Don't forget the mind

We know intuitively that emotional suffering can be experienced as physical pain, but many times it is difficult for a person to sort out how emotional distress plays a role in the experience of physical pain, and if it does, what to do about it.

The words "to feel" are used to describe both physical and emotional phenomena. Our nervous system feels physical sensations of temperature, pain and pressure, as well as the emotional sensations of pleasure, fear and grief. However, what often happens is that we have a feeling in the body (physical sensation) and then, seconds later or over time, the cognitive mind translates that into emotional sensations (emotional feelings).

Our Western doctors will try to fastidiously separate the physical and the emotional but leading edge neuroscientists are finding the concept of "psychosomatic unity" abides. This means that psychological and physiological processes form one unit. What we feel in our bodies affects our emotions and perceptions (our consciousness). This means that objective experience of sensations (of pain) can not be accurately assessed without integrating information about the subjective experience (emotion associated with that pain).

Therefore for us to feel well, we must deal with the pain and the emotions associated with it. For example, a 35-year-old woman had low back pain. She had suffered a severe horseback riding accident at 19 while attending college. Her low back area was sensitive and jumpy, making it difficult to practice yoga; she would become upset and tearful when she tried to do yoga.

When we looked at the emotional issues and blocked energy surrounding the accident, we attempted to connect the tension in her low back with her memories of the circumstances at the time of the accident.

She relived the experience, which revealed that she actually broke her back and nearly died after the accident. An additionally traumatic and emotional part of the incident was that her parents, who lived just 800 miles away, never came to see her while she was recovering in the hospital.

When she had worked through the emotions connected with the injury, and could then focus on the physical healing of her body, which had never been fully addressed. Thereafter, when her low back muscle and ligament injuries were worked on, her body could accept the treatment and her condition improved significantly.

Psoas secrets of low back pain

We all recognise the feeling of low back pain. The somatic (bodily) feelings range from dull ache in the bottom of our backs to acute pain radiating down one side and into the leg. It might be tempting to look for the cause of the pain in the back of the body - the low back itself.

However, a common cause of low back pain is found in the front of the body in the psoas muscle (pronounced 'so-as'). The psoas is a long thick muscle that runs along the edge of the lower back (lumbar spine). This muscle attaches to each of the 5 lumbar vertebrae (see diagram left) and then also connects to the thigh; it connects the lower back to the upper legs. It actually has two parts - the iliopsoas - the iliac muscle joins the psoas part way down.

The psoas has two primary functions:

- When the leg is free to move, as when walking, it is a strong flexor of the thigh at the hip joint.

- When the leg is planted firmly, as when standing or sitting still, it bends the lower spine forward. This action is used to maintain the balance of the trunk when sitting.

Those of us with more sedentary lifestyles who sit at desks or in cars for hours, can foreshorten this muscle. In this way poor posture, or lack of proper use can tighten this muscle.When this muscle becomes tight it can put a strain on the lumbar back and cause lower back pain.

With some lower back pain, by lengthening and releasing this psoas muscle the pain in the back is cured. However, running so deep in the body and being such a strong, long muscle, it can be tricky to treat.

Test for Tight Psoas


The psoas is part of a group of muscles called hip flexors, and is partly responsible for tight hips. People who have low back pain when lying flat on the floor in savasana often have tight psoas.


If you have tight psoas muscles this might be causing your low back pain.

Here is how to test for tight psoas muscles (see picture on right):

• Lie supine on the floor (legs extended along floor and back straight).
  



• Bring the Right knee bent and over the chest holding around back of knee with hands
  



• Keep the Left leg extended - toes pointing upwards.
  



• If you cannot keep the Left leg extended during the test you have a tight left hip (left psoas is tight)
  
  Repeat on the opposite side to check the Right hip and psoas.

How Yoga Can Help

In yoga we work hard to stretch and release the psoas in a gentle way. This is done through careful build up and lying and seated hip flexor work and then working towards postures such as Warrior I, pigeon, bridge, dancer etc which all unilaterally or bilaterally stretch and release the psoas if practiced over time.