Sounds difficult but it's not. The process involves releasing the psoas muscle, the largest and main core stability muscle and it's as easy as doing nothing at all. Located at your center, the psoas originates on both sides of the 12th thoracic vertebrae. Spanning down the next 5 lumbar vertebrae, fanning out from that point and surfacing across the hip sockets, the psoas inserts on the lesser trochanter on the back of your femurs. These muscles are, on the average, 16 inches long.

The psoas is located just behind an area referred to as the solar plexus. The solar plexus has been called the second brain because of the ganglia or nerve endings similar to those found in our brain. Many individuals express feelings of emotion that come from this area such as your "gut feeling" or "a pit in the stomach". With its location so very close to the solar plexus, some of the nerve endings are embedded in the psoas muscle. When your psoas is tight and contracted, feelings of unfounded anxiety and stress are prevalent.

The main reason the psoas muscle may remain contracted and unreleased is due to a situation called the fight or flight response. When we encounter a situation of stress, fear or anxiety our bodies react by experiencing an adrenaline rush and our psoas muscles tense in preparation for action. The problem lies in the fact that we no longer fight or flee. In our day and time such behavior is just not warranted. If we did react in such a way, the psoas would reset itself into a relaxed position. Since we do not, most of us must walk through our daily lives with our psoas muscles tight unless we release them manually.

Releasing the psoas is a very simple task. Lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet a comfortable distance away from your body, initiate a gentle pressure into the floor with your feet. Check that your feet and knees are in line with your hip sockets. Imagine the psoas as it is attached deep inside of your body just above the navel, fanning out toward your hip sockets. You may place your hands on the hip bones and gently massage across the crease from your torso to your thighs to aid release. Give yourself time and soften in the lower abdominal area. What is really needed is space and time to relax and release this muscle, transferring the support of the torso from your psoas to the bones where it belongs. Once your psoas muscles have released you may stretch them by reaching behind your thigh with both hands and drawing it in, pointing the knee towards the ceiling. Gently slide the foot of the opposite leg out and continue to do so until straightened on the floor or you feel the hip starting to move with your leg, then stop. Repeat with the opposite leg.