How To Engage & Activate Your Pelvic Floor
This blog post is intended for those suffering with weak pelvic floors, as well as, yogi’s wanting to take their practice to the next level and for the pro-active individuals who want more information on how to properly engage the muscles in your pelvic floor. If you want to try a pelvic floor yoga class I will share a link with you where you can sign up at the end.
Before I begin, I want to share why I am so passionate about the pelvic floor. I experienced a weak pelvic floor after I gave birth to my daughter. This was my first pregnancy and up until I was experiencing symptoms of a weak pelvic floor, I had no clue what or where my pelvic floor was even about. I learned that I had a hypotonic pelvic floor, which means my muscles were too loose/weak. (Pregnancy and childbirth are both great pre-requisites for this type of pelvic floor dysfunction). A hypertonic pelvic floor is the opposite of hypotonic, which is when the pelvic floor is too tight. Both a hyper and hypotonic pelvic floor are dysfunctions and are considered “weak”. With my hypotonic pelvic floor I often felt like my vagina was falling out and controlling my bladder was a thing of the past. I was afraid to venture outside my house in fear that I would pee my pants in public. (And when I say pee, I mean full fledge waterfall gushing pee. Not some trickle here and trickle there).
I felt completely helpless and was disappointed in my body in the sense that it had let me down after pregnancy. Yes, my body just did this incredible thing to give me my baby but now I felt like it was chopped liver. For example, the doctors I saw post pregnancy were no help and sadly I have heard too many stories alike of women being told “it’s just something you will have to get used to and live with”. I was NOT accepting that as an answer. I invested in pelvic floor therapy since I had nothing to lose and I cannot express how amazing my pelvic floor therapist was. I highly recommend seeing one if you are in the market. If you don’t want to invest in therapy I hope this article gives you the tools you need to properly engage and activate your pelvic floor so you can strengthen and repair any dysfunctional damage you may be experiencing. Remember, you are not alone. I am here to help :) With that being said I want to ensure the reader that I am not a pelvic floor physiotherapist, doctor, nor do I consider myself an expert on the topic. I am a mom who experienced pelvic floor dysfunction and this blog post is intended to help those seeking relief from the same issue I had. For the yogi’s wanting more out of their practice this blog will help you locate and engage your pelvic floor muscle so that when you are in asana you can experience another level of your practice.
Location: My first tip to better understand and locate the pelvic floor muscle is an exercise I used to do years ago when I thought it was funny to trick my little sister into thinking I was done in the bathroom. The next time you use the bathroom try stopping your flow of urine mid flow. The same muscles are used for both women and men. I strongly discourage you from doing this exercise all of the time as it’s hard on your bladder, however, it is a good location exercise.
Anatomy: I’m a very visual person so seeing this diagram helped me understand where the pelvic floor muscles are located. I’ve outline the muscle in a diamond shape to show the entirety of the pelvic floor. The top of the diamond begins at the clitoris (in women) and pubic bone (in men). The diamond extends to both sides of your sitz bones then moves to the tailbone (includes the rectum). When you go to activate your pelvic floor it should feel like you are engaging this entire area, not just the urethra (the area you pee out of).
3. Squeeze & Lift: I’m sure you’ve heard of kegels but what I didn’t know was that instead of just squeezing your pelvic floor muscle it should be both a squeeze and a lift. What helped me feel the lift in my pelvic floor was visualizing it as an elevator. The squeeze is the elevator doors closing and the lift is riding the elevator up one floor. Once you pick your pelvic floor muscle up one floor, you can gradually increase the amount of floors you lift it. It’s almost like tiny pulses or riding your elevator up. Then when you relax and release the muscle engagement, allow the elevator to come completely down to the lobby.
4. Breath work: Breath work is an important component in yoga and it plays a vital role here as well. Activation of the pelvic floor should occur on an exhale. You can see from the next diagram that by breathing easily in a relaxed and controlled way the pelvic floor is able to lift. When you hold your breath it actually forces the pelvic floor downward, which is not what we want. When we breathe in the air fills up our lungs and expands our diaphragm, ultimately pushing the organs down so there's an increase in pressure to the pelvic floor. So the optimal way to engage your pelvic floor muscle is on an exhale so that there is a release in air pressure away from your pelvic floor. BUT, the inhale is just as important! I want you to try a few rounds of breath work to get completely relaxed before you engage your pelvic floor. Find a comfortable seat or lay down and maybe close your eyes. Notice and connect to your breath. On your inhales I want you to think of how you feel at the end of a long day at work. Visualize a relaxing night where you get home, maybe you hop in your hot tub (I don't have a hot tub but one can dream), with a glass of wine in hand. Let yourself sink into this moment of warmth and relaxation. That's how I want you to feel every time you inhale. Then start to breathe out smoothly and softly as you empty your lungs on an exhale. Take another relaxing inhale, enjoy another full exhale, maybe open mouthed. Notice your body soften, then take another smooth inhale, let your breath warm you up, exhale slowly and then try to activate your pelvic floor by finding that squeeze and lift. Release your activation of the pelvic floor muscles at or near the end of your exhale. Breathe in, exhale try activating when it feels right on your breath out...a little trial and error here. Don’t give up! This is ridiculously difficult. Why?
The pelvic floor is hidden in the pelvis so we don't think about it. Out of sight, out of mind. It's not a muscle that we are concerned with toning like we are maybe with other parts of our body that we can see with our eyes. Another reason why it’s difficult to engage is because the pelvic floor is close to the nervous system in the way that it works for us unconsciously. For example, if you have no issues with your pelvic floor when you go to sneeze or cough it will work automatically to hold everything in. So it's working hard for us and we don't even have to think about it...that's if your pelvic floor is healthy. Lastly, pelvic floors do not come up in conversation often because it's linked to embarrassing symptoms such as peeing, pooping, painful sex, issues with orgasms, and haemorrhoids to name a few.
A strong and healthy pelvic floor is essential to support the pelvic organs, which are the bladder, bowel and uterus in women. It works hard for us every single day and most of us probably never even give it a thought. Show your pelvic floor some love by exercising it daily. I encourage you to try engaging and activating your pelvic floor muscle in different positions either in a yoga class or just around the house. Remember, this isn’t a muscle we often think about exercising so don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t feel much activation at first. With practice you will be able to lift your pelvic floor up multiple floor levels.
I am living proof that your pelvic floor can be repaired and strengthened. It’s also allowed me to take my yoga practice to a deeper level by adding this mind/body engagement. For example, when I activate my pelvic floor muscles when moving from downward facing dog to standing forward fold, it allows me to fly with more ease and grace. It also allows me to hold poses a little longer with more stability and strength. Try an online pelvic floor yoga class with me HERE! You can also watch a free pelvic floor yoga class on my youtube channel here!
Until next blog may your mind be fierce, heart kind, and soul at peace…
Namaste,
Britt