“Let us be clear about this: the legs do not originate movement in the walk of a balanced body; the legs support and follow. Movement is initiated in the trunk and transmitted to the legs through the medium of the psoas. “
Ida Rolf, 1977: Rolfing, the Integration of Human Structures
The Psoas (pronounced so-az), considered by many to be our “emotional” muscle, is the body’s main hip flexor attaching at the back half of the inner thigh, crossing over the front of the pelvis and attaching along the spine at the lower back making it one of only two muscles to attach the legs to the pelvis. As Ida Rolf says above it is the main muscle of walking but it is also intimately connected to and plays a large role in our body’s acceptance and processing of trauma.
Any trauma to the body, big or small, physical or emotional registers in the psoas. This is a normal process as long as we have the means to accept the trauma and move through it. Our body’s ability to think and rationalize can interrupt our nervous system’s natural ability to process trauma. Instead the trauma can become “stuck” in the body and can manifest in painful ways.
Psoas dysfunction can manifest pain in many different ways. Hip, groin and lower back pain can all be caused by an unhappy psoas. Trouble with the psoas invariably leads to problems with its neighbors and relations; nothing in the body works in isolation and issues in the deep core almost always radiate to other parts of the body.
