Tag Archives: #beautifulpelvis

Feel your Breath

We have become so used to holding it all in and keeping it all together that we have forgotten how to just be. Because of this our bodies have found a new “normal” way of functioning.

Have you ever thought about how your breath feels?

If you had to stop what you are doing right now and take a deep breath, how would it feel? Put one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly and feel where your breath goes?

Ideally, we should see and feel more movement in our belly than in our chest with every breath in. We should be breathing with our diaphragm and when our diaphragm moves we should see and feel movement in our belly and lower ribs.

Now try this… Still with one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly.

Breathe in belly rise
Breathe out belly fall

Focus only on your breath as it moves down into your body and out again. Practice it a couple of times to get the feeling and the rhythm.

If we re-patterned our breathing into this rhythm it would have such a positive effect on our body. By encouraging the natural movement of our breath we make space for digestion and give the pelvic floor the space it needs to be free. Even our posture will change when we give our tummy permission to move with each breath.

Breath is power to the body.

Meet my Diastasis

What is a Diastasis?

A Diastasis (also known as a Rectus Abdominus Diastasis- RAD, or Diastasis Rectus Abdominus- DRA) is when there is a separation between the front most muscles of the tummy. This separation is most commonly seen in the last trimester of pregnant moms and in the postpartum period.

This separation looks different in different people. Sometimes you can visibly see it when a person is standing up or lying down. Sometimes you can only see it when the abdominal muscles are being used. It could look like a dome or it could look like a gap. The width also ranges from person to person and so can the depth.

We used to think that the width of the Diastasis was the most important feature but with more research, we have realized that the depth of the Diastasis is what is important.

Why do we need to pay attention to a diastasis?

We always do a Diastasis check with our postpartum moms as most women will have one after being pregnant. When we check the Diastasis, our goal is to see how well controlled the tension beneath the gap is. This gives us insight into the core control of the body.

A Diastasis that is not well controlled can cause backache, a poorly functioning pelvic floor, and pelvic instability. Rehab for a Diastasis is a great way to look after your new postpartum body.

An example of what Diastasis can look like.

Below is a video of my Diastasis. My Diastasis is 1 finger wide. In the first section of the video I do a curl up of my head and shoulders (with poor core control) and you can see my fingers dipping into my Diastasis. Then when I activate my core (my TA and my pelvic floor) you can see my fingers pop up as my diastasis closes.

A pelvic health or women’s health physio is the right person to help you.

If you have any concerns about your diastasis or would just like to get it checked I strongly urge you to get in touch with a pelvic health or women’s health physio. There is so much that can be done to help you move and feel better and stronger.

The “Giggle Test”

The giggle test is a quick and easy test that we do during our assessments to see how the core muscles are firing together. It shows us how the body is dealing with any pressure changes inside the abdomen and pelvis.

Ideally, when there is an increase in pressure (such as with a laugh, cough or sneeze), we want the core muscles to switch on in such a way that the pressure is controlled and doesn’t overwhelm our pelvic floor muscles resulting in leaks.

This is how you can do the test

Step 1: Remove clothing from lower abdomen/ pelvic area so that you can see the tummy move

Step 2: Do a fake laugh

Step 3: Observe how your lower belly moves; does it move in when you laugh or does it move out?

A positive giggle test is when your tummy moves out and this indicates that your core is not firing optimally.

But no need to stress or freak out. Knowledge is power! If you do have a positive giggle test it just means to need to spend some time on your core.

Here is a video of me doing the giggle test

Its not perfect because I still have work to do on letting go of holding my tummy in; but you get the general idea.

Take some time this weekend to do the giggle test on yourself and get an idea of how your core is working.

Hello Mom: Connecting Postpartum Moms back to their Bodies.

I have such happy news to post! @luluphysio and I are so excited to share our new offering for postpartum ladies.

Introducing the “hello mom” assessment 🙌🏻 Hello mom is a safe space that we have created for any mom that has ever had a baby to reconnect to their postpartum body.
As a postpartum mom the only routine care that you receive is a checkup with your gynae or midwife at 6 weeks to give you a Pap smear and the all clear for sex and exercise.
Yet after having a baby your body will never be the same. Things have changed that you probably have never even considered. A hello mom check takes you through all the ways your body has changed and adapted to pregnancy and birth and helps you navigate your journey towards healing and wholeness.

To help us on our mission to give moms the help they need we have put together a 3 part webinar to help postpartum moms better understand their new bodies and to start them on the road to recovery.

Session 1: Get connected to your pelvic floor
Session 2: Embracing your “mummy tummy”
Session 3: Enjoying sex and exercise

We will be sharing dates and sign up information about the webinars in the next few days. If you are a postpartum mom, we would love for you to join us 💕.

Learning to let it go

I have spent the majority of my life holding my belly in. I thought that I had to. I thought that it made me look better. I thought that it meant I was strong. If only I had known earlier that none of those were true.

I have since spent the last year teaching myself to let go. It has been tough! Stress and habit often cause me to tighten up. Then I remind myself to take a deep breath, to relax, to let go.

But what is so wrong with constantly pulling in your tummy? For starters it is unnatural. It’s not how our abdominal muscles were made to function. It restricts our diaphragm, which means we are not getting the right breath and oxygen to our bodies. It changes our posture, causing our pelvis to tilt and our shoulders to round forward.

Most significantly for me I found that whenever I pulled in my tummy, I would tighten my pelvic floor unnecessarily! And with an overactive pelvic floor comes pain and dysfunction. For me that translates to constipation and hip/SIJ pain.

Now whenever I see a pelvic pain patient, or someone battling constipation I always start by checking for abdominal bracing. Those overactive tummy muscles are big contributors to pain in the pelvis, hip and low back area.

How are your tummy muscles? Do you carry tension in them? Are you able to let them go?