and breath work that this system provides that have helped countless people find a path out of back pain among other debilitating physical issues. That alone, is a phenomenal start on the path to wellness. Where this book really shines though, is the growth path of the author and the inclusion of other healing modalities including heat therapy and perhaps the crown jewel of the book, the discussion of the cutting edge research on the endocanabbinoid system. Dr. Goodman takes a brave leap to tackle the mysteries and stigmas surrounding the various ways to stimulate this system. The book is astonishingly open minded and includes the author’s own journey and public “coming out” in addition to other people featured in the book. The book is absolutely the perfect manual for these contemporary times in which I personally find myself fortunate to be able to benefit in these paradigm shifts in the fields of wellness.Wether you are familiar with Eric Goodman and Foundation Training or not, there is something valuable in this book for everyone and moreover, incredibly thought provoking content that will challenge even the most skeptical and discerning readers. I can’t recommend this book highly enough!

I'll start by saying I'm a big fan of Dr. Goodman. His foundation program is helping me combat life-long back pain. In fact, I've signed up for the Foundation web site content streaming service! If you are looking for practical help or guidance on how to rehabilitate your way out of back pain/neck pain et al then this book is not for you! You would be better served by purchasing one of his earlier books - Foundation: Redefine Your Core, Conquer Back Pain, and Move with Confidence or True to Form: How to Use Foundation Training for Sustained Pain Relief and Everyday Fitness - checking out his free YouTube videos or subscribing to his web site content. This book is more to do with how Dr. Goodman developed his Foundation system and his developing philosophy on health related matters. I'm not a fan of the patient success stories that appear in all of his books as I feel they tend to focus on people who have achieved measures of success in sporting fields ie. people who have the discipline to apply themselves rigorously to rehab programs. Would be more meaningful to me to read about 'mere mortals' succeeding with the program. I'm sure they are out there! The last section of the book contains a series of photographs of the various Foundation exercises/poses. There are no descriptions on how to perform the exercises, instead the reader is directed to the Foundation website for detailed guidance...you can form your own conclusions about why these images are in the book at all!