First, I believe that Chronic, Excess Muscle & Nerve Tension (C.E.M.&.N.T.) is a PRIMARY source of many physical, mental and emotional -- even spiritual -- issues. This includes many symptoms of pain, dysfunctional movement, bad posture, loss of coordination and movement, and so on. Even digestive and metabolic support can be directly inhibited by excess muscle tension.
No, I do not believe muscle tension is the only source of trouble, but it is a significant and little appreciated and understood factor. Nutrition and our mental and emotional inputs are just a few of the other factors. Yet they all intimately interact with each other.
Second, the muscles (driven by the brain and nervous system) are the actual Vehicle of Self-Expression. Only the efficiently contracting AND equally relaxing muscle fibers can actually DO anything in the physical world. The heart, lungs and even most digestion require muscles to function. The more restricted our muscles are, the less functional and expressive we can be. Reduced movement and inhibited self-expression begins to limit our health, well-being and satisfaction in life.
Third, one of the BEST ways to prevent the accumulation of C.E.M.&.N.T. is the practice of an integrated approach to physical/mental Yoga. However, in today's marketplace, far too many yoga systems are performing yoga far too aggressively, and creating far more stress and tension than most people -- including most yoga instructors -- realize.
The illusion is that if you're getting more flexible, that you muscles must be relaxing.Yet is all too possible to condition (train) muscles into a lengthened state, without achieving a TRUE, deep, integrated psycho-neuro-musculo-fascial Letting Go of tension, stress & habit patterns. This is why many accomplished yoga teachers are very flexible, yet when you press in their muscles, they feel like thin cables and knots. And an increasing number are developing pain and dysfunction to the point of not being able to do yoga anymore, or at least certain postures.
Fourth, the neuro-muscular unit is the NEXUS between our inner world and outer reality. Many, if not most, of our past conditionings -- physical, mental, emotional -- converge in the way muscles, controlled by nerves, act in an immense variety of action patterns. And much of our personal history is recorded in the synpases of the nerves, which tell the muscles to contract or relax. The way those synapses are historically conditioned determines the way our muscles will act in the world.
Fifth, the conscious mind and brain can, to varying degrees, influence and intervene in our past conditioning. Reaching down into the nerves, muscles and fascia with our mental processes can influence and modify how the synapses are firing, and muscles are acting. How fast, and how completely, we can influence or change our historical conditionings is determined in part by the nature of those stored patterns (how long we've had them, if they are trauma induced, how intentional they were activated, and so on).
The other part is the way in which we utilize our minds and practices to achieve this end. Various means are better for different ends.The Big Issue here, though, is that it is a two-way street. It is a sensory-motor INTER-action, where our minds must explore and get intimate with the sensations that are flooding inward and upward from the body. If the mind attempts to dominate and too aggressively control what is happening, the nervous system will initiate underground guerilla operations to counteract the intentions of the conscious mind.
This is the job of the Ego: the stored mental, emotional and sensory self-images. The ego is designed to accumulate, reinforce and protect our self-image, a necessary function that can be taken to an extreme, or in a wrong or counter-productive direction. New and better directions and actions CAN be forced with will-power, but usually will not last, and may even make things worse.
So there must be an ever-changing balance between the active will-power of directed action and the receptive letting go, and just being with what is, without trying to change it.This is the Razor's Edge of the Fully Functioning Yogi: Too much willpower leads to inner revolt. Too little will-power, nothing much happens, and we collapse inward on our own selves. Although either one of them (working very intensely or very lightly) can FEEL good, and produce the feeling that something is happening. And the appropriate amount of will-power, or totally letting go, varies dramatically from moment-to-moment, from situation-to-situation.
One answer to all of these challenges is to incorporate a system of yoga that focuses on somewhat, yet not rigidly structured, practices that invest the mind into the body, and vice versa, with a real focus on Getting Control of the muscles, nerves, fascia and joints of our bodymind by Letting Go of tension, stress and habit patterns, achieving a true, deep, integrated psycho-muscular release of C.E.M.&.N.T.
In the process, one can make deep and lasting changes in the entire organization of your psycho-neuro-musculo-fascial Being.All of this is the Primary Focus of the DSL Method of Let-Go Yoga,developed and presented by David Scott Lynn (DSL).DSL Is Your Hi-Touch Up-Link to the Inner-Net.
My First Official Website at www.letgoyoga.com will give you a great overview of how you can benefit from DSL Let-Go Yoga. This site is designed primarly for yoga teachers, but there is a growing amount of information there. All written by me, David Scott Lynn. It's just getting started, so please be patient with the current organization.
And, I will be uploading far more content over the coming weeks and months.You can also Sign Up for my FREE Weekly e-Letter, and also receive the FREE e-Course on the 9 Natural Laws of Yoga. This e-Course serves as a foundation of Yoga for the WEST of Us.