Have you ever cried during a yoga pose without knowing why?
Or felt a deep, inexplicable tension in your body—one that no massage, stretch, or positive thought could seem to release?
If so, you’re not alone. And you’re not broken.
Recently, I’ve been learning about two of the body’s most underappreciated systems: fascia and the psoas muscle. These structures rarely come up in traditional medical training or wellness conversations, but they hold powerful clues about how we process stress, trauma, and safety in the body. And if you’re on a journey of healing your relationship with food or body, this might be a missing piece of the puzzle.
Fascia: The Tissue That Connects Everything
Fascia is connective tissue that wraps around every muscle, organ, and nerve in your body. Picture a full-body spider web or wetsuit just under the skin. For years, it was dismissed as passive structural support. But we now know fascia is alive, intelligent, and deeply responsive to stress.
When we experience ongoing stress—whether emotional, physical, or psychological—our fascia can tighten, harden, and become dehydrated. It doesn’t just “hold things together.” It literally holds tension and trauma that the body hasn’t had the chance to process. This is why chronic pain, stiffness, or even a vague sense of being “braced” all the time might not just be mechanical—they might be emotional.
The Psoas: The Muscle of the Soul
Then there’s the psoas. It’s one of the deepest muscles in the body, running from your spine through your pelvis to your femur. It helps you stand, walk, and stabilize your trunk. But the psoas does something even more important: it’s intimately connected to your nervous system.
When you perceive danger—whether physical or emotional—your psoas contracts. It’s part of your fight-or-flight response. The problem is, in modern life, we rarely get the chance to “complete” that survival response. We sit for hours, we internalize stress, we freeze. And so the psoas stays tight. Over time, this can lead to back pain, digestive issues, fatigue, shallow breathing, and a sense that something just isn’t quite right.
It’s no wonder the psoas has been called “the muscle of the soul.” It reflects what’s happening inside us—often long before we’re conscious of it.
Why This Matters in Healing Work
This is especially important if you’re doing work around intuitive eating, body image, or emotional regulation. Because when the body doesn’t feel safe, everything gets harder. It’s harder to notice hunger and fullness cues. Harder to make nourishing choices without urgency. Harder to stay present with discomfort instead of numbing it.
And here’s the key: no amount of mindset work can override a body that’s still in survival mode.
Your fascia and psoas may be bracing in ways you can’t think your way out of.
Healing Doesn’t Mean Forcing
If this is resonating, please don’t take it as an invitation to go to war with your fascia or psoas. I’ve made that mistake myself—diving into intense stretching or bodywork before I understood what I was unlocking. The result? Emotional overwhelm and more tension.
What the body really needs is gentle, consistent invitations to unwind.
That might mean slow, mindful movement. Belly breathing. Somatic yoga. Trauma-informed bodywork. Or simply rolling a therapy ball—or even a dog toy—along your arms, neck, or jaw, like I’ve started doing in my own self-care.
The goal isn’t to fix. It’s to create space. To allow your body to complete what it couldn’t at the time. To finally feel safe enough to let go.
The Takeaway
If you’ve done all the “right things” and still feel stuck in your body, please know this:
It’s not a failure of willpower or mindset.
It’s simply your body doing what it was wired to do—protect you.
And now, it might be ready for a new kind of invitation. One that doesn’t demand, force, or fix—but simply says: I’m here. You’re safe. We can soften now.
If you’re curious about how this connects to your own healing journey, or if you’ve worked with fascia or the psoas before, I’d love to hear from you. You can explore more support and resources at wayzahealth.com, or reach out to me at michelle@wayzahealth.com.
Because healing isn’t just about what we know.
It’s about how we feel in our bodies.
And sometimes, the body remembers what the mind forgot.
