If you are like most people, you may be wondering if you can do these exercises consistently, if they work, and why they work.

I have been doing these exercises for a couple of weeks, not being a very physically active person. These exercises are not difficult, though it may take a while before you can do the recommended 21 repetitions on each. I consider only one of the exercises to be difficult. If you have done yoga you will recognise some similarities with these rites.

If these exercises work for me, they will probably work for you.
The more you practice, the more you improve. So far, I have noticed increased energy, and better muscle definition, and there appears to be less gray hair than before. My posture has dramatically improved. The particular area with the most pronounced improvement I would say is my abdominal area, what physical trainers refer to as the core. I can feel the reemergence of the body I used to have years ago.

I can see better muscle tone.

I believe these exercises work because according to the Eye of Revelation by Peter Kelder on which this book is based, your body has seven psychic vortexes, which are activated by these exercises. The rate of spin of these vortexes decreases with age and these exercises restore the spin rate to a youthful level, restoring your metabolism in the process.

My personal belief is these exercises do stimulate your key internal organs, and some of your chakras. Some of the exercises seem to focus on the kundalini energy located at the base of your spine. This is is the most powerful energy point in your body.

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I highly recommend the Five exercises but rated the book only three stars for the following two reasons.
1) The breathing instructions for the second and fifth exercises are incorrect. One should inhale during the execution and exhale on the return, opposite to the instructions in the book. The rule is inhale when bending backwards since the abdomen is being distended, and exhale when bending forward, since the abdomen is being constricted. It is not merely a rule, it is natural and to go against it would cause discomfort.
2) The book strays to other topics rather than remaining focussed on the five exercises. The author should have researched and included more on benefits of the exercises, perhaps from follow-up studies on practitioners.
The chapter on Kundalini meditation is off topic and should not have been included. Furthermore it is overly simplistic and does not give adequate instructions on HOW to meditate. As a prerequisite, one would have to first learn how to meditate and then practice meditation long enough (perhaps years) to achieve a high level of Samadhi and insight before attempting the visualizations in this chapter. For meditaion, I recommend 'Zen Training' (Sekida) and 'A still Forest Pool' (Achaan Chah).

Though this is a nice little book with good photo illustrations of the postures/exercises and a nice introduction to chakras, these exercises are very difficult for a beginning student. I will try them further down the fitness road, much further!

The Five Tibetans are not a "quick fix" for those of you who want some kind of overnight transformation. I recently restarted the Five Tibetans (after a few years of not doing them) and after 2 weeks, am feeling an increased energy and better sleep patterns. The Five Tibetans don't take long to do and you don't need any equipment. Some of the other reviewers have had problems with nausa from the spinning rite - my advice is to do fewer (and slower!) repititions.

The Five Tibetans are also a great compliment to other activities, whether it be strength training, cardio, etc. Fitness is a way of life, and one must decide if one will dedicate themselves to get some form of activity in every day - this is key to good health, weight loss and a higher quality of life.

I believe one doesn't have to wrap the simple truths in too much excess detail. This book is a great resource, right to the point and very inspiring.