Women's Wellness - Pelvic Floor Health

So the term pelvic floor, we hear this all the time right? In your pilates and yoga practice I'm sure you often hear the cue 'engage your pelvic floor' but what does this actually mean for a woman.

Well, lets first talk about what the term 'pelvic floor actually refers to.

It might be helpful for you to think about the pelvic floor muscles in the shape of a hammock and they attach from the pubic bone at the front of our body, they then scoop underneath and the other end of the hammock attaches to our tail bone.

Every muscle within the hammock is connected to one another and the muscles fan out from the hammock into our pelvis and hips. Within this hammock of muscles is of course the female anatomy and included within the term 'pelvic floor' is our front, middle and back 'passage' - yes those!

So - it is a hammock of muscles and passages that supports the reproductive organs and bones of the pelvis area.

Engagement of this area means to actively contract or squeeze the muscles. We call it an isometric contraction - this means that unlike a movement like a bicep curl for example, where when we move the muscles shorten under contraction... in an isometric contraction we squeeze but nothing visible moves. Think of an isometric contraction in the pelvic floor as a tightening and lifting sensation across all the muscles and passages in the hammock. It's an internal movement.

The pelvic floor muscles play an essential role in our everyday functions and when these muscles are strong and healthy they do their job without us even having to think about it. But when they weaken it can lead to problems in our daily life & movement patterns and sometimes cause pain and discomfort.

There are several events in a womans life that can bring about changes to a healthy pelvic floor from pregnancy, to post pregnancy to menopause to illness or injury at any time within our life.

The good news is that a Yoga and Pilates fusion practice is the perfect way to promote a healthy core and pelvic floor because they are both low impact and with specially selected movements completely safe for your body.

Yoga is a calming practice that connects our physical body to our thoughts which helps hugely with a conscious and mindful, mind muscle connection, so we get the best engagement during our practice.

And at the heart of a pilates practice is deep core strengthening work that also promotes core stability and a healthy posture.

Whether you have a current concern in this area or are perfectly healthy and wanting to ensure your body stays that way - be sure to check out the special class in the Empower and Evolve class collection within the on demand studio. Once you have been through the sequence once you can work on weaving the movements into your everyday life.

Finding a few minutes in your regular schedule to give some focus to this area is a wonderful act of love and dedication to your body.

Our bodies are living, breathing miracles so remember to stay patient as strengthening results in the pelvic floor take a little time. Correct engagement is key so follow the steps in the class and you'll master the breathing and movements in no time.

Namaste

Kayleigh