My annual Lifting the Pelvic Floor workshop is coming up in July. Below is an article I wrote for the Yoga Centers e-newsletter, entitled "Why I Teach the Pelvic Floor Workshop". If you'd like to join the workshop, click on the link or contact Yoga Centers (425-746-7476) to register.
If you have questions or comments, leave a comment so everyone can learn!
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People are sometimes surprised that I have such an interest in a part of the body that is so “private”; an area that may seem irrelevant to everyday life. We often speak around the pelvic floor but not directly about the pelvic floor. This may be in part due to a desire to be discreet. After all, in order to properly discuss the pelvic floor, one must be willing to utter words like “genitalia” and “anus”. As a prenatal yoga teacher and a doula, I use words like that in a professional setting surprisingly often!
I have found it very helpful to speak frankly about seemingly discreet topics. For me, it all boils down to one simple fact: we all have a pelvic floor. We all have those nearby body parts. We all benefit from building our awareness of the pelvic floor and learning to strengthen it. I have taught women and men about the importance of the pelvic floor and how to care for it for years. I continue to feel passionately about it...particularly when I see the wonderful results people have from using some basic knowledge and exercises, like those I teach in my workshop.
I first became interested in the pelvic floor after a visit to my midwife years ago. I went in for a well woman check up, and the midwife did the usual exam, during which she said “squeeze my fingers”. I did as instructed, and she responded with an enthusiastic “Whoa! I love yoga people's pelvic floors”. I didn't really know what she meant, because it hadn't occurred to me that my pelvic floor might be any different from anybody else's. So I started to look into it. I considered the daily activities in which I consciously use my pelvic floor (particularly during my yoga practice, but also in everyday situations such as coughing, sneezing, walking, or climbing the stairs). I started researching books on the topic. The more I learned, the more interested I became. Eventually I realized that I had an awareness and a knowledge base that might be helpful for other people – especially considering the many unfortunate consequences of a lazy pelvic floor. So I developed a workshop dedicated to the pelvic floor.
As far as I know, my pelvic floor workshop is the only workshop of its kind. It's a very liberating experience for participants, as we create a space in which everyone can ask questions, trouble-shoot, and discuss what's going on “down there” freely. There are often a lot of questions, and we all learn a lot as we work through the material and the exercises together. It doesn't matter what stage of life or which sex a student is, everyone can improve their health by learning how to properly use the pelvic floor.
Try this: go back to the top of this article and read the whole thing while lifting your pelvic floor. Relax for a couple of minutes and then do it again while reading the article out loud. Why out loud? Well, do it and feel the difference. Are you intrigued? If so, then I hope to see you in my workshop this July!