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| Lately I have found what I believe to be the psoas and/or and the hipflexors in a new way. I've never felt my hip flexor in eka pada rajakapotasana before, for example, but now I really feel it.
Ever since I found this (these) muscle(s) I have have been more soar in my back than I've been before. It's not a bad soarness, if you know what I mean, it just feels like the muscles have been forced to work in a new way - in a good way.
Can these two things be connected? I know that the hip flexors and psoas can have great impact on the back, but how does it work?
Remember... Explain like you would to a 5-yearold. 
/Jenny |
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| Hi Jen,
Imagine the pelvis is like a bowl.
It will only be balanced and upright if the quadriceps (muscles at the front of the legs) and the hamstrings (muscles at the back of the legs) are in balance with each other.
If one set of muscles is looser/tighter or stronger/weaker than the other, then the pelvis will be tipped either forward or backwards which will affect our ability to demonstrate certain poses.
It is the same with the psoas muscle.
The psoas is attached between the top of the thigh bone and the lower spine. If it is very tight, then it will cause a lumber lordosis (or a curving of the lower spine).
Jonathon
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| Thanks Jonnie!
So if you manage to start to correct the imbalance between the front and back, that could cause the muscles in the back to start to work differently?
Is the quadriceps and hipflexors "connected", or two "independent" muscles? |
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| The psoas and the rectus femoris (one of the quadriceps muscles) ARE the hip flexors and their action brings the hip into flexion. That is to say when they are engaged and shortening they bring the thigh bone toward the front of the torso.
Edited by purnayoga 2007-07-13 1:55 AM
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| Ah, that explained alot! Thank you!! |
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| I have a chronic lower back issue. I have crushed discs and sacro-iliac joint dysfunction. I know that when I've been in physical therapy (which I start again tomorrow because I fell and made things worse) that I've been told that my psoas muscles were ridiculously tight. Do you think yoga could loosen them and help my SI joint? My joint rotates slightly, kind of like someone described earlier with the pelvis, and then it gets stuck. That pinches my sciatic muscle and causes more intense sciatica. I've been in chronic pain for 5 1/2 years now. I did yoga prior to this but was only a beginner. I brought out my old DVD (Suzanne Deason yoga for weight loss) and did it in it's full modified version but ended up in extreme pain for a week. Does anyone have any recommendations for a better DVD or if I should be doing yoga at all? It sounds like my psoas muscles would benenfit greatly. I remember my PT guy being shocked at how tight they were. He used pressure, literally just used his fingers to press and hold on the muscle and it hurt sooooo bad. If my psoas is looser do you think my SI Joint would become more stable and then I could potentially have the ability to strengthen my back muscles? All recommendations are welcome, especially specific DVDs that I can do at home. Thanks |
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| Hi MCS510
Learning how to stretch and loosen my psoas was the final piece of the puzzle that I needed to be able to manage my SI problems, which had bothered me for years.
A tight psoas will certainly effect the SI joint and learning to relax and stretch it may bring you some degree of comfort.
The challenge is that the psoas can be a notoriously hard muscle to isolate and stretch, so you are likely to obtain better results studying with a Yoga teacher or Yoga therapist privately than attending group classes or learning from a video.
Jonathon
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The back, hip flexors & psoas
