Jenelle Woodlief, Transformational Bodywork

THE PSOAS: YOUR DEEP CORE STABILIZER

If you've spent any time in wellness spaces, you've probably heard someone mention the psoas.

But what exactly is it?

The psoas is a deep muscle that connects your spine to your legs. It helps you walk, stand, balance, stabilize, and move through the world.

It's also closely connected to breathing, posture, and the body's protective responses.

As a bodyworker, I often find the psoas is involved when clients are experiencing:
• low back pain
• hip tension
• SI joint discomfort
• restricted mobility
• difficulty standing fully upright
• chronic feelings of tightness through the core

The psoas is particularly vulnerable to two things:
Sitting
Stress

Most of us do plenty of both.

When we're stressed, our bodies often become more protective. The psoas can become part of that pattern.

Over time, people may start feeling:
• compressed
• stiff
• restricted
• disconnected from their core

This is one reason I often include abdominal bodywork as part of treatment.

The psoas can't always be effectively addressed from the outside of the body alone.
When appropriate, abdominal work allows us to access this area more directly and help restore movement, breathing capacity, and a greater sense of ease.

The body is interconnected.

Sometimes hip pain isn't just about the hip.
Sometimes low back pain isn't just about the back.
Sometimes the story begins deeper.

Have you ever heard of the psoas before?

THE BELLY AS A PLACE OF PROTECTION

One of the things I find most fascinating about the body is how intelligently it adapts to stress.

When we feel overwhelmed, anxious, threatened, rushed, or under pressure, our bodies don't just experience those feelings mentally.

We respond physically.

Many people unconsciously tighten their abdomen when they are stressed.

Think about what happens when:
• you're anxious
• someone startles you
• you're having a difficult conversation
• you're rushing to meet a deadline
• you're trying to "hold it all together"

The belly tightens.
Breathing becomes shallower.
The body becomes more protective.

This isn't a flaw.

It's your nervous system doing its job.

The challenge is that for many people, these protective patterns never fully turn off.

Years of stress, caregiving, chronic pain, trauma, burnout, or simply navigating life can create persistent tension patterns that begin to feel normal.

Many clients don't realize how much effort they're spending holding their abdomen until it finally starts to soften.

One of the reasons I include abdominal bodywork is because this area often reflects how much protection the body has been carrying.

When appropriate, helping this area relax can support:
• deeper breathing
• improved mobility
• greater body awareness
• nervous system regulation
• a feeling of ease that many people haven't experienced in years

Sometimes the body isn't asking for more effort.

Sometimes it's asking for permission to let go.

Have you ever noticed yourself holding tension in your belly?

WHY I WORK WITH THE ABDOMEN

When people come in for bodywork, they usually point to their neck, shoulders, low back, or hips.

Almost nobody points to their abdomen.

And yet, the abdomen is one of the most important and overlooked areas of the body.

This region houses not only our digestive organs, but also the diaphragm, psoas muscles, major fascial connections, and extensive nervous system pathways. It's a place where posture, breathing, stress, pain, movement, and emotional experiences often intersect.

Over the years, I've found that many clients are carrying significant tension in this area without realizing it.

Some are unconsciously bracing against stress.

Some are holding their breath more than they realize.

Some have developed patterns of tension after injury, chronic pain, pregnancy, surgery, or years of simply pushing through life.

When appropriate, I often include abdominal bodywork as part of treatment because the effects can extend far beyond the abdomen itself.

I've seen changes in:
• breathing
• posture
• low back pain
• hip tension
• nervous system regulation
• body awareness
• overall ease of movement

Many later tell me it became one of the most valuable parts of their treatment.

This is the first post in a series where I'll be sharing why I work with the abdomen and how it connects to pain, stress, breathing, the nervous system, and overall health.

Have you ever received abdominal bodywork before?

What if your tight shoulders aren’t just about posture?

What if they’re carrying stress your body never got the chance to release?

I see this all the time in my practice.

People come in with:
• Tight necks and shoulders
• Jaw clenching
• Tension headaches
• Upper back pain
• Shallow breathing
• Constant fatigue

And often, their body has been in some version of “holding on” for a very long time.

Holding responsibilities.
Holding stress.
Holding emotions.
Holding themselves together.

The nervous system adapts to chronic stress by bracing and protecting. Over time, those patterns can become so familiar that they start to feel normal.

Until your body starts asking for attention.

This is one reason I love combining structural bodywork with nervous system-informed care. Because sometimes your muscles don’t need to be forced to relax — sometimes they need support, safety, breath, and space to let go.

Your body is not failing you.
It’s communicating.

And healing often begins when we stop fighting the body and start listening to it.

✨ Sessions may include structural bodywork, Thai-inspired movement, breath awareness, nervous system regulation, deep tissue techniques, and vibrational sound support depending on your needs.

📍 Portland/Tigard, Oregon
🔗 Booking link in bio

Photo by the lovely

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Nobody teaches you how to care for your nervous system, your fascia, or the tension your body has been carrying for years.

So people stretch harder. Push through. Ignore the signals.
Meanwhile the body keeps whispering: slow down, soften, listen.

Here are a few things that actually help your body unwind on a deeper level:

• humming and vibration
• breath that reaches the ribs and diaphragm
• shaking, rocking, and organic movement
• pressure and release through the feet and fascial lines
• safe touch that allows the nervous system to let go

This is why my work blends structural bodywork, somatic healing, breath, and vibrational sound therapy.

Because healing doesn’t only happen through force.
Sometimes it happens through rhythm. Through resonance. Through finally feeling safe enough to release.

Your body is not fighting you.
It’s adapting the best way it knows how.

If you’ve been feeling stuck in chronic tension, overwhelm, pain, shallow breathing, jaw tightness, exhaustion, or that constant “holding” feeling… your body may not need more pushing.
It may need support.

My sessions are designed to help you reconnect with your body, regulate your nervous system, and create space for real relief. 🌿

📍Portland / Tigard, Oregon
✨ Somatic Bodywork • Thai-Inspired Bodywork • Vibrational Sound Therapy • Nervous System Support

DM me “RELIEF” or book through the link in bio.

Photo by the lovely

The nervous system changes posture.

Not just muscles.

Not just “bad posture.”

The nervous system.

When the body has been under chronic stress for long periods of time, it adapts.

The shoulders lift.
The jaw tightens.
The chest hardens.
The pelvis tucks.
The breath becomes shallow.
The hips grip.
The ribs stop moving fully.

Not because the body is weak.

Because the body is protective.

Many postural patterns are not simply structural.
They are neurological.
Adaptive.
Protective.
Learned over time.

This is one reason why forcing posture correction often does not last.

The body does not sustainably soften through force alone.

It changes through safety.
Breath.
Movement.
Support.
Attuned touch.
Nervous system regulation.

Real healing often happens when the body no longer feels like it has to brace against the world.

Your body is not broken.

It is responding the best way it knows how.

✨ Portland/Tigard bodywork for chronic tension, nervous system regulation, stress relief, and deeper healing.

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If you’ve been dealing with chronic SI joint pain or recurring low back tension, you’ve probably been told to stretch more, strengthen your core, or “fix your posture.”

And while those things can sometimes help, many people are missing a huge piece of the puzzle: the front of the body.

One of the areas I often assess in clients with SI joint dysfunction is the relationship between the diaphragm, abdominal wall, pelvis, and psoas muscles.

The psoas is a deep core muscle that connects the legs to the lumbar spine. It plays a major role in pelvic stability, walking mechanics, posture, breathing, and how the body distributes tension and load.

When the psoas, iliacus, and deep abdominal tissues become chronically tight or guarded, they can begin pulling on the lumbar spine and pelvis in ways that increase compression, imbalance, and strain around the SI joints.

This often happens alongside:
• Chronic stress or nervous system overload
• Sitting for long periods
• Injury or compensation patterns
• Pregnancy and postpartum changes
• Hip instability or glute weakness
• Shallow breathing and abdominal bracing

Over time, the low back and SI joints can start overcompensating for a body that no longer feels supported or mobile through the front core and pelvis.

This is why deep abdominal and psoas bodywork can sometimes create profound relief.

Not because we are “forcing muscles to release,” but because we are helping restore movement, breath, circulation, and nervous system safety to tissues that have been gripping for a very long time.

When done skillfully and slowly, this work can help:
• Reduce excessive tension through the hip flexors and low back
• Improve pelvic mobility and support
• Increase diaphragmatic breathing
• Decrease guarding patterns in the nervous system
• Help the body distribute load more efficiently

Sometimes pain is not just about weakness.
Sometimes it’s about compensation, protection, and a body that has forgotten how to soften and move well together.

Most people have been taught to heal through force.

Push harder.
Stretch deeper.
Override the pain.

But the body often responds to chronic stress by tightening, bracing, and protecting.

The jaw clenches.
The breath becomes shallow.
The hips grip.
The chest hardens.

Not because you are failing.
Because your nervous system is adapting.

Real healing often happens when the body finally experiences enough safety to soften.

This is why my work focuses not only on muscles, but on the nervous system, breath, fascia, and the deeper patterns underneath chronic tension.

Sometimes the body does not need more force.
It needs support.
Presence.
Breath.
Slow, attuned care.

Your body is not the enemy.
It is trying to protect you the best way it knows how.

✨ Portland/Tigard bodywork and massage for chronic tension, nervous system regulation, stress relief, and deeper healing.

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If your body has been holding tension for a long time, your breathing has adapted to that.

It becomes:
• shorter
• tighter
• more effortful

And after a while, it just feels normal.

This isn’t something you consciously chose—it’s how your body learned to function under tension.

Massage helps your body begin to unwind those patterns so breathing can feel easier again.

👉 Schedule your session: jenellewoodlief.com