Psoas and how the hips store emotion and trauma

Have you even been in a yoga class and heard that the hips store trauma but never really understood why ?

I hope to shed a little light on this phrase and understanding the somatics of emotions being repressed and expressed in the hips .

The psoas ( seat of the soul )

Many types of pain can be linked to a dormant or tight psoas muscle, especially because it stabilizes the spine and affects posture. In this case, your lumbar spine may lose its natural arch by becoming overly flattened or overly curved.

Nestled into the psoas are the kidneys, responsible for filtering toxins in the body, as well as the adrenal glands, which control the fight, flight, or freeze response.

The fight, flight, or freeze response is your body’s natural reaction to perceived danger. When you’re under any kind of mental or emotional stress, your psoas muscle responds by tightening.

Even after the stress is gone, the tension may still linger in the body and hip area, contributing to things like headaches and lower back pain.

That gut pain and fear make you curl up and hide, so you’re going to be contracted. We emotional contract and pull away and out body also contracts deep within .

E-Motions ( energy in motion ) are electrochemical signals that carry emotional messages throughout the body. They are then expressed, experienced, and stored within the body and mind.

This can influence activity in the brain and change the cell to either have a positive or negative effect on the body.

Considering the psoas link to the fight or flight response, it’s understandable that stress might get “trapped” there.

Furthermore, the hip region is associated with the sacral chakra, an energetic center believed by some to house creative energy and sexuality. It’s also linked to how you relate to your emotions and the emotions of others.

The hips are an important storage vessel of emotional stress because of the psoas’ link to the adrenal glands and the location of the sacral chakra.

A blocked sacral chakra is said to lead to emotional instability as well as reductions in pleasure. When the hips are tight and contracted, it’s possible that sacral energy that’s not expressed remains stuck.

Listening to your body

Through somatic experiencing, a type of therapy that emphasizes the mind-body connection, you can learn to notice and make peace with bodily sensations.

Working through the pain and physical symptoms can help you get in touch with their underlying psychological causes.

“That work is embodiment work, it’s where you sense it, you feel it, you then also move from it,” Eddy says. “And then either embracing it, working with it, or negotiating with it to make changes…whatever the cause, it will reveal itself in its deepest level.”

Ways to release old emotions in the hips

There are several ways to release fear, trauma, and stress associated with tight hips. These include:

• somatic exercises

• yoga

• stretching

• mind-body practices

• massage

• somatic experiencing therapy

My somatic healing sessions are centered around releasing blockages in the body and bringing it back into alignment and harmony. Booking a 60 minutes session might be exactly what you need to deepen the connection and start releasing what’s stored .

Follow the link here for more info and to book your session https://www.becomethedreamseeker.com/book-online

Somatic exercises

Somatics offer a way to enhance the mind and body connection.

These body-awareness practices involve focusing on your inner experience as you perform intentional exercises.

Somatic exercises include:

• rolfing

• shaking

• Yoga NIA https://www.becomethedreamseeker.com/post/nia-neuromusculare-integrative-action-is-joy-in-motion

• Body-Mind Centering

  
  

Embodied movement is very important for releasing held emotions. By expanding your internal awareness, you can listen to the cues your body sends about where you may be storing stress or imbalance.

Movement can be used as way to activate the lymphatic system to aid the transit of white blood cells throughout the body.

When it comes to the hips specifically, the key is to get the spine moving.

You want to contract and lengthen [the psoas] and get it moving like an accordion,emphasizing full body involvement.with the leg but with the whole spine.

Dance and vinyasa yoga aew a wonderful way to create fluidity as it involves the movement of the entire spine. I would also recommend sideward movements like twists and rotating the body to activate the psoas.

Yoga, stretching, and mind-body practices

Practicing yoga is another way to release tension in the hips and get the full body moving.

Some good options include:

• sun salutations

• pelvic stretches

• hip flexor stretches

The flowing postures and synchronistic breathing of sun salutationsTrusted Source help move the spine and open up hip flexors.

In addition, pelvic stretches like a ground bridge with pelvic tilt can be therapeutic if you’re experiencing psoas pain.

There are also plenty of hip flexor stretches and exercises you can add into your daily routine, such as lunges and seated butterfly stretches.

Other practices that can aid releasing tension and increasing the mind-body connection include:

• qi gong

• tai chi

• aikido

• dance

• Pilates