|
Discover
Your Psoas
By
Liz Koch
Yoga, Pilates and movement arts offer you a physical workout, a means
of relaxing, restoring from injury and even a pathway to spiritual enlightenment.
Although they may not appear to have a common link, choosing to engage
in any form of movement exploration embodies the common thread of desire
to inhabit life with a deeper sense of joy and meaning. When your intention
includes a wish to journey within your physical core you can't help
but come directly into relationship with the flow of life.
No matter what it's called: Hara, Tan Tien, Chakras, your gut feelings,
the terrain spanning between solar plexus and upper thigh is acknowledged
as a center of power and wisdom. One core muscle traverses this belly
brain; the psoas. Both a functional and instinctive muscle the psoas
stands guardian protecting your integrity and serving as a gateway to
direct experience of Universal Energy.
The psoas is your walking muscle. It's the only muscle to connect
the spine to the leg. Crossing over the ball and socket joints it synchronizes
for free swing of the leg while walking. The psoas also serves as a
muscular bridge between upper and lower body. As a shelf flowing diagonally
through the core, it supports all the abdominal organs. In harmony with
diaphragmatic breathing it functions as a hydraulic pump stimulating
blood flow and pumping synovial fluid through the spinal cord to the
brain.
As part of the (flee or fight) survival mechanism the psoas muscle instinctively
responds whenever you're afraid. Exploring the psoas brings you
in direct contact with your fears. Vital for physical, emotional, and
spiritual health, resolving fear and releasing stress in the psoas helps
ignite a wealth of inner power inherent within your core.
Honoring the psoas is a first step in accessing its power. To try to
gain access through manipulation creates more pain. Physical palpation
of the psoas muscle can cause bruising. Invasive bodywork or massage
techniques have been known to break blood vessels and cause abdominal
hernias attempting to access the psoas. Truly letting go takes gentle
self-exploration and a cultivation of inner awareness.
Psoas
article continued next page, click here!
|
Motion