Unfortunately, an important part of the core muscle system, the pelvic floor, often gets overlooked in our core strengthening efforts.
This comes at a cost, as this part of the body is particularly vulnerable to developing dysfunction over time. Common pelvic floor issues include prolapsed organs, incontinence, and pelvic pain, which get increasingly common with age.
In this online course, physical therapist Jessica Reale and yoga teacher and pelvic health specialist Patricia Schmidt will show you how we can use yoga to help maintain and support a healthy pelvic floor.
Learn how to use targeted yoga asana and breathing practices to increase flexibility, strength, and awareness on the pelvic floor.
Working with the pelvic floor offers immediate and also life-long benefits: It can aid in the preparation for and recovery from pregnancy and childbirth; offer a defense against prolapse of pelvic or
Part 2: Keys to Pelvic Floor Health – Dealing with Overactive Pelvic Floor Muscles
Although we rarely pay attention to them, the pelvic floor muscles play many important roles in the body. The pelvic floor muscles form a vital part of the core muscles, support the abdominal organs within the pelvis, help regulate bladder and bowel function and add to sexual function.
Most people have heard of the consequences of a weak pelvic floor. But did you know that tight, overactive pelvic floor muscles can create a lot of problems as well?
In this online course, Jessica Reale, P.T., and yoga teacher and pelvic health specialist Patty Schmidt will show how numerous issues like urinary urgency, frequency & incontinence, pelvic pain, and even constipation often are related to an overactive, or hypertonic, pelvic floor.
For the most part, we assume that these are issues that we will just have to learn to live with. Nothing could be further from the truth, however, says Jessica Reale. We now know that there are ways to work with these issues to greatly improve pelvic floor functioning.
An overactive – or hypertonic – pelvic floor develops when the pelvic floor muscles contract too often, become tense or begin to struggle with relaxation. This can have numerous spillover effects in other parts of the pelvis due to the multiple functions of the pelvic floor, shared muscle attachments, and neural pathways.
Symptoms of an overactive pelvic floor are surprisingly far-reaching and can include;
- Back pain
- Pelvic pain
- Constipation, or incomplete evacuation of your bowels.
- Pain during or after intercourse
- Slow flow and/or discomfort with urination
- Urinary urgency
- Incontinence
An overactive pelvic floor can also be associated with tension in the hip and pelvic muscles, including the hamstrings, the piriformis and more.
In this course, Jessica and Patty share the strategies they are using in working with clients with pelvic floor issues. Learn how to identify personal patterns of overactivity, and how to build a balanced yoga practice working with the pelvic floor.
You will also learn how to develop greater awareness of the nervous system’s response to movement and how to support an overall healthy and well-functioning tone in the body.
What You Will Learn:
- What pelvic floor overactivity is and how to test whether it affects you
- What causes pelvic floor overactivity to develop and how to avoid it
- Common symptoms of pelvic floor hypertonicity
- How the nervous system is involved in a hypertonic pelvic floor
- The role of stress, tension, and threat in the pelvic floor response.
- Strategies to build a balanced yoga practice to support a healthy, well-toned pelvic floor
This Course Also Includes:
- Yoga Practice Videos: Enjoy two one-hour yoga practice videos that accompany this course designed by Dr. Jessica Reale and Patricia Schmidt.
- Recordings of All Webinar Sessions: It’s generally acknowledged that many people only retain 10-20 percent of what they learn in a workshop. You will get access to the recordings of all webinar sessions – both MP3 (downloadable) and MP4 (streaming online), enabling you to go back and listen to the workshop as many times as you like.
- Transcripts of All Sessions: Ever wanted to refer to a certain part of a course? Even the best note takers miss a point every so often. With the transcripts of the webinar sessions, you can go back and refer to particularly important passages or clarify sections you were in doubt about.
This course qualifies for 7 CEs with Yoga Alliance.
