Yoga JournalUSA-January-February_2017

44

february 2017

yogajournal.com

ANATOMY

practice well

Body of knowledge

By Ray Long, MD

How can I best strengthen

and stretch my psoas?

RECTUS

ABDOMINIS

PSOAS

ILIUM

ILIACUS

LESSER

TROCHANTER

OF FEMUR

FEMUR

EXTERNAL

OBLIQUE

THE HUMAN BODY IS somewhat of a mad scientist. Case in

point: the way our muscles work. Some muscles are easy

to consciously access, meaning they take direction from

us. For example, you can intentionally spread your toes in

Tadasana (Mountain Pose). But other muscles work more

autonomously, with no apparent direction from the conscious

mind—like the muscles working in the background to main-

tain your posture. These muscles are more diffi cult to access

intentionally because their function involves tasks we have

long since relegated to the unconscious mind.

One such muscle that works mostly in the background

(or unconsciously) is the psoas, a core muscle that’s part of

the all-important hip fl exors and that helps to stabilize the spine.

Why does such a big, important muscle have such minor repre-

sentation in the motor cortex of the brain? It’s all about energy

effi ciency: We use our psoas to sit down, stand up, and move

from lying down to seated; we use it to walk, run, climb, and

twist our torso. From a very early age, we use the psoas so much

that the brain reassigns it to the level of “background function,”

where movement occurs without conscious thought.

From my experience, few people are able to engage their

psoas voluntarily (like when you contract your biceps to “make

a muscle”). This may be because its actions become habitual

during infancy. Yet here’s the good news: You can learn to con-

sciously utilize muscles that tend to do their own thing, and

when you do, it can transform your yoga practice. Take Utthita

Trikonasana (Extended Triangle Pose) to the right side, for

example. When fl exing to the right, you could simply use grav-

ity to move your torso over your leg. However, learning to “turn

on” your psoas to consciously fl ex your trunk provides muscular

stabilization for your spine, pelvis, and hip that ultimately helps

you fi nd the fullest expression of the pose.

To start to awaken your psoas, it helps to know where it is

in the body. This muscle originates from the twelfth thoracic

vertebra (T 1 2) and the lumbar vertebrae (L 1 through L4, with a

deep layer originating from L 1 through L5), and it runs along

either side of the spine, behind the stomach, intestines, and

continued on page 48 PHOTO: RICK CUMMINGS; ILLUSTRATION: MICHELE GRAHAM