Reboot your body for the new year!
Have you given your body a reboot yet this year? It’s important to do so and give your body time to reset, especially after a long day at your desk. By engaging those muscles that haven’t been activated, you can encourage your body to return back to normal alignment, and help prevent pain and injury from overuse. In this week’s Quick Tip, Jenny will demonstrate the Standing Reboot exercise to target those unused...
read moreHow’s your core stability?
So much in the body draws strength and protection from the core. So, in this week’s Quick Tip, we’re focusing on how to work towards more stability in this crucial area of the body. Core stabilization is important for many of us — but can be of special concern for athletes, anyone with low back pain/stiffness, and anyone who sits at a desk or drives frequently. In this week’s Quick Tip, Jenny and Chris guide us through the Bird Dog Exercise, a great warm-up to get the core ready for changing conditions. Doing regular...
read moreAre you caring for your body?
During the holidays, we sometimes feel too busy to schedule bodywork, or even to pause and stretch. But this season can also provide an opportunity. As we take a break from our desks, we can choose to reflect on our usual work-related postures, and explore ways to shift them. In this week’s Quick Tip, Jenny and Derek show us a movement to support that exploration. The Thoracic Extension with Foam Roller exercise is a great way to activate the muscles of the upper back, which often get weak when we spend a lot of time in forward-bending...
read moreDo you want to celebrate Wellness Friday?
Sometimes it seems the holidays offer us a difficult choice — between caring for ourselves and caring for others. Though we know our own wellness is deeply connected to that of the people around us, it can be difficult to remember in such busy times. That’s why we’ll be celebrating Wellness Friday the day after Thanksgiving, and making a weekend of it. If you schedule yourself a session for Friday 11/29 – Sunday 12/1, we’ll offer you a 10% discount on up to 3 gift certificates for family and friends. We hope this...
read moreDo you know the benefits of prenatal massage + core work?
At Psoas, we have a variety of clinical tools to support soon-to-be mothers—from massage therapy, to neurologically-based bodywork, to chiropractic. Many of our prenatal and postpartum clients also ask for advice about healthy and safe exercise. So we’re excited to share special resources from our amazing partner, Holly Furgason at Blue Sparrow Pilates. We’ve been partnering with Blue Sparrow and sharing clients for many years. Along with a variety of classes, they offer great prenatal and postpartum instruction. And now, they’re...
read moreQuick Tip: Is your low back sore?
Our low backs can get sore and achy for a number of reasons — whether we’re sitting at a desk for many hours, or standing for long periods of time. Whenever we stick around in any position for too long, the low back can miss out on the the kind of movement that keeps it healthy, strong, and limber. In this week’s Quick Tip, Jenny Lightstone and Psoas therapist Derek Lozupone demonstrate a great way to bring safe rotational movement into the low back. The Single Leg Windshield Wiper exercise activates the core, stretches the...
read moreQuick Tip: Are you ready to surf?
Did you know that Jenny Lightstone (Psoas owner) and Chris Ludwig (Psoas therapist) are both surfers? They love thinking about ways to keep the body wave-ready, and this week’s Quick Tip does just that. The Butterfly Stroke Exercise activates the muscles of the upper back — including the traps, lats, rhomboids, posterior deltoids, and certain rotator cuff muscles. But this exercise is also great for those of us who’ve never touched a surf board. The muscles of the upper back often get weak when we spend a lot of time at...
read moreQuick Tip: How Loose are Your Lats?
When was the last time you loosened up your latissimus dorsi (a.k.a “lats”)? The lats, among the widest muscles in the human body, extend from the mid-back all the way up to the shoulder joint. When these broad muscles get tight, it can contribute to chronic back tension and restricted range of motion around the shoulder. And we’ve seen this affect many of our clients — from desk workers to drivers to crossfitters. So in this week’s Quick Tip, we’re demonstrating a release for the lats using a foam roller....
read moreQuick Tip: How well do you know your nervous system?
Our bodies are enormously complex. And it’s not just about the bones, muscles, and tendons. It’s also about the nervous system, which transmits sensory information between the brain and all corners of the body. Sometimes, working directly with the tissue and bones is not enough. We have to focus on the neurological impediments to recovery and well-being. That’s why our clinical team is always thinking about how massage speaks to the nervous system. But we go deeper than that, too. When our tissue therapists identify physical...
read moreQuick Tip: Want to address your neck tension at home?
This week we’re getting a-head of neck tension (pun intended) by discussing an important set of muscles that stabilize the head. The sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscles run from the bottom front of the neck all the way up to the ear. And they can become chronically tight when you spend long periods with your head leaning forward — whether sitting at a computer or looking at your phone. When this tension goes unaddressed, it can cause further pain and tension throughout the neck, shoulders, and back. If you want to...
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