Photo courtesy of Bandha Yoga

Our backs, and specifically the psoas, is a topic that the trainers have posted about many times. They’ve described how it’s used in our body, how we can lessen the tightness with good posture and mobility tips to keep it from tightening up on us.

At one point last year, I had my psoas tighten up on me pretty badly and it took a good amount of time to get it back in order. Since that has happened I spend a lot more time on the stretches that our trainers have posted about or shown us in class for stretching our backs, glutes, hips and hamstrings. Even so, on days when I spend a lot of time at my desk or when I’m working out or lifting with poor glute activation, I notice some tightness in my psoas. Because of this, I’m constantly looking for new ways to take care of my back.

This weekend I noticed some tightness in my psoas, so I did some research and came across a yoga page about awakening the psoas. They awaken the muscle by using a technique called isometric contraction which isolates and therefore “awakens” the dormant muscle. Here’s how they describe how it works:

“The Psoas Awakening Series sequentially activates different parts of the psoas—incrementally and synergistically. When the brain sees a conscious combination of actions like this, it will then automatically use the psoas in unrelated actions.”

If you’re interested in trying out the movements, check out the site here. You’ll recognize many of the movements because they are a part of the mobility work we do in class. Be careful with some of the movements, they’re not simple, so don’t get deeper into a position than you should and don’t do a movement if it hurts in a bad way. Today was my first time trying it, so I’m going to keep it up at least once a week and see if I notice a change. If any of you have found movements that you do consistently that you like to use for improving mobility in that region, please post to comments.

REST DAY 05.20.12