Anatomy of the Voice

2018 North Atlantic Books

This book is the first to explain, in clear and concise language, the anatomy and mechanics of the mysterious and complex bodily system we call the voice. Beautifully illustrated with more than 100 detailed images, Anatomy of the Voice guides voice teachers and students, vocal coaches, professional singers and actors, and anyone interested in the voice through the complex landscape of breathing, larynx, throat, face, and jaw. Theodore Dimon makes unfamiliar terrain accessible and digestible by describing each vocal system in short, manageable sections and explaining complex terminology. The topics he covers include ribs, diaphragm, and muscles of breathing; the intrinsic musculature of the larynx, its structure and action; the suspensory muscles of the throat; the face and jaw; the tongue and palate; and the evolution and function of the larynx.

Neurodynamics

2015 North Atlantic Books

Neurodynamics combines the latest discoveries in science, anatomy, and mindfulness to form a new understanding of human awareness in action. What good does it do to stretch, relax, or strengthen muscles if we don't know how these muscles are actually designed to function? To be sound, any physical therapy method must be based on scientific knowledge of how the musculoskeletal system works, on the role of proprioception in gaining awareness and control over this system, and on the process of becoming more conscious in action. Written for both beginning and advanced students, the book offers in-depth explanations of the theory of neurodynamics together with illustrations outlining steps of development and practical exercises. 

Over 100 years ago, F. Matthias Alexander made a series of discoveries about how the body works in action that made it possible for the first time to become conscious of what we're doing in activity. In Neurodynamics, author Theodore Dimon, who has taught and written about Alexander's work for many years, seeks to put together a coherent theory and curriculum for the Alexander Technique and explain how this system works in scientific terms. Neurodynamics develops and expands on Alexander's teachings and gives practical explanations that form the basis not just for a method but for a truly educational theory of how the mind and body work in action.

A New Model of Man’s Conscious Development

2015 Day Street Press

Western empirical and scientific approaches to the mind and body address consciousness superficially, while Eastern mystical and spiritual traditions subordinate the body and health to higher consciousness, leaving out the science entirely. Dr. Theodore Dimon's theory dives squarely into this cross-section, connecting two separate worlds of thought into a single model of conscious development. Drawing from research in the fields of evolution, neuroscience, and physiology—as well as years of practical study of motor function and attention—Dimon's revolutionary model provides a new paradigm for understanding psychophysical functioning and how it can be applied to child development, performance, and to living in a truly holistic way.

The Body in Motion

2011 North Atlantic Books

In The Body in Motion, author Theodore Dimon confronts a simple yet crucial task: to make sense of our amazing design. This comprehensive guide demonstrates the functions and evolution of specific body systems, explaining how they cooperate to form an upright, intelligent, tool-making marvel, capable of great technological and artistic achievement. With 162 beautifully rendered full-color illustrations, the book opens with an introduction to the origins of movement, leading the reader on a journey through time and evolution—from fish to amphibian, quadruped to primate—showing how humans became the preeminent moving beings on the planet.

Delving deeper into our upright support system, The Body in Motion clearly describes the workings of the hands and upper limbs; the pelvic girdle; the feet and lower limbs; breathing; the larynx and throat musculature; and more. Central to the book is the idea that it is our upright posture that makes it possible for us to move in an infinite variety of ways, to manipulate objects, to form speech, and to perform the complex rotational movements that underlie many of our most sophisticated skills. These systems, Dimon argues persuasively, have helped us build, invent, create art, explore the world, and imbue life with a contemplative, spiritual dimension that would otherwise not exist.

Your Body, Your Voice

2011 North Atlantic Books

In this innovative book, Theodore Dimon, Ed.D, shows how each part of the vocal organ (breathing, larynx, throat, and so on) works as part of a larger musculoskeletal system that is often interfered with, and how identifying this larger system and understanding in a practical way how it works allows a person to train and improve the voice, whether speaking or singing.

Enhanced with over 50 detailed full-color illustrations, the book discusses the fallacy of traditional breathing exercises and explains that the key to efficient breathing lies in the expansive support of the trunk and rib cage. Investigating the elements needed to produce a strong supported tone, Dimon describes the importance of voice “placement,” or directing the sound to a part of the body in order to produce a fully rounded, resonant tone. He identifies harmful patterns of speech and singing, and offers helpful methods for reestablishing the natural function of the vocal mechanism. Individual chapters cover elements of the whispered “ah,” producing a pure sung tone, vocal registers, the suspensory muscles of the larynx, and more.

“Your Body, Your Voice is a godsend in tackling and elucidating the technical mysteries of voice production. The result is a factual, logical, objective, and practical perspective that exposes many fallacies existing today under the name of ‘vocal technique.’ Anyone who is genuinely serious about singing will find extraordinarily simple and liberating truths about how the body can embody the voice in the most spontaneous and natural manner.”

— Malcolm Walker, professor of voice at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris

Anatomy of the Moving Body

2008 North Atlantic Books

Anatomy of the Human Body is a complete course in bones, muscles, and joints designed specifically for dancers, movement educators, students, and somatic therapists. In this comprehensive second edition, Dimon simultaneously demystifies and brings to life the structure and mechanics of the human body. Featuring all new illustrations that use a three-dimensional digital model of the human anatomical form, this book contains thirty-one chapters, each covering a distinct region of the body. Muscles, bones, and joints are not only named, but also explained using down-to-earth language. Topics include anatomical terminology; origins and attachments of muscles and their related actions; discussion of major functional systems such as the pelvis, ankle, shoulder girdle, and hand; and structures relating to breathing and vocalization.

“More than just clear, concise, and accurate, Dimon’s Anatomy of the Moving Body also wonderfully expresses the joy of musculoskeletal anatomic understanding—its marvelous vocabulary and endlessly fascinating relations of structure and function.”

—John H.M. Austin, MD, Professor of Radiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University

The Elements of Skill

2003 North Atlantic Books

Much more than another how-to book, The Elements of Skill advances a new approach to learning based on the awareness and control of action. Dimon argues that the most important element in skilled performance is neither practice nor mechanical drilling but an understanding of one’s habitual ways of doing and thinking. He clearly describes principles that can help children and adults alike overcome learning difficulties by breaking skills down into manageable elements and removing harmful habits. Of fundamental use to teachers and parents, The Elements of Skill presents a bold new thesis on learning based on the functioning mind and body as "the central instrumentality upon which all learning depends.

“His revolutionary insight and central thesis can be encapsulated in one phrase: the elimination of harmful habits. Or, as he puts it, ‘impediments to learning usually have little to do with specific technical issues.’ If as a teacher or learner you don’t believe that or find it mysterious, you need to read this book.”

— Prof. Vernon Howard, Harvard University

The Undivided Self

1999 North Atlantic Books

The central premise of The Undivided Self is that “muscular action is inseparable from mental activity, the two occurring as a complete pathway of activity.” Accordingly, “harmful physical states that are associated with stress cannot be adequately addressed through therapeutic techniques that treat the bodily condition separately from the mental ‘causes’ but only by learning to gain a conscious awareness and control of this total pathway of activity” as it operates in behavior. Because this activity is largely unconscious, it is necessary to raise it to a conscious level—a step that can be achieved only through an educational process based on self-awareness and conscious control.

“[Dimon describes] a change … in our preconceptions as to consciousness and the unity of mind and body. Provides much food for thought in an area of human experience largely ignored.”

— Walter Carrington, Director, Constructive Teaching Center