Yoga Below The Belt - Exercise with the Pelvic Floor in Mind

01/23/2024

If you are suffering with pelvic floor issues and are still waiting for a diagnosis, I feel for you! Hang in there.

01/04/2024

Pelvic floor pressure and pain can increase when you're cooking. Sometimes, people forget to be mindful of their posture (especially the curve of the low back). Other times, they are concentrating and forget to breathe properly. Taking a moment to take a deep breath and to check that your pelvis is neutral can make all the difference to how you feel when you finally sit down to eat.

12/31/2023

My weight lifting students are getting strong and expanding their skills! They requested to learn how to use a Swiss ball... and we start tomorrow. I'm so proud of them!

12/23/2023

A reminder about your pelvic flood during cold and flu season: if you have a setback, don't worry. Rest up, drink water, then get back to your exercises when you're ready!

12/07/2023

Exercise can be scary when you are worried about your pelvic floor. Weight lifting can be intimidating, even if you don't have problems "down there," but lifting weights can also do amazing things for your bone health.

If you give pelvic floor yoga a try and stick with it regularly, you learn how to breathe with your movements and how to position your body for your pelvic health. These two key points to this style of yoga can open up other exercises to you once you get the hang of it.

I like to teach weight lifting immediately after yoga class. This is when the mind and pelvic floor are relaxed. You spend 45 minutes working on pelvis position and breath work, and taking these lessons immediately into weight lifting has huge benefits that can help you lift more safely.

11/30/2023

As a woman with a prolapse, it took a long time to get enough strength to get back into high impact activities. I managed to get back into doing weight lifting, jumping-jacks and jogging. I was ready to move on and try something I've been missing for years!
I showed up to a rowing class and asked about the room, confirming that they don't use flashing lights or strobes because of migraine concerns. I went home, and the next evening, I got dressed for my first rowing activity in a decade and was super excited to see if my pelvic floor could handle it if I paid attention to my pelvis position.
I signed into class, and one of the people I met the day before was there to say hello. She remembered our conversation and left me alone to talk with the instructor. The teacher came in and told me she had lied the day before (unintentionally) and that this was one of the classes with strobing lights.
Ack!
So, I had to go home without trying a new adventure and will try a different class some other time.

I bring this story up as a reminder that life can be full of excitement and that sometimes you can be let down, but that doesn't mean you can't try again! I was a rower in college and LOVED it, even when I was on a machine and not on the water. Its something I would never have thought I'd be up for trying again when I developed prolapse, but after years of pelvic floor yoga and learning how to position my body and breathe to prevent symptoms, I think it's totally doable.

11/29/2023

I've used yoga to help my pelvic floor, calm my mind, and ease my back pain. How has yoga helped you?

11/06/2023

11/03/2023

Don't do yoga to show how flexible you are.

Flexibility doesn't matter!

Do yoga so that you can be comfortable doing the activities you enjoy most.

11/02/2023

It's easier to eat healthier after Halloween when you are allergic to most of the sweets!

Aaaand my family despise brussel sprouts, so I get these all to myself. Yummy!

10/31/2023

It's amazing that a restorative practice of yoga can have such a big impact on people's pelvic pain. It's not a treatment plan, but the benefits are undeniable!

10/31/2023

While pelvic floor yoga isn't a treatment plan, I regularly hear from current and former students that their surgery is no longer needed. In some cases, finding an exercise option you can stick with that helps strengthen and tone the pelvic floor can make a huge difference in your lifestyle.

Pelvic floor yoga has a huge impact and improved my life, and I'm always happy to share my journey and to help others become more active and comfortable.

10/16/2023

Ummm... the pelvic floor is a group of muscles, so it's entirely possible that exercise to relax and/or strengthen can help you.

10/05/2023

No time for pelvic floor yoga?

Taking a break for a few minutes to do pelvic floor breathing can be helpful.

10/04/2023

If you could do pelvic floor yoga 3 times a week and feel improvements within a month, would it be worth your time?

09/26/2023

Kegels are not always the answer!

09/21/2023

When do pelvic floor yoga students typically mention their pelvic floors are improving?

4-6 weeks

09/17/2023

As a half-marathon enthusiast it was TOUGH to give up long distance runs when my prolapse first started. I didn't know how to heal, cried often when I realized I could no longer be active, and just didn't know what to do to heal.

After more than a year of pelvic floor yoga I decided to get back into running with the goal of reaching a mile without stopping. After a few months of plyometrics, easing back into bouncing and feeling no pressure or bladder leaking, I made a plan and got to work. I KNEW it would be a struggle after many years avoiding running, but every journey starts with a single step.

I logged my ups and downs for about a month, and as time passed I became more confident in my body and less fearful of my prolapse. It was hard! This image shows just the first three days of what I tried, and I thought it might be helpful for people to see how I started out jogging on the sidewalks in our neighborhood.