Pelvic Floor: Health, Importance, & Exercises

Kristina: Welcome impactful parents. Today we’re going to talk about the importance of pelvic floor health. Hello, my name is Kristina Campos. I’m the founder of The Impactful Parent. I help parents of school-aged children turn their chaos into connection with their adolescents. I offer free parent education videos every week, online courses, and coaching. If that wasn’t enough, I bring experts in other fields onto The Impactful Parent stage to teach us even more. Today, I have a special guest. Her name is Greta Wyeth. Greta is the founder of Still Point Movement. Greta educates others about movements and how knowing our bodies inspire more healthy patterns. Thank you for being here today, Greta.

What is the pelvic floor?

Greta: The pelvic floor is a term used to describe a set of tissues, including muscles, ligaments, and fascia. The pelvis may be better described as a pelvic bowl. It includes hip muscles, glutes, the abdomen, and many muscles that we associate with the pelvic floor. The engagement of the muscles within the pelvis is best accomplished when you engage your abdominal muscles and your inner thigh, your co contractors, or the abductors. Finding some pelvic floor strength will take a little bit more than just kegels.

Kristina: Why is the pelvic floor important for us to learn about?

Greta: Pelvic Floor health is really important. The pelvic floor is important for both strength and mobility. The pelvis is the bottom of your abdomen. Your abdomen creates a six-sided box that has fluid inside. When you contract all six sides of the box, you create a sort of six-sided structure under pressure. That structure helps to support your spine, diaphragm, and breath. It also helps to support the movement of your hips and arms. So the pelvic floor is really important for the stability, balance, and strength of the whole body.

Kristina: After baby, women hear a lot about the pelvic floor.  Why is that?

Greta: When you’re pregnant, first of all, you have a very large weight sitting on your pelvis for a very long time. That weight can stretch and lengthen the pelvic floor muscles to the point where they’re very weak. Then after birth, there’s often trauma to the muscles. So finding strength and functional movement of the pelvic floor is really important. Without a healthy pelvic floor, you can develop incontinence, diastasis, or prolapse. Frequently women suffer from many things because their pelvic floor is lengthened and weakened with pregnancy.

Kristina: If pelvic health is so important, what exercises can I do to strengthen it?

Greta: You want to find exercises that engage the deep muscle of your core and the inner thighs. So finding exercises that safely engage all of those muscles will help you move the pelvic floor.

Kristina: So if I could start a movement today that will help me with my pelvic floor and my wellness, what would I do?

Greta: One thing you could do is called pelvic tilts. Lie on your back with your knees bent and try to contract your abdominal muscles without using your glutes. Pull your pelvis towards you. Push your lower back towards the floor. Then release and lengthen your muscles. Remember, we’re looking for movement in the pelvic floor. We’re not looking to stay contracted all the time. Finding movement of the pelvis is a great way to start.

Kristina: Tell me more about the work you do and how you impact others.

Greta: I’ve created an online course about the pelvic floor. I did this because, through my practice and work, I have observed that how women are cared for in the postpartum period directly affects their health and their children’s health. We as women really need to advocate and express ourselves to our caregivers to find the best help for us. The video that I’ve created bridges the gap between what women generally know intrinsically about themselves and the care that women receive. As women learn the language of healthcare providers and learn more about their bodies, they are better advocates for themselves in a healthcare setting.

Kristina: It sounds like you have a great resource for parents. If people hear this and want to get help with their pelvic floor and learn more from you, how would they get ahold of you?

Greta: I have a website. It’s called stillpointmovement.com. You can find everything on the website. The course is available for purchase online. There is a lot of knowledge to obtain there, and my hope is that once you learn more about pelvic help, you can become a better advocate for yourself.

Kristina: Thank you for being on today.

And if you would like to become a more impactful parent, check out my website https://theimpactfulparent.com. I have parenting courses, family coaching, 30-day challenges, and many free resources. Until next time, you got this, parents. I am just here to help.