How to Stretch the Psoas Muscle

By
Jonathon FitzGordon
on September 08, 2022
mature couple walking which is great exercise and also good for the psoas muscle

If you read my previous article, I hope you have a sense of where the psoas muscle is. Since it is deep in your core, many exercises help you stretch the psoas.
 
More important than exercise, every well-executed step is a spinal twist and, therefore, a psoas stretch on the opposite side. Even every breath we take—and again, I have to emphasize that it needs to be a well-executed breath—helps you stretch the psoas. Bend over to tie your shoes? You got it—a psoas stretch.

Stretching the calf can help facilitate pain relief for your Plantar Fasciitis.
Plantar Fasciitis: Yoga for Aching Feet
woman in white sitting in yoga meditation position with candles against neutral wall background
Back Pain: It May Not Be What You Think
group of students practicing Cobra Pose in studio.
A Smart Way to Relieve Muscle Tension
Flexible positive young yogi practicing a Warrior Pose variation.
3 IT Band Stretches for Road Warriors
female office worker in Ardha Matsyendrasana or Half Lord of the Fishes or Seated Half Spinal Twist

Somatic TFL and Psoas Release

The past few years of navigating COVID have been an exercise in letting go of expectations. I am reminded to release what can’t be right now and maintain peace in the face of the unexpected. It’s also given me... Read more
Diverse people stretching their knees and practicing balance in yoga class.

Manage Chronic Pain with Physiyoga

The human experience of chronic pain and illness is non-binary. There is no clean drawing of lines. It doesn’t fit into a neat box of research and evidence. Nor does it fit into a fixed protocol or set of... Read more
Side view of a young woman doing pranayama with her eyes closed. The concept of meditation.

Unlock Your Body: Release Chronic Tightness

Many people ask me how long it will take them to release chronic tightness or get out of pain. I wish I could answer this question, but the truth is that everyone’s patterns of muscular tension and pain are... Read more

Featured Courses

Two yoga students practicing Balancing Table pose
Yoga For Back Pain: Keys to Preventing and Healing Sacroiliac Instability
While millions of Americans suffer from pain in the low back and pelvis, many back and hip issues are actually the result of sacroiliac instability (SI), i.e. an imbalance in the sacroiliac joint, which often goes undiagnosed or is improperly treated. Alarmingly, yoga practitioners appear to...Read more
yoga for hip opening, Doug Keller
Essentials of Safe Hip Opening
Hip openers are among the most satisfying and powerful yoga poses. They hold a tremendous potential for transformation; they can help us release deep-seated tension and trauma of the past, which many of us hold locked in the hip area. When practiced correctly, hip openers are a great way to soothe...Read more
capturing and integrating the deepest aspects of yoga
Embodying Spirit: Deepening Your Practice On and Off the Mat
Yoga is more popular than ever, but as yoga has become a household word, has it also become a mile wide and an inch deep? Are we missing out on the essence of yoga, even as the practice has become a household word? What can we do to capture the deepest aspects of yoga and integrate these into our...Read more
Yoga for the Pelvic Floor: Keys to Lifelong Health
Most people know the importance of core strengthening for health and long-term well-being, but the pelvic floor is an important group of core muscles, which tend to get ignored. “The torso is like a tote bag for your organs,” says Leslie Howard, a Bay area yoga teacher who conducts workshops...Read more
forword head posture can have long term negative health implications

Aging Triggers You’ve Never Heard About: A Common Root Cause of Arthritis and Other Aches and Pains

Julie Gudmestad is a renowned yoga teacher , physical therapist, and C-IAYT yoga therapist with over 40 years of experience. We recently had the opportunity to speak with Julie about why muscle imbalances are... Read more
Elderly woman practicing yoga asana for legs and arms and hands at home on a mat

Chronic Pain? Try Isometric Contraction

In the past few years, more research has gone into the study of isometric muscle contraction and its relationship to pain relief. If that sentence made you say, “Huh?” Let´s back up and review. 3 Types of... Read more
Senior woman in activewear watching online courses on laptop while exercising at home.

Chronic Pain: Retrain Your Brain

I recently read The Brain’s Way of Healing by Dr. Norman Doidge and learned about a fascinating way to retrain how chronic pain is processed in the brain. The approach, developed by pain specialist Dr. Michael... Read more
Plank Pose or Phalakasana using your forearms for support instead of using your wrists

Wrist Pain in Yoga: Here’s How to Alleviate It

Wrist pain in yoga can feel truly debilitating. In modern-style practices, we tend to spend the majority of class time bearing weight in our arms. From ubiquitous poses like Plank Pose (Phalakasana) and... Read more
Female office worker in yoga pose Ardha Matsyendrasana or Half Lord of the Fishes Pose on a chair

Chair Yoga to Brighten Your Work Day

Over the past weekend, I felt like the seasons clicked—warm weather is waning and winter is upon us. For many of us, this means going back to our usual routines, which often involve a lot of sitting. To... Read more
Utkatasana or Fierce Pose a strengthening pose

Healthy Hip Joints: Develop a Skillful Yoga Practice

For decades, my sacroiliac (SI) joint was so completely, chronically out of alignment that at times I literally could not walk. I visited various therapists—a chiropractor, massage therapist, and acupuncturist... Read more
Woman stretching her hands, and taking care of her wrists-warming-up for yoga class

4 Ways to Protect Hands and Wrists in Yoga

Human hands have many skills: using tools, typing, playing musical instruments, giving massages, or using sign language, just to name a few. However, in many yoga poses we make a special demand of our hands,... Read more