Hi,
Dr.
Adele Stewart from Winona here.
I'm a GP and an MBSR MSC teacher with a special interest in chronic pelvic pain.
So this is an intro to the pelvic floor relaxation audios.
And these guided practices help women with pelvic pain who often have increased tension in the internal pelvic muscles.
And hopefully you'll learn to relax and control these muscles which can really help relieve pain.
Important to note that being able to relax the muscles doesn't weaken them but allows them to function normally.
And it's probably ideal if you perform the exercises under the guidance of a specialized pelvic pain physiotherapist but it won't do any harm to try on your own.
Just don't push through any pain because that might worsen things.
And note these exercises are quite different from the pelvic floor exercises sometimes called kegels that are prescribed for women after child birth to help tighten the muscles.
Because if you've got persistent pelvic pain it's likely your muscles are already tight so that's not the focus in these.
Any instructions to tighten the muscles gently in the audios are only to make it more obvious when you relax them so you can really feel the difference.
And just as a side note for the same reason core exercises in general are best avoided for women with pelvic pain as they might increase pelvic floor muscle tension.
So in the audios you'll be guided in some progressive muscular relaxation or belly breathing first and then target the pelvic floor.
And this will give you the added benefit of becoming more aware of which muscles are tense and which are relaxed in throughout your whole body.
There's some visualizations in the audios which may be really helpful for some but for others they can't really visualize and that's fine just let the words wash over you.
Another little note of caution is that occasionally our nervous system can be so unused to relaxation that some anxiety can be triggered.
If this applies to you you could perhaps play some favorite music.
Music without lyrics would be best while you listen to the audio or keep your eyes open at first.
Your system will usually settle in time but of course please seek professional help if it persists.
So on to the best environment to practice in and the position of practice.
Ideally you'd be in a private place without interruptions and your phone on silent.
For the sitting or sitting on the floor,
For the sitting pelvic floor relaxations something like a dining room chair is a great idea with a bit of padding if necessary.
Having a kind of upright dignified posture with the upper body in a line above the pelvis.
In the lying practices maybe a yoga mat on the floor.
You can go on the bed if you need to.
In either case having a cushion or pillow under your head can be a good idea and maybe a big cushion under the knees can be helpful.
You should have your arms a little away from the body,
Your legs a little apart and heavy and relaxed on the cushion or floor.
You're on your back and your head and body will be in a straight line and before you get started make sure you've got a blanket and perhaps socks anything else you need to keep warm.
Either way loosening clothing and removing shoes can be helpful and probably best avoided just after a big meal.
So it's really natural to find it difficult to focus on the exercise at first.
We don't want to increase any pain or strain anything so having a gentle kind curious attitude is key.
You will need some patience as well and it might take quite a few sessions before you notice any benefit.
The other really common thing is sometimes your nervous system just mightn't feel safe enough to do the exercises at first.
You may find the vagina just doesn't want to relax yet or you may find all sorts of excuses not to do the practice or fall asleep even when you're not tired while you're doing it.
This is quite natural there's no need to push it.
You can try doing it in your imagination,
It can be surprisingly powerful,
Or just leave it try again another time or just try a few minutes at a time.
If there's a lot of resistance that's when some professional help might be required.
Okay so just finally it's useful I think to talk a little bit about the pelvic floor because if we're working with our arms or legs of course it's really easy to see the muscles but with the pelvic floor we can't see the muscles but you can get a bit of an idea of them.
So if you start by using your hand to find your pubic bone at the front which is the hard bony bit sort of beneath your pubic hair and the other hand to find your coccyx which is the tailbone just above your back passage.
That's the the front and the back.
Now sit on both hands,
One under each buttock and press around to find the sit bones on each side.
So that's the two sides.
So you can imagine that the pelvic floor muscles are like a round perhaps trampoline or perhaps you might think of it of hammock of muscle at the bottom of the pelvis that go between these four bones.
Let's call it the trampoline.
It kind of moves down and out as it relaxes and up and in as it tightens.
So on top of this muscular trampoline lies the bladder,
The uterus and the rectum which is the bottom part of the bowel.
So the pelvic floor muscles or trampoline tightens to stop the flow of urine and gas and bowel motions and they they need to relax to pass urine gas or a bowel motion.
And normally they tighten to close the vagina and open to widen it in sexual intercourse.
And you might need to ask your GP or physio to explain this a bit more if necessary or show you a model of the pelvis if it's a little bit hard to imagine.
So I hope you get some benefit from the practices and please check out my website on the Insight Timer bio if you'd like further resources or contact me.
So I hope you get some benefit from the practices and please check out my website for further resources or feel free to contact me.
