If there’s one area of the body that’s cloaked in mystery, it’s the pelvic floor. Well, we all have one. And thank goodness for that, because it’s responsible for everything from bladder control to sexual pleasure…

Yes, the pelvic floor is a necessary web of muscles responsible for a whole pelvis full of functions that affect every day life… From women’s health to emotional and physical stability.

That’s why today on I Love Me The Podcast we’ll be shining light on three myths surrounding the pelvic floor, so you can know the truth about your pelvic powerhouse.

 

With Women’s Health week almost upon us, I wanted to dedicate today’s episode to a part of the body that is often misunderstood.

And unfortunately, often mis-represented.

The pelvic floor.

Now if the infamous pelvic floor isn’t even on your radar, not to worry.

Let this episode invite you into a new relationship with this powerful web of muscles.

If, on the other hand, you are aware of your pelvic floor, but it’s not working so well…

If you’re experiencing a problem such as incontinence or lower back pain….

I invite you to let this episode dispel the myths you’ve come to believe, so you can know the truth of what’s really going on down there.

Because there’s a lot of information floating around the internet, and even being taught to professionals, that isn’t helpful, when it comes to looking after our pelvic floor.

So are you ready?

Ready to learn the truth about your pelvic floor?

Great!

Then let’s begin with the bony structure that is the pelvis.

The pelvis is literally the foundation of our body; it’s what everything else extends out from.

The pelvis is responsible for how balanced and stable we feel in both our physical body and in our emotions.

Inside the pelvis, is where we find the pelvic floor; a group of 16 muscles that are weaved together to form a diamond-shaped structure that has three holes in a woman – one for the vagina, one for the urethra and one for the rectum – and two holes for a man.

In a healthy body, these layers of muscles work seamlessly together like an incredibly strong trampoline, that stretches from the pubic bone to the tailbone – so from the front to the back of the pelvis – and from one sitting bone to the other – so from one side to the other.

The pelvic floor is like a diamond shape, between these bony structures.

Now, did you notice me mention ’16’ muscles?

Many people have no idea that the pelvic floor is not just one muscle, but three layers of muscles – 16 in total – that come together to create stability.

Now there’s a lot of confusion over the true role of the pelvic floor, so let me clear this up for you…

The main role of the pelvic floor is stability.

We move, and it’s the pelvic floor that engages and releases to support that movement.

Hence to say, this muscular diamond plays a crucial part in how we perform ALL our daily activities.

The pelvic floor operates as this dynamic system, seamlessly adapting to the ever-changing needs of our body.

By anchoring the pelvic girdle and stabilising the lumbar spine, it creates balance, so we can effortlessly maintain a healthy posture, while looking after our hip joints.

The way we stand tall, to the grace with which we sit; every aspect of our movement is rooted in the wellbeing of our pelvic floor.

So we know that when it comes to overall stability, our pelvic floor is Queen!

It stays passively engaged, to maintain this balance.

But what about when nature calls?

That’s when our pelvic floor relaxes enough to let out our urine and poop…

Or if we’re giving birth, to let out a baby.

On the flipside, if we want to engage in sexual play, our pelvic floor also relaxes to let things in.

But wait… that’s not all..

It’s also the pelvic floor’s job to act as a sump pump to help enhance lymphatic movement and rid the body of toxins.

As you can see, the pelvic floor is quite the little worker…

And when its functioning well we tend not to notice it… the three layers of muscles work seamlessly together…

But when it’s not functioning so well, it can impact us in a myriad of ways.

Ways that may seem unrelated to our pelvic floor are things such as back pain or a heavy feeling in the pelvis… or reduced pleasure in the bedroom, because the deeper muscles of the pelvic floor are involved in orgasm.

You might have more obvious signs like wetting your panties when you sneeze or laugh or bounce on a trampoline.

When the pelvis and its contents are off balance, everything on top of it – the torso, shoulders, neck, head – and everything below it – legs, knees, ankles and feet – can be off balance, and prone to injury, as we’re not being supported from deep within.

These are all signs that the pelvic floor isn’t functioning well and needs a little love.

A pelvic floor that’s under stress could also make us feel emotionally unbalanced or unstable, scattered or ungrounded.

This is why we want to have a deep connection to these core inner muscles.

Because our physical body is just a mirror reflection of our emotional body.

OK, so we know this area of the body is important.

Let’s get to know the pelvic floor a little better, by dispelling some of the common myths you may have heard in your pelvic travels…

The first being this….

The pelvic floor is a ‘floor’ at the base of the pelvis.

Well, with a name like pelvic ‘floor’ this would make sense, right?

But this is only true if a woman is NOT standing in her natural anatomical alignment.

You see, when women wear high heels or slouch or suck in their belly, it irons out the curve in the lower back – our lumbar spine area – creating a tucking of the pelvis, that does in fact position the pelvis so that the pelvic floor acts like a ‘floor’ at the base of the pelvic bowl.

The problem is, this group of 16 muscles are not designed to act like a floor and hold our sexual organs in.

They’re not built to bear that kind of load.

This is the job of the pubic bone and the abdominal wall.

When a woman stands in what I call Natural Womanly Stance – feet flat on the ground, hip-width apart, belly relaxed, heart lifted, shoulders relaxed down her back, so there is a nice lower back curve – this tips the pelvis on a 30 degree angle forward, so that the pelvic floor is no longer acting like a ‘floor’ at the bottom of the pelvis.

Instead it’s more like a slanted ‘back wall’ of the pelvis.

When this happens, the more naturally robust structures of the pelvis – the pubic bone and the abdominal wall – they take the weight of your sexual organs, so the pelvic floor is free to do all the jobs it is designed to carry out.

It’s only when we stand in an unhealthy, unnatural posture, that the pelvic floor becomes a make-shift floor.

And if I’m to be honest with you, this totally stresses the pelvic floor out, and causes it to dysfunction…

Leading to some of those symptoms I mentioned earlier.

Right… so we don’t want our pelvic floor acing like a floor, because we want it to be free to do it’s other important work.

Let’s now look at…

Myth 2: A healthy pelvic floor is rock hard.

There is a big misconception that the pelvic floor needs to be strong enough to hold the pelvic organs in.

That we need a pelvic floor of steel, so the speak.

Yet, as we just discussed, it’s not the pelvic floor’s job to hold organs inside the pelvis!

No amount of strengthening these muscles is going to make it strong enough to hold your organs inside, if you’re tucking your tailbone and losing that all-important 30-degree angle of the pelvis.

Organs begin to shift out of place – what we call ‘prolapse’ – when the ligaments above become weak and stretched and the walls of the vaginal canal become weak.

Therefore Kegel-style exercises taught in a way that only focuses on strengthening the pelvic floor, without focusing on releasing tension… they really don’t do much.

They’re essentially just cinching in at the bottom of the pelvis to try to hold things in, as opposed to working with the actual ligaments, muscles and tissues that are responsible for holding our organs up.

Any exercise practice that only focuses on the pelvic floor to hold sexual organs inside, demonstrates a misunderstanding of its role within the pelvis.

It’s exercises like Kegels – which are often taught incorrectly, even by people we regard as ‘experts’ – that also create a lot of tension, as with any strength building practice, there needs to be an equal focus on the release as much as on the squeeze.

And I’ll go into more detail on the difference between tension and strength in next week’s episode.

So…

A healthy pelvic floor is one that is toned, yes, but also supple and elastic.

Think of a trampoline.

It’s strong but stretches.

It needs to have that ‘give’ so that it can birth babies.

If it’s tight – if you have an overactive pelvic floor – known as a hypertonic pelvic floor – it means there’s a lack of relaxation in the those muscles, and this actually creates weakness in the adjoining muscles and tissues.

This kind of tension also makes it extremely hard to birth a baby naturally.

You can’t push a baby through a solid structure!

You need strength, but you also need flexibility.

There needs to be a balance between the two.

So when it comes to toning the pelvic floor, we want a practice that combines strengthening AND releasing, AND that works with the entire contents of the pelvis, NOT just some of the muscles of the pelvic floor.

We need to take a holistic approach, which is what I teach in my Yoga for the Vagina program.

Finally…

Myth 3: The pelvic floor is shaped like a hammock.

It’s true that the pelvic floor is shaped like a hammock… in a dead person!

That’s what they see in cadaver dissections.

However, this is NOT true in a person who is alive and healthy.

A person with a healthy pelvic floor, has a pelvic floor that is ‘dome’ shaped.

Not as pronounced as the respiratory diaphragm, but a dome none-the-less!

As you inhale the dome moves down, flattening out, and as you exhale the dome moves back up into its original dome shape.

A healthy pelvic floor will help you exhale, and be able to contract on its own during the exhale.

You may be able to sense this if you place your attention in your pelvis when you breathe.

The movement of the pelvic floor is subtle, but it’s possible for everyone to feel.

You simply need to be wiling to cultivate the ability to feel it move within you.

And yes, that does take conscious practise.

But with time and the willingness to tune into your beautiful body, this is possible, for everyone.

Of course, if your pelvic floor is weak, then yes, it may be flatter or even drooping, more like a hammock.

But this ‘hammock-like’ image of the pelvic floor is not the image of a ‘healthy’ pelvic floor.

Unfortunately most of the pictures we see flying around the internet, are drawn as a result of cadaver dissections.

Hence, the confusion.

What’s really interesting about the pelvic floor being shaped like a ‘dome’ is that it matches the other domes in our body (like in the image at the top of the page)…

We have a dome at the top of our head, we have a dome in the roof of our mouth, we have a dome created by our cervical muscles at the base of our neck, the respiratory system is a dome, and the arches of our feet are domes.

And there is a synergistic relationship between the pelvic floor dome and other domes in our body, meaning that if one dome isn’t functioning well, it will likely be mirrored in other domes of the body.

For example, if you have flat feet, chances are your pelvic floor won’t be as healthy as it could be.

It may be on the flatter side.

So this can give you information about the state of the rest of your body, so you know where your healing focus needs to be.

For any change in conditions in one area of the body has effects in another.

Now that is a whole topic in itself, but it helps us realise how the health of our pelvic floor is vital to how the rest of our body functions.

People with flat feet, for example, can experience foot and ankle and, yes, ‘stability’ issues.

See the connection?

What’s important is that all domes of the body talk to each other, as they’re all connected via fascia.

They communicate.

They move and dance together.

And when one dome is happy, the others respond in kind.

OK, let’s recap!

The pelvic floor is a group of 16 muscles that weave together to form a dome at the lower back of the pelvis.

This web of muscles are involved in many basic life functions as varied as digestion, elimination, reproduction, breathing, but most importantly, balance.

Stability.

The healthier your pelvic floor, the more health you’ll notice in all of these areas.

A healthy pelvic floor is one that is toned, supple and flexible.

How do you get a pelvic floor healthy like this?

Well, unfortunately Kegels – like most women are advised to do – are generally NOT the answer.

The way Kegels are often taught, they focus on one, or just a couple of these pelvic floor muscles, as opposed to the pelvic floor as as whole.

When we don’t work with the whole pelvic floor, and how it operates within the structures of the pelvic bowl, we run the risk of creating imbalances within the pelvis.

The pelvic floor needs to works in harmony with the rest of the contents of the pelvis, and any pelvic floor toning exercises need to include three things:

1. A focus on releasing tension, otherwise any contractions will simply build tension upon tension and create more weakness
2. Engaging ALL muscles of the pelvic floor along with the muscles, fascia and organs of the entire pelvis
3. A pelvic contraction that is married with the breath AND full body movements, because remember, the pelvic floor helps create stability in all areas of the body, therefore you need to be training it to interact with whole body movements.

It was after learning all of this… and struggling to find a program or practice that took all of these things into consideration, that I created my Yoga for the Vagina program.

Initially, I created it for myself, so I could develop a healthy relationship with my pelvis.

But then I started sharing it with my 1:1 clients, and those who had pelvic floor issues like incontinence and even fibroids; they all started experiencing immediate results.

And so I developed it into it’s own program for women wanting to heal pelvic health issues, get connected their lady parts, and awaken the tissues so they could feel more.

Each posture also invites in the elements of the Natural Womanly Stance I mentioned earlier, so that you can get used to moving through life in that healthy posture, where the pelvis is tipped forward into that healthy 30 degree angle.

A lot of pelvic problems are due to instability.

Because women have an extra hole in their pelvic floor – for the vagina – this adds to that instability.

This is why it’s so important to develop a healthy relationship with your pelvis, where you know how to release tension, you know how to build healthy tone, and you know how to heal any imbalances within the internal structures of your pelvis.

If we look at statistics 1 in 3 women are at risk of pelvic floor disfunction.

And this includes yoga and pilates teachers.

Research has shown that it’s often more common for yoga and pilates teachers to have pelvic floor issues, due to the drawing down of the tailbone in postures and the ‘tighten tighten tighten’ approach, without a focus on restoring length in the pelvic floor and letting go.

There’s so much I could say about the pelvic floor, but for today I’ll leave it there, so you can take some time to ruminate over what I’ve shared.

Then next week we’ll go a little deeper, so you can learn the difference between a strong pelvic floor and a weak pelvic floor.

And you may just be surprised how a weak pelvic floor can often masquerade a strong pelvic floor.

Until then, enjoy moving with your pelvic floor.

And if you’re loving what I’m sharing on I Love Me The Podcast and want to dive deeper into all things to do with the pelvis…

Then head over to my sister site yogaforthevagina.com and sign up for your FREE Yoga for the Vagina Starter’s Sequence, where you’ll receive not only a practice you can start on straight away, but a whole heap of support material on how to care for your most womanly parts.

And if you do decide to enrol in my Yoga for the Vagina program, know that a percentage of profits go to planting trees, so together we can re-robe Mother Earth.