Everything You Need To Know About Psoas Major, The “soul Muscle “

The psoas major, or soul muscle, is a large lumbar muscle that passes through the lower back and pelvic area. It is the largest and strongest of all hip flexor muscles. With these muscles, we are able to perform activities as simple as walking, cycling, lying down, getting up, dancing, stretching, squatting, and performing most of the classic yoga postures.

Interestingly enough, and as we mentioned in the title, psoas major is commonly known as the soul muscle. This imaginative and poetic term is based on two key factors:

• The first is that this muscle is one of the deepest muscles in the body. It promotes movement, but above all it enables us to remain stable.
• Another, equally interesting factor is that it is closely related to our emotional life: its task is e.g. trigger tension, channel stress and anxiety.

If you’ve never heard of this soul muscle, the following things are sure to interest you.

The muscle and emotional life of the soul

This muscle structure contributes to balance and the ability to perform wide-ranging movements. We don’t usually notice it, and if we’ve never heard of it, we don’t even know where it is located. In reality , however, we all notice its existence every time we sit for a long time and our backs ach.

We also notice the muscle of the soul whenever our lower back is sore, our pelvis is touched, or there is an incisional pain in the intervertebral discs of our spine.

From pelvic floor to diaphragm: protection, balance and well-being

Psoas major, or the muscle of the soul, is located in the most intimate area of ​​the body, combined with the pelvic floor and diaphragm, and divided into two parts:

• To one deep part that runs from the first lumbar vertebra to the fifth vertebra.
• In one more superficial part, the thoracic vertebrae.

It is also worth mentioning that it not only helps to keep the spine stable, but it is also a very important muscle in attaching the organs in the abdominal area.

• In addition to being a muscle, the psoas major also acts as a messenger to the central nervous system.
• It carries messages about many of our sensations that we feel strongly in the stomach (sometimes called the “second brain”) as it connects to the diaphragm through the muscle membranes, or fascias.
• This muscle of the soul is thus often associated with basic functions such as breathing or fear reflexes, stress and anxiety.

• Thus, an accelerated rhythm of life, with a large amount of cortisol and adrenaline secreted into the blood, causes this large lumbar muscle to tighten.
• It prepares us for an escape reaction – to run away from the things that the brain interprets as harmful or dangerous.
• If we are very anxious or stressed for several weeks or months, this muscle will eventually become tense.

When stiffness becomes in the muscle of the soul, it results in back pain, sciatica, and digestive problems, and even menstruation can be more painful than usual.

Pay attention to the soul muscle and treat it

Prolonged negative emotions are not the only thing that affects the endurance and resilience of this muscle. An immobile lifestyle and poor postures also affect the psoas major muscle as well as the development of back pain and other known ailments.

How can the muscle of the soul be taken care of?

We tell you below.

The right kind of exercises

Many yoga postures aim to restore, maintain and strengthen the balance of the soul muscle.

• Any stretch involving the groin and waist area removes tension from this muscle.
• With the release of the psoas major muscle, our muscles become stronger, our legs feel lighter and our hips more flexible and supple.

• Ideally, you should do appropriate stretches for at least an hour a day.

Bring your knee to your chest or lie on the floor, turn your hips, and move your knees first to one side and then to the other.

As we said, any yoga movement will benefit you, and they will also strengthen the functions of the organs in the abdominal area, take care of your breathing, digestion and heart.

Finally, it is never a bad thing to take care of even these muscles on a daily basis, which – even we ourselves are not even aware of it – affect our well-being so much.

According to many Eastern philosophers, the psoas major, or soul muscle, is the organ that channels energy and connects us to the earth; it is a structure that gives us balance and vitality.

So why not take a little better care of it? The effort is worth it.