Psoas Muscle
In today’s fast paced digital age, we are sitting now more than. Whether its at your desk all day, in your car, or relaxing on your couch watching tv, your psoas muscle is constantly being shortened and therefore becomes tight. The minute we start to stand up, we have all felt that familiar pull in our lower back – say hello to your Psoas! What often starts off as a bit of stiffness and tightness can eventually become severe and debilitating back pain. Fixing it is like peeling an onion so let’s take a deeper look to see what is going on.
A tight psoas is a major cause of lower back pain.
The psoas originates on the transverse processes of the five lumber vertebrae (L1-L5) and last thoracic vertebrae(T-12). It runs through your pelvis and inserts on top of your inner thigh bone (the lesser trochanter of the femur). Your psoas works on both sides of your body independently and harmoniously when healthy, but a tight psoas will not only pull unevenly at both sides of your lumbar vertebrae, but worse because it has attachment sites on each of the lumbar vertebrae, it will pull unevenly up and down the stacked vertebrae. This uneven pull at both sides and from top to bottom creates degeneration of the discs and leads to slipped discs, bulging, pinched and ruptured discs.
The nerves coming out of your lumbar vertebrae control the proper functioning of your vital organs and entire lower body.
Stress and the Psoas the mind body connection
“Which came first, the chicken or the egg”. In our eBook “Why Stretch” we discuss how stress sets off a bio electrochemical chain reaction that results in a multitude of negative symptoms, which then causes us anxiety as we worry about our physical and emotional health!
Stress is not a real threat, it’s a perceived threat, but your subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference.
The psoas is one the first muscles that is triggered when stress takes over our lives. Stress triggers fear and our psoas tightens to bring our leg up to start running or kicking to fight, but it can also trigger both legs to pull up into a fetal position if we choose to shut down. But in today’s society we are not running or fighting, we are sitting and stressing, resulting in our body being inundated with excess sugars and hormones etc., which are reeking havoc.
The Psoas muscle is often referred to the as “the muscle of the soul”. It has been given this title as it holds on to traumatic experiences on a cellular level. It is one of our deepest core muscles and is linked our reptilian brain, and is known as the protector of our core. During traumatic experiences the psoas muscle tightens and contracts as a means of protection and defense. Stretching a tight psoas can help release emotional trauma that may have been locked deep inside the body for many years.
When you first start stretching your psoas, you have to start out slowly and gently, as it has a tendency to be very tender and tight. Once your psoas senses that you are not going to strain it, you will feel it slowly release and relax. But be aware that it can tighten up again quickly. So regular, consistent, gentle stretching is essential to achieve and maintain its healthy, happy state, ultimately bringing balance back into your physical and emotional health (true homeostasis).
I hope you now have a better understanding of how important your psoas is to both your physical and emotional well being. From keeping you upright, confident and moving freely, to improving your mood and outlook which will positively impact all of your relationships.
Stretching On Demand
Our On Demand Video Library has hundreds of stretches for every part of your body. There are 5, 10 and 15 minute stretches, full body routines, sport specific and injury focused stretches. Our Stretch Education section teaches you about your body and the benefits stretching has to fight stress and anxiety.