I'm on the right path.

I am the self-proclaimed Queen of the Psoas. Deep to the bowels, medial to the iliacus, and the culprit in most low back pain, the psoas major is hard to get to, uncomfortable to work on, and a bloody miracle about 20 minutes after you're through.

To get there (don't try this at home, you need to be trained!), you find a person's belly button. Put both hands on that, then move the fingertips laterally until you've come off the border of the rectus abdominus. Then, as the person breathes out, your hand moves deeper into the abdomen. After some breaths (as few as 3 and as many as two dozen, maybe), you will feel as if you are nearly to the person's spine. If they can fire the muscle by lifting their knee against resistance, you're there. Pin and stretch, a little cross-fiber friction if tolerated, and voilá, that puppy will release.

Enough of the technical stuff. The joy of finding and working on this muscle is that it brings relief. Sure, working it requires the client to do some focused breath work, and may cause a bit of what I call therapeutic discomfort, but the results are boy, howdy. After the massage, and some time to settle, the person will find that their low back pain is diminished to some degree. Their ability to stand up from bending over will be much more fluid, without as much of that stabbing feeling. Sometimes, the pain goes away altogether, and stays away for several days. Of course, body holding patterns, daily repetitive movements, and postural issues can return the muscle to a shortened state. That's when your client comes back for more.

In the last week, I've had three people love me for my psoas work. Now that the whole class knows how to get in there, I'll be asking for it from my classmates whenever I can.

All hail, the might Psoas muscle. May it lengthen and shorten for all of its days! Hip flexion hurrah!