Pelvic Floor - to Kegel or not to Kegel?

My attention was recently brought to the Mama Sweat blog and a post about the pelvic floor. I feel like my world was blown up after reading this:

Mama Sweat: And kegels. Everyone on my blog has heard me preach about kegels. I want to make sure all my readers are doing them right. Suggestions?

Katy Bowman: A kegel attempts to strengthen the PF, but it really only continues to pull the sacrum inward promoting even more weakness, and more PF gripping. The muscles that balance out the anterior pull on the sacrum are the glutes. A lack of glutes (having no butt) is what makes this group so much more susceptible to PFD. Zero lumbar curvature (missing the little curve at the small of the back) is the most telling sign that the PF is beginning to weaken. Deep, regular squats (pictured in hunter-gathering mama) create the posterior pull on the sacrum. An easier way to say this is: Weak glutes + too many Kegels = PFD.

What??? Everything I thought I knew seems wrong all the sudden. Well, not exactly. After reading this interview and visiting Katy's website it turns out that many of the things I have learned and taught about the pelvic floor are in alignment with what Katy teaches but I had never thought about the sacrum being pulled toward the pubic bone as a result of over tightening the pelvic floor and thus creating a loose/hanging pelvic floor.

Read the whole article here.

Apparently this topic was so popular Mama Sweat did a follow-up interview to clarify a few points. Here's a quote:

Back to Dr. Kegel. Now he had all these women who were noticing weakness and invented the Kegelizer, or something like that. It was equivalent to the Kegel-exercisers you see now. Just insert and squeeze. The squeeze improved the lost mental connection between a damaged PF and one that was firing correctly. Firing correctly meant that when the PF was done contracting, the muscles could restore to their optimal length. This part of Dr. Kegel’s research protocol has been left out and the only part that has been passed on is the contracting part.

Science Note: The muscle tissue in your PF is the same as the muscle tissue in your biceps. When you’re done realllly working your biceps, you’d like your arm to go back to its original length, right? What if, when you were done doing your curls, your elbows stayed as bent as they were when your muscles were the TIGHTEST? If you equate strong with tight, then you’d have “strong,” contracted arms with bent elbows all the time. Tight muscles. Unusable arms.

That’s not what TONE is. Tone is having the MOST strength and the MOST length.

Doing Kegels all the time will get you a TIGHT, unusable pelvic floor. This is why people’s ORGANS ARE FALLING OUT OF THEIR BODY.

Read the whole article here.

Well this is making sense to me now. Yoga teaches us that a strong muscle is toned not tight and stress is not strength. I biked a lot this summer and I found that I "felt it" in my inner thighs and butt. I know my pelvic floor is strong (or perhaps over strong) and after biking I realized how much I needed to tone some of the other major pelvic girdle supporter muscles. These articles are falling right in line with what I have been feeling in my own body. Excellent couple of articles on pelvic floor health.

If you are interested in learning more about toning the pelvic floor, pelvic girdle and the "helper muscles" here is a link to a series of articles I wrote on this topic:  Restoring and Rebuilding the Inner Core.

Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part VII - Incorporating the Helper Muscles

In the last two posts we learned to isolate our adductors (inner thigh muscles) and our abductors (outer thigh muscles). Today we will combine the two practices.

Exercise 7: Building Strength and Stability in the Adductors and Abductors Simultaneously

Setting up:
Start by laying on your back on the floor with your knees bent. Find a neutral pelvis - hip points and top of pubic bone are on the same plane. Do a couple of pelvic tilts and tucks to find neutral. When your pelvis is in a neutral alignment you should have a slight curve in your lumbar spine, just as you would when standing.

Find a regular, steady breath and practice a few rounds of inner core engagement in conjunction with the breath (Exercise 1).

Working in the pose:
After establishing your breath and your inner core engagement, I want you to find your hip flexors. These are the muscles that fire when you lift a leg. Put your fingertips at the hip crease and take a few "marches" to find these muscles. Now that you have found them, I want you to not use them.

First, take a block and place it between your inner thighs so that your knees and hips are in alignment.  Second, take a yoga belt, create a loop, and fasten the belt around your mid to upper thighs.

Keep your fingertips at your hip creases and begin to gently press the thighs both into the block and out into the belt without activating the hip flexors.

Take about 5 breaths of holding this engagement and then release and then take a break. Practice this 5-10 times, or until you feel mildly fatigued.

Adding load to the pose:
To add on to the pose, we will set our selves up the same way: lay in constructive pose with the belt snug around the outer thighs and the block placed between the inner thighs. Find Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha and maintain a neutral pelvis: hip points equidistant from your lower ribs, lumbar slightly curved - not over tilted and not smooshed to the floor.

At this point, press the legs gently into the belt and squeeze the block lightly between the inner thighs. You are pressing out and squeezing in at the same time. Lift your bum up in the air, coming into Bridge Pose. Maintain both the adductor and abductor engagement as you hold Bridge. You can also try lifting and lowering in a flowing pattern. Work here until you feel slightly fatigued. Keep your jaw soft, shoulders soft, and maintain an easy, smooth breath.

Finishing:
To come out of the pose, slowly lower to the floor with a neutral spine. Remove the belt and block and take a minute to lay flat to let the spine settle. Help ease your transition by slowly tick-tocking your knees side to side. Finally, take any finishing movements that you like: windshield-wiper knees, reclining bound angle, a long stretch, a bundle roll hug, gentle twist, etc.

Homework for Restoring the Core: 
(click lesson links below to review)
1) Pelvic floor lifts: 10 each, 5 times a day from any position: sitting, standing or laying down.
2) Heel lifts or toe taps: 5-10 on each side making sure to keep the pelvis stable and neutral and maintain an easy breath.
3) Spine awareness through exaggerated arch and curl.
4) Strengthening the spine through dips and lifts from Bridge Pose.
5) Strengthening the inner thighs by taking Bridge Pose with a block.
6) Strengthening the outer thighs by taking Bridge Pose with a belt.
7) Combining #5 and #6 and doing these two exercises simultaneously.

Previously:
Lesson I: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part I - Finding Mula Bandha
Lesson II: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part II - Strengthening Uddiyana Bandha.
Lesson III: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part III - Finding the Deep Muscles of the Spine.
Lesson IV: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part IV - Stretching and Strengthening the Deep Muscles of the Spine.
Lesson V: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part V - Incorporating the Helper Muscles
Lesson VI: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part VI - Incorporating the Helper Muscles

Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part VI - Incorporating the Helper Muscles

In the first 4 posts on Restoring and Rebuilding the Inner Core, we covered the "Core 4":  Mula Bandha, Uddiyana Bandha, the respiratory diaphragm, and the Multifidi.  In the last post we learned to isolate our adductors (inner thigh muscles). And in this post we will learn to isolate the abductors (outer thigh muscles).

Exercise 6: Building Strength and Stability in the Abductors

Setting up:
Start by laying on your back on the floor with your knees bent (See Lesson I for a picture). Find a neutral pelvis - hip points and top of pubic bone are on the same plane. Do a couple of pelvic tilts and tucks to find neutral. When your pelvis is in a neutral alignment you should have a slight curve in your lumbar spine, just as you would when standing.

Find a regular, steady breath and practice a few rounds of inner core engagement in conjunction with the breath (Exercise 1).

Working in the pose:
After establishing your breath and your inner core engagement, I want you to find your hip flexors. These are the muscles that fire when you lift a leg. Put your fingertips at the hip crease and take a few "marches" to find these muscles. Now that you have found them, I want you to not use them.

Now, take a yoga belt, create a loop, and fasten the belt around your mid to upper thighs.

Keep your fingertips at your hip creases (to monitor your hip flexors and make sure there is no movement there) and begin to gently press the thighs into the belt without activating the hip flexors. Think of the movement as originating from your hip sockets vs. originating from your knees.

Take about 10 rounds of abductor engagement and release, and then take a break.

Adding load to the pose:
To add on to the pose, we will set our selves up the same way: lay in constructive pose with the belt snug around the outer thighs. Find Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha and maintain a neutral pelvis: hip points equidistant from your lower ribs, lumbar slightly curved - not over tilted and not smooshed to the floor.

From here, press the legs gently into the belt and lift your bum up in the air, coming into Bridge Pose. Maintain the abductor engagement as you hold Bridge. You can also try lifting and lowering in a flowing pattern. Work here until you feel slightly fatigued. Keep your jaw soft, shoulders soft, and maintain an easy, smooth breath.

Finishing:
To come out of the pose, slowly lower to the floor with a neutral spine. Remove the belt and take a minute to lay flat to let the spine settle. Help ease your transition by slowly tick-tocking your knees side to side. Finally, take any finishing movements that you like: windshield-wiper knees, a long stretch, a bundle roll hug, gentle twist, etc.

Homework for Restoring the Core: 
(click lesson links below to review)
1) Pelvic floor lifts: 10 each, 5 times a day from any position: sitting, standing or laying down.
2) Heel lifts or toe taps: 5-10 on each side making sure to keep the pelvis stable and neutral and maintain an easy breath.
3) Spine awareness through exaggerated arch and curl.
4) Strengthening the spine through dips and lifts from Bridge Pose.
5) Strengthening the inner thighs by taking Bridge Pose with a block.
6) Strengthening the outer thighs by taking Bridge Pose with a belt.

Previously:
Lesson I: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part I - Finding Mula Bandha
Lesson II: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part II - Strengthening Uddiyana Bandha.
Lesson III: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part III - Finding the Deep Muscles of the Spine.
Lesson IV: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part IV - Stretching and Strengthening the Deep Muscles of the Spine.
 Lesson V: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part V - Incorporating the Helper Muscles

Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part V - Incorporating the Helper Muscles

In the first 4 posts on Restoring and Rebuilding the Inner Core, we covered the "Core 4":  Mula Bandha, Uddiyana Bandha, the respiratory diaphragm, and the Multifidi.  In the last post we expanded on Lesson III and learned to find length and strength in the deep muscles of the back.

Today, we will begin to add on to the "Core 4" by isolating our "helper" muscles. In this case, the adductors (inner thigh muscles).

Exercise 5: Building Strength and Stability in the Adductors

Setting up:
Start by laying on your back on the floor with your knees bent (See Lesson I for a picture). Find a neutral pelvis - hip points and top of pubic bone are on the same plane. Do a couple of pelvic tilts and tucks to find neutral. When your pelvis is in a neutral alignment you should have a slight curve in your lumbar spine, just as you would when standing.

Find a regular, steady breath and practice a few rounds of inner core engagement in conjunction with the breath (Exercise 1).

Working in the pose:
After establishing your breath and your inner core engagement, I want you to find your hip flexors. These are the muscles that fire when you lift a leg. Put your fingertips at the hip crease and take a few "marches" to find these muscles. Now that you have found them, I want you to not use them.

Now, take a block and place it between your inner thighs so that your knees and hips are in alignment. See right. (This block is a tiny bit thin for my body.)

Keep your fingertips at your hip creases (to monitor your hip flexors and make sure there is no movement there) and begin to gently squeeze the block between the thighs.

Take about 10 rounds of adductor engagement and release and then take a break. Remove the block and hug your legs to your chest.

Adding load to the pose:
To add on to the pose, we will set our selves up the same way: lay in constructive pose and place a block between the inner thighs. Find Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha and maintain a neutral pelvis: hip points equidistant from your lower ribs, lumbar slightly curved - not over tilted and not smooshed to the floor.

From here, squeeze the block gently and lift your bum up in the air, coming into Bridge Pose. Maintain the adductor engagement as you hold Bridge. You can also try lifting and lowering in a flowing pattern. Work here until you feel slightly fatigued. Keep your jaw soft, shoulders soft, and maintain an easy, smooth breath.

Finishing:
To come out of the pose, slowly lower to the floor with a neutral spine. Remove the block and take a minute to lay flat to let the spine settle. Help ease your transition by slowly tick-tocking your knees side to side. Finally, take any finishing movements that you like: reclining bound angle, a long stretch, a bundle roll hug, gentle twist, etc.

Homework for Restoring the Core: 
(click lesson links below to review)
1) Pelvic floor lifts: 10 each, 5 times a day from any position: sitting, standing or laying down.
2) Heel lifts or toe taps: 5-10 on each side making sure to keep the pelvis stable and neutral and maintain an easy breath.
3) Spine awareness through exaggerated arch and curl.
4) Strengthening the spine through dips and lifts from Bridge Pose.
5) Strengthening the inner thighs by taking Bridge Pose with a block.

Previously:
Lesson I: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part I - Finding Mula Bandha
Lesson II: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part II - Strengthening Uddiyana Bandha.
Lesson III: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part III - Finding the Deep Muscles of the Spine.
Lesson IV: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part IV - Stretching and Strengthening the Deep Muscles of the Spine.

Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part IV - Stretching and Strengthening the Deep Muscles of the Spine

In the previous three lessons on Restoring and Rebuilding the Inner Core, I have focused on Mula Bandha, Uddiyana Bandha, the respiratory diaphragm, and the Multifidi - the deep muscles of the spine. These are the "Core 4" of the Inner Core. In the last post we learned how to find these deep muscles of the spine and we began to work them. In this post we will expand on Lesson III and learn to find length and strength in these crucial back muscles.

Exercise 4: Lengthening and Strengthening the Deep Muscles of the Spine

Setting up:
Start by rolling a blanket, towel or felt pad into a hand's-grip sized roll. Set this behind you and gently ease your way down to the floor with the roll under your lumbar (centered directly behind the belly button). It should look like this:

This is the 5th step of the Supported Lumbar Stretch. Click the link to see the original post showing each step of this process.

Keep your knees bent and take a few lifts and lowers of the pelvis to ease your way into this stretch. This should feel like "ahhhhhh" not "owwww." If you are feeling more "ow" than "ah" change your roll. Make it a bit smaller and try to settle in again. There is no set size for the lumbar roll. It should be the size that is right for you today. Once you have settled in, find a smooth, deep, and steady breath. Notice the rise and fall of the belly. Notice any other areas in your body that move with the breath. If it feels good on your back, let the knees drop slightly from side to side (slow tick-tocks) a few times.

Working in the pose:
The main work of the first half of this exercise is to just stay put. Settle in and breath. Let the lumbar roll do the work for you. Stay for up to 5 minutes (more if it works in your body). By laying over this roll we are lengthening the muscles of the spine.

Many of us may think that we don't need to accentuate our lumbar curve because perhaps we have a habit of over-arching the spine already. However, when you over-arch your spine you are not lengthening your muscles, you are actually shortening them by "kinking" into your back.

If you are a tail-tucking, lumbar straightener, this pose is perfect for you too. Now you can reestablish the natural curve in your spine.

After you have lingered for a while in the Lumbar Stretch, start to think about developing some movement around the lumbar pillow. Begin to engage the muscles of the lower back by purposely pressing the sacrum into the floor and exaggerating the curve of the lumbar. Now press the feet equally into the floor and lift the bum off the floor, coming up into Bridge Pose.

When you release Bridge, try to dip your tail down to the floor without touching your back to the lumbar roll. This is nearly impossible of course. Your back will most likely touch the lumbar roll but I want the action to be a dipping of the tailbone and a continued arching of the spine to really get into strengthening those deep spine muscles.

Take 5-10 rounds of lifting up into Bridge and then dipping the tail down to the floor. Keep the knees aligned with the hip points and keep the feet rooted to the floor. After you finish, lower onto your lumbar roll and linger again for a few minutes to ease the back.

Finishing:
To come out of the pose, lift up enough to slide the lumbar roll out from underneath you and then slowly lower to the floor with a lengthened spine. Take a minute to lay flat to let the spine settle. Help ease your transition by slowly tick-tocking your knees side to side. Finally, take any finishing movements that you like: a long stretch, a bundle roll hug, gentle twist, etc.

Homework for Restoring the Core: 
(click lesson links below to review)
1) Pelvic floor lifts: 10 each, 5 times a day from any position: sitting, standing or laying down.
2) Heel lifts or toe taps: 5-10 on each side making sure to keep the pelvis stable and neutral and maintain an easy breath.
3) Spine awareness through exaggerated arch and curl.
4) Strengthening the spine through dips and lifts from Bridge Pose.

Previously:
Lesson I: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part I - Finding Mula Bandha
Lesson II: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part II - Strengthening Uddiyana Bandha.
Lesson III: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part III - Finding the Deep Muscles of the Spine.

Up next: More exercises to improve your core.

Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part III - Finding the Deep Muscles of the Spine

Deep muscles of the back.
(Multifidus shaded in red.)
Image from Wikipedia

In the previous two lessons on Restoring and Rebuilding the Inner Core, I have focused on Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha. I also talked a little bit in the first lesson about the respiratory diaphragm. These are three of the main "Core 4" of the Inner Core. The fourth main component of the inner core is the Multifidus - the deep muscles of the spine which work to stabilize the joints at each segmental level. So how do we work this part of our inner core?

Exercise 3: Finding the Deep Muscles of the Spine through Arch and Flatten

Setting up:
Start by laying on your back on the floor with your knees bent (Constructive Pose) and find a smooth, deep, and steady breath. Notice the rise and fall of the belly. Notice any other areas in your body that move with the breath.

Working in the pose:
After establishing your breath, begin to exaggerate the movement of the belly and the spine. On your inhale, relax everything and let the belly rise. On your exhale, draw the pelvic floor muscles up toward the area behind your belly button and pull your lower belly backward toward the spine. Let your spine press into the floor as your tail curls up slightly. On the inhale soften the pelvic floor and the lower belly muscles and begin to engage the muscles of the lower back by purposely pressing the sacrum into the floor and exaggerating the curve of the lumbar.

Take 5-10 rounds of this purposeful arching and flattening (tiny bit of a tail curl), practicing a muscular hand-off from the front line of the body to the back line of the body. Notice if other parts of the body want to get into the act. Do you find your arms wanting to roll in on the exhale? Do your knees want to press together on the exhale and open like a flower on the inhale? Do your arms also want to flower open on the inhale? If any of these movements are happening, go with it.

Finishing:
When you feel you have made a good connection with the deep muscles of your spine let yourself soften and return to your smooth, deep, and steady breath. Take any finishing movements that you like: a long stretch, a bundle roll hug, gentle twist, etc.

Homework:
1) Pelvic floor lifts: 10 each, 5 times a day from any position: sitting, standing or laying down.
2) Heel lifts or toe taps: 5-10 on each side making sure to keep the pelvis stable and neutral and maintain an easy breath.
3) Spine awareness through exaggerated arch and curl.

Previously:
Lesson I: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part I - Finding Mula Bandha
Lesson II: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part II - Strengthening Uddiyana Bandha.

Up next: More exercises to improve your core.

Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part II - Strengthening Uddiyana Bandha

If you have read the previous post, Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part I - Finding Mula Bandha, and practiced the exercises, you should have an understanding of how the pelvic floor (the muscles between the tailbone and pubic bone and from sit bone to sit bone) and the transverse abdominus (the innermost of the flat muscles of the abdomen) engage and support you. In this post, we will continue our inner core work with a basic technique for strengthening the transverse abdominus.

Exercise 2: Strengthening the Transverse Abdominus

Setting up:
Start by laying on your back on the floor with your knees bent (See previous post for a picture). Find a neutral pelvis - hip points and top of pubic bone are on the same plane. Do a couple of pelvic tilts and tucks to find neutral. When your pelvis is in a neutral alignment you should have a slight curve in your lumbar spine, just as you would when standing.

Find a regular, steady breath and practice a few rounds of inner core engagement in conjunction with the breath (Exercise 1).

Working in the pose:
After establishing your breath and your inner core engagement, begin to add load by slowly lifting one heel off the ground, re-settling it, and then lifting the other. This is called heel lifts. Sounds easy, I know. But what is not always easy is maintaining your breath, your inner core engagement, soft jaw, soft shoulders, and a perfectly neutral pelvis while doing this.

Keep your hip points equidistant from your lower ribs, keep your lumbar slightly curved - not over tilted and not smooshed to the floor. Let your palms rest on your hip points and your finger tips point down toward your pubic bone. This will help you feel any movement in the pelvis as you try these heel lifts.

If you are perfectly steady doing heel lifts, you can add on by lifting your whole foot off the floor. First peel up the heel then let the toes lift off. Settle your first foot completely before you try your second foot. Now you are doing toe taps. Look for the same "tells" that you are overdoing it: you have forgotten your breath, you have let your pelvis stray from neutral, you have clenched your jaw or rounded your shoulders. If any of these things are happening, go back to heel lifts.

What I notice in my body when I do this exercise is that I am very stable on the left side but very wobbly on the right side. This is fairly common for folks who have SI joint dysfunction, back pain, or who have had an injury or surgery. If this is true for you, work to the level of the "weaker" side and don't over do it. This is slow, mindful work. It takes time and careful effort to build stability. And for some of us it will likely be a life-long pursuit.

Finishing:
Let yourself completely relax after your heel lifts and/or toe taps. Soften Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha. Take any finishing movements that you like: a long stretch, a bundle roll hug, gentle twist, etc.

Homework: 1) Pelvic floor lifts: 10 each, 5 times a day from any position: sitting, standing or laying down. 2) Heel lifts or toe taps: 5-10 on each side making sure to keep the pelvis stable and neutral and maintain an easy breath.

Previously: Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part I - Finding Mula Bandha. Visit this post to read the benefits of pelvic floor and pelvic girdle work and to learn or review Exercise 1.

Up next: More exercises to improve your core.

Restoring and Rebuilding your Inner Core Part I - Finding Mula Bandha

In my previous posts I spoke quite a bit about the inner core. But what does this mean exactly? It's not just your abs - yoga doesn't care if you have a 6-pack. The important thing is to have a calm, strong, and steady center. Inner core work is vital to this process. Below, I detail the first exercise to help you start to rebuild and strengthen your core.

Exercise 1: Finding Mula Bandha (pelvic floor engagement) and Uddiyana Bandha (lower abdomen engagement)

Setting up:
Start by laying on your back on the floor with your knees bent (Constructive Pose). Find a neutral pelvis - hip points and top of pubic bone are on the same plane. Do a couple of pelvic tilts and tucks to find neutral. Use extra padding (folded blankets) as needed under the bum or under the neck/head for comfort.

Find a regular, steady breath. Notice how the inhale causes the respiratory diaphragm to press down into the organs which in turn press down into the pelvic floor (this is subtle - don't worry if you can't feel it yet). The exhale returns the respiratory diaphragm to its resting "umbrella-like" position under the rib cage.

Working in the pose:
After establishing your breath, begin to exaggerate the movement of the belly and pelvic floor. On your inhale, relax everything and let the belly rise. On your exhale, pull your belly toward your spine without moving your actual spine - keep your pelvis neutral. Now you are engaging the transverse abdominus and Uddiyana Bandha. Inhale and soften again. Take a few rounds of this breath. Inhaling and relaxing, exhaling and engaging.

Adding on, we will start to find the pelvic floor muscles. On your exhale I want you to engage the pelvic floor muscles (these are the muscles between the tailbone and pubic bone and from sit bone to sit bone) and the belly muscles (transverse abdominus). Pull the pelvic floor muscles up toward the area behind your belly button and pull your lower belly back toward the spine. Don't worry if you can't figure this out at first. It takes practice. On the inhale, relax everything again. Take a few rounds of this type of breathing. Inhale and relax, exhale and engage belly and pelvic floor.

If you can imagine your muscular engagement as a dial, practice your engagement at different levels of engagement. Try about a 3, then dial it up to a 7; try a 10 (completely engaged) then dial your engagement back to a 1 or a 2. Practice these different levels to become familiar with the amount of effort it takes to engage. Why? Because you don't need to dial up your engagement to a 10 if you are only picking up a water bottle. But what if you are picking up a toddler or a heavy rock? Then you need more muscular engagement.

Finishing:
Let yourself completely relax after working Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha. Take any finishing movements that you like: a long stretch, a bundle roll hug, gentle twist, etc.

Benefits of Pelvic floor work:
Helps reverse or prevent incontinence; Can assist in reversing or preventing prolapse; Improves sexual functioning; Improves your fluid movement and connection with your inner core.

Benefits of Pelvic girdle work:
Creates stability in the pelvis; Reduces back pain; Reduces SI pain; Creates a center that is unshakeable; Improves posture and stability from the inside out.

Previously: My Story Part IV: Restoring my Inner Core
Up next: More exercises to improve your core.

ps - Just 5 minutes a day of these exercises can help you. You don't even have to lay down and take time out of your day (although you should give yourself a break). You can practice your inner core engagement while you are sitting at your desk, waiting for a stop light, doing dishes, or any time you think of it.

My Story Part IV: Restoring my Inner Core

Restoring my inner core has been my mission ever since teacher training. My exploration of the inner core and learning to deepen my awareness began in TT. I continued this learning-path with extended studies specializing in the inner core with my teachers, Ann Maxwell and Susi Hately Aldous, and I dedicated two 40-day practices to the inner core.

I had two signs that there was some change happening in my pelvis, sacroiliac joints and inner core: 1) my left SI joint moved for the first time ever. Now this didn't feel good, but I still took it as a good sign because at least both of my SI joints were moving instead of one stuck and one hyper-mobile. And 2) my outside-to-inside kick in Tang Soo Do (a Korean martial art) became so much stronger that I was able to kick the training pad out of my teacher's hands. Sounds like a funny way to measure change but I knew my body and I knew that I was making a difference by practicing deep inner core work.

Image from Wikipedia

This work is quiet, mindful and can make me want to scream. I had to learn how to find, use and move my pelvic floor, transverse abdominus, multifidi, adductors, and abductors, and I had to breathe while I did all this concentrating.

All this work has not eliminated my SI joint instability but it has become manageable. When I keep up on my work (as little as 5-15 minutes a day of inner core work) I can manage my pain. When I get lazy and don't do my work, instability comes sneaking back into my body. But now, after 3-4 years of work I can bring back stability in a short time. And at least I know I have the option of helping myself get out of pain.

Previously: My Story Part III: Teacher Training and More
Next up: I will detail some of the exercises I did that helped me strengthen my inner core and regain some control over my life by reducing my pain.