Healing the Psoas, Part 1:
Learning to listen to the Psoas:
The way I treat the psoas is radically different than I did at the start of my career...
PT school and continuing education courses never hint at the sensitivity of the psoas.
‘Poke’, ‘prod’ and ‘needle’ are treatments that I hear all the time regarding psoas releases, my treatments were no different. My work completely changed when I was introduced to Liz Koch’s work and her studies of the psoas.
Through this work I was able to tune into the nature of the psoas.
Running along the spine from the mid spine diving anteriorly into the front and inside of the thigh, this muscle connects us from the heart space to our legs.
I have discovered through this work that the psoas is the messenger of the central nervous system. Messaging fears, traumas, emotions and limiting beliefs which have not yet been proceeded. These messages within the body can present as ANXIETY, DISASSOCIATION and an INABILITY TO GROUND and be fully present in the body.
I gently tune into the tissue of the psoas to open up a dialogue for the nervous system to release these stuck emotions. I hold space for patients to cry, to release, to move through what was once messaging fear within the nervous system. Here are a few of the common themes I have seen released with my technique:
inner child pain
birth trauma experienced during their children's birth
their own birth trauma/experience
money/scarcity issues
traumatic experiences
No psoas work is the same but the depth of emotions that we discover together is always humbling. Finishing this work, the psoas muscle is relaxed and supple, no longer messaging negativity to the nervous system.
Patients note feeling different within their bodies, a new kind of presence within their own body. Upon standing they note feeling heavier and more GROUNDED yet LIGHTER. The psoas is finally released on a physical and energetic level.
If you are finding yourself suffering from chronic psoas tension then it’s time to look deeper into what the nervous system needs. Please hold off on the poking and prodding and look into the next 2 blogs on how to identify and heal a tight psoas.
