Why A Psoas Release Should Be Gentle

It’s not uncommon to have an emotional release during or after an ‪‎abdominal massage‬. Our structural alignment is affected by our emotional state and vice versa. As we begin working on our physical alignment, we may also experience emotional changes. Our psoai (or psoas if you prefer) can hold the fear response. These deep muscles aid us in escaping danger or curl us into a ball to protect our internal organs. Bullying the psoas muscle into lengthening through intense stretching or deep massage can be upsetting both emotionally and physically. I prefer a gentle approach to the psoas release.

My personal story. When I was seven years old, my older brother and I shared a bunk bed. I was supposed to sleep on the bottom bunk, and Jimmy shared the top bunk with his skateboard. One night, we switched beds, and I slept on the top bunk, rolled off, and crashed to the floor in the middle of the night. I was in excruciating pain and couldn’t stand up. I managed to wake Jimmy with my screaming. Knowing we might get in trouble for switching beds, he climbed over me to his bunk. He pretended nothing happened while I crawled into the lower bed. As I lay there in pain, waiting for dawn, I created a story about why I suddenly lost my ability to walk. “I’ll say I tripped on Jimmy’s BB gun, the one he so carelessly left on the floor. Now it’s his fault I’m paralyzed. (I wasn’t really paralyzed, just being dramatic.)”  I thought about how Jimmy would get into trouble, and I would receive a lot of sympathy and attention. I dreamt of sitting propped up by fluffy pillows, eating ice cream, and receiving visitors who would ask how I was doing with soft, drawn-out voices, pained expressions, and tears welling up in their eyes.

My fantasy of being showered with loving attention came to a crashing halt in the morning when my mom accused me of faking and told me to “get my ass out of bed” and stop crying or she would “give me something to cry about” (her favorite phrase). I finally fessed up and told her the truth. I knew she felt bad for not believing I couldn’t walk, and I also knew I could use this to my advantage. I could get mileage out of this one for sure! “…remember the time I almost died and you yelled at me?”

At the hospital, my parents left me alone with the X-ray technician. I’ll call him Jerk. Jerk said that I couldn’t wear my underpants during the X-rays and “no, my mom can’t be in the room with me.”  He firmly positioned my legs on the cold metal table in preparation for the X-rays. I was exposed and vulnerable. My body reacted by closing my legs together and rotating my leg internally, to hide my “private parts”. I do not believe it was a conscious movement. I am sure it was part of a whole-body reaction, not just my internal rotators. That movement was just the beginning of a larger protective movement halted in mid-motion. It wasn’t safe to flee or curl up in the fetal position. 

I wasn’t able to act on my body’s urge to escape, so I (my tissues) absorbed that moment. I remember telling Jerk (and firmly believing myself) that I wasn’t moving!  Jerk, however, had a different opinion and was becoming more frustrated with me. He kept lifting my leg and forcefully rotating it out and down, over and over again.  By the way, my pelvis was fractured, so every movement was excruciating. I just wanted it to be over. Boy, was I pissed! I did not act out or show my anger. How could I? I was seven, and Jerk was likely four times my age and size. I was angry at Jerk and angry at my mom for not protecting me. I know now that it wasn’t her fault; she would have been in the room if Jerk had allowed her to be. I was a cauldron of repressed anger, fear, and shame. My body still remembers that incident, the fall, the X-rays, fear, vulnerability, and being alone. My right leg still occasionally turns inward. However, each time I improve my alignment and do my psoas release, I feel a bit freer from old emotions. It’s a process, not to be rushed.

Years ago, an overzealous massage therapist put her elbow in my belly trying to force my psoa to release. In response, my muscles tried to push her out. She laughed lightly as if I were being silly and told me to breathe through it. I spoke up for myself and said, “no, that’s not okay and by the way, get your frickin’ elbow off my ovary!” (The ovaries lie directly over the psoai.) My psoai have taught me how to respect my boundaries with my voice so that my body doesn’t have to recoil in fear. When I approach the psoas release with TLC,  the TLC I needed when I was seven years old, my psoai (me) can let go. I am my psoai, my psoai am I.

To release the psoas (see image below): Place a Yoga Bolster (Amazon Link) under your shoulder blades. If your hamstrings still don’t touch the floor, stack wool blankets on top of the bolster until your upper body is elevated enough for your hamstrings to rest flat on the floor. Prop your head up with a towel so your neck isn’t in extension. Then do nothing. This is a release, not a stretch. Rest until you feel your ribs relax toward the floor. It may take 5-20 minutes or more. You should do this in a calming environment, so Do NOT watch Bruce Willis movies during the psoas release. Do NOT do the psoas release with toddlers, puppies or baby goats in the room. Do not drink coffee before attempting to release your psoas. Once you have released your psoas rest flat on the floor for a few minutes. Notice the difference? Are your ribs and hamstrings down?

Sitting for long periods of time, aggressive abdominal massage, rib thrusting, a posteriorly tilted pelvis, positive-heeled shoes, and caffeine all negatively affect the psoai, so be kind to yourself and make changes where needed. Do your restorative exercises and psoas release with compassion for yourself. Learn self-abdominal massage and practice Radical Acceptance (Amazon Link) , exploring, expressing, and healing. I discuss methods to address trapped emotional energy in the belly. I also teach abdominal massage in the Womb Care and Free the Belly online abdominal courses.