DSL Edgework was Originally
Known As Psycho-Muscular
Release & Structural Bodywork
DSL Edgework &
Structural Bodywork / Balancing
Basic PsychoMuscular Release Techniques with Neuromuscular & Myofascial Physiology
(Including Mindful Mental Focus &
Adjunctive Release Techniques)
In-depth Exploration of the Structure, Function,
& Physiology of Muscle & Fascial Tissues
Building Your Manual Technique Based on
Neuro-Physiology, not Myo-Mythology
DSL Edgework
Edgework is about helping a Client move UP TO but NOT INTO the experience of their neuro-Musculo-fasciae pain. Varying degrees of intensity of sensation are fine. … BUT NOT PAIN!
So we are helping Clients learn how to play on the Edges of Sensation and Pain, but NOT allowing the manual pressure or yogic stretch to reach the level of pain.
Varying levels of intensity of sensations help the Client to focus on the process. But too much sensation produces often unconscious reactions preventing maximum results.
Structural Bodywork, Analysis & Balancing
Many years ago, when I was exploring different approaches to massage & bodywork therapy, I had a simultaneously scary and enlightening experience:
I was in a weekend workshop presented by a married couple who were both Rolfers® (Structural Integration a la Ida P. Rolf). They had a national reputation and traveled around teaching people their techniques. So I guessed they were pretty good at what they did. I attended at the recommendation of someone I trusted to evaluate such things.
Anyway, it was a 2-day workshop and I was participating because I wanted to have a clearer picture of how to develop treatment plans for Clients, rather than just “rub them down” or “poke & hope.”
It was VERY near the end of the second day, and the woman co-teaching the workshop was demonstrating a technique of slowly dragging her elbow down the erector muscles (vertically running muscles close to the spine on the back) of the person she was demonstrating on.
I was hitting a level of frustration because I was NOT getting any ideas on how to intelligently evaluate and decide where to work, how, and why.
So I asked her “how do you know where to work”?
She hesitated a bit, then responded, “Well, you just kind of know.”
Now, being very structural and scientific in my thinking, you might imagine that response didn’t do it for me. AT ALL!
My rational mind said there HAD to be a better way of knowing human structure and physiology well enough to have a more precise way of deciding where and how to work with a Client’s issues.
I did, of course, realize there would be a lot of subjectivity and variability to the process. The human bodymind had way too many variables to expect it to be strictly formulaic. Yet I also knew enough to believe it was more than just “Poke & Hope.”
I believed there was something in between. Because the human structure was built in great part on physics, anatomy & physiology, I knew there was SOME degree of structured assessment that could be applied to the evaluation process.
As you’ll see elsewhere on this website, I did find a more structured form of assessment, a basic yet global formula giving me the data I needed, giving me the information I was looking for. … Or at least most of it anyway!
That formula is relatively simple to teach. Yet with hundreds of bones and hundreds of muscles in the body, there can, if your mind is not disciplined, in many cases be an exponential number of factors involved in a Client’s condition.
I’ll be giving you the Basic Formula, along with parameters to understand and track what factors a Client is experiencing, and how to prioritize them.
But too many therapists went through massage school or other trainings and were NOT trained in that VERY important element of being a Superior, Top Performing Therapist. That is:
The ability to take the facts of anatomy, physiology & neurology of the human body, and produce an “operating paradigm” allowing them to as precisely as possible evaluate the therapeutic needs of a Client, and then design a tailored Treatment Plan based on the specific needs & objectives of THAT Client at THAT moment.
The lack of a well-structured assessment system leads to the approach called “Poke & Hope.” We had an idea where the Client’s complaint was, so we “POKED around” in the area and “HOPED” to see if we could help … somehow.
Yes, sometimes you get lucky. But too often many factors indicate that, for example, the cause of a Client’s pain is some distance away from the sensation or experience of their pain.
Structural Bodywork
Our BIO-Structural Analysis system helps you get FAR more targeted toward a specific evaluation and treatment program.
But before you get to the analysis of WHERE to work, something more fundamental is at hand — both literally & figuratively.
That is understanding, in a very deep way, the nature of the “unit” causing the negative conditions in the first place.
That “unit” is the Psycho-Neuro-Musculo-Fascial Structure.
We wil study how those structures work, and the primary problems that emerge. The primary one we call C.E.M.N.&.T. or Chronic, Excess Muscle & Nerve Tension & Stress.
You Will Learn:
- The Nature of C.E.M.&.N.T. (Chronic, Excess Muscle & Nerve Tension & Stress)
- C.E.M.&.N.T. as a Primary Source of Soft Tissue Issues
- Neuromuscular & Myofascial Anatomy, Physiology & Pathology
- Nature & Harmony of, and Differences Between, Muscle & Fascia
- DSL’s Basic Hands-on Release Technique for Tension, Stress & Adhesions
- Treating Muscle & Fascia as ONE, Integrated Unit or System
- Skin & Superficial Fascia Distinguished between Deep Fascia & Myofascia
- Working with Physical & Mental Edges of Pain, Fear & Resistance
- Client & Therapist Communication & “Relational Yoga”
- Facilitate Clients to Feel, Relax, Lengthen & Balance Musculo-Fascial Units
- Internal Dynamics of Physical / Mental Yoga & Let-Go Yoga
- Using Postural Yoga, Yoga Touch-Assists in Yoga Practice & Therapy
- FEEL & SEE Fine Details of How Yoga & Bodywork Work from Inside Out
- Effecticient & Safe Body Mechanics & Force Application for Safe Practice
- Introduction to Injury Prevention & Repair in Yoga, Stretching & Exercise and Massage/Bodywork