Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1505456
L i s te n to T h e A B M P Po d c a s t a t a b m p.co m /p o d c a s t s o r w h e reve r yo u a cce s s yo u r favo r i te p o d c a s t s 21 your client has pulled their hip and lower ribs away from each other, offering you more access to the QL and the psoas. From here, begin with the erector spinae group. Sink in and slowly move away from the spine, around the paraspinal muscles, and into the QL. This work is nuanced and requires an acute presence. As you slide anteriorly on the lateral edge of the QL, you will sink farther down and begin to feel the psoas. This is where the magic happens. Ask your client to move slightly into and out of an anterior and posterior pelvic tilt. Have them hike up their hip that is off the table, and then relax. Ask them to lift that same leg off the table and slightly into and out of f lexion and extension. Palpate what the QL and the psoas are doing all the while. REKINDLE THE RELATIONSHIP The work you do will differ greatly from client to client. Feel for what is over- or under-fi ring. Get a sense of how well these muscles can move and shift. But mostly, bring your client's awareness to how these muscles communicate. A once-coupled psoas and QL may have lost touch with each other, but that doesn't have to be the end of the story. Allison Denney is a certifi ed massage therapist and certifi ed YouTuber. You can fi nd her massage tutorials at YouTube.com/RebelMassage. She is also passionate about creating products that are kind, simple, and productive for therapists to use in their practices. Her products, along with access to her blog and CE opportunities, can be found at rebelmassage.com. secretly use that sheet of fascia to encode love notes we have never been privy to.) OK, maybe that's a stretch. Maybe it's not so much about love and romance as it is about function and fascia. But that doesn't mean they aren't deeply connected in ways that, once we understand a little more intimately, we can use to our advantage when working with them. The push and pull of the spine and the hip is not limited to the relationship between the QL and the psoas, but there is no doubt that gifting our clients the connection of these previously isolated structures will be a good thing. WORKING WITH, NOT AGAINST Try this: With your client in the sidelying position, have them move back to the edge of the table closest to you. Ask them to extend their leg that is on the table straight and bend their top leg into both knee and hip fl exion. The degree of fl exion can vary according to what feels easy for your client and how you choose to engage them in this technique. Offer them a bolster to support their fl exed knee because it's good for the spine (and really comfortable). Then, have your client reach up with their top arm to the far corner of the table in front of them. Offer them a pillow to hug with the arm on the table, beneath their torso. This will help them feel more secure about their draping and will distract them if that arm falls asleep. The position you have situated for WATCH: "MASSAGE TUTORIAL: THE QL - LOW-BACK PAIN" 1. Open your camera 2. Scan the code 3. Tap on notification The push and pull of the spine and the hip is not limited to the relationship between the QL and the psoas, but there is no doubt that gifting our clients the connection of these previously isolated structures will be a good thing.