Somatic Psoas Flow

Hi, friends. Warm welcome back for another somatic class. Today, we'll work into the region of our sewers or Elio sewers so our whole low back region and through our hip flexors. For today's session, you might want a couple of blocks for under your hands for lunges, and you could certainly grab a blanket for underneath your knee and those lunges as well. We're going to start on our back so you can roll on down with me. Planting your feet underneath your knees, letting your back body come to the earth, wiggle your shoulder blades a little, And you might let your knees fall a little in towards each other, and your feet go a little bit wide.

Find that place where you don't feel like you're holding onto your legs. Land. First part of somatics is land, and then we locate So letting your body drop into the earth. And we'll do a little bit of mapping if you are unfamiliar with the region of the psoas, the psoas muscles, butress the lower spine, they come from the bottom of your rib basket attached to all the pieces of your lumbar spine. Travel through your pelvis through that hip flexor region and attach to the inside of your thigh bone.

They're an important piece of our core support and spinal stability because they're the only muscle that attach our trunk to our legs. So mapping that, locate that in your body. Take a moment. To let your lower back come a little closer to the floor. Another interesting point about this position is that you're soas is often working most of the day when you're upright, and it can release mostly when you're supine.

So allowing your lower back to gradually drop, this might be an opportunity for you to slow and lengthen your exhale. And there's a rumor that your Iliosauas or sewa's region. Tightens up a little bit with stress. Your sewz is close to all your abdominal viscera, which have a response to stress. And because of that interfacing, it's rumored that the sewers can contract a little bit more. We're when we're in a fight flight or fix state and when we're a little bit stressed.

So for this moment, The invitation is to close your eyes and think about one thing you can push off your plate for this practice. Like, if your plate is full and you can think about pushing a couple of peas off your plate, do that. Let's take a breath in. Take a breath out. So nice. One more breath in.

One more breath out. And the suggestion is to stay in this shape for about 5 minutes. We'll come back to it at the end of class. So now you can roll over onto your right side. And you might take your right arm forwards and put your head on a blanket or out stretch your right arm completely and let your temple rest on your arm.

Your top leg, take the sole of your foot to the floor and slide that forwards, seeing if you can get a footprint to the floor, and try to bring it forwards as best you can contracting the sewas into a little fetal curl position. Then we'll take this this front foot away from us. Until the soul of the foot points away, big toe points away. And then flow that leg and let it swing behind you. When you let it swing behind you, try not to back bend in your lower back and reach that leg behind you, coming into a stretch of the sew as.

And we'll oscillate through that. So sliding forwards until your whole foot comes on the ground will contract into a little ball. You may take head to knee. And then reaching it away until the soul of the foot faces away from you, swinging that leg behind you without bending your lower back. Hip extension.

Let's go for 3. You can curl in. Maybe that's an exhale. And he'll open, feel free to take your top arm and reach it as well. Curl into a little ball for 2.

Reach and notice what's easier and more pleasurable for you to reach or to curl? And in somatics, we can pour a little bit of the opposite in. So if it's easy to curl, put a little more juju into the reach. And vice versa. Okay. Let's rest there. Take a moment.

Land. And we'll go over onto the other side. So you might roll right over. I'm going to flip myself so you can see a bit better. Choose your arm position and bring your knees a little in.

So you're in that little bit of a fetal curl. So top right leg this time, slides forward, seeing if you can stay in that full footprint because you'll be externally rotating your top leg a little bit. And then reach it away. Try not to back bend in your back. Come forward. Slide it forwards.

Curl maybe head to knee, and then slide and reach it back until it floats. You might add your top arm to that. Keep going with it. You can breathe with it. Now as you add that top arm in, your sewz is top of the attachment of it is, near the base of your rib basket.

And when you lift your arm up like that, you're giving a good stretch to the top of it as well. So let's go for 3. You could breathe with it. For 2. Trying to keep your low back very long here and for 1.

Not your self come back into that fetal curl notice the echo of that. And let's roll onto our hands and knees. This is where you could take your blocks to the top of your mat. On your hands and knees, shift a little forwards and back warming up through your wrists for 3. 2.

And one. You can take one or both hands and turn them all the way around. We're somewhere along that circular movement. Maybe move your knees in, put more weight in your legs and go forwards and back for 3. Maybe rounding on the way back for 2.

Maybe lifting the heel of your hand off of the ground for 3. Flip your hands back forward. Shake them out if you need. Tuck toes. Reach back into your down dog. Your breath in.

Exhale it out. Roll into that angry cat plank straighten it out. Slow lower to the earth. You can take your knees down if you like and come on to your abdomen. Stack your hands in front and take your head to your hands. Here, let's imagine that there's, like, a blueberry underneath our belly button And we're trying to lift off of it so it doesn't completely squash.

See if you can maintain that. And then lift one leg and go right to the center of your knee cap, the other leg, go right to the center of your kneecap and reach your big toe line away from you. Try to keep lifting off the blueberry and lift your right leg straight as far up off the ground as you can without squashing the blueberry. There it is. And then lower it down and switch sides. Let's go for 5 each side.

Try to keep your leg as straight as you can, and you might inhale and lift. Exhale and lower. So that's 2. Sometimes I get a little foot cramp when I do this because there's a lot of energy through that inner line of the leg. Stick with it, and I can wiggle your toes if you need to. That's 3.

And continue to put your emphasis unlifting off of that little blueberry underneath your belly button for lift as high as you can with a straight leg. And 5. Now glue your tonals to the floor. Take your hands forward so they can be a little bit wide and reach up into a cobra. Pull your chest forwards, maybe look up.

Think about your belly coming forwards and your hips staying right where they are. Like, a snail coming out of its shell. Exhale come on down, head to the earth, hands by your low ribs, come up to your knees or up to a plank, back into your downward facing dog, your breath in. Your breath out. Get along through your sides, and you can walk, step, hop your feet to the top of your mat. Find length.

Forward fold. Let's come all the way up. Reach. Hands can come in front of your heart if you like. You're invited to come into your heart with a sounded, oh, breathing. Exhale, inhale from home.

Breathe into your hands. Exhale your hands. Buy your sides. Inhale. Circle up. Exhale forward fold.

Make it yours. Inhale that halfway lift Exhale. Find your way back to a downward facing dog. Email angry, cut, plank, straighten it out. You can take your knees down from your legs, wide collar bones lower. Roll through to a cobra or an upward dog, your choice.

And up and back to a downward facing form. Long Brassode. In out. Bend your knees, stub, or hot top of your mat, fine length. Forward fold.

All the way up you come. Release your arms. Arms up. Crap a hold of your right wrist here and side bend left. Inhale to center. Grab ahold of your left wrist inside, bend right.

Inhale come into the center, exhale into a chair form. Inhale into your chair. Exhale forward fold. Find length. Downward facing dog.

Angry cat plank. Straighten it out lower as you need to, you could lower to the floor. Untuck your toes, your cobra, upward dog. In your downward facing dog. Right leg up and back behind you.

Belly button faces the floor right foot for Warrior 1. Plant your back foot on an angle, inhale, rise up. Touch the top. Exhale all the way back down. Angry, cut plank straight, knit out, and lower.

Through to your back then to your downward facing form. Left leg up belly button faces the floor. Left foot for warrior 1. Back foot on an angle. Touch the top, sink into your chair seat.

Exhale. Hold the way back down. Through angry cat plank, make it yours, straighten it out, and lower. Roll open. And ride that wave up and back to the downward facing dog.

You're breath in. Out. In out. Knees bent up or high. Top of your mat.

Forward fold. Bend your knees, find a chair, form, Breathe in, exhale to mountain. Inhale your arms up. Forward fold. Langton.

Downward facing dog. Roll through angry, cut plank straighten it out lower through your upward dog or cobra. Ugh, to your downward facing form. Left leg rises high. Bring your left foot into a low lunge.

So you might grab it, move it forwards back to stay tucked, pulse back through your right heel for 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. Slow lower of your right knee here. And this is where some of you might wanna put a blanket underneath your knee for extra padding or blocks underneath your hand. Let's start to move forwards and back in this lunge. So hips over the back knee, toes might go up, and then forwards, maybe letting a little back been happen back and forwards. Like a little massage for your hips.

This time as you come forward, you might untuck your back set of toes and start to crescent your whole right side over to your left knee. I'm just gently twisting almost like I'm trying to look behind me. Now one more piece to this, instead of letting your hips completely drop and seg to the earth, lift your hips a fraction away from the floor and lift your, like, low belly a little away from the floor as well. So that little blueberry piece lifting off the blueberry and looking behind you, any amount, see what you feel deep into your right hip flexor, the right side of your low back. If you like, you can imagine you're throwing a ball and, like, reach out on a diag and, like, you're throwing a ball diagonally to the left corner of your mat, the left corner of your room.

You can come on back forwards and heel toe your left foot out to the side. So both hands now come on the inside of that leg. You might be on blocks here and go forwards and back again. Again, like you're massaging your hips, bringing hydration and lubrication to that area, your toes might come off of the ground. Make it yours. Go at your own pace. Now let's stay a little forward.

Fall into your right hand and take your left hand onto your left knee. And start to turn. Again, instead of really dropping your hips, lift your hips a fraction, lift off of the blueberry of your low belly and look behind you. If you like, option to make a big movement with your top left hand and bend your back right foot, your back right knee. To maybe reach or clasp.

You might take a breath there, push the ground away with your bottom arm. And circle back forwards. Let's lift up our back knee. Walk all the way around to the long right edge of our mat. I'm just gonna move my blanket. And in a wide legged forward fold, start to bend into your right knee, like you're going into a Skandas in a squat, but you don't. Both feet stay planted and almost try to fit your right armpit into your right knee.

Now if you can take your left hand over to that right foot, you might take a twist with a big bend in your right knee. Take a breath in there and a breath out. And then as you come down side bend, and it's that same sneaky side bend where you're getting into soas on the left side, crescenting that whole left side. You can all hold on to your ankle and get a little roundy over to that side. Walk it all the way around to bend the left leg straight in the right.

Hang out there like you're trying to fit your knee in your armpit. Take a breath. You can put your right hand down, twist left, if you like. Press the ground away, and then grab on to your bent left leg and crescent that whole right side of your lower back. Like you're trying to take the muscles alongside your right spine there. Wider.

Hands down. Work your way to frame your left foot top of your mat and step back into your downward facing form. If you, like, roll through angry cat planks, straighten it out lower down. Your backbend, long, low spine, your downward, facing dog. Right foot high.

Right. Foot forwards into that high lunge, back toe tucked, pulls into your back heel for 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Let your left knee find the earth. This is where you might wanna put a blanket underneath it and blocks underneath your hands if you like. And we'll go forwards and back in that massage for our hips, forwards and back. Your right toes might pop up off the ground. You can do this in your own way.

Make the movements a bit bigger. Make them a bit smaller. And then let's settle in and start to walk our hands a little over to the front right foot. So you're crescenting the left side of your spine. And can you notice if you're really dropping into your hips, or you can find a bit of resistance?

Pull your hips a little bit back. That lower abdominal area cave it a little towards the back of your pelvis. Walk a little more into that sneaky side bend So as loves to find more length and space in side bends and twists. As well as spinal extensions. If you, like, throw your ball forwards on a diagonal, I almost wanna summersault forwards here in this to explore that movement.

Doesn't always have to be lifted up. Find that. And then hand can circle back down to the floor. You can toe, heel, shimmy your right foot over to the side, both hands on blocks on the inside of your footer hands on the floor forwards and back as you're ready. Bringing that hydration and lubrication to your hips.

You might stay with that, or you can come forward. It's fall into your left hand or the block right hand on your right knee. Start to open up into a bit of a twist, push the ground away with your bottom arm, and option to make a big movement. Maybe bend your back, left leg, reach for it, or cat. And, again, lift a little.

Dome a little back through your belly. Press the ground away and roll open. Out of that variation, you can come, lift your hips, lift your back knee, walk all the way around, till you're facing the long left edge of your mat into that wide legged fold. Bend your left knee straighten your right leg. And walk on over.

You can grab your ankle and press at the right side of your low back. Like, you're really reaching more length into your low back. Also lifted a little away from the earth. Yeah. You can take that side bend here falling into your right hand left arm up. And then over to the other side, bending your right knee, straightening your left crescent, dome upwards through the back line of your pants. If you like, you can find that side bend, right arm up, left arm down, and then come all the way around to frame your front foot, shape of a lunge.

And step back into your downward facing dog. You can roll through angry cat plank, lower down into your Chaturanga, or the floor cobra or updog. And then up and back to downward facing form. Your breath in. Your breath out.

Can you get a little longer through your side waist here? And then we'll roll through that angry plank really doming your upper back, straighten it out, and lower all the way to the earth. Take your hands in front. And start to find that lifting off the blueberry, take the center of your kneecap to the earth, reach your big toe line long, And we'll lift up and down through the right leg and then the left five times. See if you can really straighten your legs out, shooting star legs, but maintain all the way through the movement that little doming of your low belly off of the earth.

That's 3. Keep going with it for You might feel your backside muscles and your hamstrings, worley working. That's so great. And five. Hands forwards, toe nails down, reach into a cobra pull your low spine forwards.

Maybe open the front of your neck. Look up as much. This feels good. Really glue your pelvis down and let your belly come forward. It's like a snail coming out of its shell. Come on down.

Hands by your low ribs come up and back into a down dog, and we'll come through to our back body. So You might step hop shuffle. You can take your heels forwards. Hold on to your legs if you want. Let's see if we can crazy glue our heels to the earth and, segmentally, go down sacrum. Low back, mid back, upper back and head.

Legs come in. Let's take our right knee in towards us and really squeeze it in so you could choose to squeeze it in towards your armpit there and straighten your left leg out, if you like. You might feel that gentle stretch to your left hip flexor. Try to locate the inner line of your left leg and reach it away. And we'll do a little active release for our sewers. So as you draw your right knee in, now try to slowly let go of your hands, keep your right leg as close into your torso as you can, you'll feel your hip flexor likely activate. If you want your neck's okay with it, you can curl up Curl up into a little ball pause, maybe even hold your breath.

And then let everything go. And we'll take a moment to jelly roll that right leg And you might even close your eyes and let your body sink. Full release of that side. And let's switch. So left knee in. Squeeze it in towards your armpit.

You can have your right leg bent or durate, reach, curl in, compress, and then slowly let go of the leg, but try to keep it as close in as we can. So that's a big sew as contraction as you might come up, take a breath, curl, curl, curl, pause the breath at the top. And then let it all go. You can jelly roll that leg or even both legs and notice the effect of that. Do you feel any release, any descent of your low back there? And then gradually bringing your feet back into our constructive rest.

So your feet can be a little wide. Your knees can drop a little in. You might wiggle those shoulder blades a little down your back. And what's happening in your low spine now? So, again, land and locate, Do your ribs feel like they're popping up, or does your low back feel like it's a little closer to the floor? Sometimes I like to, do a little heal rock so I press into my heels and and rock my sacrum up and down a little bit, and that can give me a bit of a sense of release.

If there's any stickiness in the back of the pelvis. And you're welcome to close your eyes. And it's the timing and constructive rest. So you're doing it by doing nothing. By allowing your body weight to really fall into the earth.

If you can map that area of the sewas from the back of your low ribs, at the back, close to the floor, buttressing your low spine through your pelvis to attach to the inside of your thigh bone. Can you imagine that whole area dropping, descending, and widening? You might close your eyes, and this is, again, an opportunity to slow your breath. You might even notice a difference left to right. For many of us, we have a difference in tone from one so as to the other. Does it feel like one thigh bone is a little more thunked into the hip socket on one side is one a little more resistant to sink Sometimes it's supportive to close your eyes to really tune in.

Let's take 5 breaths together here before we close our session. So you can exhale your breath Inhale 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, exhale 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, inhale 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, exhale 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 inhale 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 XL 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 inhale 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, exhale 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, inhale, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, exhale 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Free breath. And whatever you pushed off your plate today, You might come back to that. Working with overwhelm so that you might be able to hold more.

If you like here, you can stretch your arms or your legs out long. And then your arms, if you like, of course, you're so welcome to stay there for as long as you need. Can roll to one side. Use your hands to press you up. And if it's a gesture that's meaningful for you, you can let your hands come together at your chest and close your practice with an acknowledgement of showing up for yourself today, perhaps you feel inspired to share the benefits of your practice with other beings and and the earth.

Thanks for being here. Shanti Peace.