You’d Better WORK!

Uh oh I feel like I really dated myself with that title (but I have to say does Ms. Ru Paul ever fall out of  fashion? ). So okay, last post I talked about what the pelvic floor is and why we need it. Now we need to figure out how to access it. Many of us have been told that an effective way to work these muscles is to do the dreaded KEGAL. Doctors love to blithely tell us to do them and move on. Well  though Dr Kegal was onto something, I feel that this exercise is not concentrated enough; focusing on the pelvic floor structure from the outside in, rather than the inside out. So let’s do exactly that, work our pelvic floor from the inside out.  In order to do that we have to know what the pelvic floor Feels like. The following exercise helps you not only work the pelvic floor, but really feel it as well…. BONUS!

(You will need a yoga block these happen to be my favorite…..super firm and sturdy)

1) Place the yoga block in between your upper thighs. Lift your toes and press actively into all four corners of the feet (see the aside pic of my un manicured foot- the energy points are in black).Then place your spread toes back onto the mat, pinkie toes first.

2)Next, place the knee over the second and third toe. During the rest of this exercise your knees never move….they are CEMENTED THERE! You will start to feel the energy of this posture moving up your shins, and  into the quads.

3)Now, squeeze that block with the thighs as hard as you can. (you didnt forget to keep the energy in your feet, right?). Due to the knee placement, the legs will want to bend a little and your butt will stick out a tad.  WOOHOO! you are doing it correctly.

4)Now it’s MAGIC TIME! We are now going to feel the AWESOMENESS that is the pelvic floor. Place one hand on your belly and one hand on your sacrum (low back). Push the sacrum down, while pulling the belly in and UP . When I say pull the belly in and up, use that front hand to do so. What you are doing is creating a tad bit of a pelvic tuck. As long as you are pressing onto those feet, cementing the knees and squeezing the block, you have now officially  engaged the deep pelvic floor!

5) To keep all of this in place, bring the ribs IN towards each other. If you don’t understand what this means then feel your body, by placing your hands on your rib cage and bringing the ribs in towards each other. Keep everything engaged….feet, knees,thighs, tailbone, belly, ribs, and release the hands.

6) Stand with the hands by the side body, softening the backs of the shoulders down the back body and extending through the crown of the head. This is just a fancy tadasana, but if you are doing it correctly, all parts of the core body are really working and lifting. Take between 15-20 deep long belly breaths, and giggle because you are breaking out in a sweat just standing there.

So there you have it….you have officially said hello to your pelvic floor, and have a very specific exercise to work it. Next post we will learn even more to add to your pelvic floor arsenal, and learn how to continue to work that pelvic CORE without ever having to even think about the word crunches…..