I’m sure you’ve heard the importance of strengthen your pelvic floor through one of the most famous pelvic floor exercises, the Kegel exercises. As you know, I’m a huge believer in pelvic floor health that’s why I teach about yoni wands and eggs as tools to strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor.
However, what most people don’t realize is that having a tense or too tight pelvic floor is the other side of the coin. If you’re pelvic floor is too tense, you can have symptoms like painful sex or trouble urinating.
Pelvic Floor=Powerhouse
Your pelvic floor is a powerhouse of muscles weaving together taking a funnel type structure in your deep lower pelvis. I like to think of the pelvic floor as a diaphragm actively moving and breathing just as the diaphragm under the lungs. Your pelvic floor supports your inner organs such as your uterus, bladder and intestines, supports continence of your urination and defecation, and is responsible for keeping all in line when we sneeze or cough.
So you can now how important this beautifully complex muscle structure is to your overall well being. If your pelvic floor is too tight or tense, you can see some symptoms come up that you might not have understood until now.
Symptoms of a tight pelvic floor
- Pain during sex
- Trouble beginning to urinate
- Incontinence
- Trouble emptying your bladder
- Bladder infections/UTI’s
The good news is, you can begin relaxing your pelvic floor through breath work, pelvic stretches, inner massage and deep squats.
Pelvic Breath work:
Laying down on your back with feet on the earth and knees toward the sky, place your hands on your belly and slowly inhale into your side ribcage and focus on relaxing your pelvic muscles. Let your entire pelvis relax and release any tension.
Pelvic Floor Stretches:
- Child’s Pose:
Knees as wide as the mat, toes touching, slowly release your torso down onto the mat with arms reaching above your head or down to the sides.
- Happy Baby Pose:
Start on the floor, on your back. Lift your legs up, knees bent, bottoms of feet to the ceiling. Lift your head and arms to grab the outside of your foot keeping your elbows inside your knees. Relax your head, move slowly side to side.
- Deep squat:
Turn out your feet to the corners of your mat, knees pointing the same direction. Place a yoga block on the vertical side and squat down until your butt touches the yoga block. Relax your pelvis as you breath into your side rib cage.
Inner massage:
For all you yoni bodied people, you can gently massage your yoni on the inside while you practice intentional breathing. Learn more about yoni massage HERE.
Inner Reflections:
How aware are you of your pelvic floor?
Let me know in the comment box below.
Also, let me know how these exercises work for you. Remember, your pelvic health is vital for healthy organ function, preventing incontinence, and enjoyable sex.
Stay curious.
xo