My interest in the psoas major is what led me to walking. The Psoas Release Party! book was published in the spring of 2010 and I truly had no idea the way it would resonate with people. The book has been available at Amazon and assorted yoga centers ever since and the feedback I have received has been both sweet and incredibly encouraging.
I had no idea what I was doing when I offered my first Psoas Release Party! workshop ten years ago. At the time I was deep in learning mode and I learn by doing so it made for an interesting start.
In the years since, this mysterious muscle has humbled me time and time again. I remember after the first or second of these workshops someone called me and said “I came to the workshop for a different reason but every night for the last ten years I have woken up to use the bathroom four or five times and yesterday was the first time I slept through the night in years.” My sophisticated response might not have sounded too confident, “Really?”
I am much less confused now but I love my work so much because it often keeps me in a state of profound puzzlement as I work to figure out the mystery of pain and trauma. This magical muscle affects people in so many different ways that while there are general instructions that everyone should adapt into their lives, coming to understand what is going on with your psoas requires a different level of inquiry.
The psoas has many outstanding qualities but three bear notice:
- The psoas major and the piriformis muscle are the only muscles that connect the legs to the spine and they help to balance the spine on top of the pelvis.
- Walking is falling and the psoas catches you over and over with every successful step that you take.
- The psoas is a deep primitive muscle that is the warehouse of the body’s unprocessed trauma (chew on that for a while).
Functional use of the psoas major requires good posture and muscle balance. Emotional use of the psoas major requires good posture and muscle balance. In my experience very few people have those two essential qualities. If you are suffering any type of back, hip, groin, and even foot, knee, shoulder and neck pain developing a relationship with and an understanding of, your psoas major muscle is essential to finding your way out of pain and into a more productive lifestyle.
The Psoas Release Party! Book is a key component of our new CoreWalking package. It is not enough to get out of pain. I believe that you need to learn why you were in pain if you really want to stay out of pain.
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