The Psoas: Muscle of The Soul

Yoga is HUGE in the spiritual community, similar to Human Design, yet are these tools enough to connect to spirit & be a clear channel for your gifts?

First, I want to give a bit of background on myself here so you can see my experience in “the body”.

I have been (although casually rather than full time now) a personal trainer & holistic nutritionist for over 15 years… maybe longer but I am afraid to count the years!  My specialty was getting athletes ready for highly competitive & demanding sports, such as rock climbing, CrossFit, & Tough Mudder. I had a particular focus on balance in the body (hell Libra!) & prehab/ rehabilitation, a specialty that was born from bringing myself back from catastrophic injury while training for CrossFit Regionals.

I have also been working with dragons & connecting to the stars since, well, the first time I looked up at the stars as a kid. I had a pet dragon friend that went everywhere with me, although not something I would dare tell anyone about.

This topic isn’t popular and it won’t get me going viral talking about this because it is MUCH easier to say “Oh ya, just meditate every morning, hop in a few hot yoga classes, wham bam thank you spirit guides you are online forever & ever amen”. 

Yet, it doesn’t work that way.

As Ra Uru Hu said “You cannot elevate the soul without the body”, meaning you gotta start IN THE BODY before trying to elevate the soul.

The  PSOAS

Let’s start with some biology so it makes sense why strength, flexibility, & openness in the structures of the hips are critical.

The prime movers (agonist) for hip flexion are the:

1. Psoas major muscle, a long, tapering (fusiform) muscle that originates at either side of the spine and inserts at the lesser trochanter of the femur. The psoas muscle contracts when the hip is flexed. 
2. Iliacus muscle. The iliacus muscle is a triangular sheet that connects the ilium bone to the lesser trochanter.

The PSOAS is responsible for hip flexion.  I want you to think about how you spend a lot of your time, before we go any further.

Are you sitting at a desk right now? Do you spend a lot of time driving your kids around or back and forth to work?

If the answer is yes your PSOAS is likely cranked up into a permanent tight, weak, flexed state, and this will create a domino effect in back pain very quickly.

The Psoas muscle (pronounced so-as) is the deepest muscle of the human body affecting our structural balance, muscular integrity, flexibility, strength, range of motion, joint mobility, and organ functioning.  Yes, you read that right, the health of your PSOAS even impacts your organ functioning!

Growing out of both sides of the spine, the psoas spans laterally from the 12th thoracic vertebrae (T12) to each of the 5 lumbar vertebrae. From there it flows down through the abdominal core, the pelvis, to attach to the top of the femur (thigh) bone.

The Psoas is the only ‘muscle’ to connect the spine to the legs.  It is responsible for holding us upright, and allows us to lift our legs in order to walk. A healthily functioning psoas stabilizes the spine and provides support through the trunk, forming a shelf for the vital organs of the abdominal core.

Now, I want to stress this part: “A healthily functioning psoas stabilizes the spine and provides support through the trunk, forming a shelf for the vital organs of the abdominal core.” Did you see my video on YouTube where I talk about how spine issues can signal being out of alignment with your Vocation Gene Key?  It isn’t as simple as just learning your Vocation Gene Key to “fix” this issue since tightness will quite literally cut off your head from your body.  That information ain’t going anywhere!  You need to address the body first, then allow that bodily alignment to create space for Vocation alignment.

Further, the psoas is connected to the diaphragm through connective tissue, or fascia, which affects both our breath and fear reflex.  This may be kinda gross, but to give you an idea of what fascia is I am going to use an analogy (I am vegan so apologize for the one I am about to use if you are as well!).  Have you ever purchased chicken breast & pulled off that clear tough layer on top of the chicken?  Yep, that’s the fascia.  And if that is tight it restricts EVERYTHING, including nerve function & muscle movement.  Tight fascia means the nerves cannot slide properly, causing impingements.  It also means oxygen cannot properly circulate in the muscles.

In fact, new research is showing that a tight PSOAS, impinging the hips, and tight shoulders/ upper back, impinging the neck, are cutting off communication of the Vagus Nerve between mind & body.  That impingement is exactly where a lot of people get stuck in a stress response.  When people often say that you hold emotions in the hips, I don’t necessarily disagree, but what is often happening is you finally allow the Vagus Nerve to operate correctly again, which means you can actually be IN your body, feeling your emotions & allowing stuckness to move.  That can most certainly feel like an emotional release when the information highway opens up between the mind & body again!

Certain researchers and myself, believe that our fast paced modern lifestyle combined with excessive sitting (at desks, in cars, etc) chronically triggers and tightens the psoas – making it literally ready to run or fight. If we constantly contract the psoas due to stress, tension, how we sit, etc, the muscle eventually begins to shorten leading to a host of painful conditions including low back pain, sacroiliac pain, sciatica, disc problems, spondylolysis, scoliosis, hip degeneration, knee pain, menstruation pain, infertility, and digestive problems.

A tight psoas not only creates structural problems, it constricts the organs, puts pressure on nerves, interferes with the movement of fluids, and impairs diaphragmatic breathing.

I am sure you are already putting the pieces together that chronically living in the above state does not support a deep connection to your gifts & soul.

The Muscle of the Soul

It is my belief that cultivating a healthy PSOAS doesn’t just help prevent a whole HOST of health problems but also allows us to create space in our body to be a clear channel for spiritual gifts, and actually have a shot at living our design.  In fact, I believe that you can meditate until the cows come home and if you have dysfunction in your PSOAS you will remain disconnected & struggling, stuck in the mind trying to “figure it out”.

Within the Taoist tradition the psoas is spoken of as the seat or muscle of the soul, and surrounds the lower “Dan tien” a major energy center of body.  A flexible and strong psoas grounds us and allows subtle energies to flow through the bones, muscles and joints.  A dysfunctional PSOAS blocks the energy channels & cuts the mind off from the body.

The psoas, by conducting energy, provides an unmatched grounding force, just as a grounding wire prevents shocks and eliminates static on a radio. Freed and grounded, the spine can awaken.  Following Richard Rudd’s work in Gene Keys a free, flexible spine allows us to be in alignment with our Vocation, our true work on Earth.

I do believe that in the chicken or egg analogy a dysfunctional PSOAS causes us to get stuck in fight or flight, disconnecting us from our inner authority, & puts us in constant stress responses making decisions from the mind.  This loop however, has the potential to keep us there unless we take appropriate action, meaning loosen the right muscles & strengthen the right muscles.  Otherwise, inner authority, Vocation, purpose, & alignment remind nice concepts but nearly impossible to embody. 

Fixing This

Now, how a lot of people fix this are two ways:

First, not realize the tightness in the body is the issue & think learning MORE Human Design, Gene Keys, etc is the way to become more connected.  This person goes on rabbit trail after rabbit trail, often ending up in my DM’s being able to rattle off every single “tools” description of self but still feeling “stuck”.

Remember what Ra Uru Hu said, “you cannot elevate the soul without the body”.  If your mind is quite literally disconnected from your body there is no way you are going to “more information” your way to connection.  You are cut off at the most basic level.

Second, people go to Yoga.  Now, I am a Yoga instructor, I do yoga every day, and I am a BIG FAN, especially having Yin Yoga in your practice.  The problem is this:  Generalized stretching has the potential to stretch places that are ALREADY too loose (your back & glutes), and shorten the areas that are too tight (ex forward bends in any position shorten the hip flexors & PSOAS).  This makes your problem exponentially worse!!!

Further, even if you stretch out the PSOAS, without strengthening the glutes (butt) & core, and improving the problem that got you there in the first place, the results will not last long as you will continually default into the weak, tight, posture.

The solution?  An approach that honours strengthening AND loosening… The appropriate muscles!

How I fix it with clients: A truly Holistic approach.  

I BELIEVE in the tools.  I am obsessed with Gene Keys & Astrology, I believe in unique mystical gifts & spirituality.  Yet, I refuse to ignore the body sending clients off for yoga & meditations when their real problem is they need to stretch & pick up weights before we worry about channeling or gifts.

Be willing to spend time getting your body in alignment.  That alignment pays off in being able to communicate with your strategy & authority, being able to move through stress without getting “stuck” (and let me tell you being a business owner has ups & downs, you need to be willing to be able to move with them!), and generally will kick chronic pain out the window.  The truth is, with chronic pain it can be a struggle to show up for yourself daily, let alone your business.  YET, when the pain comes from tightness or body dysfunction it can be fixed, although not overnight.

If you are ready to commit to a Holistic approach to alignment & flourishing make sure to check out my Holistic Human Design offer here:

And get off your butt!  That baby is meant for power, not sitting, and to explore ways to work together please go to: https://www.ashleybrianaeve.com/

Ashley