Challenges & Opportunities
for Soft Tissue Therapists
— Massage / Bodywork & Yoga Therapy —
The DSL Blueprints for Success
In Today’s Times of Uncertainty & Confusion, YOU
Need An EDGE, Preferably, a LEADING EDGE …
If You Work With Clients In Person, yet if (Heaven Forbid) we have another Lockdown, YOU need to know how to apply your talents & skills even if you cannot see your Clients in person.
Years ago, when the internet got so popular, I began asking myself, HOW could I deliver a bodywork session over the internet? Obviously, I could not DIRECTLY, PHYSICALLY do that.
HOWEVER … What I COULD do is coach two or more people in how to treat each other. OR, I could coach one or more people thorugh a customized therapeutic yoga process tailored to their needs and condtions.
If YOU know the Deep Fundamentals of how massage / bodywork & yoga therapy really work, YOU TOO can BE a Facilitator of your Clients appplying your knowledge & skill, even if you are not there to do the actual work.
THIS will be an integral part of the Trainings I will be doing with YOU.
Mindful Medical Massage & Myo-Structural Bodywork
with Myo-Structural Yoga Therapy Might Provide YOU with
The EDGE You need to solve Complex Soft Tissue
Issues of Your Clients & Patients.
Your DSL* Medical Massage / Myo-Structural Bodywork Therapy
& Business Marketing
SUCCESS BLUEPRINTS
for Your Therapeutic Bodywork / Massage / Yoga Business
* DSL(3) — Dynamics of Structural Laws, Learning & Listening,
and David Scott Lynn
On Becoming A Superior,
Whole Health,
Myo-Structurally-based,
Soft Tissue Therapy Practitioner
YOU TOO Can Become an
Acknowledged Expert,
a Trusted Authority,
in Healing & Enhancing Your Clients’
(and Your Own)
Psycho-Neuro-Musculo-Fascial
& Joint Systems
BECOME a Soft Tissue Expert!
On Becoming The Obvious Expert &
Trusted Authority in Your Community
… My VISION / My Objective For YOU Is …
(FOR EXAMPLE: ) To BE Able to talk with a physician, even a neurologist or orthopedist, and within a few minutes, they’ll KNOW that YOU know as much as they do — if not more — about Practical & Technical Aspects of Evaluating & Resolving Soft Tissue Issues involving C.E.M.&.N.T. (Chronic, Excess, Muscle & Nerve Tension & Stress) as applied to the PNMF (Psycho-Neuro-Musculo-Fascial) & Joint Systems.
Yet when Speaking to the Public, you’ll use easy-to-understand terminology & concepts inspiring them to hold YOU as THEIR TRUSTED EXPERT on Problems & Solutions of the Neuro-Musculo-Fascial & Joint System.
This makes YOU the “Obvious Best (or ONLY) Choice” to work with their own Soft Tissue Issues. You might even become the “Therapist’s Therapist” in your Community!
You could become the Local Expert on Medical Massage / Myo-Structural Bodywork Therapy. … And Myo-Structural Yoga Therapy, too!
YES, this takes TIME. … And Focus … And Intelligence … And Manual Sensitivity … And Ambition to BE a Superior Practitioner
How MUCH time depends on your levels of Interest, Motivation & Commitment. I can provide the Raw Materials, the Data & the Insights. I can show you numerous and endless “techniques.” I can teach you high level Anatomy, Kinesiology, Physiology, Neurology. … Even “Tips & Tricks.”
Yet to become a True Master, YOU must apply Your Own Intelligence, Sensitivity & Energy to the process. I can’t do THAT part for You. …
But I CAN Help YOU Learn to THINK Structurally!
I Can Help YOU Be An EXPERT in How the Neuro-Muscular & Myofascial Systems work.
And I CAN Help You Focus on the Most Important Elements You Need to Learn, Know & Apply.
MY Personal Challenge to MYSELF is, Can I take my FORTY YEARS of Education, Experience, & Skill and provide the Essential Elements of all that to YOU in only FORTY HOURS over the next few weeks or months?
That might have more to do with how motivated YOU are. But here is MY goal:
I developed my therapy system way back in the early to mid-1980s. I have done much refinement over the years. And in the 1990s, I delved deeply into the scientific aspects of soft tissue therapy. Yet while all that scientific study did help deepen and expand my understanding and abilities, I estimate that by 1990, I could do 80%, maybe more, of what I can do with and for a client today.
I believe I can, IN FORTY HOURS, get YOU to the knowledge levels I was at by 1990, when my work was substantially well developed. With THIS exception:
When I first started teaching yoga in 1976 …
I was doing FOUR HOURS of Yoga, four or five days a week, for many months at a time. … In the 1980s, it got down to Three Hours a day, most days a week, for many months at a time.
It was not “flow yoga,” or “power yoga,” it was very slow, precise yoga. I was in most postures for many minutes at a time with minimal overt movement. Yet at the less obvious, more subtle levels, there wa a LOT of “micro-movement” going on.
Yet it was mostly about learning to invest my mind down into my muscles in a very focused, meditative way.
THAT is where I learned what makes a muscle REALLY let go. … That’s where I learned how LONG it takes for some muscles to release & relax. … That’s where I learned how to work with sensations in a mindful, EFFECTICIENT way.
EFFECTICIENT: Effective plus Efficient, because they should come together.
THAT is how I resolved several SEVERE & COMPLEX pain & dysfunction issues I had developed when earlier in my teens I was racing motocross (and crashing a LOT!), and in my later teens as a heavy construction worker with huge stresses, strains, & injuries.
You might not have the time or inclination to do that much yoga. Yet I will attempt to “transmit” what I learned & experienced in that life process to you as best as possible.
What Is DSL Edgework?
DSL Edgework is a Science & Principle-based Method of Myo-Structural Balancing and Mindful Medical Massage. It also includes Myo-Structural & Postural Yoga Therapy to round out your soft tissue, therapeutic skills.
DSL can HELP YOU Advance Your Knowledge, Skills & Insights in treating the Psycho-Neuro-Musculo-Fascial & Joint System, no matter what forms or modalities of therapy You already use.
Through my years of experience in clinical practice and taking over 100 seminars on bodywork, I have found The DSL Method 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 C. Wright, LMBT
Licensed Massage Therapist
Founder: The Schools of Advanced Bodywork Charlotte NC & Jacksonville FL
With 18 years experience in the health care professions, I appreciate soundly researched & scientifically based approaches to rehabilitation. The DSL Method of BodyWork [now called DSL Edgwork] 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 NMT Instructor
CHALLENGES to the Massage
and Bodywork Therapy
“Business”
[NOTE: I originally wrote this letter to you a few YEARS ago, before I turned my attention to taking care of my elderly and sick parents. That several-year chapter in my life is now over. … SO … we are now in (hopefully) the aftermath of the COVID-19 era, and possibly severe downturns in the economy. … With many opposing political, economic, & social factors in play right NOW, we do NOT know how “things” will turn out. … So I decided to keep the original material so we can all accommodate the wide range of possibilities we might experience in the coming months and years.]
1.) Negative Pressures on the Massage & Bodywork Therapy Profession (MBTP) Are Many & VERY Challenging
The Natural, Human Laws of Supply & Demand and the TRUE, PRO-Human, Free Enterprise System, in general, continually work toward ever-increasing innovation & higher quality. And as more practitioners are attracted to a successful profession or trade, there becomes more availability of providers for consumers to choose from.
Initially, early adapters (new providers of a new “thing”) are well compensated for offering such new products or services. Yet over time, eventually, as increasing numbers of providers enter a marketplace, Fees & Prices Trend Downward. This can take years or even decades to work out in the markets.
In our case, many more massage school graduates & new franchised massage business models work to make Massage & Bodywork (M&B) more available to more people. And as the supply of therapists increases, prices are NATURALLY driven down. …
This is the Natural Order of Human Nature & Social Evolution. …
This is how more things become more available to more people, even low-income earners. This is why nearly everyone today has a car or refrigerator, or a toilet, or even a cell phone … luxuries even the Kings of Europe 150 years ago could not even dream of or even imagine, let alone actually have.
Yet today, most of us, even “poor” people, take such things for granted.
AND … This is how more people will be able to afford to get a massage: from prices going down. For society, prices going down are a good thing for most people, especially lower income earners. …
. . . Except, of course, for YOU, the Provider of that Thing! You, obviously, would like to keep your prices higher than lower. (Unless you are a totally altruistic person!) … So let’s acknowledge that fact and move on …
2.) Generally speaking, what happens next is providers of a service or product become commoditized …
Unfortunately, commoditization sets in, meaning that if two or more products are more or less the same, and there is little reason to choose one over the other, then PRICE becomes the big factor for potential customers or clients choosing a particular provider of a particular product or service.
Services and Products of similar quality and utility, if there are enough of them competing against each other, and not much difference between them, that usually works to drive prices (and your income) DOWN.
THEN, in many cases, providers of those services or products look for “alternative ways” to keep their prices high. This very often leads to state licensing and/or regulation schemes claiming, usually, that the health, safety, & welfare of the General Public requires anyone providing such services or products must be regulated by the state.
Regulation by The State provides a “barrier to entry,” preventing many people from entering a regulated profession. This reduces the supply of providers. Reduced supply generally leads to increased relative demand.
Yet it has seldom, if ever, been shown that state regulation and licensing provides any “protection to the public” AT ALL. In fact, most of the evidence shows that licensing actually decreases quality of service.
What licensing DOES do is reduce the supply of providers, AND the laws of supply & demand then dictate that prices will go UP if there is enough demand for the limited supply.
Artificially reducing supply means prices will be artificially increased, going DIRECTLY against the Laws of Nature & Human Nature. And, of course, depriving less well-off people of the opportunity to purchase the service or product because the price stays too high for them to pay.
All of this means YOU must get very clear on how all this Supply & Demand stuff works, HOW it affects YOU, and get VERY clear on how you want to navigate it.
3.) Unpredictable Economic & Social Trends …
Many economy-wide, downward trends (be it recession or depression) might well reduce income of existing or potential Clients & Patients, making it more difficult for them to afford your services.
For Example, MANY people now living in the cities are abandoning the more violence-prone cities in great numbers. MORE people will be living in suburbs or rural areas. This demographic shift MIGHT greatly affect your business. Staying in downtown areas of some cities might reduce clientele, especially wealthy clientele, dramatically.
State Regulations are unpredictable with sometimes negative consequences, such as declaring us “non-essential”! Many M&B Therapists have left the profession due to the great political uncertainty ahead.
And while various factions of “The Massage & Bodywork Profession” cannot often agree on how to organize their political status, they’ve NOT, after 20 to 30 years, gotten the “status” they thought professional licensing would bring. That is because they did not understand how the medical system actually got its prestige & prosperity. … And it was NOT from licensing!
PLEASE SEE my Special Report on Challenges & Opportunities of the Massage & Bodywork Professions.
Worse, VERY unpredictable affects of COVID-19 and other such factors can make steady work & incomes less reliable.
4.) Robotics Replacing Manual Labor
And, some M&B Clinics increasingly use Robotics w/Artificial Intelligence, potentially displacing many therapists.
Robots are VERY sensitive to Client’s “soft tissue needs,” they don’t get sick or complain, they don’t get tired, and aside for some maintenance, they don’t get paid, let alone ask for a raise! …
HUGE investments are going into M&B Robotics!
http://massagerobotics.com
Please DO NOT Underestimate Robotics. …
SOME massage methods and practitioners WILL at some point be replaced, to some degree, a few completely, by “Bots.” If you’ve not seen them “in action” (like how they can peel grapes, then sew the skins back on!) and seen the Positive Responses of some “Clients” to massage machines, you might be in for a BIG Surprise.
ESPECIALLY now with things like viral health factors coming front & center. Bots don’t get viruses, and they are much easier to sanitize. They don’t have personality conflicts. And as far as the “human touch” goes, some people ALREADY prefer the “touch” of bots to humans for a number of surprising reasons.
5.) Getting or Keeping Your Prices High …
If You want to keep YOUR prices high in the face of downward economic pressures, You must Increase Your Quality of Service, OR make yourself More Available to Client’s (easier to use your services, more convenient), OR increase your Range of Services and/or Products.
YET, there is an Old Maxim of Marketing:
There are THREE main areas you can compete in.
1.) Quality of product or service. (Meaning, what you DO is superior to what other competitors in your field do, and the RESULTS you produce are more reliably superior to others in your field.)
2.) Availability or Utility of product or service. (Meaning you are, for example, available on a moments notice, or you can go to their homes, or you can stay longer if necessary on short or no notice.)… And
3.) PRICE. Meaning if you can provide the lowest price, YOU get The Job!
The Maxim Says … you can compete on one or two out of the three areas. But if you try to compete on ALL three areas, you will NOT last in your massage (or ANY) business. You will NOT be able to afford such high levels of Quality AND Service … or you will eventually burn out in some way.
Attempting to keep prices artificially high with “protectionism” — such as “professional licensing” or “state regulation” or “insurance schemes” — distorts PRO-Human, Free Market Processes, reducing Innovation & Naturally Occurring, Pro-Human Price Reduction.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
DSL suggests using his 40 Years Experience to help YOU RE-Design Your Therapeutic Methods and Career (or your Start Up Strategy if a New Massage School Graduate) to keep up with rapidly changing economic, social & therapeutic trends.
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 & physiology combined with decades of hands-on experience.
John Bordiuk, MD
Nutritional & Metabolic Physician & Yoga Teacher
Inner Balance Med
I have worked with many soft tissue therapists over the years. David Scott Lynn is the only one educated & skilled enough to do what I want with full confidence that the job will be done. My patients definitely feel the difference.
Gary Fujinami, DC
Doctor of Chiropractic & Acupuncture
GET STARTED TODAY …
Down a Path To Higher Mastery of:
-
- Mindful Medical Massage
- Myo-Structural Balancing
- Postural Yoga Therapy
- Neuro-Musculo-Fascial Sciences
- Adjunctive Techniques & Processes
LEARN the Sciences You Need to have a Deeper, Wider Knowledge & Insights of HOW the Human BodyMind Works in Healthy State, or Breaks Down. This helps makes YOU More VALUABLE to Your Clients & Students.
Developing your own, unique approach to Medical Massage Structural Bodywork Therapy can be VERY rewarding. But it takes some time and some work to launch as successful massage business.
LEARN HOW to SUPPORT Your Clients with …
| • Psycho-Muscular Release & Radical Relaxation • Mindful Stress & Tension Reduction & Management • Activate Parasympathetic Healing, Immune, Repair Function • Greater Flexibility, Strength, Endurance & Coordination • DE-Compression & Balancing of Musculo-Fascial Structures • Effortless Postural Alignment & Musculo-Skeletal Balance |
• RESET Negative Postural & Movement Habit Patterns • Releasing NATURAL FORCES Built Into their BodyMind at Birth • Stability of Movement & ROM via FLUIDITY, Not Rigidity • Meditative, “Let-Go Yoga,” NOT Willful nor Forceful Stretching • Mindful BodyMind Integration & Metabolic Support |
LEARN HOW to GET CONTROL of Your
(or Your Client’s) BodyMind by LETTING GO
of Tension, Stress & Negative Habit Patterns
Utilizing the DSL Edgework Tools of …
| • Mindful, Hands-On “Edge-Touch™” Medical Massage • BIO-Structural & Postural Analysis • Myo-Structural Balancing & Bodywork Strategies • Mindful “Let-Go Yoga” Principles & Practices • Postural / Myo-Structural Yoga Therapy • Whole Health Philosophy, Principles & Practices |
• Tai Chi / Chi Kung-based Movement & Exercise Therapy • Advanced Structural Anatomy & Functional Kinesiology • Neuro-Muscular, Myo-Fascial & Physical Sciences • Internal & External Ergonomics / Life- & Work-Design • Philosophy, Psychology & Science of Being Human |
BETTER ANSWERS to the PUZZLES
of Posture, Pain & Dysfunction …
with a Focus on Prevention & Performance
KNOWING HOW the PNMF* System Works Tells You HOW to “Work The Tissues”
* PNMF = Psycho-Neuro-Musculo-Fascial
Over 40 years in the field, one observation I’ve made on Therapeutic Bodywork & Yoga, is a LOT of therapists or teachers are far too focused on “delivering a technique” (be it a hands-on technique or a stretch or yoga posture or adjustment).
This is compared to using a technique with the intent to Closely FEELING the Tissues in a Client’s body and perceiving “what’s going on” in there? …
More importantly, the CLIENT needs to FEEL “what’s going on in there” more precisely, as well. …
Because it’s often difficult to CHANGE what you cannot FEEL.
The “neuro-structure” of the human nervous system & brain indicates that when You, the Therapist, manually focus on “being with the tissues” in a “mindful” or “meditative” way, by just feeling the tissues while holding sustained, gentle-to-moderate manual pressure, your nervous system spontaneously adjusts your levels & angles of manual pressure such that your own body precisely responds to changes, even very subtle changes, in your Client’s body.
There is a “Dance” that occurs between the two people, between Client & Therapist.
And usually without You (the Therapist) willfully “deciding” what to do. …
It just happens! (For the most part.)
You’ll then, through Kinesthetic Sensitivity & Mindful Response-Ability, deliver VERY precise pressure & location / angle adjustments FAR more *effecticiently* (effective + efficient) then if you’re mostly “thinking” about your Client’s skin or muscles … or about your “techniques.”
Nothing WRONG with Thinking! I do a lot of it myself! …
However, learning the significant, almost opposite differences between Thinking about something versus Mindfully Feeling it are like night & day. That can make ALL the difference in how *effecticient* a bodywork or yoga therapy practice is. …
And this is, overall, the Realm of Meditation or Mindfulness.
Meaning that Being Mindful by Just Feeling your Client’s Soft Tissues can produce a far more effecticient therapy session. If that’s true, the Real Question becomes, what “techniques” allow You, a Therapist, to more precisely FEEL your Client’s body?
Ideally, your focus goes OFF your techniques and ON to Meditative or Mindful Subtle Connections between Mind & Body of Therapist & Client.
And NO, this does not require the Client to realize or overtly participate in what’s going on. But if they are OPEN to the mindfulness process, it can be VERY helpful and the Client will usually get FAR more results out of any one session.
Talking to the CNS & Brain
via Neuro-Musculo-Fascial Systems
GTO Nerve Reflex Pathway
The DSL Edgework, Edge-Touch™, Manual Technique focuses mostly on communicating with the Nervous System and various levels of the Brain.
Stimulating nerves like the Golgi Tendon Organs (GTO) and Renshaw Cells produce both specific (local) and generalized (systemic) relaxation in the neuro-musculo-fascial system & brain.
Reversing Sensory Motor Amnesia &
Neuromuscular DE-Sensitization
Some people “forget” how to move their muscles because of DE-Sensitization. Their nervous system has been “closed off” to many of their internal sensations & processes, and can no longer control their neuro-musculo-fascial system the way they once took for granted.
Thomas Hanna, founder of Somatics, wrote in his book about Sensory Motor Amnesia. He said we “lose touch” with various neuromuscular pathways, and “forget” how to control them. Any muscles on those pathways then become chronically “out of the loop,” and we cannot control them. This is the function of Descending Sensory Pathways which become too facilitated (or chronically activated).
Unfortunately, therapies that use excessively high intensity of pressure can actually cause the increased facilitation of the descending sensory pathways and INCREASE their negative effects, making it more difficult for the Cleint or Patient to Relax & Heal.
Using non-irritating, steady, non-painful manual stimulation draws the Client’s attention & feelings into an area, tending to normalize, to RE-sensitize, nerve & brain activity. We can normalize the Descending Sensory Pathways, and is a major focus of DSL Edgework.
This might go very quickly. With others, it can take a LONG time.
Don’t Chase Pain! …
Learn How to “Talk” to Your Client’s Nervous System!
Rather than therapy being about “treating pain” or “fixing dysfunction,” it becomes more about using manual touch (or stretching) of skin & musculo-fascial tissues to “talk” to the Client’s CNS (central nervous system) & Brain.
DSL Edgework is specifically designed to “talk” to the Client’s CNS & Brain in an EFFECTICIENT way. We provide them “new sensory messages” to respond to, and they spontaneously find their way “back to normal.”
~ David Scott Lynn
Changing / reducing nerve firing (reducing neuromuscular TONUS) decreases physical & mental stress and neuromuscular tension, and often “resets” negative habit patterns.
Reductions in tension & stress levels of muscle fibers, and synergistic muscle bellies, make needed & desired changes in Current Conditions of your Client’s BodyMInd, reducing C.E.M.&.N.T.… a primary cause of many afflictions of the bodymind.
Neuro-Mechanisms producing changes in specific PNMF Sub-Systems include proprioceptive (sense of body positioning) nerves. Proper stimulus of Sensory / Motor Feedback Responses can cause muscles to Relax, Lengthen & Re-Balance, relieving much stress, tension and many symptoms.
And Of Course, WHAT Causes C.E.M.&.N.T.? …
The Short Story is many BodyMind Breakdowns are caused by C.E.M.&.N.T. — Chronic, Excess Muscle & Nerve Tension & Stress, also known as “Tight Muscles” — in turn caused by events like …
- repetitive physical stressors
- repetitive neuro-muscular actions
- higher stress neuro-muscular actions
- postural stabilizations / protective actions
- stabilizations against gravity
- repetitive or high stress emotional / mental stressors
- contractions triggered by strong irritation, trauma or injury, or all kinds of pain.
… The list goes on.
Some, even many or most, of these repetitive contractions are VERY subtle and not noticed by the Client, and build up in the background over months, years or decades. And their negative implications often don’t show up till much later in life, often as aches & pains, or worse.
Learning about C.E.M.&.N.T., you’ll get more proficient at assessing, as a Neuro-Musculo-Fascial “Detective,” which possibilities are more or less likely, and how you should prioritize & strategize therapy sessions to most effecticiently answer your Client’s Needs & Wants. (And YES, they’re all, to a great degree, different.)
Because DSL Edgework is Principle-Based, You Too can apply mindful medical massage myo-structural bodywork therapy to whatever manual techniques you currently use.
Analyzing structural muscles interacting with each other and with (or against) gravity plus buoyancy from internal hydrostatic (water) pressure gives you New Views on how it all works together, or what can go wrong.
WHY NO Pain Means MORE Gain?
The human nervous system is highly sensitive to the slightest changes in many things, very often, or USUALLY, NOT noticed at all by your Client.* Frequently during therapy, a Client does not even notice they are having pain, irritation, or even discomfort.
* CLIENT …One who is Under the Protection of Another.
~ Webster’s Dictionary
Just One Job of a Conscious Soft Tissue Therapist is to recognize when a Client does not realize or understand what they are FEELING, then help EDUCATE them in HOW to Feel and ”Listen To” & interpret those Feelings.
This process helps “Protect” your Client from their own de-sensitization or subconscious compulsiveness to “let it hurt.”
Also, the Sympathetic Nerve System (the “4-F” System: Fright, Freeze, Fight or Flight) can easily be over-stimulated, causing vital metabolic functions of the Parasympathetic Nerve System (for healing, regeneration, repair, immune function) to slow down or even shut down. This includes the Vagus Nerve, a critical component to the human Inner Health Systems.
Many such negative or noxious inputs cause muscles to contract, often excessively & chronically, or sometimes subtly, leading to increased C.E.M.&.N.T. and many related problems. This can inhibit or shut down many internal health, maintenance & healing processes.
In therapeutic situations, we want a Client to RELAX as thoroughly, as deeply, as possible. ANY sensation perceived as “negative,” even if NOT actually painful but only moderately irritating or over-stimulating, can inhibit or even arrest the ability of muscles to Relax, Lengthen & RE-Balance. …
Radical (to the ROOT) Relaxation …
Radical Relaxation … Is about getting the MOST tension reduction possible, in turn reducing C.E.M.&.N.T., … is about reducing nerve / muscle tonus, is about relaxing / de-contracting muscles, reducing pressures on & re-hydrating many & various tissues & systems of the BodyMind.
Excess Stimulation (pain or irritation)
Inhibits or Arrests that Relaxation Process. …
So NO Irritation Means MORE Gain! … DSL’s Basic, Edge-Touch™ Tension Release Technique works with a Clients’ EDGES of Pain, Fear & Resistance. This gives them a meditative or mindful focus to maximize changes in their nerves, muscles & fascia.
Relieving CSO
(Cascading Sympathetic Overload)
From Neuromuscular Therapy Sciences is the “Principle of Generalization.” This means multiple inputs to CNS & Brain from past stress, trauma or injury can cause “sympathetic overload” in the RAS or reticular activating system or tonus system, producing generalized, system-wide reactions, in turn causing many possible symptoms in the rest of the body, such as fibromyalgia, PTSD & other such ”Mystery Pains.”
Consciously stimulating peripheral reflexes in nerves, skin, muscles & fascia can, via spinal cord nerve pathways, “talk” to the CNS & Brain, potentially quieting excess sympathetic nerve firing. This can reduce much sensitivity, reactivity & symptoms.
DSL Edgework is about diving deep into the Principles & Practices giving You, the Soft Tissue Therapist, the most direct path to discovering what’s most likely happening in, and facilitating changing of your Client’s tension & stress levels.
This is done by reducing firing of neurons in CNS & Brain with the Conscious “Edge-Touch” Method. … This in turn reduces overall stress & tension levels in the whole body.
This is he Primary Focus of our process of mindful medical massage structural bodywork therapy.
KNOWING WHERE (What Muscles) To Work …
… is Driven by Precise, Global Knowledge of Anatomical, Kinesiological & Neurological Factors Producing Your Client’s Structural & Postural “Reality.”
Certain Myth-Conceptions of how the Human BodyMInd & PNMF Systems work — such as:
-
- the true nature of muscle & fascial tissues
- or what’s really happening when you feel a “release” in the soft tissues
- or whether poor posture is the result of “weak” muscles or not
- or whether postural imbalances cause tight muscles and pain or the other way around
These and many other Myth-Conceptions prevent full understanding of how the human body really works.
Such Myth-Conceptions, of course, put significant limits on successful evaluation & potential therapeutic success.
Understanding Neurological & Physiological Factors producing stress, tension, postural imbalances, metabolic issues, and/or pathology, rounds out your ability to discover where a Clients’ Soft Tissue Issues come from, what further metabolic implications they might have, and the Principles of Reversal of the C.E.M.&.N.T. causing all this.
Knowing, for example, that intestines are made of muscles and subject to stress & excess tension. Or that many “lung” problems are from excess tension in muscles of the rib cage or abdomen.
Or headache, dizziness & nausea can be triggered by muscular-induced irritation of the vagus nerve. A properly functioning vagus nerve is critical to many health & well-being functions. …
Such knowledge gives you insights into conditions not just of muscles & skin, but in proper functioning of internal organs, and how you might be able to affect them with manual therapy.
Why “Weakness” Is Usually NOT The Issue In
Poor Posture, Restricted Motion or aches & Pains
Little Children usually have perfect vertical postural lines. They don’t usually complain about aches & pains. Their movement is free, easy & full of energy. If they squeeze your finger they can generate an impressive amount of strength. …
YET, they’ve never done weight training, Pilates or Yoga classes!
In many cases, if they have problems, it is “Pseudo-Weakness,” which is very common. Resolving Perceived “weakness” is far more about relaxing & balancing relevant muscle fibers than it is about “strengthening” via exercise. In fact, attempting to “strengthen” allegedly “weak”muscles can be VERY counterproductive, at best.
BIO-Structural Analysis & Postural Evaluation …
… show you where the most over-shortened muscles are. Finding those over-contracted muscles tends to correlate with the most over-active, excessively stimulated nerve pathways keeping particular PNMF Systems stressed, contracted, tense & tight, and out-of-balance.
Such “tight muscles” in turn produce other physiological changes generating pain, dysfunction, lost ROM, “pseudo-weakness,” etc. Very often, joint & spinal disc degeneration are from excessively contracted muscles putting too much chronic pressure on bones & joints. Scoliosis, kyphosis, lordosis, and other such postural deformations are indeed very often from over-short & out-of-balance muscles.
The Basic DSL Hands-On, Tension Release Technique and Postural Yoga “Stretching” give you the tools to Radically Relax & Release the C.E.M.&.N.T. in Your Client’s Body. … That alone can produce many positive results & benefits for your Client.
The Difference between Externally “Stretching” a Muscle by pulling on the tendon ends, VERSUS Internally “Stretching” a Muscle by pressing on the belly of the muscle fibers.
For more Complex Soft Tissue Issues, BIO-Structural Analysis & Postural Evaluation give you the tools to determine WHICH muscles to work with and in what Sequence. It is not always obvious, and often requires significant “detective” work.
The Neuromuscular, Myofascial, Medical & Physical Sciences give you the understanding & confidence to maintain a strategy when others might have given up.
HERE is my BLUEPRiNT of HOW to Think About what Your Potential or Existing Clients or Patients NEED & WANT from YOUR Therapy …
DOWNLOAD Full-Size Blueprint HERE
[After Clicking the above link, You MIGHT have to click the new, downloaded image to get a drop-down menu, Save As or Download As, or Open the Link in New Tab (or Window).]
Help ME Help YOU Implement Your Practice Success Blueprint!
Implementing this Practice Blueprint begins and revolves around becoming highly proficient in your Knowledge, Skills & Insights of Mindful Medical Massage, Myo-Structural Balancing & Postural Yoga Therapy.
THEN, You Decide Who You Want To Work With, then Get The Word Out to those People! …
There are, generally speaking, A Few Basic Steps:
- Get a BASIC Working Knowledge of the Basic Hands-on & Yoga Release Techniques, BIO-Structural Analysis & Myo-Structural Balancing. This give you a starting point to develop yourself into a structurally-based practitioner. … Results Can Happen Surprisingly FAST, even with only the Basic Principles to Get Started!
- Determine a Primary Niche, the SPECIFIC PEOPLE you would like to Serve and Work with. The more focused and “narrow” your target market is, the easier it is to find them. … You CAN have more than one niche, but targeting specific niches allows you to fine tune your marketing to specific needs of specific people.
- For Example: Marketing to Weekend Athletes is very different than to Elder Care. …
- (You COULD stay more general in your marketing, but that is very often a far more difficult & slower path as your marketing becomes too “generic” or “diluted,” not really addressing the needs of or inspiring any one person, or too few people.)
- Develop a Strategy & Talking Points you’ll use to describe your work & Attract Prospects. These points should be VERY relevant to your target market. For Example: Elegant Aging for older people requires more hydration of musculo-fascial units, requiring those musculo-fascial units to be as RELAXED as possible, giving them more freedom of general movement & strength. But their reasons & motivations are very different than of Body-Builders who need their muscles as free of restrictions & hydrated as possible to maximize strength & movement for working with high levels of weight versus picking up their grandchildren. Body Builders require far Deeper Relaxation as well as far more fully Balanced Muscle Fibers. But again, their motives are VERY different. You want to speak to THEIR SPECIFIC MOTIVES as much as possible (NOT Your motives, or a diluted set of motives designed to appeal to everyone).
- Begin Finding & Communicating with your Target Market with those Talking Points through your preferred media. Yes, it takes some thought, work & probably research to specify & refine how & what you’re Communicating, and to Whom, and how to get your message in front of the Right People who Want & Need Your Services. …
- Keep Talking/Communicating. Listen to Feedback from Prospects. Modify your message & media if necessary. Then … Talk/Communicate even MORE.
Sometimes, if you REALLY want to be successful, you have to do things you might not really like or want to do. But I can tell you, one of THE Biggest Mistakes of MY Life was not getting into marketing MUCH earlier in life. I finally got smart and I’ve literally spent thousands of dollars & hundreds of hours learning marketing, copywriting & web development, and …
YOU can take advantage of that investment I’ve made in MY success … and now YOUR Success!
And Seriously Consider how much You could benefit by getting more proficient with ONLINE Marketing Methods …
But make sure you maintain Great Ergonomics while using your computer! That’s just one more component of the DSL Method of Bodywork & Yoga.
So, How Can I Help YOU With All This? …
Of Course, I can help you develop a path to successfully learning and eventually mastering mindful medical massage / structural bodywork therapy & postural yoga therapy. (No, it does not happen overnight. But sometimes, it happens VERY fast!) And at the end of the online program I’ll describe to you below, you’ll probably know more about this work than I did when I first developed it! …
And I’ve done a LOT of refinement since then, which you’ll benefit from as well.
I first started teaching my structural therapy system …
… in 1989 at Heartwood Institute in Northern California. I went on to teach in many states across the country with very high ratings from students. (You can see many of my Testimonials Here.
I’ve been doing Structural Bodywork work since mid-1982, been a full time Bodyworker since 1981, and been in Yoga & Bodywork since 1976. (As of 2020, that’s over FORTY years!) And I’ve often done 3 to 4 hours of yoga a day for many months at a time, as well. (That’s how I relieved my own severe back & hip pain issues.)
I got into the whole mind / body & mindfulness / meditation thing when I was only 13 years old while in Martial Arts, and have been applying meditation to much of my life ever since. …
Needless to say, I’ve got some experience under my belt.
Early in my bodywork career, I was considered an Innovator in the Field, and was very Clinically Successful with Clients. Some of my Clients & Students were three different Presidents as well as a few Executive Board Members of the AMTA (American Massage Therapy Association) and owners of some of the big Massage Schools in the country.
And because I traveled so much, and stayed in various areas for months or years at a time, I’ve started about a DOZEN different Private Practices over the years. (Definite Pros & Cons to THAT kind of mobility!)
I’ve had practices in Acapulco, Mexico, and in various places from Chicago, Illinois to Atlanta, Georgia, to Boston, Massachusetts, to Northern & Southern California and now Sedona, Arizona. Some worked better than others, and I won’t be shy about telling you the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. …
I’ll tell You What Worked (for me) and what did NOT work so well …
Helping YOU figure all that out is a good part of the Next Phase of MY Life & Work.
With 40 Years in the field, I can support YOU in figuring out YOUR Learning Path as well as your Target Market(s) and how you might want to Approach & Communicate with them.
(NO, I can’t DO this FOR You. That would be VERY expensive! … And I Cannot Guarantee you’ll “succeed,” as I don’t know what that even means to You, and I have NO idea whether you’ll DO what needs to be done, or not. …
Yet I can set you onto some VERY Good Paths & Resources to Success. But you DO have to be motivated!)
If You’d like to read an In-Depth History & Biography of HOW I developed this work, the very stuff I’ll be teaching YOU, Please Go HERE.
The Very First DSL Edgework, Online PILOT Program
This will be the first time I’m doing an entire DSL Edgework Therapy Training & Coaching program Online. Most of the Therapy Training will be done in Group Meetings and supplemented by some personal interaction via phone or ZOOM. The Coaching on developing your niche & marketing will be mostly 1-on-1, possibly supplemented with Group Coaching.
(The Training is about learning my Therapy Method. The Coaching is about helping you build your massage business around it.)
This being my first attempt at bundling it all online, there will, most likely, be some BUGS to be worked out. So you have an opportunity to get Your Myo-Structural Therapy Career launched at a VERY low price compared to what others have paid in the past (for my in-person programs), or WILL pay in the future.
Your Opportunity To Help Design
The Program for YOUR Needs
I do NOT yet know WHO will be in the program, nor what their background will be, nor what their knowledge base is, nor their experience or skill levels, and so on.
So rather than trying to figure out ahead of time what the exact program contents & structure will be, and how program content should unfold (sequence), You & I and the other participants will be designing the program AS WE GO so it is as relevant to the needs of the individuals in the group (YOU being one of them) as possible.
For Example, if most of the people are brand new graduates of massage school, it will be different than if they are all seasoned MassAge / Bodywork veterans looking to expand their practices into new horizons. OR, if enough different people sign up, and I need to set up one program for Therapy Veterans and a separate one for New Grads, then that’s what I’ll do.
I might also set up a group for those who’ve been injured from their therapy practice, with the intent to get them back to work.
You’ll be CO-Creating Your program WITH Me so I can help make it as relevant & useful for YOUR NEEDS and Interests as possible, as well as the others in the program.
Now, You’ll notice the PRICE of this program is VERY low, maybe even unreasonably so. Again, I’ve not yet done this program online, so I’ll need your cooperation & understanding as I work out any “bugs” or problems, which unfortunately might not happen until the program is actually underway.
The ZOOM Conference Call Technology is pretty well developed, almost fool-proof, so there MIGHT not be any problems at all. … But you never know with technology. I might end up having to switch to another system if we have too much trouble with it. We shall see!
Here’s How The Program Will Proceed …
- Exploratory Phone or ZOOM Call … Before you pay anything, You and I will have a ”Conversation For Possibilities” about where you’re at in your career, what you know how to do, where you want to go, and how fast. We decide, together, whether or not this Program is RIGHT for YOU, or not, and that I can help You, or not. You can then decide if you want to be in the program, and if so, how you would like to pay for it.
- Your Personal Initial “Launch” Call … On a second, Private, 1-on-1 ZOOM Call, our first “Conversation For ACTION,” You & I set YOUR own targets & figure out a strategy of how You can implement what you’ll be learning, and how fast.
- 8 (Eight) Weekly ZOOM Group Calls … Program Content based on the 7 Areas of the Therapy Success Blueprint Chart (shown above). Content will be delivered based on what I learn from talking privately with each participant, including You. I will organize the content and sequence based on those private calls. These will start you down the path to each element of the program. … Each Group Call will be an interactive presentation of that week’s material. … The 8th Call will be an Open Format for Final Q&As and other Concerns.
- Weekly Q & A … At end of each call, I’ll stay online, answering ALL questions relevant to that or a previous week’s material. … Questions that will be answered in future presentations and calls will be put on hold till then.… The Call will be recorded & permanently available to you in case you miss a session or want to review it.
- e-Mail Questions … On Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays, I will answer any email questions from The Group. One Question per day, as narrowly focused as you can, please. Your Questions will help me build the program as well as tailor it for You.
- Online Group Forum … This Private, online Forum will be set up for Participants to discuss how things are going, any questions or problems they’re experiencing, and in supporting each other. I’ll be there too, and answer or support what I can.
- Written Materials … I will be releasing as much text with illustrated material as I can relevant to the content of that week’s ZOOM call.
- eBooks … I have several ebooks I’ve written over the years relevant to what we’ll be learning. They are in various stages of completion (at least 80%), almost a thousand pages worth. (List of my eBook Titles is below.)
When YOU Sign Up, until 6 people total are signed on & paid, I’ll work with you PRIVATELY over ZOOM at no extra charge until the Program starts or I decide it’s not happening. If the program is cancelled, I’ll have been giving you private training & coaching at a VERY low hourly rate, and will make sure you get Full Value for your money, one-on-one. Which is of course better for YOU, as I’ll be focused exclusively on YOUR needs, rather than a group.
I don’t know how well this program will be received, so that’s an experiment too!
8-week Program — Investment In Your Future … $397
( approx. $50 / Training Class, 3+ hours per class )
OPTIONAL: 1-on-1 Marketing Coaching for Additional Charge … If you want more Personal Coaching or Consulting on implementing your Myo-Structural Success Blueprint, individual, up to 60 minute, phone or ZOOM calls will be available for $50 each. OR, you can purchase a package of EIGHT Weekly Calls for $200, only $25 per call! (Again, I need to design this course well, and your questions and interactions with me will help future participants in future programs.)
OPTIONAL: Group Marketing Coaching … Depending on the Responses of the initial, Exploratory Phone Calls, I am considering doing a weekly Master Mind Program for the participants to work together on your marketing & communication strategies & tactics. … If enough people want it, this will be 8 Coaching Calls at $25 per Call.
8-week Program + Weekly, 1-on-1, PRIVATE Coaching Calls … $597
( approx. $50 / Training Class + $25 / Call OR Group Coaching )
8-week Program + Weekly GROUP Coaching Calls & Sessions … $797
( approx. $50 / Training Class + $25 / call AND Group Coaching )
Questions? Concerns?
Please Send Me an e-Mail at dsl@davidscottlynn.com with “PILOT” in Subject Line
OR Please Schedule a Call at ???
OR Leave a Google Voice Mail at +1 (623) 738-5586
I, David Scott Lynn, am Committed to to helping YOU discover the Leading Edge Knowledge, Skills & Experiences YOU Need to Master the above described processes, getting the results working with the nervous system via the muscles and fascia can provide.
Hopefully, you have some better insights or inspiration about mindful medical massage / structural bodywork therapy, and your massage business. And hopefully the bodywork therapy success blueprints will give you some inspiration as well!
Thank You for Reading & Take Care,
David Scott Lynn (DSL*)
* DSL: Your Hi-Touch Up-Link to the Inner-Net*
* Inner-Net: Your Psycho-Neuro-Musculo-Fascial System