BodyworkOnline.com • View topic - Ideas for psoas stretching ...

My impression is that you are jumping to conclusions and casting too small of a net. From what you have shared so far, I agree that your psoas may be a part of the issue, but ONLY part of the issue. Same goes for the diaphragm. I am also concerned about the possibility of pelvic torsion, which I see frequently, and that may need to be resolved prior to everything else.

When addressing the psoas, also consider the possibility that iliacus may be as bad or worse. Movements/stretches intended to lengthen psoas need to be modified to adequately lengthen iliacus. With anterior pelvic tilt, you can be assured that rectus abdominus is affected, and I'd expect to find significant tender spots and possible trigger points at the upper attachments around the lower sternum and costal arch. Your diaphragm may need attention, but it may simply be a victim of your tight/short pectoralis major and minor (especially minor) and upper intercostals.

Habitual shallow breathing tends to be the norm when your shoulders are rounded and your head is projected forward. Do you also tend to clench/grind your teeth? How about headaches? My guess is that we'd find significant tenderness in your lats and infraspinatus too, both of which internally rotate the shoulders, further hunching you and restricting your breathing. When freedom of breathing is restricted, you are always at risk of an adrenal dump in response to perceived threat, real or imagined. I learned this the hard way... and also learned to overcome it.

Fiddling with loosening your psoas and diaphragm alone will not give you the results you desire. Instead, take a full-body approach to reclaiming your natural right to stand upright and breath freely and calmly. Bodywork is great and can help. A comprehensive program of targeted stretching may also help. However, I feel that the easiest, most time-effective approach to self-help for you would be a simple program of daily mobility and breath drills, with yoga and bodywork to supplement them.

There are many products on the market, but the only one I know of that may meet all your (initial) needs is this one: Intu-Flow, available online here: http://www.profcs.com/app/?Clk=2134591. I've used it for years, recommended it hundreds (thousands?) of times, and still stand by it. Practice it daily for a month and see what changes you experience. Do yoga too if you like; Intu-Flow is a perfect warmup/cooldown for yoga practice. I used to teach it as a part of my yoga classes, and it helped everyone, even the advanced practitioners.

Have fun with it! :)

SamCO wrote:Hi-
I have had chronic fatigue for many years and on my own have healed many aspects of this. I just was not getting help. But I also recognize I have very old emotional issues. I am a psychotherapist by training but at the moment have not been working as much as I have been trying to get well and because one of the symptoms I've had many years is panic attacks. I have read in a number of places the relationship between the psoas and panic even from a bodywork person who had them..... with the tightness in the upper ab area, which is my manifestation as well.
I have done quite a bit of reading and its pretty clear that the psoas is the culprit (tilted pelvis, some lower back but mostly in upper ab as I describe below) and I also recognize the significance of the psoas and unresolved and unconscious emotion.
I am not in a position to see a bodywork person right now so am looking for ideas of what I can do on my own to work with the psoas. I sure wish I had the money to, but things are tough right now.
I currently do a few things but want to make sure I am on track. I do a few stretches and some visualizations and a variety of emotional release energy modalities.
One problem is that because of the blocked area in the base of sternum area from the tight psoas its easy to do much because when the adrenals get stimulated... the adrenal energy comes upward into that area at the base of sternum and it can be unpleasant. This has been slow because of that. I want to open the muscle but not create too much stimulation for now until things are more open.
Hope that all made sense :}
thanks for your help
I think info on diaphragm release (yoga or other ideas) would be helpful as well as one responder has suggested.
Sam

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