Yoga to Release the Psoas & Hip Flexors

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It's time for another yoga class - hooray! Today's video is  called "Yoga to release the psoas and hip flexors." In this sequence we will relax and release tension in the psoas and melt away stress with slightly longer holds to get deep into our tissues and modification options to make the class accessible to all levels.

There's a lot of talk out there about "releasing" the psoas, sometimes with pretty forceful manual techniques. Yikes! Don't worry, we won't be doing any of that in this class! To understand how to relax the psoas and why it's so important to do so, let's cover some basic info about this important set of muscles.

The psoas is the largest hip flexor and the body's deepest muscle. You have two - one on each side of the body - and it's the only muscle that directly connects the lower and upper body by attaching to the thoracic spine near the bottom of the rib cage, coming across the front of the pelvis, then attaching to the thigh bone. The psoas is deeply wired into the sympathetic nervous system and gets fired up when your "fight or flight" reflex is triggered. Stressful situations cause your psoas to tense and ready for action, which is good if you're running away from a tiger, but bad if you're getting worked up over the email refusing to load! Sitting for long periods can lead to a short, tense psoas and, because of how it's so closely connected to the sympathetic nervous system, a tight psoas leads to more feelings of stress. It's a vicious cycle!

In this class, we'll get comfy out and allow the abused psoas to relax, then we'll get into some more active stretching of the psoas and other hip flexors. You can watch it here, or hop on over to YouTube. Without further ado: yoga to release the hip flexors and psoas:

Also, I would just like to add that I'm very sorry about the shifting colors and audio that isn't quite as perfect as I prefer! I used an "auto" setting on my camera and was not at all happy with the result. I'm very sorry and I won't use that setting again!

I hope you've enjoyed this slower-paced practice! Please leave a comment here or over on on this page. Thanks for watching and I look forward to seeing you in class again soon!