Detailed Table of Contents
for FULL Version of The
Simple Steps to Let-Go Yoga
COPYRIGHT 1
About Joel Kramer: 13
MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: 14
Caveat Emptor: Real Change In Medicine 15
Consumer Demand 15
Crowd-Sourcing: Typos, Grammar, Editing, Etc, 17
ORGANIZATION of this Manual 18
Whom Let-Go Yoga™ and This Manual is For 21
PREFACE 23
The WHOM & WHY of YOGA INJURIES
The Health↔Fitness Spectrum 24
DEEP Relaxation & BIO-Structural DE-Compression 26
Two Different Kinds of Flexibility & Relaxation 27
Most Hatha (physical) Yoga Is NOT from Ancient India 27
Introspective Hatha Yoga 28
Flexible but NOT Relaxed 29
One System to Cover Them Both? 29
How Yoga Helps the BodyMind 30
Cascading Sympathetic Overload 31
Self-Awareness and the Yoga of Relationship 32
Competition in Yoga & Life 33
Purpose of this Manual 34
Making the Complex Simple 35
On Yoga Injuries 36
LEFT BRAIN/RIGHT BRAIN 38
Follow the Leader Yoga 39
Joel Kramer 39
Awareness versus Habit 40
Extemporaneous Yoga 40
INTRODUCTION 41
OBJECTIVES & BASIC PROCESSES
Yoga Can Be Simple 42
Why NO Pain, Means MORE Gain 42
DE-Sensitization: Feeling What You Don’t Feel 43
Going Deeper Into the Yoga Processes 44
GET CONTROL by LETTING GO 45
The “Secret” To Effortless, Great Posture 45
Clearing Your “NeuroMuscular Slate” 48
A Brief Description of The SIMPLE STEPS to Let-Go Yoga 50
Are There “Spiritual” Aspects to Let-Go Yoga? 54
CHAPTER ONE 57
CENTRAL PREMISES
Central Premises of DSL’s Let-Go Yoga™ 58
NEXUS of Yoga 58
C.E.M.&.N.T. (Chronic, Excess Muscle & Nerve Tension) 58
TSRS (Tension & Stress Reduction Strategies) 59
Resting Tonus 59
Vehicle of Self-Expression 60
(DE-)Conditioning Process 60
Micro-Traumas 61
NEXUS: Our Inner Reality & Outer World 61
Fascia 62
Conscious Mind and Higher Brain Centers 63
The Minimum Edge 63
Pain, Fear & Resistance 63
One Great Mistake 64
Conscious Stretching, 64
Quality of Attention 64
Conscious Stretching 65
Micro-Genesis 65
Dr. John Bonica on Pain 66
Healer, Do No Harm 67
Lurking Injury 67
Subtle Trouble 68
Pelvic Tuck & Sacral Scoop 69
Scooping the Sacrum versus Tucking the Pelvis 70
More on Pelvic Tucking 72
Pulling Shoulders Back & Down 73
Are the Muscles “Too Weak”? 74
Too Fast, Too Deep, Too Long 75
Forced “Proper Alignment” 75
SUMMARY of Injury Causes 77
Less Really IS More 79
CAVEAT on Yin Yoga & 80
Other Connective Tissue Approaches 80
Alignment, Injuries & Minimum Edges 81
Yoga Injuries: 81
Natural versus Idealized Alignment 82
Authoritarian Paradigm 84
CHAPTER TWO 85
TWO of the TWELVE PRINCIPLES
A. What REALLY Makes a Muscle Lengthen? 86
NeuroMuscular Contraction 86
NeuroMuscular Relaxation 88
Actin/Myosin Fiber “Ratcheting”:
The Prime Resistance to “Stretching” 88
Cellular Resistance to “Stretching” 89
Ratcheting Your Way Through Life & Sleep 89
Nature of Conscious Stretching 90
DE-Ratcheting & DE-Contracting 90
Yogic DE-Contraction (versus “Stretching”) 90
NOT About “Stretching” or “Restoring Elasticity” 92
Extensibility, Elasticity & Flexibility 93
NOTE on TITIN 94
Fascia Does NOT “Relax” 94
“Stretching the Fascia” 95
B. Lines of Energy & Joint DE-Compression 96
Resistance as Meditation 96
How Muscle Tension Causes Joint Compression 96
Resistance is the Meditative “What Is” 98
How Lines of Energy Work 100
Using Your Breath to Activate Lines of Energy 102
Edges of Resistance 103
Lengthen Muscles, DE-Compress Joints 104
“Stretching the Nerves” 107
Adhesions 108
Activate Lines of Energy 108
Lengthen on the INHALE 108
Relax on the EXHALE 109
Coordinated, Wholistic Movement 111
CHAPTER THREE 112
TECHNICAL ISSUES with ASANA & The CORE
IMPORTANT REMINDER 113
1. The First Thing To Know 113
2. Mental Yoga: Exploring The Workings Of Your Mind 114
Meditation, Intention, Concentration & Willpower 114
Meditation 115
Intention 115
Willpower 115
Directed vs. NON-Directed Meditation 115
A Final Thought on Thought 116
3. How Long & How Often per Asana? 117
Breaths per Asana 118
Repetitions versus Long Holds 118
How Many Repetitions? 119
Coming Out Too Soon? 119
4. Get Creative with Your Asana 120
Way of Learning 120
5. KinesiYoga 121
6. How The CORE Really Works 122
Buoyancy of Internal Water Pressure 122
Over-Shortened versus 122
Relaxed & Lengthened Abdominal Wall Muscles 122
One Cause of Chronic Back Pain 126
Upward Buoyancy from Transversus Abdominus 126
Water Balloons & Muscle Contraction 127
Rectus Abdominus & Obliques versus Transversus 129
They Don’t Call It “Fluid Movement” For No Reason! 129
7. DE-Compression & Alignment-Lumbo-Sacral -Abdominal 131
8. When It Comes to Posture & Pain, It’s NOT About “Strengthening” Your CORE 135
Restoring Lost Length, Balance 135
Pseudo-Weakness 135
Build Foundations of Strength with TSRS 137
Does Good Posture Require “Strong Back Muscles”? 137
9. A Health Care Tragedy of the 20th Century 138
Loss of Lumbar Curve from a “Tucked Pelvis” 138
Normal versus “Tucked” Pelvis &
Effects on Lumbar Vertebrae & Discs 138
Tucking the Pelvis versus Scooping the Sacrum 140
When Doing Floor Work: Use a Lumbar Roll 140
DE-Compression & Extensions 141
10. Problems with Back Bends (Extensions) 142
Basic Standing Back Bend (Extension) with Support 142
Bending As By-Product of Lengthening 143
Will My Belly “Lose It’s Tone”? 144
11. The ARC versus The Arch 145
12. Should Your Feet Be Parallel in Asana? 150
Who’s At Risk? … Yoga Teachers? 154
Here is a Let-Go Yoga P.N.M.F. Formula: 155
CHAPTER FOUR 157
ASANA DESCRIPTIONS
Asana for Bio-Structural, 158
CORE DE-Compression & Postural Balancing 158
FOUR Most Critical Asana plus ONE 158
ASANA #1 161
The Standing HOME Position 161
Relax & Lengthen 166
No Slack Muscles 167
Minimize Use of Willpower 169
Breath as a Change Agent 170
Breath as an Element of Meditation 171
Impatience 172
ASANA #2 173
Abdominal & Front Line Lengthening 173
The Psoas Muscle 177
How Much Anatomy 181
Physics, Righting Reflexes & Gravity 181
Neck & Head? 183
The Calves: A Limited Objective? 184
What To Do With Your Arms 185
Isn’t This a Back Bend? 186
Lumbar Extension, Tucking & Scooping 187
Maintaining Length in Lower Back 187
What To Do With Your Pelvis 188
Abdominal & Lumbar Lengthening 189
3 PAIRS OF POINTS 190
Maintaining Length Around Your Entire Mid-Section 190
Variation on ASANA #2: 194
Front Line Lengthening 198
Where’s the Resistance? 196
ASANA #3 197
Standing Hamstring Lengthening 197
NO Dependency on Props 202
Tight Buttocks 202
WHICH Limited Objective 202
VERY Extensible Hamstrings 204
Isn’t This A Forward Bend? 205
Three Important Points 207
Rotating From Hip Joints 207
Keep Your AB Muscles LONG 207
Back Muscles LONG 207
On Bending the Knees 208
Anatomy & Kinesiology of the Hamstrings 209
The “True ” Hamstrings 210
“Partial” Hamstrings 211
Edges versus Bending Knees 212
Bending of Knees Isolates “True” Hamstrings 213
Another Partial Hamstring 214
Habitually Bending the Knees 215
Hyper-Extended Knees 215
On Loose Ligaments 217
Is Structural Degeneration the Cause? 218
Variation on Asana #3 220
Posterior Hip Stretch: Lateral Rotators 220
Two Layers — Two “Fans” of Action 221
Primary Action of Lateral Hip Rotators 222
Lateral Rotators & Hip Extension 223
Stretching the Lateral Hip Rotators 224
ASANA #4 225
Posterior Hip Stretch 225
Stretching the Lower Back: 227
When to Flatten the Lumbar Spine 227
1st VARIATION on ASANA #4 229
2nd VARIATION on ASANA #4 230
ASANA #5 232
Shoulder Joint DE-Compression 232
DE-Compression of Shoulder Joint 232
Reaching Along One Line 232
The Shoulder Fan 234
DE-Compression of Shoulder Joint 234
Reaching Along MULTIPLE Lines 234
Should Your Elbow Be Straight? 236
Adding Stretch to the Latissimus Dorsi 237
CHAPTER FIVE 238
The LET-GO YOGA PROCESS
TERMINOLOGY 239
Yogasana 240
The Edge of Body, Mind & Life 241
NO Pain, Means MORE Gain 242
Pleasure vs. Inviting vs. Neutral vs. Tolerating 243
Your Edges Are Dynamic 243
What Keeps Yoga Interesting 244
Awareness & Natural Breathing 245
Slow versus Deep Breathing 246
DE-Conditioning Process 246
The SIMPLE STEPS to Let-Go Yoga 247
Choosing an Asana 247
The SIMPLE STEPS Process 247
NOTE A. Deeper Levels of Attention 252
NOTE B. DE-Sensitization 252
NOTE C. Limited Objectives 253
More On Volitional Tensions 254
Lower Centers Monitored by the Higher 254
NOTE D. Neuro-Tricks 255
NOTE E. Asana Assist: Adding Manual Pressure 256
Micro-Doses of Movement 257
To Align, or Not To Align 257
Subtle Levels of Mind 258
My Early Experiences with Meditation 259
Low-Intensity Micro-Movements 261
CHAPTER SIX 262
YOGIC MEDICINE
Yogic & BIO-Structural Medicine 263
TERMINOLOGY 264
Obstacles to Cure 265
Medicine 265
Parasympathetic Function 266
Inward, Meditative Focus 266
Power of Awareness 266
Treatment by Similars 267
DSL Edgework 268
“Stretching” A Muscle versus Hands-on Pressure 270
Yoga-based Bodywork 271
Reflexive 271
Volitional 271
Relational Yoga 272
Structural Analysis & Postural Evaluation 272
APPENDICES 274
REVIEW OF ASANA TIPS 275
Asana Practice Guidelines 276
F-3 — Fewest Fibers Firing 277
Yoga for the WEST of US: 278
A Zen-Minimalist, Integral Series 278
Making Yoga RELEVANT 278
Quality of Attention 279
Meditation is NOT So Strange to Western Civilization 281
Integration of Rational, Linear Thinking w/In-the-Moment, Meditative Awareness 281
Naphsha 281
Core Essence of Yoga 282
Intel-e-motional 284
Krishnamurti on REAL “Detachment” 284
Joel Kramer: 2 Kinds of Meditation 285
DEFINITIONS of States of Consciousness 287
SO, WHAT’S NEXT? 290
Links to Various Topics 290
Reader’s Forum & Feedback, Updates 291
Typos & Other Editing Issues 292
Range of Resources & Bonus Content 293
Other, Up-Coming Publications 295
Always Wanted To Say This 296
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 299
My Mom & Dad 298
Joel Kramer & Diana Alstad 298
Kyle Wright & NCSAB 300
Margi Green 301
On Margi’s Relax & Lengthen Classes 301
- Only YOU Can Prevent Yoga Injuries! - February 6, 2015
- Does Psoas Cause Lordosis? - June 11, 2014
- MyoFascial Facts & Fallacies - June 7, 2014
