The Seat of the Soul
Aug 30, 2018 | Written by Leticia Padmasri
Image Copyright: Ray Long, MD - used with permission
If you have attended many hatha yoga classes, you surely have heard the teacher talk about the psoas muscle or iliopsoas muscle (when paired with the iliacus). As part of my teaching practice, I often offer one of my favorite methods to release the psoas prior to initiating the asana and meditation practice - constructive rest pose.
Besides teaching Hatha classes where I invite the students to release and explore this muscle, I also teach the workshop “Yoga and Core Stability”. In this workshop, we spend about half of the time exploring core awareness! Core awareness is key when working with core stability.
In exploring core awareness, the psoas is a major muscle impacting this process because of its location and function. The psoas respond to our fight or flight response, storing traumas and emotionally charged tension. It is triggered and tightened by the stress response. As many of us spend a substantial amount of time in a state of chronic stress, the psoas is constantly ready to run or fight. This leads to a short, dry, and shrunken muscle. Among the most common problems caused by dysfunction of the psoas muscles are low back pain, sacroiliac pain, sciatica, disc problems, spondylolysis, scoliosis, hip degeneration, knee pain, menstruation pain, infertility, and digestive problems.
Liz Koch refers to it as an organ of perception composed of bio-intelligent tissue that “literally embodies our deepest urge for survival, and more profoundly, our elemental desire to flourish.” Within the Taoist tradition the psoas is said to be the seat of the soul and surrounds the lower “Dan Tien” a major energy center of the body. Koch writes that “The psoas, by conducting energy, grounds us to the earth, just as a grounding wire prevents shocks and eliminates static on a radio. Freed and grounded, the spine can awaken”.
By cultivating core awareness and healthy psoas, we are first reconnecting with the life force, allowing it to flow through the bones, muscles, and joints. Consequently, ease and buoyancy are introduced to our movement and asana practice. A functional psoas muscle can enhance joint integrity, muscular tone, breathing, healthy organ functioning, and core stability. Learning to develop core awareness and improve core stability can be nourishing and freeing, and it will directly enhance our wellbeing.