There are three main reasons why it is all about the psoas:
The psoas holds the spine up on top of the pelvis with the help of the piriformis and gluteus maximus. When we came up to stand from all fours the psoas major was stretched across the rim of the pelvis creating the lumbar curve as the newly engaged psoas pulled the lower vertebrae forward and down.
A well-toned and properly aligned psoas makes the business of the standing and moving so much easier.
- The psoas is the walking muscle. Walking is falling and it is the psoas major (and iliacus) that prevents you from falling forward onto your face. There are many muscles involved in the act of walking but it is the psoas that initiates the movement of the leg that catches the upper body over and over again.
- The psoas is where the body stores its unprocessed trauma. As crazy as this might sound, when the body suffers a trauma of any kind and fails to work through it or fully process it, the residue of the experience stays on deep in your psoas, ready to come out when you are ready to process it.
If those are not enough I can give you more. A body that works well and ages gracefully can only do so if the psoas major is well aligned and happily toned. I have been saying that it is all about the psoas for more than ten years now (A very sweet person once made me a shirt that read as much) and I haven’t seen anything to make me believe otherwise.
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