Rebuilding the pelvic floor: What every mama needs to know

The pelvic floor is an extremely important network of muscles at the base of the spine that creates a hammock of support for the internal organs in the torso. As women we may have heard of the importance of pelvic floor tone for better sex (many of us have heard of kegels), but pelvic floor muscles are infinitely more important than that. They are helping hold all of our insides in. As the pelvic floor muscles lose their strength and tone we can start to experience issues like incontinence or worse.

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Pelvic floor is a key piece during pregnancy and postpartum. During pregnancy, labor and childbirth the ability of the pelvic floor to lengthen and make space for baby’s descent is of utmost importance. Postpartum, after the muscles have overstretched, it becomes important to reintegrate the muscles and ensure their strength. This focus on pelvic floor is one of the great benefits of yoga for women during pregnancy and postpartum, and is one of the reasons to seek out yoga classes specific to this time in motherhood (curious about other reasons postpartum yoga can help with recovery? Read my blog post).

Ideally, 5 minutes of pelvic floor muscles per day can help bring tone back to the pelvic floor. However, if there was significant birth trauma to the area, I highly recommend seeking out a trained PT to help with your recovery. In fact, every woman should see a pelvic floor specialist postpartum if they can.

To begin doing some work on your pelvic floor at home, use these two exercises. Begin with the first, and once you feel you have mastered it, move on to the second.

Accessing and working with the pelvic floor

1. Lie on your back, knees bent, feet hip width apart.
2. Bring the hands on to the belly and feel the rise and the fall of the belly under the hands.
3. As you inhale, notice the belly filling up underneath the hands. As you exhale notice the belly emptying and the belly button drawing toward the spine.
4. Once you have connected to the breath, add a pelvic rock. As you inhale, belly fills, pelvis rocks toward the feet (imagine pushing the tailbone into the floor). As you exhale, belly button pulls in, pelvis rocks back toward your head (imagine drawing your pubic bone toward your chin). Continue for 10 rounds.
5. Now, continue with the pelvic rocking and bring the awareness to the space between the two sit bones-- this is where your pelvic floor is located. As you inhale let it be soft just like the belly full of air. As you exhale, pull the belly button in and draw the pelvic floor muscles in and up. Pelvis rocks forward, belly fills, pelvic floor soft on the inhale. On the exhale belly button pulls in, pelvis rocks back and pelvic floor lifts in and up.
   1. The back will stay on the floor the whole time (we aren’t doing  bridge pose).
   2. When working with the pelvic floor think of a draw-string bag cinching up, and then once that is cinched, lift the pelvic floor up and in.
   3. When relaxing the pelvic floor be sure to relax it in its entirety, a relaxed pelvic floor is just as important as a strong pelvic floor.

Integrating pelvic floor lifts with abdominal contractions

1. Come onto your back and bring the soles of the feet together. Let the knees drop open wide.
2. Bring the hands behind the head holding the weight of the head and hands, just like you would for a sit up.
3. Now bring the attention to the pelvic floor. As you inhale, let the pelvic floor soften, and as you exhale lift the muscles of the pelvic floor in and up.
4. On the next round, let the pelvic floor soften on the inhale, and as you exhale and lift the pelvic floor,slowly bring the knees together, keeping the outer edges of the feet on the floor.
5. Finally, add one last piece on the next round. Inhale soften and as you exhale and lift pelvic floor, bring knees together, also lift the head up off the floor.
6. As you inhale lower the head and let the knees drop open, pelvic floor soft. On the exhale pelvic floor lifts, belly engages, knees come together and head lifts.
7. Keep going with your own pace opening on inhale contracting on exhale. Do this for at least 15 rounds.