I was at the physio the other day, getting some help with my lower back.
He explained that the problem was with my psoas. I said, ‘Don’t talk to me like that! You’re half my age.’
And he said, no, the psoas is a long muscle that runs up from the legs through the front of the hip and connects to the base of your ribs.
Modern life has us sitting down so much that our psoases have become short and overactive.
And when they start pulling too hard, the places that they’re pulling on, particularly the lower back, get sore.
It happens to a lot of people.
And so even though I had come in to fix my back, my back was actually doing ok. It was my psoas that was causing all the trouble.
My back wasn’t under-active. My psoas was over-active.
I think this gives us a really interesting way to think about pain, and all the causes of misery in our life.
Just like your body, every element of your life is in complex relationship with everything else.
You have to provide for your family. You have to have fun and do things that nourish your spirit.
You have to serve your community and find the best cheesecake in town…
You – are a total multi-tool. And anything you do in one aspect of your life, affects every other aspect of your life as well.
And so you might be thinking, I’m not having enough fun. I need to do more fun things.
But maybe the problem isn’t an under-active ‘fun’ function.
Maybe the problem is an over-active work and duty function.
Maybe that’s what’s pulling your life out of balance.
Or maybe you’re not feeling creatively expressed. But maybe the problem isn’t an under-active creativity function.
Maybe it’s an over-active conforming-to-expectations function.
Maybe that’s what pulling your life out of balance.
And if that’s true, maybe the solution isn’t to do more – maybe it’s actually about doing less.
Maybe it’s about relaxing and powering down whatever it is that is running too hard.
So take stock of your life and where you are at right now.
Maybe the key to more balance and harmony is actually about taking it easy and doing a little less.
And, if we’re honest, doesn’t that just seem more likely?
DB