Crystal Prescriptions: The A-Z Guide to Over 1,200 Symptoms and Their Healing Crystals - Judy Hall 2006

The psoas, ’soul muscle’, and the bodymind
The Basics

By learning to relax my psoas I was literally energizing my deepest core by reconnecting with the powerful energy of the earth… the psoas is far more than a core stabilizing muscle; it is an organ of perception composed of bio-intelligent tissue and “literally embodies our deepest urge for survival, and more profoundly, our elemental desire to flourish.”

Danielle Prohom Olson,

www.bodydivineyoga.wordpress.com

The psoas muscle is the core-stabilising muscle of the body, connecting as it does the torso and the legs. It is the major muscle for keeping you upright and moving forward. In addition to connecting the legs and spine, the psoas is energetically attached to the diaphragm and so affects breathing. When the psoas muscle is tense, and especially when it is holding traumatic patterns, it affects your structural balance and your ability to stay in the present moment. It can hold deep seated anxiety and fear, keeping the physical body in permanent ’fight or flight’ mode. In the Taoist tradition, the psoas is known as ’the muscle of the soul’. It holds both soul and ancestral memories within it. This muscle surrounds the lower dantien: a major energy centre of body sited just below the navel. The dantien is where you store your life force and your power, and which is the centre of gravity for your body. Release psoas tension and it can have a dramatic effect on the body in just a few minutes — although nausea, muscle spasm and trembling thighs might accompany the initial release. Peace of mind is restored, allowing the life force energy to flow freely around the body once more. A flexible and strong psoas also grounds you on to the planet, acting like an earthing wire.

Is your psoas contracted?

✵ Do you feel pulled off balance?

✵ Is your lower body twisted away from your upper torso?

✵ Does it feel like you are permanently ’walking against the wind’?

✵ Do you feel like you’re on a boat rather than on solid ground?

✵ Do you suffer from permanent headaches, nausea, vertigo, back or knee pain?

✵ Is there a discrepancy in the position of your knees?

Relaxing the psoas and releasing the past

This exercise utilises your bodymind memory and releases tightness and patterns held in the psoas muscle, lessening the fight or flight response and calming anxiety. It is important that you do not judge the feelings you find within yourself. Simply acknowledge and accept them. Set aside at least half an hour for the exercise and be sure to turn off your mobile phone. It will become quicker the more you work with it. It is helpful to have a friend assist with this exercise at first to place the crystals when appropriate, and also find additional crystals that you may need. If you are working alone, before you begin, place your crystals where you will be able to reach them easily.

You will need:

✵ A heart seed chakra crystal (see the Directory, page 328)

✵ Magnesite or other muscle releasing crystal (see the Directory, page 344)

✵ Two Ancestralite or other deep programming release crystals (see PTSD, releasing fear or flashbacks entries in the Directory)

✵ Flint, Smoky Quartz or other grounding crystal

✵ A heart healing crystal such as Danburite, Mangano Calcite

✵ Selenite or Anandalite

✵ Brandenberg Amethyst

✵ Any other crystal for an identified fear or emotion

A drummed heartbeat rhythm assists this exercise.

Exercise: Healing the psoas muscle

✵ Lie down in the foetal position: legs curled up, head down on your chest, arms wrapped around yourself.

✵ Take four or five deep, slow breaths, breathing right down into your belly and pausing between each in and out breath.

✵ Use your mind to scan your body and your feelings. Do not judge what you find. If there is a pain or tightness, simply acknowledge it. If there is a feeling or deep emotion, acknowledge the feeling, allow it to be there, and notice where it lives in your body. Do not judge it as ’good’ or ’bad’. Simply accept it. Continue to breathe rhythmically as you do so.

✵ After five minutes or so, slowly open your arms, straighten your legs, raise your head and turn on to your back with your arms open and out to the side. Again, notice how you feel, but do not judge. Simply acknowledge and allow.

✵ Move your arms loosely by your side, elbows bent out and palms turned upwards.

✵ Now bend your legs up.

✵ Gently flex your lower back. Raising it up off the floor an inch or so and then allowing it to relax and flatten again.

✵ Straighten your right leg and slowly lower it to the floor. If you can raise your leg and straighten it in the air without discomfort before lowering it, do so. If not slide your foot along the floor. Relax the knee so that the leg is as flat as possible (a cushion under your knees may make you more comfortable).

✵ Flex your lower back up again and then flatten it.

✵ Breathe.

✵ Flex your back once again and then slowly lower your left leg.

✵ Flex your back again and breathe.

✵ Your legs should be slightly parted and in a comfortable position, knees relaxed, feet flopping wherever they feel comfortable.

✵ Place a Smoky Quartz or other grounding stone at your feet (sit up to do this if you are working alone).

✵ Place a heart seed chakra stone at the base of your breastbone and a muscle releasing crystal underneath under your back about a hand’s breadth above your waist.

✵ If you became aware of a strong emotion or feeling or pain or tightness while you were in the foetal position, you can position an appropriate crystal over the site.

✵ Place Anandalite, Selenite or other appropriate light-bringing crystal above your head taking your arms as far up as they’ll go.

✵ Hold an Ancestralite or other crystal in your hands and lay them in your groin crease on either side.

✵ Ask your friend to loosely cover you with a light blanket to keep you warm. Lie still for at least five or ten minutes, preferably fifteen (the time can lengthen with practice). If you become uncomfortable, bring your legs up again and perform the back flexes and legs stretches while keeping keep the Ancestralite or other crystal in your groin creases. (If it becomes uncomfortable, place a cushion under your knees to support them.)

✵ Be aware of the light flooding down through you from the Anandalite or other crystal above your head and the crystal at your feet drawing off discomfort and toxicity and replacing it with light.

✵ When you feel thoroughly detoxified, add the Brandenberg crystal just above the heart seed crystal or on your forehead, whichever feels most comfortable. Spend five minutes or so in this position simply allowing the crystal to amend your energetic blueprint.

✵ Sharp twitches, or energetic releases, are quite common during this process, as is trembling of your thighs. Simply breathe gently and easily and allow them to happen.

✵ If you have appropriate dramatic drum or gong music, you can play this during the latter part of the process.

✵ If you became aware of a particularly strong emotion or feeling during the foetal position stage or at any other time, allow yourself to stay a little longer and play appropriate gong or drumming music whilst holding pieces of Ancestralite in your groin crease. Other crystals or shells that hold deep music within them may be appropriate to place around you. Go with the flow, which may well sound like a wave or moving water. When the feeling has been released, do the back flexes and leg stretches to loosen and release the psoas muscle and return to lie on your back. Place your Brandenberg wherever it feels appropriate and allow it to input the perfect pattern in to your energy field. As each person is unique, you will need to follow your intuition on this.

The psoas muscle anchor

A simpler, but nevertheless equally profound, release is found in the psoas muscle anchor. Once again, do not judge any feelings that arise, simply allow them to intensify and then dissipate naturally as the muscle lengthens and releases.

✵ Place a Smoky Quartz or other grounding stone point down at your feet, point down.

✵ Place a Flint or other grounding stone at the base of the breastbone, point down.

✵ Place Charoite or other knee chakra stones on the knees. Feel your knees relax.

✵ Place a Magnetite or other muscle relaxing stone in the groin crease on each side.

✵ Place Rose Quartz over the heart chakra (just above the Smoky Quartz).

✵ Place your hands over the crystals in your groin creases.

✵ Lie quietly, breathing deep into the base of your belly for five minutes.

This layout also works very well using Celtic or Clear Quartz on all the points.