The Psoas and Flexion

The Psoas is the body's main hip flexor which is whybecomes trapped in the body, very often
it is the main muscle of walking but it plays a deepermanifesting through pain and injury to the psoas.
maybe more important role as a flexor. Flexors areWhen the processing of trauma doesn't proceed
muscles that bring one body part closer to anothersuccessfully we can get stuck in the sympathetic
one. Flexion's relationship to the nervous system isnervous system. This affects many functions of the
through our fear response. Our sympathetic nervousbody, specifically the psoas and also our breathing.
system, the system of excitation, from which stemsThe psoas is intimately connected to our diaphragm,
our flight or fight response, manifests through flexion;the main muscle of breathing. Both the psoas and the
like all animals in the wild when startled or afraid webreath can lose the ability to work in an optimal way
automatically react. The psoas is involved in each ofand as a result many of our essential functions can
these reactions.become disrupted. The synergistic relationship of the
Life is traumatic and this is not necessarily a baddiaphragm and the psoas provide tone and stimulation
thing. From the big trauma of being born and takingto many of our organs and when they are not
our first breath to the lesser traumas of day-to-dayworking in harmony the opportunity for dysfunction
life we are here to be traumatized and to oneis increased exponentially.
degree or another develop an inner support systemPhysical troubles are the obvious result of problems
to heal. Like the pulsing of the heart and the ebb andwith the psoas but being stuck in the sympathetic
flow of the tides, the body's trauma/healing interplaynervous system can cause wide ranging and more
is as natural as breathing. When the nervous systemtroubling emotional effects as well.
doesn't successfully integrate a traumatic event it