School of Hard Knots: A Masterclass on Muscles

The PURPOSE of this Program, along with the other upcoming Programs in this Series, is to Support YOU in becoming a Leading Edge Expert in many aspects of Neuro-Musculo-Fascial Therapy.

• A Short Description of the Structure of this DSL Edgework Masterclass on Muscles & Hard Knots is to the RIGHT or DOWN BELOW if you are on a mobile device.
• If you want to discuss anything with me, you can give me a call at 480-209-4383. (That number will be up until I get too busy to answer the phone.)

The Price of the Program is LOW because this is a Pilot Program. This is the First Time I’ve done this fully online. Previously, most of my educational programs have been Live, In-Person, in a room with everyone there. And I've done elements online. I got VERY great feedback on my teaching either way.

Now, I know a LOT about technology, but I hear it’s a lot different when you’re trying to do it ALL — teaching, coordinating people, running the technology, solving any problems, and so on.

Your participation will help me get the bugs worked out and ready to market to a wider range of people. So please understand it might not be as “slick” as other programs you’ve been on.

If you want an in-depth, detailed understanding of the material I’ll be presenting and some of the background, and the kind of knowledge & insights you’ll be developing, the below “Story" gives you a LOT of information & insight into the program. …

NO, you are not required to read it. Yes, it’s kind of long, yet it should also answer many of your questions about what we will be doing. And it would be good to know ahead of time if what I am offering you in the Masterclass is the kind of information and insight you want to know about and can use in your practice.

You can consider it the first part of the Masterclass because ideally, you will come into the program thinking about the very things I am presenting to you here.

I intend to get your Curiosity up. Because if you want to be an Expert in anything, you need to be VERY curious about the topic.

While it is like a relatively short (about 40 pages) eBook, it is a Primer for HOW we will be thinking in the Masterclass and the kind of things we will be talking about. If you do NOT find the material below interesting, then the Masterclass is probably NOT for You.

And Thank You Very Much for Being Here!
~ David Scott Lynn (DSL)

Knowing How They Work, Tells You HOW to Work Them ...

The Main ELEMENTS of the DSL Masterclass …

We Will Be Examining In-Depth, the Physiology & Neurology Underlying:

C.E.M.&.N.T. — Chronic, Excess, MusculoFascial & Nerve Tension & Stress

• C.E.M.&.N.T. is Our Primary Focus of Therapy ...
  • What Is It? Where Does It Come From?
  • How Does it Work (or NOT)?
  • Problems it Causes (It’s a LOT)!
  • How Do You Work With, Dissolve, & Resolve It?
• Our SOLUTIONS to C.E.M.&.N.T. ...
  • Mindful Medical Massage (How to work Muscle & Fascia)
  • Myo-Structural Balancing (Intro To Treatment Strategies)
  • Myo-Structural Yoga Therapy (Yoga for Self-Treatment)
  • Tai Chi-based Movement & Exercise Therapy
  • Self-Treatment & Maintenance (including massage tools)
  • Internal & External Ergonomics
    • Adjusting the Inner & Outer “Environments"

This Hard Knots Masterclass is designed to help you Master the Art & Science, or the Art & Heart, of facilitating a “stuck muscle,” a Hyper-Tense Muscle, to Relax & Release, or to Let-Go of excess musculo-fascial tension.

We're talking about muscles that have been locked "tight" on for YEARS.

We've even worked with people whose doctors (including chiropractors) told them their "tight muscle" was a BONE! But it was not. It was "just" a VERY tight muscle. The same people had MANY Massage or Bodywork Therapists work on those muscles with NO or little relief.

Yet our deceptively simple technique got the job done. Sometimes it takes a lot of TIME, but when a person has been suffering for years or decades, a few weeks or months to get relief is a small price to pay.

Knowing this information will also help you better Educate Clients or Prospects on what is really going on, or going wrong, in their bodymind, and how this therapy works. This is meant for Clients who have long-term, complex, chronic problems no one has been able to help.

Client's, including some Doctors, have Very Often said "How come no one ever told me this before?"

To Be Clear:

The 12-week Foundational Program (available on this platform at: https://dsledge.gumroad.com/l/cgrho ) is designed to get you Up & Running on ALL the various aspects of DSL Edgework. You will, basically, know what I knew when I first developed the Method and I was successfully treating Clients. That includes the BASICS of HOW to release a muscle, and how to select which ones and when.

You will obviously NOT have the Experience I had, but you will be much better equipped to gain that experience, and avoid a LOT of the mistakes or misdirections and searching I went through.

• The various Masterclasses (now under development) take you into Deep Dives into each of the various aspects of each Element of DSL Edgework, the things I have learned since I originally developed the work. There will probably be at least SIX of those over time.

This Hard Knots Masterclass will touch on how to decide WHICH muscle to work on and when, but only briefly. That element of DSL Edgework is called BIO-Structural Analysis & Postural Evaluation. However, that is a BIG topic and will be a Masterclass of its own. Upcoming Soon!

The Basics, the Fundamentals of BIO-Structural Analysis & Postural Evaluation. which muscle to work & when ARE taught in the 12-week Foundational Program. There will also be an In-Depth Masterclass, similar to this one, for more Advanced Structural & Postural Analysis at some time in the future, depending on how well people respond to these first two programs.

That Masterclass will include such as (but not limited to) the following:

• “BIO" refers to the Living Being behind the Structure
• Assessing a Client’s Situation
• "Homeopathic Interview" of Client's Health History
• Structural Anatomy & Functional Kinesiology
  • Producing a Client's Current Posture
  • Producing their Current Movement Patterns
• Looking for Historical Clues as to how they got into their current situation

In The School of Hard Knots ...

Having a DEEP Knowing on How MUSCLES (the Neuro-Musculo-Fascial Units) are Structured and How they Function in Health & DYS-Function, and the Nerves, Brain & MIND Controlling Them … Tells You a LOT on HOW to Work with those systems. This Knowledge & Insight informs Your Client-based Practice as well as Your & Their Personal Self-Maintenance to be more Effective & Efficient.

• The Economy in General and Marketplace for Massage & Bodywork are going thru some Big Changes. If you wonder about that, just try an Internet Search for “robotics in massage therapy”. (!!!) With even Mayo Clinic getting into the Robot / AI Massage business (!!!), you want to be AHEAD of that trend, not behind it. And Google is investing heavily in Robotic / AI Driven Massage, so it could happen a LOT sooner than you might think.
• And many of us experienced some big setbacks from the 2020 Pandemic and Lockdowns. But even though lockdowns produced almost NO positive results, politicians all over the world are thinking of doing that AGAIN for alleged “climate change”!
  • Having things you can do with Clients online, on the phone, or in other “safe settings” can help you get through such challenging times.
• ON THE OTHER HAND, In such times, stress levels go up. And thousands of New Millionaires are being made, giving them more spendable income. And many Spas and Clinics around the country report they cannot get enough therapists
  • So Massage Therapy might actually have MORE demand the way things are going.
• In times of Economic, Social & Political Uncertainty, you need an EDGE. Preferably a Leading Edge. I believe that Edge can come from a FAR deeper understanding of the most complex, chronic problems many other therapists and physicians have given up on.
• YOU want to be a LEADER in the Field, not just a Follower.
• DSL Edgework has a LONG Track Record for working when other Methods have not, and having Deeper, more Accurate Insights into how things work than is usual.

"David is an important leader in the field of BodyWork.”
~ From a Brochure of National Holistic Institute
Emeryville, California

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"David Scott Lynn is addressing and challenging issues not being significantly approached in the field of Massage & BodyWork.”
~ Dan Ulrich, L.M.T.
Cofounder of Suncoast School of Massage & Bodywork
Former Chairman of the Florida State Licensing Board
Tampa, Florida

My Mission is to help YOU gain that Leading Edge so YOU can BE the most Valuable Resource for Your Clients. I want to help YOU become the Leading Edge Expert in your Community on Educating, Evaluating & Treating the most Complex, Difficult to Treat problems of the neuro-musculo-fascial systems of your Clients or Prospects (soon-to-be Clients!).

I’ve got FORTY YEARS of EXPERIENCE at this work, and I developed the origins of the system in the early to mid-1980s. Yet everywhere I go — and people like Kyle Wright in North Carolina using the Methods — Clients say almost no one does what WE do.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Becoming a Leading Edge Expert in ANY-thing requires a LOT of study, time, and probably a lot of reading. I’ve seen a LOT of YouTube videos, and I’ve not seen anything quite like what we’ll be discussing here in the School Of Hard Knots.

But if you do not LIKE to read, do not WANT to read, You probably will not like my Courses. While I can give you a Great Head Start, and can cut your learning time down by a LOT, there is a LOT to know. I’ll be giving you a lot of supplementary material, but you don't have to read it all now, or soon. You can do that on your own time frame.

Yet I WILL tell you what you need to know to get started and be clinically successful. But going UP to the Next Level will probably not happen overnight. ... You will have to go the Extra Mile.

I have designed and written THIS eLetter to YOU to be as Educational as it is anything else. It should help you start thinking about things the way we will in the Masterclass, and in the 12-week DSL Program if you take that, too..

This is NOT “just” a Product Brochure.

ANYWAY … I want Happy Students,
so I’m telling You The Realities Right Up Front ...

** And of course (here is the Lawyer Speak), I am making NO Promises or Guarantees that You will make extra money from this material. THAT will be up to YOU and how hard You work, study & APPLY the information. **

SO … How DID a Structural Steel Ironworker (heavy construction) from the South Suburbs of Chicago (and no college) become a Yoga Teacher, then a Myo-Structural Bodyworker? And then go on to Develop a Highly Effective & Medical Science-based Method of Therapy?

A System that was Originally Based on a Unique Method of Physical, Mental & Relational Yoga & Mindfulness?

I was trained in Yoga by a man named Joel Kramer. Joel, a highly accomplished Yogi & Philosopher, was considered by many to be The Father of American Yoga, and the First American Yoga Master. Not that he was the first to teach yoga. What he did was develop a uniquely American form of yoga that merged Physical, Postural (Hatha) Yoga with a deeply integrative form of Meditative (Jnana) Yoga with very little resemblance to Eastern meditation or spiritual practices.

This had NOT been done by the Yoga Masters from India to any significant degree. And Joel, in MY assessment, was NOT into Eastern Philosophy to any great degree, although he acknowledged certain “Essential Insights from the East."

In the process of all this, he developed certain methods of performing physical postures that were highly innovative, and some say ground-breaking. After learning & practicing his Yoga methods extensively, I began applying those Physical & Mental Principles to my Hands-On Bodywork System.

Eventually, I started saying The DSL Method (now DSL Edgework) is an Externally Applied form of Physical, Mental & Relational Yoga.

I use the Principles of Relational Yoga, in part, as the basis of how I interact with my Clients and Students.

AND … What Do YOU Have to DO, What do You have to KNOW, to Achieve Your OWN Status as a Leading Edge EXPERT in the Field of Bodywork? And BE The First Choice among ALL others when a Client needs or wants Therapy?

Overcoming My Own Severe Pain

I got my start in all this “Whole Health" stuff when I was 13 years old in Martial Arts & ZEN-style Meditation. At that early age, I started applying the Principles & Practices I learned in both to pretty much everything I did.

Back in my teens, I was very active and very physical. I raced motocross & enduros (dirt bikes in rough terrain) and CRASHED a LOT. My pit crew said I had the most spectacular crashes on the circuit! (Probably NOT a Good Thing, but at least I was entertaining the crowds!)

I was also a structural steel ironworker, a very heavy form of building construction, and VERY stressful on the body most of the time.

I had a LOT of tension and stress built up by my early 20s.

I became a Yoga Teacher in 1976 (22 years old) and was doing 3 to 4 hours of Yoga postures almost every day for almost a year. Then it dropped down to about an hour and a half a day. I became a Bodyworker in 1981. I was already developing my system of therapy by this time.

BUT, I HAD to make the Method work because beginning in Spring of 1982, *I* was suddenly in severe muscle & joint pain myself, and no one could help me. There is much to the story, but suffice it to say, I was in severe, throw-me-on-the-floor (often) pain in my right lower back & upper hip for three and a half YEARS.

Fortunately, I had been developing elements of my Therapy Method long before I got into severe pain. I was already an experienced yoga practitioner & teacher, massage therapist, & bodyworker. But old, dormant injuries from my teens re-emerged.

I’ll tell you more on that further below. But along the way, I got extremely interested in just HOW all this stuff REALLY worked. So I started studying the medical and physical sciences behind it all. And the sciences behind both Yoga and Bodywork are nearly the same.

Anyway, long story short, The DSL Method (now known as DSL Edgework) worked and has stood the Test of Time. As you’ll see from various Testimonials below, my system of therapy — DSL Edgework — is considered a Highly Effective Method of Treatment.

TESTIMONIALS:

"Having had experience with many different bodyworkers, David’s technique is certainly unique. There are levels of healing he achieves I’ve never seen before. This is clearly a result of a vast knowledge of anatomy and physiology combined with decades of hands-on experience.”
~ Dr. John Bordiuk • Internist, Nutritional M.D.
Inner Balance Med • Wellesley, MA

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"I have worked with many soft tissue therapists over the years. David Scott Lynn is the only one educated and skilled enough to do what I want with full confidence that the job will be done. My patients definitely feel the difference.”
~ Gary Fujinami • Doctor of Chiropractic
East West Chiropractic & Acupuncture Center
Prescott, Arizona

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"Through my years of experience in clinical practice and taking over 100 seminars in bodywork, I have found The DSL Method [now knowns as DSL Edgework] to be the missing link toward a greater understanding of human physiology and chronic reflex pain patterns. I endorse and highly recommend taking a course in The DSL Method."
~ Kyle Wright, L.M.T.
Director of the Schools of Advanced Bodywork
Charlotte, NC & Jacksonville, FL

In my forty+ years of experience in Advanced, Structurally Oriented, Musculo-Fascial Therapy, I have studied a LOT of relevant sciences. I’ve spent days at a time in places like Harvard Universities' Medical Library unearthing often obscure scientific facts and clues as to what is really going on in the Health & Sickness of the Human BodyMind, especially with the neuro-musculo-fascial system.

• IMPORTANT NOTE: I emphasize definitions & insights into muscle & fascia — the differences & synergies — because there is significant controversy about muscles & fascia often leading to some non-results or even counter-productive results in therapeutic strategies & techniques.
• This became especially clear to me in treatment of scoliosis, which most therapists told me they were NOT very successful at. Yet very often, when watching me work, they could see a scoliosis straightening up right before their very eyes when I was applying my Method. Most of the time, the therapists told me I worked on the opposite muscles than they did!
• In another Controversy, I’ve had Clients tell me their doctor (sometimes medical, sometimes chiropractic) or other therapists told them to not work on or stretch their muscles, but to work on their fascia. There are yoga teachers who talk about stretching the fascia, and not the muscles. But I believe evaluating and treating muscles and fascia as if they were functionally separate is nearly impossible, and can lead to negative outcomes.
  • YES, you can separate them with a scalpel. But how useful do you think those tissues are without each other? Separately, muscle cells and fascia are just heaps of tissue on the floor.
• Another Example of a major thing I began teaching in the late 1980s is that Forward Head & Neck Posture was NOT often (if EVER) from “tight chest” or “weak back” muscles. It was FAR more often the result of over-shortened Abdominal Muscles. (And sometimes anterior neck muscles.)
  • Yet most people feel like their “ABs are too weak.” So how do you resolve the apparent paradox of muscles being “too tight” yet also testing or feeling like they are ”too weak”?
  • I concluded LONG ago that most of the time, the question is NOT about muscles being Too Weak or Too Strong. It’s about muscles being Too Short or Too Long.
• Closely related, and along with my previous point, if you’ve heard of the Upper or Lower Crossed Syndromes (which are VERY popular ideas), I think they are based on faulty science & thinking.
• Or when a Client shows up with a muscle their doctor said was a BONE, and it FEELS like a bone, and many therapists before you have tried to treat it unsuccessfully ... WHAT do you do? Press Harder? …
  • Well, I usually press LIGHTER! …
    But with a LOT more time & patience.
    Yet sometimes, they loosen right up with a lighter touch!
    It's not the Press, it's the Finesse!
• I believe you need to know about such controversies and the sciences behind them, as covered in-depth the School of Hard Knots.
• SO HERE, relative to the muscle versus fascia thing, when I say the word “Muscle,” by itself, I am referring to the entire, integrated, Neuro-Musculo-Fascial Unit. … Otherwise, I will say muscle cells, OR fascial sheaths, OR nerve pathways (of various sorts) when referring to more specific elements of a Muscle Complex.
• BTW, the fascial sheaths are also called the Deep Fascia. These are the many layers of fascia surrounding the entire muscle belly and also fascial sheaths (tubules) surrounding the muscle fiber groups within the muscle belly.
• There is also Superficial Fascia, which is the very deepest layer of the skin, and is very thin. Yet it is NOT part of the muscle complex. Although it can get “glued down” to the Deep Fascia of the muscle belly below it, and irritate the nerves. This CAN cause problems, but not the way we are usually told.
  • Regarding “Gluing”: That is the thixotropic process. The solution to “gluing" is NOT to “break up” the so-called “adhesions." The solution is to reverse the thixotropic process.
• Regardless, MOST people, most of the time, when they THINK they are treating or stretching “the fascia” are ALSO treating or stretching the muscle cells simultaneously.

The interesting thing is the Relevant Anatomy, Kinesiology, Physiology & Neurology IS well and extensively known by medical science. Problem is, their over-arching, so-called “modern" medical paradigm and research has them asking very different questions than WE would be or are asking of the research. They don’t think about it the way WE do.

THEY want to know what drug or surgery to use to “help" a patient. WE want to know something quite different for our various modes of Touch- or Movement-related Therapy. So when reading their research, you sometimes have to “read between the lines,” or dig deeper than the obvious, to extrapolate their findings over to our purposes. … That’s what I spent years doing. And what I want to do for YOU is cut that learning time down from 40 YEARS to maybe … 40 DAYS???

I want YOU to be able to “read between the lines” and make those science-based extrapolations.

One EXCELLENT Example of asking different questions and “reading between the lines” was, IS, Job’s Body: A Handbook for Bodywork by Deane Juhan. It was published way back in 1987. It is an excellent exploration of scientific medical research as applied to various forms of bodywork.

That was my first REAL science-based text aimed directly at massage, bodywork & related modalities of NON-invasive, manual & movement therapy.

• (HINT: Though not required, maybe you should get this book?)

Yet even HE (Deane Juhan) was focused on different aspects of bodywork than I am. So I help you interpret sciences that he has so well explained and we apply them to what WE are doing in Medical Massage, Myo-Structural Bodywork & Yoga Therapy.

• When I was teaching therapists around America, I discovered that many of them had learned some of the Neuromuscular Laws. Yet they were NOT taught how to APPLY those laws in their daily therapeutic evaluations and treatment.
• In The School of Hard Knots, we will be focusing mostly on the Physiology & Neurology, including some musculo-fascial Anatomy. We want to learn how to APPLY neuromuscular & myofascial laws in our work. …
• Advanced Structural Anatomy & Functional Kinesiology for Evaluating Posture & Structure and Developing Manual or Stretching Treatment will be more fully addressed in a different, upcoming Masterclass. …
  • However, the Basics of that are in the 12-week Foundational Program.
• The 12-week program will educate you on ALL ASPECTS of what to do and how to do it. That program is designed to support you in knowing what I knew when I originally developed the DSL Method. The Masterclasses take you deeper into the processes, building on what I learned since then. But after the 12-week Program you will know what I knew when I was successfully treating people.

So … MY JOB … is to help YOU Know & Understand (INNER-stand?) the Essential Elements of the sciences behind what we do in Hands-On Bodywork and various forms of Movement, Exercise & Stretching Therapy.

The medical & physical sciences we learn will be applicable to ALL modalities, not just my Method, because these principles are how the BodyMind works regardless of your modality. They are also about how & when your BodyMInd does NOT work.

• INNER-Standing: One root meaning of the word Education is to Draw out or Bring out and to Guide or to Lead that which is already within. … Understanding can be known as Mutual Agreement between parties. …
• For us, INNER-standing is to add in a visceral, internal, meditative SENSE of what is going on in the anatomy, kinesiology, & physiology of the human bodymind. This is where Mindfulness, applied to the Inner-Self, helps draw out and add much depth to your knowledge & experience of relevant medical & physical sciences. YOU begin to FEEL things working!
• All this might give you some ideas about where I'm going with the DSL Element of Mindful Medical Massage.

TESTIMONIALS:

"I learned more anatomy from David in five weeks than I did in four YEARS of medical school.”
~ Dr Todd Mangum, MD
Salt Lake City, Utah

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"David Scott Lynn doesn't think outside of the box, he thinks outside of the planet. His creativity is only exceeded by his hard work and keen insight of clients.”
~ John Dyrek
Personal Trainer at Health In Action
Chicago, Illinois

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Why Know This Stuff? ...
THE Most Important Thing for ME was THIS:

Knowing the Sciences behind what I was doing sufficiently gave me the CONFIDENCE to pursue treatment strategies that DID NOT, AT FIRST, appear to be working. My very simple, though not necessarily “easy,” DSL EdgeTouch Muscle Release Technique sometimes takes a little while to “get going.”

I had to have Good Reasons to resist pressing harder, or going deeper. Knowing the physiology gave me those Good Reasons.

It sometimes (but not always) starts out S-L-O-W, or seemingly so. … So slow a LOT of therapists are not patient enough to let it work. They think they need to be “doing something,” rather than just holding pressure and waiting for the Technique — and its messages to the nervous system — to “do its thing."

So why does it take some time? The Short Answer is we are waiting for, and encouraging, certain of chemical changes in the synapses in the Central Nervous System & Brain to RESET. Until the chemistry changes, the neuron cannot turn off, and the muscle cannot relax.

Sometimes, we'll get a Client that has such deeply ingrained tension, stress & trauma patterns & habitual movements embedded in their “memory banks” — sometimes for years or decades — that they cannot easily let go of them. They are “stuck” in those ingrained patterns. …

Another name for such ingrained habit patterns, be they positive or negative, is an Engram.

• From Wikipedia … "An engram is a unit of cognitive information imprinted in a physical substance [ such as the neuro-musculo-fascial unit ~DSL ], theorized to be the means by which memories are stored as biophysical or biochemical changes in the brain or other biological tissue in response to external stimuli."
• Engrams are incorporated into the psycho-physiology of the body. It is where our low- AND high-level skills and knowledge are accumulated and maintained. Without engrams, we would have great difficulty developing higher levels of function, operation, and skills.
• Yet it is engrams where our NEGATIVE habits and patterns of (dys-)-function are ALSO stored as well. … Well, maybe NOT so "well."
• This is, in part, because those patterns of tension & movement are literally “emergency stabilization, protection, & defense mechanisms" the body has “installed" and holds on to to “keep itself operational” … or at least “alive."
• And in many cases, their psycho-emotional ego has adapted sensory/mental engrams as a kind of “sensory self-identity” (what it FEELS like to be ME). So the ego protects that sensory self-identity AT ALL COSTS. And many of these engrams are “negative” or counter-productive as well.
  • In some cases, the Ego, be it the physical or mental ego, will sacrifice its very LIFE to maintain its Sense of Self.
• The neurons of the nervous system are controlled, turned on or off, by Synapses. The Physiology of Synapses is that, to maintain their increased state of function (turning a neuron on), be it negative or positive, the chemical bath at the synapse is modified — or facilitated (increased) — enough to make the respective neuron easier to fire. Sometimes, that chemistry is modified and increased SO MUCH the synapse gets STUCK in the “ON” position and cannot turn “OFF.” … Therefore, the motor nerves to the respective muscle and organ cannot “turn off.” It stays continually irritated (stimulated).
  • This is done by way of spatial or temporal summation, among the many things you'll be learning about in the School of Hard Knots.
  • We can turn that summation down or off by way of stimulating the Golgi Tendon Organs (GTOS) in the musculotendinous junctions embedded in the ends of the muscles. The question is, what is the best way to stimulate GTOs given what medical science and physics tell us? ... We answer such questions in the School of Hard Knots.
• When holding steady pressure on a muscle, what we are waiting for is that chemical bath to change its state — to DE-facilitate — enough to allow the neuron to not fire as easily. How much time does THAT take?
• That Depends on the Client’s Health History*. It depends on how much distress*, injury, trauma or just repetitive action, they’ve experienced or done — and accumulated — in their lives.
  • Eustress: In his ground-breaking book, The Stress of Life, Hans Selye described the problems and physiology of stress, or more accurately, distress. He recognized that "stress" was a necessary component of life, so he coined the term eustress to indicate “good” stress, distress for bad stress.
  • He also stated stress in general could be physiological, biological, or psychological. Meaning stress is NOT necessarily mental or emotional. Many stresses of life are purely physical. Which ones are distress versus eustress is the real issue.
  • * Client’s Health History: We discuss this at length in the Masterclass. The more information you can unearth from the Client, the more you can evaluate what needs to be done. We also believe there is a “homeopathic” effect — meaning like treats like, or treatment by similars versus "modern," allopathic medicine which is treatment by opposites — as the Client RE-members and "connects the dots" between various events in their lives and what is happening right now.
  • The psychological act of connecting the dots can itself make changes in the way the nervous system is firing and functioning.
    • It is very important a Client is given the opportunity to fully delve into and express such things and RE-member, or RE-integrate, such memories, events, or aspects of themselves.
    • When it comes to homeopathy, I do not focus on the highly controversial “little white pills.” Many aspects of true, classical homeopathy have little to do with the so-called “remedies” that are so controversial.
• The DSL EdgeTouch Technique is specifically designed to reduce the facilitation at the synapses as effecticiently as possible. This happens at the "Cord Level,” or higher up in the Central Nervous System, or in the various levels of the Brain. Neurologically, the technique reduces ALL excess facilitation, whatever the source or cause.
  • Effecticient = Effective + Efficient
  • You can use the PRINCIPLES with any therapeutic technique you prefer to use.

To sum this up, in part, as Psycho-Neuro-Musculo-Fascial Therapists, we are agents of “Engram Dissolution.”

Meaning we facilitate or help our Client dissolve — or DE-Facilitate — their negative engrams. Many, if not ALL of these engrams involve one or more of the three levels of the brain.

Some of them are operating in the conscious mind, others in the SUB- or UN-conscious mind. In VERY many cases, it's the NON-conscious mind, especially the Reticular Activating System, or Tonus System, controlling the vast majority of muscle tensions in the body. (And maybe even a “SUPER-conscious” mind is involved too?) Some of the engrams might be in ALL levels of the mind. …

• This does NOT mean we will be acting as psycho-therapists. But we must remain conscious of and account for such things if at all possible. Because MUCH of muscle tension is held in place by some level of the Brain & MIND. … (We will, in a different program, discuss psycho-emotional issues.)

Engrams show up, IN PART, as C.E.M.&.N.T. ( Chronic, Excess, MusculoFascial & Nerve Tension & Stress ). I developed this term to offer a more precise explanation of what is going on with muscle tension in the bodymind. And some Clients can certainly relate to the idea of some of their muscles FEELING like "cement"!

We use our words, our hands, movement, and other methods to help unravel & dissolve the C.E.M.&.N.T. or engrams in our Client's BodyMind. Such negative factors are not always going to go away in a few minutes or even hours. Sometimes it takes dozens of hours of proper, Therapeutic Touch or Conscious Stretching (Yoga) to get the engrams to begin to Relax, Release, Dissolve & Let Go. And it is often a VERY gradual, incremental process. …

Sometimes, it is a very LONG process.

But to a person who has been in pain for 20 or 30 years, or even 20 or 30 MONTHS or WEEKS, taking a few weeks or months is a small & welcome price to pay.

• The DSL EdgeTouch Release Technique — a Primary Feature of this Hard Knots program — has been VERY successful at resolving many such complex, chronic, difficult-to-treat, Soft Tissue Issues.

MORE TESTIMONIALS:

"The students in Heartwood's approved Massage program felt that The DSL Method [now known as DSL EdgeWork] was the most valuable work in Heartwood's massage curriculum. Many students felt that David's work instilled a sense of competence in their ability to do massage & bodywork. It is an open ended system allowing and encouraging students to continually improve their work through active practitioner/client exchange. I have personally found that, based on feedback from clients, The DSL Method is on par with, if not superior to, the other major bodywork systems available today. ...

"David is the best bodyworker ( bar none ) I have ever experienced."
~ Rex Dippre, Massage Therapist
Director of Admissions, Heartwood Institute, 1989-1992
Arcata, California

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"I met, worked with and studied with David in 2001. This work changed my life and the way I work with clients dramatically. It is the most profound body of work ... bodywork ... that I have encountered. It makes sense, and opens up the senses. It decompresses the body, thus allowing for the body to truly release and come back to its proper function and form. ...

"This work is cutting edge, yet so clear and powerful. It is what the bodywork/massage world have been waiting for and have needed for years. We owe this to our client's health, if we are really practicing what we preach, and working in integrity with the laws of the body. I do not know how or what most massage therapists are doing with their clients these days...if they are not using these techniques. ...

"Thank you David for all of your passion, intelligence, and commitment to the work."
~ Sharon Shapiro, LMT
Sedona, AZ
Prossage-Bodywork Redefined — http://www.prossage.com/

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"I have been in the massage therapy business for over 10 years and an instructor of deep tissue manipulation for over 6 years. David's principles, although easy to understand, are high impact when applied. His understanding of postural assessment and the mind-body connection is amazing. David's ability to communicate his understanding has helped me to share information with my clients, allowing them to achieve outstanding results from our bodywork sessions. … Thank you David! I look forward to more of your unique classes."
~ Mike Bass, LMT
Greenville, South Carolina

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"If I were to seek out one person with whom I would choose to work in pursuit of true health care, it would be David Scott Lynn. He is an extremely focused and talented individual who has dedicated himself to helping others, sometimes sacrificing his own welfare to achieve the goal in the care plan no matter the person or circumstances. He would always be there to contribute and create the plan to facilitate the desired outcome. He would work tirelessly and carry on in the most difficult of times.

"David works well as a team member or individual, whatever the environment requires. He is not resistant to hard work and cares deeply about others especially fellow therapists with whom he has a special insight and understanding. David has good business sense.

"I know David to have lectured and instructed all over the country from the east to the west coasts in order to bring his unique brand of massage therapy, the DSL Method, to practitioners, therapists, schools, clinics and private clients with amazing effects and life-changing results.

"I, therefore, take pleasure and consider it a great honor and privilege to recommend David Scott Lynn at the highest level without reservation.
~ Dr. David J. Ogle
Retired Metabolic / Nutritional Physician
Gresham, Oregon

I always try to emphasize that the more common soft tissue therapies — NMT, MFR, Deep Tissue, Structural Integration, and so on — are EXCELLENT therapies for many or all of the problems of many people.

What we’re talking about HERE are the conditions of a FEW Clients who have (or almost have) given up hope of ever getting better because no one has ever addressed their problems in such a way. But there are many thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people who are in that situation. And some of them need a very specific application of pressure on muscles to get the muscle to Relax & Release.

HERE is a Description of the Process:

• The DSL Release Technique uses these “Mottos":
  • 1.) “It is easier to Open the Door before you walk through it, and you can’t Peel an Onion from the inside out.” … You ALLOW the Tension to Release, NOT “push” the release. You let the Nervous System & Brain “do the work.” (And NOT because you are “lazy”!)
  • 2.) NO Pain Means MORE Gain. The Client should LIKE, or be NEUTRAL about the intensity of sensation. They should NOT be tolerating anything. … They should be INVITING the sensation, not FIGHTING the sensation.
  • 3.) Playing “The Edge" of Pain, Fear & Resistance. OR, The Goldilocks Factor: Closely related to above item #2, the Client’s job is to keep the Therapist informed if the pressure is too much (painful), not enough (not enough sensation), or Just Right. This Communication brings the Client into Participatory Medicine with the Therapist, rather than just spectator medicine.
  • 4.) TIME is a Critical Element. And there is no way I know of to predict, for sure, which Clients will Let-Go of their stress & tensions quickly, and which ones will take more, or a LOT, of time. … At least, I’ve not found it.
  • 5.) T.I.M.E. = Time, Intelligence, Money, Energy ... All components of the therapeutic process that must be accounted for. Yes, the Money part is often unfortunate. But few therapists can offer their therapy on a charitable basis. Yet there are ways to deal with this that we will discus sin the program.
• There is very little lateral movement. Most movement in the therapist's fingers or hand (and an occasional elbow) is sinking down into the muscle, thin layer by thin layer, or backing off if the Client says it's too deep. There is no "cross fiber," no “slide & glide," no “stripping,” no significant “rubbing” or “twanging” of musculo-fascial fibers.

• DSL Edgework uses Steady Pressure on VERY focused areas of muscle, in the middle of and perpendicular to the muscle belly (NOT at the attachments), for varying but sometimes LONG periods of time. Generally, we feel for the tightest, hardest “spots” of tension. These "spots" are probably where the CNS and Brain are sending the MOST output of excess nerve energy, and have the most opportunity of communication.
• The idea is to wait until each thin layer of the muscle relaxes, in ONE place, before sinking deeper into the muscle or finding another location to work with. … How much release is a subjective issue that is difficult to conceptually quantify.
• We do NOT focus on “the attachments” to any significant degree. We stay away from them for quite a while.

I believe this approach allows the changes in the muscle tissues to be more complete, and to integrate more fully into the Central Nervous System & Brain.

• There is a significant amount of science behind this, which you will learn.

• We FOLLOW the Release, NOT Push the Release. As the muscle lets go, it sometimes takes us in one direction or another. If we have no reason NOT to, we “go with the release,” following in whatever direction the tissue takes us, as long as it stays within our strategy.
  • We use this Follow NOT Push Principle in the Hands-On work as well as in Yoga Postures.
• For the most part, the only time we “rub" the muscle is to help the Client get a better sense of the texture of that muscle, so they can feel where the "tight spots" actually are.
  • I have spent sometimes an hour or more on a VERY small area of a muscle (like the size of a quarter!) that literally felt like a bone or steel cable. In fact, some Clients were told by their doctor that it WAS a bone! … But it was not. It was a chronically tense Muscle Knot.
  • These were often muscles that many therapists had worked VERY deep & hard on for many sessions, sometimes over YEARS, with NO or only temporary results. Or the Client felt WORSE when they were done.
• After "One Muscle Spot" has been released, you can go to another Spot. Sometimes it is right next to the first one, sometimes nearby, and sometimes far away. Sometimes in a different muscle altogether. … That is VERY situation dependent.
• As far as WHICH muscle, or part of a muscle, to work on and WHEN, that is where BIO-Structural Analysis & Postural Evaluation comes in. (The Basics of that are in the 12-week program, and more in-depth in the relevant Masterclass.)
• No oil or lubricant is used. The Client can remain fully clothed during the therapy session.

For ME, the DSL Tension Release Technique has required 1.) a LOT of Patience; 2.) Trust that Nature's Physiological Principles MUST be working; 3.) an ability to Communicate to the Client what I believe is going on and why they might want to invest their T.I.M.E. — Time, Intelligence, Money & Energy — in such a process; and 4.) figure out how to get THE CLIENT to ALSO have the patience & inner-standing to allow the process enough time to work.

NO, it is not always easy. In the beginning, I had BIG doubts about whether the method would work much of the time for most people. I thought I might be an exception because I was doing it with yoga, and not hands-on work. But I remembered, and applied, my experiences of being in yoga postures for many minutes at a time, moving VERY slowly & incrementally, waiting for a muscle to relax & release.

I could not come up with a good reason why it would NOT work.

It is THAT Experience and thinking process that gave me the MOST confidence that the slow-hold approach works. AND a Major Personal Story I’ll tell you in a minute or two.

But if you want to be THE Acknowledged, Leading Edge Expert, the Trusted Authority, in your community, you will need to go the extra mile and do what other doctors & therapists have not done.

• The Primary Purpose of this Course is to help you develop Knowledge & Confidence in the neurological principles of what makes an extremely tight muscle Relax & Release.
• AND quite a few other things, too. Such as the Principles of Self-Maintenance you can apply to yourself AND offer your Clients so they can maintain their results.
• Although it IS amazing how many people never needed to do more treatment or maintenance after their engrams were initially DE-facilitated!

Do YOU have to do 3 or 4 hours of yoga per day to figure this out? NO. Not unless you are a total mess like I was. But doing SOME yoga could expand your perspectives.

The important thing is to develop your patience and ability to just BE with a Client's tension levels without feeling like you have to force things. But it is amazing how many therapists can not, or will not, do that. …

But many Clients WANT it, once they feel the difference and benefits.

TESTIMONIALS:

"David is doing cutting edge work in the field of bodywork,
and it would take 3 or 4 teachers to replace what he knows."
~ Tracy Hall
Physical Therapist, Chico, California

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David is an “important leader in the field of BodyWork.”
~ From a Workshop Brochure from the National Holistic Institute
Emeryville, California

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"With 18 years experience in the health care professions, I appreciate soundly researched & scientifically based approaches to rehabilitation. The DSL Method of BodyWork has expanded and refined my understanding and applications for achieving postural correctness and pain relief in less time. David has a unique way of reiterating known fundamental laws, redefining erroneous concepts, and instructing the participants through a successful treatment program."
~ Al Cujas • Physical Therapist • A.T.C., N.M.T.
Former Instructor for the St. John NMT Seminar System
Winston Salem, North Carolina

A Little More On MY Personal Path to Pain Relief

Personally, in addition to my early days and many hours of Yoga Practice, I developed the patience & insight to pursue such processes because of my OWN severe pains & dysfunctions I developed from racing dirt bikes (motocross, and crashing a lot) in my early teens and then heavy construction as a Structural Steel Ironworker.

These activities hyper-facilitated (tightened) my muscles (and facilitated my newly forming negative engrams) a LOT, far more than most people. I had some VERY severe pains and dysfunctions from my motocross and heavy construction days that had me almost immobilized. I spent a LOT of time rolling around on the floor or pressing my back against door knobs trying to relieve the pain.

I originally got rid of a lot of that when I started doing yoga when I was 19 years old (1973). But the pain was re-triggered in 1982 and I was a mess again and I was only 28 years old.

• I’m skipping over some things here to keep this from getting any longer than it already is. I’ll tell you more in the Program, or you can find it on the DSL Bio/History page of my DSL website.

Fortunately, in 1982, I was already a yoga teacher, massage therapist, and structural bodyworker. But “something” re-triggered all those old injuries. The sources of pain had lain dormant in my neuro-musculo-fascial structure for years.

But at 28 years old, I had so much constant, chronic pain there were entire DAYS I could not get up off the floor without a LOT of very careful effort for fear of further spasming. The rest of the time it just hurt like "you know where."

Being a relatively well-known Therapist in Chicago, I had better access to therapeutic information and therapists than most. I tried MANY different therapists to get better. … But nothing was helping me.

You will in this Course, or on some pages of my website, hear a more detailed but Highly Instructive Story of how all that unraveled for ME. But when I figured out how to fix my problems, I did so by doing MANY HOURS of Physical / Mental Yoga for extended periods of time. (I could not find a hands-on therapist who would work on me the way I needed.)

Once I figured out what I had to do, I was highly motivated (desperate) to Develop a Strategy and Stick with The Program. Because my KNOWLEDGE and many doses of experience had me BELIEVING that if I went through the process I developed, I WOULD achieve the results.

But the pain & immobilization was bad enough to make it NOT OPTIONAL for me. I HAD to do it. Especially since I was dead set against taking any pain-killing drugs. (And NO, I never did take a drug for it.)

And all this was BEFORE I knew much about the physiology or neurology of bodywork OR yoga. So I was trusting my subjective, anecdotal experience in Yoga and with several bodywork Clients more than any scientific validation. But I did have some very good past experience.

• When I became a Yoga Teacher in 1976, I was doing my Personal Yoga postures FOUR HOURS per day, 5 or 6 days a week, (because that was what Joel Kramer, my primary teacher was doing) for many months on end. In later years, I was doing three hours per day. I was usually spending MANY MINUTES in each posture.
  • I ignored the instructions in books such as “hold the posture for 30 seconds,” or “… 60 seconds.” I think that is, along with going too deep, too fast, and tolerating too much negative sensation, why so many people do NOT get the results they are looking for from yoga.
• I was doing the LONG, SLOW-hold style, like Yin Yoga or Restorative Yoga. I had been so active and was so strong from heavy construction, I focused on tension release and Radical Relaxation, not strength or endurance. I was doing a VERY slow, gradual, incremental movement style of practice. I would stay in a single yoga posture for MANY minutes at a time, allowing my muscles to let go one "micro-layer" at a time.
• THAT is where I learned what makes muscles REALLY let go. And THAT is how and where I developed a LOT of patience. So when I started doing bodywork professionally in 1981, I just transferred the experience over.
• When all the pain I mentioned above re-emerged in 1982, it lasted three and a half YEARS. In 1985 I figured out what I had to do to “fix it” (by seeing an X-ray for the first time). I again started doing THREE HOURS of a highly customized yoga practice 5 or 6 days a week. (I designed it based on the X-ray and my Structural Analysis training.) It was not until sometime in the FOURTH MONTH of sticking with that Program — three hours per day, 5 or 6 days a week — that I had an afternoon with my First Few HOURS of No Pain!
  • I believe that if I had been receiving my style of hands-on work, or something similar, I could have cut that time down immensely. Even so, I think the yoga was critical, indispensable, to a fully integrative process.
• I remember exactly where I was, and what I was doing, that day in the summer of 1985, when I looked up from working on a Client’s calf muscle and realized, WOW! No Pain!. …
• THAT was the day that the DSL Method of Bodywork & Yoga Therapy was Officially Legitimized. Yes, I had already helped a LOT of people with my Methods, but until it worked for ME, I was still somewhat “skeptical."
• Almost a year later, I was having pain-free DAYS. … Yet it was not until January of 2004 that I had my LAST major debilitating spasm of my right low back & hip. … But I still had to do at least an hour of yoga almost every day.
• I no longer have to do that much yoga, but I do a LOT of stretching here and there throughout most days. (I believe in integrating yoga into your life rather than your life into yoga.)
• My only regret is I had not trained therapists near me to get the hands-on work I needed. That would have cut my healing process down by YEARS. … But I had not started teaching my work yet. That did not happen till 1989. (You will learn the physiology behind why hands-on therapy is FAR more efficient than yoga stretching in more extreme cases.)
• However, if I had learned much about proper use of Massage Therapy Tools, that might have helped a LOT as well. But I did not figure THAT out until around 2006!
• And YES, we will discuss the use of Massage Therapy Tools for You and Your Clients to maintain the gains from using the DSL Method, or whatever method you use.
• And if we ever have Lockdowns again you will still have things you can do to support your Clients, be it over the phone or the internet. … We will discuss all that in the Hard Knots Program as well

This is Just a Sample of What We’ll Be Learning & Discussing in the Hard Knots Course:

• Anatomical Structure of Muscles:
  Muscle Cells, Fascial Sheaths, Tendons, Periosteum
• Muscle Cells & Fascial Sheaths
  Differences, Synergy, Interactions Between them
  • Facts & Fallacies on Fascia:
    Superficial Versus Deep Fascia
  • A Philosophical & Historical look at Fascial Forms of Therapy
• How to Incorporate the Brain & Mind in Muscle Tension Release
• C.E.M.&.N.T.:
  Chronic, Excess Musculo-Fascial & Nerve Tension & Stress
  • What Is It, Where it Comes From, Problems
    it Causes, What to DO about it?
• Golgi Tendon Organ (GTO) Function:
  Sensory-Motor Tension Release
  • GTO: A Built In “Neuro-Tool” for reducing muscle tension
• Pfluger’s “Laws” & Neurologic Principles:
  Referred & “Mystery” Pains
• Reticular Formation (RAS) / Tonus System:
  Body-wide Control of Tension & Stress
  • Cascading Sympathetic Overload:
    MORE on “Mystery” Pains
• NO Pain, MORE Gain:
  Playing The EDGE of Pain, Fear & Resistance
  • Why LESS Really IS “More" in Many Cases
• Arndt-Schultz “Law”: Parasympathetic, Self-Healing Function
  • Neuro-Principles of The Edge
• Factors on How Much Time it Takes to “Release" a Muscle
• Alpha / Gamma Nerve Systems
  Synergy / Conflicts Between them
  • Conscious & NON-Conscious Control of tension levels
• Various Factors in “Effecticient" Musculo-Fascial Release Technique
  • *Effecticient = Effective + Efficient
• Why & When Steady Pressure with Little to No Movement can be the Best Release Technique
  • Principles Built Into the Structure of the
    NMF system (Neuro-Musculo-Fascial) systems
• Descending Sensory Pathways:
  Filters Blocking Conscious Sensation
• Sensory-Motor Amnesia:
  “Dead Spots” in a Client’s Muscles
• Poly-Vagal System & Vagus Nerve:
  Psycho-Emotional Processing
• Emotion-based Work of Dr. John Sarno
  • His Premises & Technique
  • His diagnosis of TMS (Tension Myoneural Syndrome)
• Is Inflammation REALLY a part of the pain problem?
• Three Adjunctive Release Techniques you might need in certain, occasional situations, such as the Neuro-Fascial Release Technique for when a Client's skin & superficial fascia are the most irritated structures.
  • Also Traction / Joint DE-Compression
  • Rocking & Rolling (similar to Trager bodywork)

This probably sounds like a lot of material. Yet you will not have to comprehend it all immediately during this program. You’ll be receiving the Course Materials in video, presentation & text/PDF forms you'll keep on your computer or phone. You can view, read, or review it at your leisure when you have more time.

However, WE WILL cover the most important elements you need to know to perform the Therapy.

In addition to this Core Material, we will discuss the information, and I will clarify and expand on everything, depending on the interests & needs of the people in the Program.

This is the first time I’m doing this program, and I have NO idea how it will go as far as sign-ups go. SO, for the first five people who join the program, I will work with You One-on-One, individually. You won’t have to wait to “get going” with the education and application of the principles.

When we get to SIX enrollments, we will all switch to the Group Teaching method:

In the Live, Group Zoom Meetings, I will focus on, and we will be discussing, the most important elements of the work and the sciences behind it. Part of it will be incorporating your interests and needs. It will be things you can apply immediately in your practice.

• I have a Policy that when we get on those Zoom Meetings, I will not close the Meeting until everyone’s questions are answered. Even if we go to midnight or later.
• The Exception is, if I’m going to include information on a particular Question in a future week of the Educational Material, I will let you know that.
• If I think the Question is irrelevant or not important to our topic for that day, that is MY call.

And the personal eMail Coaching software will allow us to focus on what you most want or need to know, and how or why to apply the principles & techniques to your unique situation or with your particular Clients.

PLUS, if you sign up for the Three, 1-on-1, Personal Calls, you’ll get even more specific or personal questions answered. They will be more like Mentoring Sessions, especially insights & brainstorming on how you can integrate this work into your own personal practice.

YOU will ALSO be helping me customize the program to the needs of YOU and the Group.

If you are interested in this program but are undecided,
You can give me a call at (480) 209-4383

ONE MORE TESTIMONIAL: (See More Testimonials at: davidscottlynn.com/testimonials )

"David Scott Lynn is a man of profound integrated understanding In the field of bodywork. You will be blessed if you choose to work with him. … David has a lifetime of study which he has incorporated into a systematic approach to restructuring and realigning the body. …

"Since I am not a practitioner myself, I cannot address the pros of his approach, other than to say — David is a “God Send.” ...

"I suffered for decades with chronic neck and shoulder issues. I was able to manage my ‘condition' through weekly acupuncture, regular chiropractic, daily exercise, and massage. … I had constant pain, but was able to function most days. Periodically, I experienced acute pain which de-capacitated me for months. … My condition was always with me and something I had to ‘factor in’ when making most of my life decisions. …

"On a personal level, David is patient and steady in his approach. … His prices are reasonable, which was also a “factor” for me. ...

"When someone is in chronic pain and wondering if anything will ever get them out of pain, David’s 'stick to it' nature — is reassuring and encouraging. … He is determined to do what he can to heal your body, and he is both knowledgeable and effective. If you have a significant chronic condition, chances are you will need to be in treatment for a longer period of time. At least that was my story. However, getting to a place where you are no longer in chronic pain is almost assured with his approach. ...

"David is understanding. David is kind. … He keeps his word and is ethical. … Actually, he is kind of a “mad scientist” who has studied his whole life and integrated many healing modalities into a systemic approach to bodywork. He is a teacher in his field, and highly respected. He is a gift to those who need a permanent solution to their bodily pain. ... You could search a lifetime without finding someone of his caliber. … He is a Gift. … I give him a Five Star Rating."

~ Ellie SaundersSedona, Arizona