Just an appropriate subject for me at the moment!!
Try this practice for strong and supple muscles to support childbirth, your
vital organs, and even your love life.
Pregnancy, labor, and
delivery are some of the biggest challenges a woman’s body faces in her
lifetime, but a strong, supple pelvic floor can minimize many of the
discomforts of pregnancy and make delivery easier.
Most women know that pelvic floor strength is important, but
many of us are unaware that these muscles (even yogis') are not only weak
but tight. And it’s essential to address the tightness of the muscles
before attempting to strengthen them.
Tight pelvic floor
muscles are usually a symptom of a lack of deep breathing. When we don’t
breathe fully, the pelvic floor doesn’t stretch. It stays in it's shortened,
contracted state. Over time the muscles become more rigid, making it more difficult
to lengthen without a concerted effort. And since the pelvic floor is the
matrix that supports our vital organs, we want it to be as strong and long as
possible. Not to mention, its strength and elasticity also plays a big role in
a woman's ability to orgasm. It’s an important network of muscles!
Like most women,
during my three pregnancies, I was told to “do my kegels” to strengthen my
pelvic floor, that it was just using the muscles that “stop the flow of urine.”
My religious practice of kegels never stopped the flow of urine, though, while
I was pregnant—or after. As a matter of fact, I always needed to carry extra
clothes with me in case I sneezed or laughed too hard. It wasn’t until after my
third baby that I learned the actions a kegel was meant to do!
The combination of
length and strength in the pelvic floor creates muscles with great integrity to
support a baby in addition to all of the organs that rest on it. These strong
muscles in conjunction with the gluteus medius are called upon during the
second stage of labor (pushing) and are responsible for helping the bones of
the pelvis come back together after delivery. Use the following poses to develop
the strength and flexibility of these muscles and leave mama with a
healthy and happy pelvis!
1. This
full-breathing practice stretches the diaphragm and pelvic floor.
Focus your
breath into the side ribs as you inhale fully. Visualize of gills on a fish
expanding out to the sides. As you inhale, the diaphragm and the pelvic floor
are stretching. As you exhale completely, feel the ribs come back to center and
the pelvic floor subtly lift. Continue for 8–10 breaths.
There is a close relationship between the hip adductors (inner thighs) and the pelvic floor muscles; tight adductors make the pelvic floor muscles far less elastic. Tight adductors also make hip abductors (e.g., gluteus medius) weak. So we can also affect the length of the pelvic floor muscles by stretching the inner thighs in well-supported postures.
Come into Supta Baddha Konasana with blocks beneath the outer thighs to support the opening of the inner thighs. Relax here for a few breaths.
Practicing a kegel properly is the best way to get the muscles of the pelvic floor to draw toward one another, stretching and lengthening them. Once the muscles are well connected, you recruit transverse abdominis to draw everything in and up, similar to mula bandha, but with a real connection of the pelvic floor.
Still in Supta Baddha Konasana, picture the pelvic floor muscles between your two sitting bones. Inhale, and as you exhale, draw the muscles together as if they were the two halves of an elevator door closing to meet in the middle. Once this door is closed, lift the elevator up and then release. Next, imagine the pelvic floor muscles between your pubic bone and tailbone. Inhale, and as you exhale, draw those muscles together in the same elevator-door fashion, lift the elevator, and then release. Now, draw all four elevator doors together at once, meeting at one point in the middle, then lift, hold for up to 8 breaths, and release. Repeat 5 times, and rest. Aim to repeat this Kegel practice 2 to 3 times a week.
4. Strengthen: Side-Lying Rotation Lift
Lying on your side, bend your knees so your thighs are at a 45-degree angle to your torso. Lift your top leg as high as possible, maintaining pelvic stability. Keeping the ankle at this height, rotate the femur in the hip socket, as you inhale, to tap the top knee to the bottom knee. Exhale back to start. Repeat for 30 breaths.
5. Lengthen: Side Lunge
This lunge opens the inner thighs, which helps lengthen the pelvic floor. Have two blocks handy. Stand with your feet about a leg’s length apart. Maintaining the connection of both heels to the floor, bend into one knee. Bring your hands to the earth or to blocks. Keep the other leg straight and externally rotate the straight leg from deep in the hip socket so the toes point to the ceiling. Hold for 5 breaths then switch sides. Repeat once more per side.
6. Strengthen: Virabhadrasana II (Warrior 2)
7. Strengthen: Trikonasana (Triangle)
Source: http://www.yogajournal.com/slideshow/prenatal-yoga-pelvic-floor-sequence-easier-labor-delivery/utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=story2_more&utm_campaign=myyj_04142016Also follow me at www.soyoga.com.sg
