Read on to find out about what we’re throwing out and what we’re going to do instead.

When we began our school year, we didn’t buy a lot of curriculum, but started with what we had to get a good idea of what would still work and what we still needed.

While most of my original choices as previously shared in the Homeschool Curriculum Picks post were a good fit, we ran into some snags with my youngest son’s curriculum.

We had been using The Good and the Beautiful for language arts and math the previous year, and while he didn’t really enjoy it because of all the wordiness which meant lengthy preliminaries before finally getting on with the lesson’s activities, we were dealing with it by skipping over most everything except the review pages in math and skimming through and hitting the highlights in language arts.

Then I started noticing some questionable symbols and references. As in, masonic symbols. Symbols I noticed in the math curriculum were the eye of Horus (all-seeing eye), sun god, and fertility goddess. This was a unit on Africa, so not entirely out of place, but they used these symbols as an exercise for children to draw lines of symmetry on. In other words, it wasn’t just a “here are some symbols that might be seen in Africa,” but rather it has the child spend time studying these symbols and drawing on them.

There was also reference to eating insects as a “good source of protein” (which sounds like the WHO agenda that we should eat bugs to “save the planet” and “prevent global warming.”) One statement like that isn’t that big of a deal in general - we can obviously talk about that with our kids and share how different cultures eat differently, but it’s still not an agenda I want normalized in my children’s curriculum. And with a “neutral” curriculum sharing their opinion on something like that, it makes me wonder what else would potentially pop up down the road. Maybe things I wouldn’t even know about because my kids would be working more independently at that point.

There are also yoga poses used as exercise breaks throughout the language arts curriculum. Here’s why we don’t do yoga. And finally, someone reached out to say that if you look at the curriculum as a whole, it has become full of esoteric symbols, like bees, owls, sun, moon, and stars, etc. that weren’t there in previous versions.

Now, you could say these are all innocent things. That they don’t mean anything in and of themselves. And perhaps the people who put them there did so without thought. (kind of like in Disney movies?? ok, I digress) But when you start looking into the origins and beliefs of the Mormon church, it becomes clear that any LDS members on the curriculum team are well aware of what these symbols represent.

Once I shared some of my findings and concerns publicly, others began sharing things they had noticed as well along those same lines. Namely, that the LDS church was founded by Joseph Smith, a freemason.

Brigham Young (of BYU fame) was also a freemason. And while masonry fell out of favor with LDS for a time, it is now acceptable for both men and women LDS members to become freemasons. Interestingly, this testimony from an ex-mormon points out the similarities between freemasonry and mormonism. Maybe this is obvious, but freemasonry is Satanic.

So the fact that mormonism is linked with freemasonry fits with the esoteric symbolism and messaging I had been noticing in the curriculum.

Now, I have not read the book of Mormon, but have read some of the LDS beliefs, and there are many of concern including that humans can become gods by their good works, Jesus is the result of a relationship between God the Father and god the mother, that they are the only true church, and many other non-biblical, non-Christian ideas. Also, if you go to the LDS page, you’ll find that the beliefs stated are very vanilla. You really won’t find out what they believe other than that they are “Christian” and share many similarities to what other Christians believe. Sound familiar?

I have noticed some LDS quotes in the curriculum, including one by L. Lionel Kendrick who also said, “When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit, they made it possible for all to gain knowledge.” 

Sounds like a lie straight from the mouth of Satan…because it is!

And while that was not the quote my son was supposed to do for copywork, I don’t believe it’s safe to study someone who teaches blasphemy such as this!

In summary, there are so many different possibilities of error being interwoven in from the various religions and worldviews involved in this curriculum, many of which are not Christian, that I don’t personally feel comfortable using it and risk planting those seeds in my children’s minds as normal and okay. Especially as their characters and beliefs are being formed.

So for now, we are taking a step back and using sort of a unit study approach coupled with a bit of curriculum I had leftover from my older kids. And moving forward, I will most likely get curriculum that is just math or just phonics without other underlying principles mixed in.

Edited to add:

Please remember that while I am sharing what I found and the decision I made based on those facts, you are welcome to make your own decision. I gain no compensation or popularity for sharing this information. Quite the opposite. I am simply sharing in case it helps someone else.

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And while those are all definitely things we as homemakers do, that’s not the only, or even the most important part! In this video I’m sharing a deep dive into Titus 2:5 and what is really means to be a keeper at home. If you’d rather read than watch, keep scrolling…

In Titus 2:5, the KJV Bible says, “To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God. be not blasphemed.”

When you look up the phrase “keeper at home” in the Blue Letter Bible, the interlinear/concordance breaks it down into the root word for “keeper.” This word literally means the watch of the house. It means the “guard” or to “be ware”. It also means a stayer at home, i.e. domestically inclined.

So you can see that for sure it means a woman who is staying home to care for her household, but it doesn’t just mean on a physical level, but a spiritual level. This keeper at home is literally the gatekeeper of her home and family. She is the filter. She is the guard.

Taking it to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the synonyms given are protector, warden, custodian, and curator. (If you want an awesome list of synonyms for “keeper”, check out this thesaurus entry.

Wow wow wow! Do you see just how deep this gets?! Not only are we to care for our homes, but we are the protectors - we are to guard, protect, and defend. We are the wardens - we watch over, look after, and enforce rules. We are the custodians - we steward and nurture. And we are the curators - we carefully select the best of the best materials, content, and items to inspire, grow, and create a godly atmosphere in our homes.

So, fellow keepers at home, your role matters! It’s arguably the most important job in the world as we are growing and shaping our families to represent God’s kingdom. Not only are we growing people to be useful in this world, but we are shaping them with an eternal focus.

With all this in mind, doesn’t it just make you want to take a good look at what you’ve curated (either actively or unknowingly) into your home?

I recently was shocked at some things that had crept into my home that I selected, but didn’t realize some of the content until one day while doing homeschool with my 9-year-old and there it was! It was eye-opening for me to stay wide awake to what I’m allowing into our home and education…even if (and maybe especially if) it claims to be Christian.

But that’s a story for another time.

Take courage homemakers! Time is short and now’s the time to stay alert and on guard to protect your hearts and homes to be ready for Christ’s soon return!

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So you have a headache or tweaked your ankle and you don't have time to rest plus don't want to hurt so grab an Ibuprofen. Pretty soon you're feeling better. No harm done right?

Not so fast! Let's check out the actual action of an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) and see what's really happening in your body that makes the pain go away.

In this post, I'm sharing what the research says about NSAIDs, why it matters, and what to do instead:

• How NSAIDs Actually Work

• The So-Called Side Effects of NSAIDs

• What the Body Does to Deal With Pain & Inflammation

• 5 Tried and True Ways to Support the Healing Process to Naturally Reduce Pain and Inflammation

• Final Thoughts on NSAIDs, aka Anti-Inflammatory Meds

So if you typically reach for NSAIDs, aka anti-inflammatories, for headaches, injuries, or period pain, you might want to read this first to see if it’s really worth it, or if there are some even better ways to not only relieve immediate pain, but to encourage deeper healing.

How NSAIDs Actually Work

When you pop an NSAID like Advil or Ibuprofen, the purpose is usually to decrease pain, soreness, and inflammation. In order to do this, the action of the drug is to stop production of prostaglandins. Normally prostaglandins are released in the body to help when there's injury in order to make the blood clot to keep you from bleeding too much. That's a good thing. However, when the body is damaged, and prostaglandins are released, it causes pain. Pain is there to let you know there's damage so you stop doing what you did to cause the damage.

So when you take an NSAID to stop prostaglandin production, it can diminish acute pain. But it also stops the body from being able to heal as efficiently from the inflammation due to injury. Here's why. 

"After an injury, the immune system rallies to prevent infection. As part of the body’s inflammatory response, damaged cells begin releasing arachidonic acid, a natural chemical that latches onto cyclooxygenase, an enzyme that helps create compounds necessary for blood flow. Together, they produce what’s called prostaglandin H2 — ibuprofen’s primary target." (from "How Does Ibuprofen Actually Work?")

Ibuprofen isn't selective about where it blocks the production of prostaglandin. The action of blocking prostaglandin production in the body also hinders digestion and other functions...like blood flow. And it's not that it just hinders digestion a little. Since prostaglandins are always present in the gut to help maintain the constant repair of your stomach lining, taking an NSAID can actually cause bleeding, ulcers, and leaky gut - where gut sludge (aka poop) can leak out of the intestines. Which, by the way, is the perfect way to cause infection and whole body inflammation.

That's exactly what happened in this study in which Ibuprofen use has been shown to not only NOT help with things like muscle soreness and damage (in ultramarathoners in this case) but actually ELEVATED endotoxemia (fancy word for bacterial toxins in the blood) and inflammation.

Ummm. So why is it called an anti-inflammatory if it causes inflammation? Obviously it’s talking about immediate and local inflammation relief of an injury or pain but not addressing the long-term, systemic effects from use - even one-time use.

But wait. There's more! (*said in my best infomercial voice)

The So-Called Side Effects of NSAIDs

Prostaglandins (what Ibuprofen blocks) regulate overall blood pressure, including regulating proper pressure in the kidneys so they can properly filter fluids. The change in body fluid pressure (due to prostaglandins being blocked) decreases kidney function. Decreased kidney function leads to increased blood pressure, fluid buildup, dehydration, dizziness, and toxin buildup (because decreased filtration and urination).

Okay, so let's sum up. NSAIDs not only don't reduce inflammation, but they can cause blood pressure, gut, and kidney issues. Plus toxic blood and infection.

And just to be clear, “side effects” aren’t things that may or may not happen once in awhile. This is the actual action or mechanism of the drug so are things that can and will happen. It’s just not what the drug is marketed for. As with all drugs, by the way. The side effects aren’t a “this could happen” kind of thing. It’s not optional. Those are the natural results of the drug. It’s just that the marketed use of the drug is something else, so anything else that happens as well is called a side effect. And in an otherwise healthy body, we don’t always notice the “side effects” because the body does an amazing job at filtering out the toxins, aka meds, we have given it.

But of course that begs the question: What should you use instead of NSAIDs for aches, pains, and injuries? Here are a few of my suggestions.

Prevention First & What the Body Does to Deal With Pain and Inflammation

First, check your habits. If you’re regularly experience aches and pains, lifestyle is the best place to start. For example, if you’re regularly sore after working out, adjust the intensity of the exercise and only do what you can without needing to take something to take the edge off. You’ll build muscle faster if you work just below your threshold rather than pushing through and being sore the next day.

But if something accidental happens like you step in a hole and roll your ankle, jam a finger, bounce off a doorway while trying to keep your crawling baby from falling down the stairs (don't ask), or you get in a car accident, then obviously you can't help it.

So first things first, you need to help the body do what it is trying to do to patch up the damage. Instead of blocking the guys with the bandages (prostaglandins), help them out by putting pressure on the wound - cause that helps stop too much bleeding too.

Another cool thing the body does is it increases blood flow to the damaged area which brings in healing blood cells to repair the area and removes the damaged cells/tissues. It's like a little train system delivering good stuff and hauling out the bad stuff. Because of the extra blood flow to the area, it also causes swelling - which just means the tissues are puffy because of the extra fluids present. Swelling is good because it creates an internal splint - so you don't start using said damaged area while it's still trying to heal. 

Now, of course swelling can be pretty painful as well. But remember, it's not the swelling that's the bad guy, it's the actual damage to the body. So getting rid of (normal) swelling isn't going to help the body heal faster...it will just slow it down.

5 Tried and True Ways to Support the Healing Process to Naturally Reduce Pain and Inflammation

There are many ways to support the body’s natural response to injury, pain, and inflammation. Too many for one article. Basically you want to think about what the body is doing to heal, and then use methods that encourage and speed that healing process rather than try to stop the process in the name of “pain relief.” It’s also a mindset shift - realizing that the body is not against you or needing to be stopped from hurting you (which is the rationale for using meds), but rather is trying to save your life. Once you look at the pain response that way, it’s much easier to critically evaluate what methods are good and what methods are actually hindering the healing process.

Here are a few of my favorite ways to not only help relieve immediate pain, but to actually support deeper healing.

1. Ice Massage - One of my very favorite ways to take the edge off of pain/swelling and help the body heal is by using ice massage. Now, ice by itself - like putting an icepack on for 15+ minutes, will actually slow the healing process by hindering circulation, so that's not my first choice most of the time. Rather, if you use an ice cube and rub it straight on the skin in little circles for about 5 minutes (you'll feel cold, burning, aching, then numb. When it's numb, it's done), it first constricts the blood flow to the area. Then when you briskly rub the area (like with a dry washcloth) to help bring the blood back in and as the tissue warms, the blood quickly rushes in and flushes out the toxins/damaged tissues. Not only does this speed the healing process but it greatly reduces the pain you are feeling as well. You can use this daily at first, but be watchful for skin chapping and back off to every other day or less if there’s irritation. Ice massage is especially useful for a muscle strain, sprain, tendinitis-type injury, nerve pain, etc.

2. Gentle movement - Swelling generally resolves well once the initial damage has been repaired and you can simply start moving (gently) again to help the body clear the residual debris. Gentle exercise creates a muscle-pump action that helps to resolve the excess fluid and debris in the swollen area. Of course you want to do this without causing more pain, so go very easy and consult a physical therapist for more targeted movement recommendations for you specific problem. (Note: exercise is obviously not intended for serious or acute injury, so please be wise here.)

3. Cayenne Pepper - If you get a cut, cayenne pepper has fabulous blood clotting action to help stop excess bleeding. It's also anti-bacterial so can help to prevent infection. The odd thing is, even though it's HOT to your taste buds, it doesn't burn when put on a cut. We use it often. It's also great for headaches when taken internally and has even been used similarly to nitroglycerin to stop chest pain due to coronary artery disease as it dilates the blood vessels and improves blood flow.

4. Turmeric/Curcumin or Ginger - If you want to help your body with inflammation by taking something internally - maybe you just really like taking pills (wink)- turmeric, or curcumin, and ginger are brilliant as anti-inflammatories without the side effects (unless you take too much and get a stomachache. Go easy on it). Turmeric is a super potent natural pain reliever which can be more effective than pain meds without the side effects. It is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral so really steps in to assist in clearing toxins so the body can heal more effectively.

5. Omega-3's are fabulous to help cool the inflammation to promote healing. Think of Omegas like the tin man’s oil can. They really help to bathe and soothe ouchy and dry areas so things work more smoothly. They are also great for brain health, memory, heart health, and hormone balance. My very favorite Omegas are these plant-based ones from Juice Plus+. I and my family have personally been using these for years. And my kids love these chewable Omegas from Mary Ruth Organics.

6. Water. Staying hydrated is key to helping the body deal with inflammation. Many headaches can be resolved from drinking water alone (no NSAID necessary). Take hydration to the next level by eating a crystal of Celtic salt with each glass of water. Move over chemical-laden Gatorade!

7. Water. Not a typo. This time I’m talking water on the outside of your body. Water is a great therapeutic tool for illness and pain. Have a headache? Try putting your feet and lower legs in hot water (not too hot of course), and a cool washcloth or ice pack on your head (front and back). Amp it up by using Epsom salts in the foot bath to help bring a bit more relaxation to the muscles. Plus drink some water while you do this. And voila! Headache relief without drugs! Water therapy, aka hydrotherapy, is super versatile and inexpensive. It’s our go-to treatment of many ailments.

Of course, depending on what the cause of the pain/damage is will change how you treat it, but these are some great go-to's that we keep in our personal natural "First Aid Kit" plus share with my clients.

Final Thoughts on NSAIDs, aka Anti-Inflammatory Meds

In summary, think twice before you reach for an NSAID because it may take your body longer to recover from it than the actual thing you were taking it for in the first place. Prepare ahead of time to take a more body-supportive approach to help healing when pain/injury arises by keeping ice, cayenne, turmeric, and Omega-3's on hand. And take care of your body preventatively so it will be more able to ward off illness and more quickly recover from injury if/when it occurs.

The real secret to pain relief is having a simple, natural lifestyle that gives the body exactly what it needs to stay healthy anyway. While there are a plethora of natural ways to remedy issues that arise, being proactive with your health is key.

Here's To Your Health!

Note: This is by no means an exhaustive list of things to do for pain, injury, or illness. If you’d like to learn more about self-sufficient and natural health, check out some of my favorite health and wellness books in this post.

Referenced Articles:

How Does Ibuprofen Actually Work?

Ibuprofen use, endotoxemia, inflammation, and plasma cytokines during ultramarathon competition

About Angela…
I’m a women’s health coach, writer, and Doctor of Physical Therapy. I’m also a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist, and homeschool mom of three living near Chattanooga, TN.

Note: For educational purposes only. Not to take the place of or be taken as medical advice.

*This post may contain affiliate links to some or all of the products listed. While it will not change the cost to you, I may receive compensation if you choose to purchase through my links. Thank you for your support.

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Lately, a lot of women have contacted me about what to do about a tight pelvic floor. Which means there’s increasing awareness that pelvic floor tightness is even a thing vs. the previous “everyone should do Kegels” (or “no more Kegels”) mentality.

So how can you tell you have a tight pelvic floor? Why does it matter? And what can you do about it?
In this post, I'm sharing all about pelvic floor tightness including:

• A Too Tight Pelvic Floor? What It Is and Why It Matters

• 7 Sneaky Symptoms of Pelvic Floor Tightness You Probably Didn’t Know About

• How to Balance (not just stretch or strengthen) Pelvic Floor Muscles So They Work FOR You, Not Against You

• Final Thoughts on Pelvic Floor Tightness + Free Printable

So now I bet you’re curious if maybe you might have a tight pelvic floor…Keep on reading.

Want to learn how to release your tight pelvic floor muscles? Grab my Insider Guide to Pelvic Health!
And be sure to pair it with this Pelvic Wand from Intimate Rose ($5 off with link!).

A Too Tight Pelvic Floor? What It Is and Why It Matters.

A few years ago, Kegel exercises were all the rage and touted as the “cure-all” for all things pelvic floor.

Leaking urine? Do Kegels.

Want to have a better birth? Try more Kegels.

Want to tone up “down there” and improve intimacy? Kegels.

But what about? Kegels! Always Kegels!

It reminds me of this birthday card I got once that went something like this…

You can do it at a stoplight
While driving in your car
When you’re about to go to sleep at night
Lying in the dark
You can do it in the shower
Or shopping at the store
Yes, you can do your Kegels, anywhere you are!

(And no one will ever know. He-he!)

Okay, I don’t exactly remember what the birthday card said, and it was about having birthdays, not doing Kegels, but I think you get the point.

Kegels have been trending as the go-to exercise to treat every pelvic floor issue under the sun (or pants, as it were), but it’s just a really an oversimplified way of brushing off addressing pelvic floor struggles. I mean, if your elbow hurts, I’m not going to tell you to go squeeze a stress ball 50x/day and that will take care of it. (To be fair, that might be part of the early phase of treatment, but certainly not all of it.)

So what does this Kegels craze have to do with too tight pelvic floor muscles? Well, not everything, but almost. Unfortunately the Kegel craze ingrained the (wrong) idea that if we’re having pelvic floor issues it must mean the pelvic floor isn’t squeezing hard enough, long enough, or just enough enough. That idea, coupled with increased stress and tension overall which oftentimes translates to the pelvic floor, leads to a LOT of the same shortened (aka tightened) muscle position almost constantly.

Try this!

Make a fist and squeeze as tight as you can. Oh, but that’s not tight enough. Squeeze even tighter. Now tighter. And tighter still. Pretty much those last several cues of “squeeze tighter” did nothing right? Because you were already squeezing as tightly as you could. So there wasn’t any point in telling you squeeze tighter.

So how do you strengthen a muscle that’s already squeezed? Well, first you have to release it. But what if it’s been in that tightened position so long it can no longer relax? Ah, and herein lies the problem.

If our muscles are in a chronic state of tension, they’ve lost the ability to lengthen properly. Hence the slew of people who don’t actually get better with Kegels and are desperate for solutions.

On the flip side, more and more women are becoming aware that pelvic floor tightness is a “thing” and are reaching out for help. Yay! I’m so happy that the awareness is growing that there’s something you can do about pelvic issues just as much as any other health concern.

But how do you know if your pelvic floor is tight? Check it out…

7 Sneaky Symptoms of Pelvic Floor Tightness You Probably Didn’t Know About

1. You make noise when you pass gas. Wait. What?! Yeah, I’m talking about breaking wind, cutting the cheese, pooting, farting, tooting, or whatever you want to call them. Loud ones.
   
   Or maybe not loud, per se, but they definitely make a sound. Like this one time when I was a teenager and my brother and I were walking down the hall to our rooms. And then I pooted. Except it didn’t sound like the usual breaking of wind. It sounded like someone whistled. Seriously.
   
   My brother turned around to look behind us, then looked at me with a really weird expression on his face and said, “What was THAT?”
   
   “I pooted,” I sheepishly grinned.
   
   And then we busted out laughing! But truly, if I hadn’t known I’d done it, I would have thought someone behind us had whistled too.
   
   Now please tell me how this happened. Do you think my pelvic muscles were nice and relaxed? Um. No! I was squeezing for all I was worth to try to keep from passing gas in front of my brother. And instead it cam out as a whistle!
   
   So, of course there will be times when we don’t want to pass gas and tighten those muscles. But do you have the ability to pass gas without any sound? As in, are you physically able to relax your muscles enough to let gas pass silently? Or does it always come out with sound? Give it a try the next time you’re passing gas. You’re welcome!
   

2. You tend to clench your jaw or have tight neck muscles. Everyone pretty much knows these are signs of tension. And if you have these symptoms, chances are pretty good that you’re going to have some pelvic floor muscle tightness too. A big ole dose of de-stress is a great place to start. Cue the Epsom salt bath with a bit of lavender, some deep breathing, and gratitude journaling for starters.
   

3. You have foot pain or soreness (or wear high heels a lot). Oh my. The impact foot health has on the pelvic floor is substantial. Foot pain and pelvic floor tightness go hand-in-hand. And if you’re wearing heeled shoes, the pelvic floor muscles are automatically in a shortened position. Oh, and flip-flops? Yeah, that toe-gripping habit increases pelvic floor tightness too.
   

4. You’re constipated. While gut health absolutely impacts constipation, the pelvic floor plays no small role in it as well. So if you’re constipated, in addition to eating all the ground flax seed, drinking plenty of water, and eating lots of fruits and veggies, better check in with that pelvic floor and make sure it is able to relax to let things through when the time comes.
   

5. You leak urine or poo. Okay, hold the phone. Doesn’t it seem like this would mean your pelvic floor isn’t tight enough? But remember that if something is already squeezed you can’t squeeze it more. And you’ll start to notice that you’re actually holding tension in an effort to keep from leaking…but it’s not working. Time to lengthen so you can strengthen!
   

6. You have pain with penetration during intercourse or insertion of a menstrual cup or tampon. Or maybe these things aren’t even a possibility at all due to tension or pain. This one’s a pretty classic symptom of tightness.
   

7. You have hip pain or tailbone pain. While these aren’t a sure-fire sign that you have pelvic floor tightness, it’s more likely than not as they often show up together.
   
   Actually, any type of pain or symptoms around the abdomen and pelvic girdle will affect your pelvic floor. Low back or sacroiliac joint (SIJ) pain, pubic symphysis dysfunction, IBS, interstitial cystitis, chronic UTI’s, diastasis recti, or pubic bone pain. Everything is so interrelated that checking in with the pelvic floor is a must with any of these issues. It could be a key component for pain resolution.
   

Bonus symptom: You had perineal tearing during childbirth. Perhaps this was related to a tight pelvic floor that couldn’t stretch well during birth…hard to say in hindsight - but stands to reason that tight pelvic floor muscles aren’t going to be as flexible. Even if we can’t say for sure a tight pelvic floor was the cause of perineal tearing, if you did tear, you for sure have scar tissue from the wound. And your muscles and perineum aren’t going to be as flexible now that there is a bit of scarring.

So whether or not a tight pelvic floor is related to the amount of perineal tearing that occurs, perineal tearing/episiotomy (and repair) certainly can cause a tight pelvic floor. See, normal tissue lays down its fibers all neat and orderly-like. But scar tissue lays down fibers every which way making it thickened and tight. Not stretchy.

If you had pelvic floor tightness before birth or not, addressing scar tissue after any type of tearing, episiotomy, or surgery is a must!

How to Balance (not just stretch or strengthen) Pelvic Floor Muscles So They Work FOR You, Not Against You

So here’s where the trend has made a complete 180, and now instead of everyone thinking they need to be doing Kegels, I’m hearing a lot of women thinking they have a tight pelvic floor and need to stretch.

But let’s not lean so far into that way of thinking that we are missing what’s actually going on with the pelvic floor muscles. First, let’s ask the question, Why are the pelvic floor muscles tight? Are they tight as a response to pain? Postures? Stress? Injury?

See, if you jump in with the same attitude as the Kegels craze of “let’s Kegel for everything!” But now it’s, “Let’s release all the tight muscles,” what are you left with? Instability, that’s what.

The body is not dumb. And it’s definitely not working against you! So if you have tight pelvic floor muscles, the key to helping them release is to work on the areas around the pelvis. To make sure everything is balanced and stable. And that your pelvic floor muscles aren’t compensating for a weakness elsewhere.

While working on those muscles, it can be super helpful to use a pelvic wand to help release any trigger points and bring immediate relief! I highly recommend this one from Intimate Rose (get $5 off with my affiliate link).

Next, work on strengthening to lengthen, not just general stretches and release work. While those have their place and can be a nice pain-relief strategy, the bread and butter is in strengthening the antagonist (the guy who works in opposition) to the muscle that is tight which will help to both release the tightness and restore balance between the muscles.

You also need to take a look at the “why” behind what’s contributing to the tightness. If it’s stress - address it. If it’s from sitting all day, take lots of walking breaks or consider a sit-to-stand workstation setup, sitting in a variety of positions, sitting on a ball instead of a chair, etc.

If it’s due to injury, do all the things to encourage good healing of the tissues through gentle rehab of the tissues themselves but also by supporting your overall health so your body can do its job and heal things well. Great nutrition, hydration, joy, gentle movement, fresh air, sunlight, and stress management are all keys to helping your body be able to heal well.

Final Thoughts on Pelvic Floor Tightness

Pelvic floor tightness is definitely a thing. And probably much more prevalent than we realize. If you’ve got any of these 7(+1) symptoms of pelvic floor tightness, don’t ignore it, but do consider it as part of the larger solution to whatever other symptoms you’re having. Always remember that the body all works together so what affects one area will affect other areas as well.

Choose one good habit to work on, like exercising, getting good rest, drinking more water (and only water), daily devotionals, getting outside more, helping others, etc., and just see how that affects your overall health including your pelvic floor. And prepare to be amazed!

Need more targeted strategies?

Grab the Complete Pelvic Health Bundle for the best strategies for pelvic health for life!

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Note: For educational purposes only. Not to take the place of or be taken as medical advice.

*This post may contain affiliate links to some or all of the products listed. While it will not change the cost to you, I may receive compensation if you choose to purchase through my links. Thank you for your support.

It’s bound to happen. Your daughter is starting to show signs of becoming a woman. And although many times menstruation is referred to as “the curse.” It’s really anything but!

My daughter recently turned 13 and it brought back all the memories of when I was that age. All the excitement of becoming a woman and waiting for my first period. So I really wanted to make it special for my daughter as she’s about to enter womanhood.

In this post, I'm sharing more about why getting our periods can and should be celebrated and cover:

• Why Having Your Period is Ah-mazing!

• My Experience as a Young Teen and What I Wish I’d Known

• Essentials for a “Welcome to Womanhood” Kit (plus some goodies for mom!)

• Final Thoughts on the Gift of Womanhood, Periods, and Why We Need to Have Our Periods for As Long as Possible

So if you’ve got a daughter who’s menstruating or going to be or you just want to check out some fun womanly essentials for yourself to make having your period a little more exciting, keep reading!

Why Having Your Period is Ah-mazing!

Remember in that post where I recently shared that menstruation is our 5th vital sign? The quality of our menstrual cycles can reveal so much about our health. And the very fact that we are having periods indicates a certain level of hormone health. There’s really a lot you can tell from your cycles. Especially if you’re tracking your cycles, you’ll be able to know if and when you ovulated, if you are estrogen-dominant, if you have a long enough luteal phase to support a pregnancy, and if your moods, energy levels, pain, and other symptoms are hormone-related.

Think of your menstrual cycle as a canary in a coal mine. It’s can be one of the first things to let you know there’s something going on that you need to check into.

And if you’re someone who really struggles with pain, PMS, and other not-fun symptoms with your periods (or even with ovulation), I’m so sorry! Please know that it’s not supposed to be this way and it doesn’t have to stay that way. So while slowing down a bit during our periods is actually a good thing to work with, not against, our natural hormones for better health (as in it’s not the best time to do the hardest workout right now), you shouldn’t be bedridden or have to miss work or other events just because you are on your period.

Periods are a mark of womanhood and a sign of health (and fertility). And we can and should support our bodies so they can have the level of health to be able to menstruate (or reproduce) for as long as possible.

My Experience as a Young Teen and What I Wish I’d Known

Back when I was a preteen, I remember being super excited about growing boobs and getting my first period. I learned as much as I could from whatever age-appropriate books my mom could find for me and especially love the book, “Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret" by Judy Blume (I don’t necessarily recommend this book, but for some reason I loved it then). My mom got me a few pads and tampons so I could be ready for when the big day arrived. I had a purple Caboodles and used the compartment hidden under the pop-up mirror for tampons. I thought I was very clever and felt so grown up to even have such things in my possession. (I also had a mini Caboodles that had a secret compartment that I also filled with tampons. I carried it in my backpack to school.) I also read the instructions in the tampax box and practiced inserting the tampons so I wouldn’t have to struggle when I actually needed to use it. Yep, I thought I was totally prepared.

Then I waited for what seemed like forever (another year or so) till I finally got my period. On my birthday. And it was like my body had been building this nice nest for months and months and was letting it all out at once. My mom was working nights so I couldn’t even ask her for help because she was going to bed when I was getting ready for school. Let’s just say, it was a lot more stressful than I anticipated. But I somehow survived. And thankfully things got much easier after that first huge welcome into womanhood.

Of course there were things I didn’t have a clue about and in hindsight feel like I could have been more prepared, even though I thought I was. Here are a few things I wish I’d known (or had):

• Information about how irregular periods can be for the first few years. Everything said cycles were 28 days. Um, no! My cycle was all over the place. And it turns out that’s completely normal at first. Now you tell me!

• Non-toxic menstrual products. My mom wasn’t super naturally-minded at that point and we had the good old Tampax tampons and pads full of chlorine and other toxins. It’s so sad I was exposed to that junk at such a young age and for so many years! I’m glad there are so many great non-toxic menstrual products these days!

• A great app for tracking my periods. I cut out this tiny little chart I found in a magazine once and made copies so I could use it over and over again when I first got my period. It worked fine but there wasn’t room to add many details that can be helpful like flow level on different days, symptoms, moods, etc. I love all the options available now to track your cycles so you can easily see the ebb and flow of your hormones. It’s fascinating!

• Natural ways to deal with PMS, cramps, headaches, and other hormonal symptoms. I remember my mom said she always got a headache just before her period, and so did I. She gave me Aleve as she thought that helped the most. Unfortunately Aleve and other anti-inflammatory drugs come with side effects that are hard on the body (apologies to my gut biome). So I wish I’d known the remedies I do now for the mild symptoms I experienced. For headaches, instead of meds, you can drink a glass or two of water (plus eat a pinch of Celtic salt) and put your hands and feet in a hot bath (with Epsom if you like) with an icepack on your head and neck. It’s awesome! Let me know if you try it out!

• A fun womanhood kit. Ok, this obviously not a must-have, but why not?! I mean, my Caboodles were cool and all, but it sure would have been fun to have a “Welcome to Womanhood” kit with some fun goodies to make it even more exciting. Kind of like and Easter basket or a fruit basket…ok, well, you get my point. At any rate, I survived being a child of the 80’s somehow. :)

Essentials for a “Welcome to Womanhood” Kit (plus some goodies for mom)

Even though I didn’t get a “Welcome to Womanhood” kit, it didn’t mean my daughter didn’t have to! (Mom, I forgive you for not making me a kit!) So when she was about to turn 13, I decided to put together a gift basket for her as a “Welcome to the Teenage Years/Womanhood” present for her birthday. It sure was fun to shop for!

Here’s what I included in the Welcome to Womanhood Kit:

• Basket or other fun container - used one I had but there are some fun ones at Target Dollar Spot or dollar stores. I wanted one that would fit under her sink vanity in her room.

• Billie Razor - I’d been wanting to try these out myself (cause I saw them all over Instagram), so thought I’d get one for my daughter to shave her legs too when she wanted to. They come in super fun colors and even have a magnetized holder that sticks in the shower. I’m pretty picky about my razors and usually hate women’s ones so have been using my husband’s for years. My take on the Billie Razor? Two thumbs up! I actually love it! And my daughter does too!

• Cloth pads - I wanted something cute and soft but not itchy. I also wanted it to for sure be cotton on the top layer at least. I ended up getting a bunch of sizes and colors from Pink Lemonade Pads because they have a cotton knit top layer. Bought some for myself as well and they are so comfy! Have had trouble with wool and bamboo blends and these are much better! I’ll definitely be going back to buy more now that I know how awesome they are!

• Menstrual Cup - I did a bit of research on the best menstrual cups for teens and ended up getting the Intimina Lily Cup One. It’s nice and petite and is collapsible so can be really discreet. In hindsight, I probably would have gone with something different, like a menstrual disc, as I later researched more in depth on menstrual cups and discs for myself, so if it doesn’t work for her, I’ll have a back up plan.

• Face Cream - Teen acne is in full force over here. Both my husband and I struggled with it and our daughter does too. Poor girl. Trying to do all the natural and detox things to help her out, but I can’t micromanage her every move…so there are good and bad days partially depending on what she remembers to do lifestyle-wise. In an effort to make it a little more fun to take care of her skin (she’s not into that), I got her some yummy non-toxic Lavender Sprigs & Twigs Face and Body Lotion. I love it too and can tell it makes a big difference in how healthy my skin looks.

• Makeup and a set of makeup brushes - See above. :) I got this basic, not-too-expensive mineral makeup for covering up blemishes plus her own set of makeup brushes - cause, fun! My daughter is super creative so I think she’ll really enjoy the artistry of makeup as she gets older.

• Cycle Savvy Toni Weschler Teen Book - I have had this book for years and years. Maybe since my daughter was born! I followed Toni Weschler’s other book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility when I was trying to conceive, and it changed everything for me. Well, I got pregnant for one. But also, I never went back to hormonal birth control again (read this story here). So I knew that this teen book was going to be absolutely amazing for my daughter and is something I totally wish was available when I was a teen!

Final Thoughts on the Gift of Womanhood, Periods, and Why We Need to Be Having Our Periods for As Long as Possible

Truly, having our cycles can and should be embraced as an amazing part of being a woman. While we often hear about the curse of womanhood and all of the negative connotations that accompany getting our periods, I hope that we can educate ourselves and our daughters about what a gift our cycle is. And by taking care of our bodies and steering clear of toxins as much as we can, we can reap all the benefits of healthy hormones and pain-free periods.

Putting together a Welcome to Womanhood kit is just one way to change the negative narrative surrounding periods with our daughters. I hope at least by sharing this with my daughter, she’ll see becoming a woman as an exciting new adventure rather than something to dread.

Note: For educational purposes only. Not to take the place of or be taken as medical advice.

*This post may contain affiliate links to some or all of the products listed. While it will not change the cost to you, I may receive compensation if you choose to purchase through my links. Thank you for your support.

You might also be interested in these articles…

We've all experienced stress. Especially since the whole virus, shutdowns, isolation, and other debacles that have been coming at us from all sides and won't be going away anytime soon.

And while you may not have noticed a direct correlation, I'm guessing you've experienced more than usual pain and maybe some other unusual symptoms over the past few months.

And the pelvic floor is one of those areas, like your shoulders and neck, that is a hotspot for tension when we are stressed.

In this post, I'll be sharing:

• How Stress Affects Your Pelvic Floor and Common Stress-Related Symptoms

• Wait, are you saying pelvic floor dysfunction is all in my head?

• Self-Help Strategies to Cope With Stress and Support Your Pelvic Health

• When You Could Use Some Support

• Get the Free Printable!

So if you’ve been especially stressed and you’re noticing an uptick in your pelvic floor symptoms - like incontinence, prolapse, or pain, keep reading to find out why it’s happening and what to do about it.

How Stress Affects Your Pelvic Floor and Common Stress-Related Symptoms

The pelvic floor is the group of muscles beneath the pelvis that is important for urination, bowel, sexual function, birthing, and of course maintaining good positioning of the pelvic organs. Perhaps you're quite intuitive and notice that you're more susceptible to pain, illness, and injury when you're under stress. But have you ever considered how stress affects your pelvic floor function overall?

You know how you have a spot (or spots) around you neck or shoulders that seems to get tight and sore? It's that place that always feels good to be massaged and feels like it's in a constant state of tension. Well, turns out the pelvic floor does the same thing on the flipside. It's where your tension is held in the lower half of your body.

Consider what an animal does when it’s scared. It usually cowers, tucks it's tail under, and slinks away right? Likewise, when we are stressed or feeling low, one of our body's first reflexive responses is to curl up and clench our pelvic floor muscles, like tucking our tail under.

This constant state of tension can create tight spots, sometimes called trigger points, within the muscles of the pelvic floor. You may not even associate them as being sore because it doesn't feel the same as a knot in your neck or shoulders. Instead of that sore tight feeling, it can feel more like burning, aching, or even a stinging sensation. It can also feel like hip pain, back pain, tailbone pain, or pain with intercourse. Sometimes it can even feel like a yeast infection or urinary tract infection.

A lot of women have what feels like recurrent yeast (fungal overgrowth) or urinary tract (bacterial imbalance) infections and spend a lot of time getting tests from the doctor. But the cultures come back negative. Strange right? And maybe they get rounds of antibiotics or anti-fungals to try to deal with the issue, but it doesn't work or seems like it works for a bit then comes back worse.

In these cases, it's a good time to step back and wonder if perhaps it's a stress and/or muscular issue causing the pain and discomfort in the first place.

Are These Pelvic Floor Problems All In My Head?

Stress doesn't just cause pelvic pain and tension. It can also contribute to worsening prolapse, incontinence, hemorrhoids, or bowel and bladder dysfunction, like painful bladder syndrome. When stress is a major part of your life, it also affects your hormones and therefore changes your body's pH, response to pain, and ability to heal or ward off illness and injury.

Pelvic dysfunction is a whole body, whole person issue. It's not "all in your head" but the thoughts and feelings in your head do affect your pelvic floor. It's a real, live problem that has a pretty big mind component (as does every other illness btw).

Ongoing stress causes physical pain. And ongoing physical pain causes stress. It's a vicious cycle.

And while it would be nice if we could just de-stress and be done with it, it takes a bit more to untangle the pain response with a whole body approach (since stress affects the whole body) to help the body heal after the stress response. It's kind of like weaning off of a drug. It takes a while for the body to adjust and detox from the stress hormones circulating in the body. And oftentimes it takes support to be able to get back to feeling normal after a season of increased stress.

Self-Help Strategies to Cope With Stress and Relax Your Pelvic Health

But there is much you can do to relieve tension in your pelvic floor during times of stress.

1. Exercise is one of the best ways to recover from the negative effects of stress.
   Things like gentle stretching, walking, and gardening are fabulous ways to help your whole body feel better. Even if you’re too painful or exhausted to “work out,” puttering around a garden or gently strolling outside can work wonders. Exercise helps to reduce pain, stress, anxiety, and actually improves your immune health. Not to mention the physical health benefits and direct effects on the pelvic floor through a greater variety of movements. Varied movement is a win-win for both physical and mental health.
   
   What about targeting the pelvic floor with Kegels? Not so fast! When the pelvic floor is tight already, kegels will make it worse. So if you're peeing your pants and are freaking out because even though you're squeezing hard you're still leaking, it's time to focus instead of relaxing and releasing the pelvic floor.

   If pelvic floor tension is a problem, a Pelvic Wand from Intimate Rose is an excellent way to release trigger points and help those muscles relax. Be sure to pair it with step-by-step self-release instructions from my e-book - Inside Guide to Pelvic Health.

2. Prayer and Bible study
These forms of Christian meditation help relieve stress as you read through the promises and give your worries to God. Unlike other forms of meditation which only have short-term benefits coupled with negative side effects, prayer and Bible meditation have long-term positive effects as faith grows and you truly leave your burdens in the hands of the Creator.

3. Healthy Lifestyle Habits
Good lifestyle habits support our body's ability to heal by giving it the fuel and tools it needs to detoxify and absorb nutrients. A good sleep schedule, deep breathing of pure air, excellent nutrition and eating habits, cleanliness, healthy clothing, and ditching toxins are all invaluable tools that can make such a huge difference in pelvic floor and whole body health.

When You Could Use Some Support

A trusted friend, supportive group, or counselor can help if you're feeling stressed and can't seem to break the cycle. It can be truly invaluable just to be able to talk through some of what you’re going through and get a fresh perspective.

And if it’s wellness or pelvic health guidance you need, check in with a pelvic DPT or reach out if you want to work with me remotely or in person.

You truly don't have to keep struggling or go this alone.

Note: For educational purposes only. Not to take the place of or be taken as medical advice.

*This post may contain affiliate links to some or all of the products listed. While it will not change the cost to you, I may receive compensation if you choose to purchase through my links. Thank you for your support.

You might also be interested in these…

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]]>How Stress Directly Affects Your Pelvic Floor and What To Do About ItHealthDiastasis RectiWomen's HealthCore ExercisesAngela AitkenMon, 28 Feb 2022 19:58:41 +0000https://houseofaitken.com/blog/diastasis-recti-safe-exercises61f31d012a87216b1489aa50:61f32128ff6fb26458de05eb:621799255950871282b65071

Many women have diastasis recti (DR ). While it naturally occurs during pregnancy (in 100% of women) and should resolve on its own within 12 weeks after birth, oftentimes it doesn’t. About 39% of women still have DR at 6 months postpartum and 32% still have DR at 12 months postpartum.

If that’s the case, there are postures, strategies, and exercises that can encourage things to get back to where they should be for a stable core and pelvis.

But if you’ve looked online for diastasis recti exercises, you’ve probably noticed there are a lot of do’s and dont’s. Many women wonder, do I really have to follow all of those restrictions forever?

In this post, I'll be sharing:

• How Diastasis Recti occurs and why some women struggle with it while it resolves spontaneously in others

• Symptoms and side effects of Diastasis Recti

• How to Check Yourself For Diastasis Recti

• Common Do’s and Don’ts for DR…Are They Really For.Ev.Er?!

• Nutritional & Lifestyle Considerations for Diastasis Recti

• How to Really Know Which Diastasis Recti Exercises Are Best For You

• When to Get Help

• Free Printable - Diastasis Recti Cheatsheet

So if you’ve been bothered by Diastasis Recti at any point and want to make sure you’re doing the right things to resolve it for good, keep reading.

How Diastasis Recti Occurs and Why Some Women Struggle With DR While It Resolves Spontaneously in Others

As I mentioned earlier, diastasis recti occurs in 100% of pregnant women. The linea alba naturally widens and thins as the abdomen expands to allow for baby to grow. This becomes a problem when the core becomes overstrained and can no longer maintain strength and stability. And when this happens, it’s not just a poochy belly that is the issue. Diastasis recti becomes a whole body problem which always involves the pelvic floor, diaphragm, ribcage, pelvic girdle, and spine.

So you can see that diastasis recti is definitely not a standalone issue. And while it sounds like it’s a normal occurrence in pregnancy, the problem comes when it doesn’t spontaneously resolve within a few months postpartum.

Which begs the question, why does it resolve in some women and not others? Of course, like anything else, the answer is, it depends. A lot has to do with pressures and load management which you can read about in this post. Other factors are strength of the tissues as it relates to fitness but also nutritional components. Tissues need good nutrition to be able to generate force without injury. Also, size of the baby, how you were carrying, the birth itself…all of these are contributing factors.

The best way to keep a diastasis recti from sticking around is to prepare your core and pelvic floor before and during pregnancy and to follow some specific modifications to help protect your body as it’s more vulnerable after birth.

Symptoms and Side Effects of Diastasis Recti

There are many symptoms that may accompany diastasis recti. And while some are thought to be a direct result, there are others that may be side effects or just part of the bigger problem.

The most commonly promoted one is a belly pooch that makes you look pregnant even when you’re not. Also, doming or caving in down the midline when you do anything sit-up related - like a crunch, sit-up, or sitting up from a lying down position.

Other symptoms can include:

• Pelvic floor weakness or tension

• Incontinence

• Back pain

• Pelvic girdle pain (SIJ, symphysis pubis)

• Rib pain

How to Check Yourself for Diastasis Recti

Say you have some of those symptoms but aren’t sure you have a diastasis recti. I mean, you can have back pain or incontinence as a standalone issue without DR. So the simplest way to know is to just check yourself.

Lie on your back, knees bent and feet on the floor. Use one hand to feel your midline at your belly button (palm facing you with your fingers pointing down towards the floor). Slightly lift your head and shoulders off the floor and feel the space between the two sides of your abdominal muscles. Notice how deep your fingers go, how many fingers wide the space is, and if you have any tension under your fingers or if it’s just squishy.

Repeat this same thing up closer to your rib cage and then again down lower below your belly button towards your pubic bone. Note any differences in the three areas tested. (note: the area where the belly button is is naturally wider/deeper).

So now you have a good idea of how well those muscles in your core are stabilizing.

Common Do’s and Don’ts for DR…Are They Really For.Ev.Er?!

If you have a diastasis recti you can never do sit-ups, crunches, or jack-knife again. Have you heard this one? If you’ve researched diastasis recti at all, I’m guessing you have.

So, like I mentioned in my 5 Little Known Truths About Diastasis Recti post, this is simply not a hard and fast rule. If you have a diastasis recti, you will have precautions to not do these exercises and movements UNTIL you’ve built up enough core strength to do so. And as I also mentioned in my other post, it all depends on your individual level of strength.

And while typically that’s where a post ends and says to contact a pelvic health PT/OT near you. Just for the sake of giving you the DIY option (cause that’s how I roll), I’m going to keep on going here and let you in on how EXACTLY to be able to tell which exercises you should and shouldn’t be doing based on your specific core strength level.

Nutritional & Lifestyle Considerations for Diastasis Recti

But first, I need to preface this to say that if you really want your strength, endurance, and tissue healing to be at its peak performance, you must also support your tissues at the cellular level. I mean, if your tissues are weak from lack of use only, then using them again will strengthen them. But if your tissues are weak because they don’t have all the minerals, vitamins, and nutrients they need to build strong cells and muscle fibers, then progress will be slow and movement is not going to be the only answer. The going will be much faster if you give your body the foundational building blocks to be able to grow strong cells and tissues to have the ability to build strength.

So first and foremost, to support healing of diastasis recti, you need to have all of these components going for you…

1. Eat plenty of real food. Preferably at least 90% plant-based as to avoid unknown toxins and diseases from secondhand food sources (animals). Best thing to do is go with non-processed foods exclusively. I know, it’s serious. But if you follow this bit of advice alone, you’ll be amazed at what a difference it makes in your overall health and hormone balance.
   Better yet, grow your own food! I’ve been working on this one myself, and while I do have a garden in the ground, I absolutely love having a Tower Garden on my deck for quick access to fresh garden produce like leafy greens, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes when I’m prepping meals. Life-saver!

2. Drink enough water (or herbal tea) + minerals. Yes, water. No, to most other liquids. Why? Because many things like caffeine and sugary drinks actually deplete your body of needed minerals which means you have to play catch up even more with supplements and crazy good nutrition (and stellar gut health to make sure you’re actually absorbing the nutrients in your food). So…water or herbal tea. The occasional fresh squeezed juice. (Smoothies count as food, so I’m not ruling those out here btw.)
   Lemon water is awesome first thing in the morning or about 30 minutes before meals to help get your stomach juices flowing for better digestion. You can use a straw to protect your teeth (I’m pretty lazy about the straw thing so just rinse with water or salt water after drinking lemon water). Also, make sure you eat a pinch (or more) of Celtic or Himalayan salt with each glass of water for great mineral balance. Makes a HUGE difference!

3. Sunlight, fresh air, rest, whole body movement…just lumping all of these together cause I go into much more detail in my programs (coming soon!) for whole body health and hormone balance which supports muscle healing, tone, and strength-building potential. You NEED all of these things. Every. Single. Day.

4. Castor Oil Packs - not technically a nutritional thing, but an invaluable tool to help your body heal as it is a powerful liver detoxification support which helps with general inflammation and overall balanced hormones and health. For those of us (it me!) who are not genetically great detoxifiers, aka MTHFR mutants (not a cuss word), castor oil packs can be life-changing. I’ll share more on this in a future post cause I find them to be A-Mazing! They can be super simple with little mess, but do take some preparation and planning to get started.

5. Breathing and postural alignment - huge, huge, HUGE factors in diastasis recti prevention and reversal. I go over these specifically in my Women’s Health coaching program as well as in this post - #1 Habit Change That Could Make Your Prolapse Better. But in a nutshell, you need to be breathing into your ribcage (360°) with pressures distributing evenly throughout - not pressing forward through your belly or down into your pelvic floor. Spread the load.

How to Really Know Which Diastasis Recti Exercises Are Best For You

Here’s where I share a trade secret and am supposed to tell you to go see a Pelvic Health PT/OT who specializes in DR so you can get a personalized exercise program. But since I’m an advocate for DIY health, I’m going to go ahead and let you in on how to figure this out for yourself if you want to.

It’s not super difficult to do but does take awareness and creativity to adapt your exercises (and daily activities) to meet your current level of fitness and help you build, not break down your core strength.

First, pick an exercise, any exercise. Let’s go with a plank as an example. Instead of going into a regular plank on hands and feet, start in a more vertical position, like against a wall. Place one hand on the wall with your feet out a bit so you’re slightly leaning forward in a semi-plank position.

Use your other hand on your belly to feel for bulging or gapping while you do the exercise. Feel up and down your midline - from ribs/sternum to pubic bone, testing for muscle tension/activation (which is good), squishiness, and/or gapping or bulging all along the connective tissue. If you feel like there’s a weak spot, see if you can engage your transverse abdominis (TA) (draw up through your pelvic floor to draw your belly up and in) and see if that resolves the weak spot. If not, don’t do that exercise just yet and try something less challenging to the core.

If it’s challenging but you can engage your TA and get good tension to correct the weak spot, bulge, or gap, you’re good to go with this exercise as a way to strengthen those muscles and can continue increasing difficulty as your strength improves.

If this was easy and no problem with the midline, take it to the next level and test again. Use a table chair, bed, or couch, etc. and try a plank at that level - between vertical and horizontal. (Also be aware that a squishy or unstable surface - like this crazy swively chair I used - will make it more difficult so you can adapt level of difficulty that way as well). Again, one hand on belly, one hand on the table/chair. Try a plank, see what you feel.

Can you engage your core so there’s tension in the midline or is it too difficult to do so? If it’s too difficult, go back to the upright position or somewhere between the two levels. If it’s difficult, but you can do it for a bit, this is a great exercise to stick with to build strength and endurance. If it’s super easy, try the next level down to a lower surface - maybe down to the floor at this point - and try again.

Like this…

Once you find an exercise that you can engage your core to where the midline has a bit of tension, doesn’t bulge/gap, and is still a bit of a challenge, that’s the level you should start with and can work on increasing your time for endurance and changing up position/surface stability for a functionally strong core.

In my test, I could do each of these positions with an engaged core but found the middle one on the unstable chair to be the most challenging. So I would definitely keep doing that one for the challenge and perhaps the regular plank on the floor for building more endurance.

Also, if it’s an exercise like a plank that uses your arms, make sure you test with and exercise both sides.

You can do this test with crunches, dead lifts, chest presses…anything where you can have one hand free to assess your midline and see how it’s keeping up.

Give it a try and see what you can do!

When to Get Help

Like I’ve said before, I’m a big believer in the DIY approach and have gone that route myself on numerous occasions with a ton of research and experimentation. But it definitely helps to reach out for support to make sure you’re on the right track and to help keep you motivated. Working with a Women’s Health Coach can be just what you need to make it to the next level. If you’re feeling discouraged, stuck, or have severe diastasis recti (very wide, deep, or where you can’t feel the tissue tensing AT ALL when you’re attempting to contract your TA), reach out for more support.

Free Printable

Be sure to grab this free printable cheat sheet so you can easily self-check for Diastasis Recti during your workout routine.

Note: For educational purposes only. Not to take the place of or be taken as medical advice.

*This post may contain affiliate links to some or all of the products listed. While it will not change the cost to you, I may receive compensation if you choose to purchase through my links. Thank you for your support.

You might also be interested in these articles…

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]]>How to Really Know Which Exercises Are Safe for Your Diastasis Recti (Free Cheatsheet)Women's HealthPelvic HealthUrinary IncontinencePelvic Floor ExercisesHealthAngela AitkenMon, 21 Feb 2022 16:51:18 +0000https://houseofaitken.com/blog/incontinence-bladder-training61f31d012a87216b1489aa50:61f32128ff6fb26458de05eb:6206ba0d82cb265dbde85f8c

Did you know that the bladder is one of the most trainable parts of the body? If you’re one of the many women who struggles with incontinence, this is great news! And while the numerous ads and products in stores make it seem as though there’s no help for incontinence other than just dealing with it by wearing adult diapers or pads, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

In this post, I'll be sharing about incontinence and what to do about it including:

• Prevalence of Incontinence

• Stress vs Urge Incontinence

• Bladder Training and Puppy Training (they’re not so different)

• JIC’ing and How to Re-Train Your Bladder

• Nutritional & Lifestyle Considerations for Bladder Health

• Pelvic Floor Role in Urinary Incontinence

• When It’s Time to Get Help

So if you or someone you know is dealing with incontinence and are ready for some simple, doable tips to get rid of it, keep reading.

Prevalence of Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is a super common occurrence. In fact, about 25% of young women, 44-57% of middle-aged to postmenopausal women, and 75% of older women struggle with incontinence. Thankfully, incontinence is something that is highly treatable, which can not only help now, but for the long-term. So if you’re a young women in your 20’s or 30’s who has some incontinence on occasion, there’s no better time like the present to work on resolving it as it will affect whether or not you will struggle with it later in life as well.

Even though urinary incontinence may be common, rest assured it’s not something you have to live with and there are things to do about it no matter how old you are.

Stress vs. Urge Incontinence

While we often hear about women saying they leak urine when they sneeze, cough, or workout, this is not the only form of incontinence. Incontinence or leaking of urine with impact or pressure and no urge to pee is called stress incontinence. This commonly happens when running, jumping, coughing, sneezing, singing, yelling, or even just speaking.

The other form of incontinence, and the one I’m going to focus on in this post, is urge incontinence. When the bladder is full, it will send you a message letting you know it needs to be emptied. Unfortunately with urge incontinence, the bladder may start pinging you when it’s not full or close to full yet. When this happens, you get such a sudden urge to pee, it feels as though you’re going to wet your pants so you have to run to the bathroom as soon as possible. Sometimes you may leak, but not always.

Bladder Training and Puppy Training (they’re not so different)

A few months ago we got an 8 week old puppy. Truth be told, I’d never house-trained a puppy before, so I was researching and reading everything I could about the best ways to help our puppy learn to know where to go potty and to communicate with us that she needed to go outside to do so.

A lot of things I read or watched said to take the puppy out every hour to make sure they didn’t have an accident in the house. They also said to continue this schedule at night.

Now I don’t know about you, but if I wake up in the night and feel like I need to use the bathroom, I do all in my power to not get up and go. Why? Because once the bladder empties once at night, it’s going to do it again the next night, and the next, and so on, and so forth. So if you’re taking your puppy to go to the bathroom every hour, you’re basically training your puppy’s bladder that it needs to go every hour. And it will really feel like it needs to. Talk about self-sabotaging your puppy training efforts!

So while I know babies, puppies included, have smaller bladders and need to go more often than we do, going every hour at night is just setting you up for a lot of unnecessary trouble as it’s not natural to have to go as often during the night.

The real secret to bladder (and puppy) training, is to try to go a bit longer between bathroom visits, not to run to the bathroom with every urge to pee or even worse, “just in case” you might need to go. Cause the more often you go, the more often your bladder will feel like it needs to go. Here’s what I mean…

JIC’ing and How to Re-train Your Bladder

If you’ve ever gone to the bathroom “just in case” (JIC) you know what I mean by JIC’ing. It’s when you are about to run errands so you go to the bathroom first, JIC. Or you’re about to go for a run and don’t want to leak, so you go JIC.

The problem with JIC peeing is you’re actually training your bladder to go to the bathroom more and more often. Even if it’s not full. So the first step in re-training your bladder is to be aware if your bladder is actually full or if it’s “pinging" you too early. If you’ve been to the bathroom fifteen minutes ago, you can be sure your bladder isn’t full and is pinging you too early. If that’s the case, you’ll need to work on holding off on peeing for longer intervals to help retrain your bladder to wait to ping you until it really is full and needs to be emptied.

Check yourself! The bladder holds 400-600 mL (~1.5-2.5 cups) of liquid. It keeps a bit of reserve even after you’ve urinated so you’re never completely empty. It’s normal to urinate every 2-4 hours during the day (about 4-6 times/day) and 0-1 times at night. If you’re going more often than that, and you’ve ruled out infection or some other underlying cause, here are some things that can help…

One thing to help the urge to urinate too soon pass is to do some quick flicks. Basically you do some quick pelvic floor muscle squeezes as that will send the signal to your bladder to stop the urine from coming. This can literally take away that feeling that you urgently need to find a bathroom and empty your bladder.

Homework: Practice a few quick flicks where you quickly squeeze your pelvic floor muscles a few times. That way you’ll know what to do and be ready when the next urge comes.

Use the clock. If you’re feeling like you need to pee every 15-20 minutes and know your bladder can’t possibly be full, you can use a timer to make your bladder hold it even just 30 seconds to a minute longer at a time. Over the course of several days, you could increase your wait time between bladder emptying quite a bit. For example, you have a timer ready for 1 minute. So you feel the urge to urinate and start the timer to train your bladder to wait just a bit longer. In a couple of days, you can increase the time to 2 minutes. And just keep upping the increments until you’re bladder is waiting until a reasonable interval between urinating.

If your urge to urinate is triggered by certain events like pulling in the driveway, walking in the front door, turning on water, etc., distractions can really help with the retraining process. So if you pull into your driveway and start to feel the urge, instead of jumping out of your car and running inside to the bathroom, try just sitting and relaxing for a minute. Read the mail or a book. Say a prayer for someone. Just anything that can teach your bladder that coming home doesn’t mean it always has to go to the bathroom right then.

Make a game out of it. You vs. Your Bladder. Try to make retraining your bladder a fun challenge which will help take the stress out of it and help things go more smoothly. Maybe even wear a big pad while you’re extending the time so if you have the occasional miss, it’s no big deal. Just like with a game, get a new guy, and start again to try to get to the next level.

Since the bladder is highly trainable, it may only take about 3 days to notice big changes, which is awesome and will help encourage you to keep going to that next level.

Nutritional & Lifestyle Considerations for Bladder Health

Good bladder habits aren’t just about how often you “go.” Since the bladder is a container for what’s filtered through the kidneys, what you put into your body is going to affect your bladder. So if you put irritants into your bladder, it’s going to be more likely to get irritated which may make you feel the need to urinate more frequently as well.

To keep the bladder healthy, calm, and working well, here are a few things to try…

Keep urine dilute. Many women who struggle with incontinence try to drink less to keep from needing to empty so often. But the reality is, if the urine is super concentrated from not drinking enough, it may keep it even more irritable and feel like you have to go more often. Vicious cycle. The best thing for your bladder is pure, filtered water sipped on throughout the day between meals. Aim for about half you weight in ounces. If you weight 120 lb, drink about 60 oz of water per day. (this isn’t set in stone, it’s just an easy thing to remember. So if you’re more active and/or sweating more, you’ll need more.)

Avoid irritants like alcohol, coffee, smoking, caffeine, spicy foods, chocolate, dairy, processed sugar, artificial sweeteners, and possibly tomatoes and citrus (temporarily). Keep a food diary so you can pinpoint what might be causing or exacerbating the frequent urination. Simply record what you’re eating or drinking every day as well as how often and how much you go to the bathroom. You’ll start to notice a pattern with your habits and how it affects your bladder.

Check your meds. Bladder irritation can be a side effect of medications. Read the inserts and check with your doctor about getting off of the medication (to make sure it’s safe to stop quickly or if you need to slowly reduce it).

Don’t drink too much liquid. While you want to be hydrated, you don’t want to overdo it as your body will just get rid of what it doesn’t need.

Manage stress. Bladder irritation can most definitely be stress-related. Deep breathing, getting outside, getting organized, asking for help, prayer, and meditating on God’s Word are all great ways to put stress into perspective and keep from overwhelm.

Pelvic Floor Role in Urinary Incontinence

While you’re working on relaxation strategies to help manage stress, don’t forget about your pelvic floor. Holding tension in the pelvic floor muscles, especially in the front, can cause a lot of irritation and exacerbate urge incontinence as well - it also play a huge role in stress incontinence. So while you may have heard or read that doing kegel exercises will help with incontinence, if you’re holding too much tension already, this could actually make the problem worse. Check in with your pelvic floor to see if you can completely relax it or if you’re chronically tense. If you are, work on some downtraining - breathing down into your pelvic floor on the inhale, strengthening the pelvic girdle muscles, and postural alignment.

When to Get Help

If you’re suddenly dealing with urge incontinence that wasn’t there before, it might be a good idea to get checked for infection like a UTI to make sure that’s not the culprit.

And if you’ve tried all of these suggestions and aren’t seeing any significant changes, definitely seek out the help of a pelvic floor therapist to help you pinpoint what’s going on and put a plan together to help. Especially in the case of pelvic floor tightness, it can cause a deeper nerve irritation that may take more time and targeted strategies to reduce inflammation and resolve.

But be sure to give all these ideas a shot first and see how it goes. I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see how easy it is to train your bladder (easier than a puppy) and you may just gain a whole new freedom you didn’t know you could have!

Want to see how well your pelvic floor is working? Check out this free printable checklist to find out!

Note: For educational purposes only. Not to take the place of or be taken as medical advice.

*This post may contain affiliate links to some or all of the products listed. While it will not change the cost to you, I may receive compensation if you choose to purchase through my links. Thank you for your support.

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]]>The Best Kept Secrets About How to Train Your Bladder (and your puppy)Women's HealthPelvic HealthProlapseHealthAngela AitkenMon, 14 Feb 2022 16:00:53 +0000https://houseofaitken.com/blog/pelvic-organ-prolapse61f31d012a87216b1489aa50:61f32128ff6fb26458de05eb:6203ccd417f63c685383d75b

Fifty percent of women have some level of pelvic organ prolapse. Whether a bladder prolapse (cystocele), prolapsed urethra (urethrocele), rectal prolapse (rectocele), small bowel prolapse (enterocele), or prolapsed uterus, the good news is, even if you already have one, in most cases, it’s reversible!

And while a lot of online searches and even some practitioners will sing praises to kegel exercises, those are just the tip of the iceberg…and may not even be what you need at all.

In this post, I'm sharing some things that you may not even realize you’re doing that can greatly impact prolapse:

• What is Pelvic Organ Prolapse?

• How to Tell If You Have a Prolapse

• Symptoms of Prolapse

• My Experience With Pelvic Organ Prolapse and the Trouble With Getting a Diagnosis

• Your Pressure Management System

• Lifestyle Habits That Affect Your Pressure Management System

• The Number 1 Habit Change That Could Make Your Prolapse Better

In this post, I’m going to be sharing the top lifestyle strategies that I see affect women (including myself) and worsening prolapse symptoms that can be changed and make a huge difference in decreasing symptoms and reversing prolapse. So if you have a prolapse and are looking for natural, conservative ways to reverse it, or are wanting to prevent prolapse from happening at all, keep reading.

What Is a Pelvic Organ Prolapse?

A Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) is a displacement of the organs into the vagina. It’s due to laxity in the vaginal wall which allow the organs, such as the bladder, rectum, uterus, small bowel, or even the urethra to bulge into the vagina. Just to clarify, the vaginal wall is still closed, so the organs are bulging into that space, not actually coming through to the vagina, with the exception of the uterus which is above the vagina so can actually fall into the vaginal vault itself.

It’s super common for women to experience mild prolapse after childbirth - typically vaginal delivery but can also happen after C-section depending on how far labor progressed. Plus just the weight of the pregnancy is the biggest contributing factor vs. the delivery alone. But it can also happen to women who have never given birth, who have had a hysterectomy, with age (lowering of hormone levels), if you’re obese, and even if you’re not super active so have low tone which doesn’t keep things in place.

Other risk factors are connective tissue disorders like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, chronic cough, constipation, or repeated heavy lifting.

All that to say, you don’t have to be fearful. Just be aware that while prolapse is a common thing that can happen, it that can also be prevented or reversed (by 1-2 grades) with good lifestyle habits and/or pelvic physical therapy, which includes manual therapy, exercises, and lifestyle strategies.

How To Tell If You Have a Prolapse

If you’re wondering if you could have a prolapse, the best way to know for sure is to see a Pelvic Physical Therapist or other skilled practitioner who can test you at rest, when bearing down, and possibly in multiple positions. That’s the best and most comprehensive way to know. An Ob-Gyn, Nurse Practitioner, or Midwife can also check though many just look without testing during bearing down or multiple positions. If that’s the case, it may be missed. So if you’re having symptoms but your provider checked by just looking and says you don’t have a prolapse, go get a second opinion.

You can take a look yourself as well, though it’s not necessarily observable externally. Grab a handheld mirror, and sit in an empty bathtub or propped up on pillows on your bed. Somewhere where you can recline a bit. Use the mirror to take a look and see if you can see anything near the entry to the vagina that wasn’t there before. Without going into a lot of detail, just know that you probably won’t be able to see much just with the mirror, but at least you can get an idea of what things look like “down there” so you can compare from day to day if things change. You won’t be able to see a grade 1-3 bladder or uterine prolapse with this method, but you may be able to see a urethrocele or rectal prolapse.

Symptoms of Prolapse

Another way to be clued in as to whether or not you have a prolapse, and the reason most women seek help, is symptoms. Prolapse can feel different depending on which organ is involved, but these are some typical symptoms that may accompany prolapse:

• A feeling of heaviness or fatigue in the vagina (or pelvis/low back) that worsens as the day goes on, if you’re on your feet a lot, and with certain activities (high impact, heavy lifting)

• Pelvic or Low Back Pain (or sometimes hip pain) - usually worse at the end of the day

• Feeling like something is stuck in the vagina or blocking the opening

• Pain with intercourse

• Difficulty having a bowel movement - may feel like you can’t empty all the way. May have GI issues or constipation (but not always)

• Need to urgently or frequently urinate. May have leakage (urinary incontinence)

• Vaginal irritation or pain

• Tightness or tenderness in the pelvic floor

• It could even feel like a yeast infection

• Diastasis recti (not really a symptom but often accompanies prolapse)

One important caveat is that the severity of prolapse doesn’t correlate with the severity of symptoms. There are women with grade 3 prolapse who may not have any symptoms at all. And then there are women with grade 1/2 prolapse who are having all kinds of discomfort. Why would this be so? It probably has to do more with level of tension in the pelvic floor. So say the lady with a grade 1/2 prolapse is really bothered by a lot of pain or irritation in the vaginal area. And although she has a prolapse, she also has a pelvic floor that stays tense most of the time. In fact, once that tension is released, the symptoms can completely go away, even with a mild prolapse still present.

Also of note, a grade 1 prolapse is considered to be within normal range. But even though the presence of a mild prolapse may not be of great concern, it would be wise to go ahead and work on balancing the tissues and pressures in order to prevent it from progressing. A prolapse certainly can be prevented from worsening with conservative treatment.

My Experience With Pelvic Organ Prolapse and The Trouble With Getting a Diagnosis

After a particularly difficult birth with my third child, I could decidedly see something different in the vaginal area. At my 6-week checkup, I asked my midwife if it was a prolapse and she didn’t think it was. At that point in time, I had never seen a prolapse and wasn’t trained to do internal pelvic exams yet. So I was relieved that she felt it was normal. (btw, it IS normal to have a grade 1/2-1 prolapse immediately postpartum and things should get back to normal in a few weeks to months). At that point, I went to pelvic floor PT to help support my postpartum healing. She didn’t actually check me for a prolapse (and I didn’t ask her to since I’d just been checked), but we did work on pelvic floor tension release and strengthening which would help with prolapse anyway.

Years later, I attended an internal pelvic therapy course. In these courses, we take turns being both the patient and practitioner. And wouldn’t you know, as we were assessing prolapse, lo and behold, I had one. Not saying it was missed before, because it certainly could have changed over that amount of time, but I hadn’t actually been checked the way we did in the course, so it’s possible it was there all along.

I’m sharing this because it’s a great example to show that there are different methods taught to evaluate for prolapse. So not every practitioner will follow the same guidelines or do it the same way.

So while I didn’t really have symptoms, I knew I’d better work on it because I’m getting to the age where hormones are starting to drop causing there to be less resilience in the tissues, so as that continues to happen, prolapse can worsen if nothing is done about it. No me gusta.

The good news is, prolapse responds super well to conservative treatment! And since the recurrence rate after surgery is 58% just one year later, I’d say it’s worth it to go the pelvic therapy route first. So unless you have a really severe case (not typical), surgery isn’t the best option anyway. Research shows that the best treatment for prolapse is pelvic therapy (lifestyle, exercise, manual therapy) which can reverse the severity of the prolapse by at least 1-2 grades and resolve symptoms completely. (side note: severity of symptoms has no correlation to the grade or severity of the prolapse. Go figure.)

And if you’re dying to know what those lifestyle habits are that I keep alluding to…the wait is over. I’m finally done rambling and will get to the good stuff. ;)

Your Pressure Management System

First, it’s important to understand your body’s pressure management system. As in, how does it keep the organs in place throughout so many movements and activities. Like breathing. When you breathe in, your diaphragm pulls down, opening your lungs so they can take in air. Basically your ribcage opens up like an umbrella - wider at the bottom and narrower at the top. When that happens, your pelvic floor also drops down a bit in response to the pressure from above. This is normal and your pelvic floor is meant to have a bit of give - like a trampoline - so it can move up and down with each breath. Plus all the other things we need our pelvic floor to be able to do.

So when you breathe in and out, your pelvic floor moves down and up too. If you sneeze, cough, or laugh, your pelvic floor should brace just before that happens. If it bulges out, that’s a problem in the pressure management system.

Lifestyle Habits That Affect Your Pressure Management System

1. Breathing - You probably already guessed that one. Your breathing habits directly affect your pelvic floor. You want to breathe 360 where your rib cage expands all the way around. If it doesn’t, that pressure that would have gone into that spot has to go somewhere else, and the pelvic floor is one of the main areas. Another place is your belly, which is why this is also a risk factor for diastasis recti. Keep in mind that diastasis recti and prolapse go hand in hand. So in many cases if you have one, you’ll also have the other.

2. Toileting - Do you bear down when you’re on the toilet? Are you constipated often? Both can overload the pelvic floor. A Squatty Potty or footstool can help during bowel movements to take the pressure of the pelvic floor (feet can be down for urination). And for constipation, try eating 1-2 Tbsp of freshly ground flaxseed daily. Plus work on overall gut health.

3. Bearing Down When Not Toileting - Do you bear down when you’re lifting? Many women do! Instead of bracing the pelvic floor, bearing down when lifting (or coughing, sneezing, laughing, at all times) puts huge pressure down through the pelvic floor. Not good. If you’re not sure if you do this, try coughing. Does your pelvic floor push out or pull up right before you cough? (You can feel with your hand on the outside of your clothing if you’re not sure)

4. Clothing - Tight clothing, especially around your belly, automatically puts pressure on your abdomen that has to go somewhere. And it’s usually the pelvic floor. Think about a balloon being squeezed in the middle and where that air has to go - either up or down. Another potential pressure-changer is wearing shoes with heels which pitches the body forward and changes the muscle tension all the way up the body. The pelvic floor operates best in neutral position, so if it’s constantly on a tilt, the muscles won’t be balanced and can cause tension and change in pressures. Moral of the story is, wear flat shoes (or no shoes) and loose-fitting clothing around your middle as much as possible.

5. Posture - your default body position and how you use your body daily will have a huge impact on the pressures in your pelvic floor. Tucking the pelvis and rib thrusting are big pressure changers (also huge factors in diastasis recti), and while it may just be a habit, it could actually be a compensation pattern for weakness or tension elsewhere which signifies a compensation for something deeper.

Speaking of tension, there’s a pretty big tension spot besides the pelvic floor itself that can have a huge impact on prolapse….

The #1 Habit Change That Can Make Your Prolapse Better

Stop. Clenching. Your. Abs.

Namely, your upper abs. Are you an Ab-Clencher? Here’s a way to check. Stand in front of a mirror and pull up your shirt so you can see you belly. Do you have any lines across your belly where you can see you naturally fold when you’re slouching, sitting, or just normally? If so, that’s your tension line. So if you tend to have a lower belly bulge and the upper/middle abs seem flatter - most likely you’re going to have a tension line in the upper/middle ab area.

If you do that, you’re constantly forcing pressure downward into the pelvis and pelvic floor. And if there’s constant pressure being placed on the pelvic floor, it can cause all sorts of issues, not the least of which is exacerbating or causing prolapse.

Try this:

Sit on the floor or in a chair. Put your hands around the lower part of your rib cage. Take a super deep breath and see if you can feel expansion all the way around. Then breathe out all the way - getting out as much air as possible. As you breathe out, press in with your hands around your ribcage to help encourage your ribs to come down and in. Do 5 breaths just like this.

Then relax, breathe normally, and check in with your ribcage to notice difference in how much better it moves with each breath…thus improving your internal pressure management and redirecting a lot of the pressure that would normally be pushed into your pelvic floor, out through the ribcage where it belongs.

Variation: If you’re not getting get expansion in the back of your ribs (you can feel with your hands and/or look in the mirror), go ahead and lean your upper body forward and slightly to the side (kind of “I’m a little teapot” style but not so far to the side). Repeat with the deep breaths as above. In this position, it will really help to direct the air to go to the back of your ribcage. Repeat on the other side for several breaths. Now come back to neutral and try breathing deeply again and notice if you have less tension in your abs (they should release and expand a bit with breathing) and are getting more even ribcage expansion.

Now, for your homework…take note throughout the day if you’re clenching your abs. While you’re putting on makeup, brushing your teeth, washing dishes, sitting at the computer…When you catch yourself doing it, take a deep breath, release it all out, and let the abs go with it. (If you can’t let it go, try the exercise above.) Practice a few more deep breaths to really get some good expansion, relaxation, and to take the pressure of the pelvic floor. It may seem like you have to do this a lot at first, but your body will adapt and relearn what it’s supposed to do if you keep working on it, so you will more naturally keep those abs relaxed over time.

Final Thoughts on Prolapse and Managing Pressures

While prolapse is something to be aware of and is super common, it doesn’t have to be something to fear. While specialized, targeted exercises can help get you back on track and sort of “reset” your system as well as be a tool to help release tension/compensation patterns, there are lots of lifestyle habits that are just as important and will be the key to long-term pelvic floor, core, and overall health.

Take our free quiz to find out how well your pelvic floor is functioning!

Note: For educational purposes only. Not to take the place of or be taken as medical advice.

*This post may contain affiliate links to some or all of the products listed. While it will not change the cost to you, I may receive compensation if you choose to purchase through my links. Thank you for your support.

You might also be interested in these articles…