It’s Not All About Crunches: Simple Yoga Poses For Pelvic Floor Strengthening

Yoga Poses For Pelvic Floor Strengthening:

The pelvic floor is a set of deep musculature that supports several internal organs. For example, bladder, uterus and the bowels. Strengthening our pelvic floor is important. However, many think that crunches are the only way of strengthening this important part of the body. Today, we discuss yoga poses for pelvic floor strengthening.

These yoga poses can help you gain strength, mobility, stretch, and flexibility in a gentle, effective way!

The Pelvic Floor: What It Is?

The pelvic floor is the voluntary and involuntary musculature that is located between the pubic bone and coccyx. It consists of muscles and connective tissues. Ideally the pelvic floor is strong, but also flexible.

It is vital for the support of internal organs. Thus, if it is weakened can result in the inability to control urine, feces. A weakened pelvic floor can be caused by pregnancy, obesity, even prostate cancer treatment.

Truly, it helps to stabilize the core, even offers protection to your spine by absorbing outside pressures. In fact, they are a part of what most refer to as “the core”. Other muscles of the core include, abdominal, back muscles, and the diaphragm.

A healthy pelvic floor avoids urinary leakage, prolapse of the uterus, bladder and rectum, and increases pleasure during sexual intercourse.

It also plays a fundamental role during pregnancy, helping support the weight of the belly, allows the vagina to relax and dilate to give birth to the baby, and its muscle contractions help push the baby during labor.

Yoga, For Pelvic Floor Muscles:

The yoga discipline gives great importance to the pelvic floor muscles. Specifically, this ancient practice can be useful after pregnancy to restore sensitivity and elasticity to the perineum. In addition, help women in menopause, improving muscle tone and preventing episodes of incontinence.

According to yogic practice, the Muladhara Chakra is located in the pelvic floor, or the root Chakra. In fact, the first of the energy centers, the one connected to awareness, primordial needs, and sexuality. The Nadis, that is the three main energy channels, propagate from it.

• Ida Nadi – the channel of the lunar, cold and soothing energies;
• Pingala Nadi – that of solar energies, warm, active;
• Susumna Nadi – associated with vital energy.

Specific yoga exercises for the pelvic floor therefore serve to restore vital strength to our Muladhara Chakra.

Best Yoga Poses For Pelvic Floor Strengthening:

Mula Bandha:

Mula bandha, means “closure of the root”. Simply put, the voluntary lifting and contraction of the pelvic floor muscles, and it constitutes a basic position of yoga practice. In fact, with the contraction of the perineum, helps prevent the escape of vital energy from the body. Thus, allowing you to acquire greater awareness and perform more complex positions, maintaining them for longer durations.

In our daily life, we can compare this to meditation and sequences of inhalation and exhalation.

Malasana or Garland Pose:

One of the best contributing poses to pelvic floor strength, stability and overall health, is Garland Pose.

Steps:

• Begin by standing on your mat;
• Then, bring your feet close together. Now, widen your thighs more then shoulder width if possible;
• Move the torso forward so it lye’s in between the thighs;
• Then, bring your palms together. Press outwardly against your inner thighs/knees;
• If unable to keep the heels on the ground, use a blanket underneath the heels;

Uttasana or Standing Forward Bend:

This is a yoga pose for pelvic floor strengthening that focuses on grounding. Specifically, on connection with the earth through the stimulation of the first chakra.

It consists of an intense stretching of the back of the body. Particularly, the back and the hamstrings. Both during the descent and the holding of the position, the knees can remain bent. At the beginning, we must not ask too much of our body. However, with constant training, we will notice progress day after day, our muscles becoming more elastic and flexible.

Steps:

• For most, it makes sense to begin in Mountain pose;
• Take a deep breath in, raising your arms off to the side and overhead. Then, on exhale hinge at the hip, reaching down toward your toes;
• Bend your knees if discomfort;
• On each exhale attempt to reach slightly further, without discomfort;

Final Thoughts!

Being aware of every muscle, organ, and movement, that occurs within us, is essential to total mind-body awareness in the yogic practice. The muscles of the pelvic floor being a prime example. Muscles hidden in our depths, with the energy of the first chakra and all its qualities.

References:

• https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/pelvic-floor#where-to-get-help
• https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/22729-pelvic-floor-muscles