(Stay tuned for part 2!) I experienced chronic pain for over 10 years. In some seasons, my whole body would ache, my muscles would burn, my limbs would feel weak. And in other seasons, I found muscles in my body staying tight no matter what I did. Sometimes they would get so tight that my entire posture would change and the slightest movement would cause fatigue and pain. You see, when we experience developmental trauma, or have unresolved emotional pain, our body can communicate the stress that we’re holding via our muscles. This was (and still is) the case for me. The psoas muscle is one of the most underrated muscles in the body. It connects to our lower thoracic spine and the inside of the thigh. Even the smallest impulse to move the leg is driven by the psoas. Without this muscle, we couldn’t lift the leg or walk. And the brilliant thing about this muscle (and our body) is that it prepares for action by contracting. So depending on the action that is needed or the stimulus that we are receiving, this muscle will contract and engage to mobilize us forward or away from something (as in the flight response). It can also contract and stay stuck when it feels too dangerous or inaccessible to move towards or away from something (as in the freeze response) So when our system is stuck in incomplete stress responses or if we are always getting external feedback that it’s not safe to move through this world, this muscle (and the surrounding spaces) can be in a lot of pain Working directly with this muscle is something I have been practicing for years to tend to my own back and hip flexor pain. And when it comes back around during seasons of stress (like it has lately) I have to remind myself that this muscle is not something you can merely force into softening. You have to work gently to meet the muscle and meet the nervous system. In part two of this video, I’ll demo some gentle introductory ways we can begin to move towards this muscle and towards our nervous system to support the organic titrated release of the psoas. Stay tuned 🫶🏼 #somatichealing #somaticexperiencing #chronicpain #chronicpainwarrior #thebodykeepsscore #psoasmuscle #fightflightfreezefawn #nervoussystemregulation #traumaresponse #traumahealingjourney #bodywork #bodybasedhealing