Youth Rejuvenate  Your Pelvic Floor - Your Pelvic Floor & Connective Tissue - April 2012

Long term pelvic floor health is best achieved by:

• keeping the pelvic floor muscles strong with specific and correct exercise
• recruiting these muscles during ordinary everyday activities to ensure proper function and
• consciously protecting the area from lifestyle induced stress.

In addition to these indispensable elements physical and emotional well-being also plays an important part in pelvic floor health. Read on to find out an important aspect why.

Connective Tissue is found throughout the body, including the pelvic floor. It serves to hold, support, anchor, connect, bind things together and provide stability. Idyllically it is firm and elastic, just like a baby’s bottom.

Within connective tissue, collagen fibers provide strength, while elastin fibers provide elasticity. Strong and elastic connective tissue contributes to a strong and well functioning pelvic floor.

Some women are blessed with firmer, stronger connective tissue than others. If you possess some of the following characteristics you can establish that you do NOT belong to this category:

Physically:

-    prone to wrinkling

-    veracious veins at an early age

-    spider veins

-    stretch marks

-    cellulite

-    joint weakness

Emotionally:

-    sensitive, vulnerable, easily hurt or upset

-    avoids conflict

-    little resistance against others will

-    easily repressed

-    prone to “falling apart”

-    takes a long time to recover from emotional trauma

Connective tissue naturally weakens over time. This is due to loss of collagen and the degeneration of elastin fibers. Christiane Northrup in her book, The Wisdom of Menopause, states: “On average, collagen production starts to diminish at a rate of 1 per cent per year starting in our twenties”. The beginning of this process means the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles for our face and weakening function and support for our pelvic floor.

So let’s see what we can do to encourage connective tissue strength.

Support Your Connective Tissue with Great Nutrition

A diet rich in nutrient-dense foods and beverages and low in processed foods promote great health in general as well as connective tissue strength. Let’s see which substances are especially important for good quality connective tissue.

Protein

Protein plays a vital role in the maintenance of connective tissue. Other than good quality lean meat, the best is to include in your diet a variety of foods that provide protein like cheese, fish, eggs, nuts, soybeans, spirulina, nuts, seeds, brewer's yeast, wheat germ, beans/legumes, and dairy products. Most people get enough protein in their diet, although athletes, vegans who don't eat beans, may need more.

Vitamin C

Collagen can not be built without vitamin C. The richest natural sources of Vitamin C are fruits and vegetables. It is also present in some cuts of meat, especially liver.

Trace Minerals

Your body needs small amounts of trace minerals, such as copper and iron. These minerals are vital for a healthy connective tissue. Copper is essential for binding of connective tissue. Iron is a substance in red blood cells that carries oxygen to your cells. You will find these substances in whole grain products, cereals; meat, vegetables, legumes and nuts.

Catechin

This substance is found in green tea. It has have been shown to help prevent the breakdown of collagen.

Fruit & Berries

Deep-colored, red and blue berries and fruits have been shown to help the collagen fibers link together in a way that strengthens the connective tissue matrix.

Supplements

If you feel that it is difficult for you to meet your nutritional needs every day with sufficient fresh, unprocessed foods, consider consulting a qualified health professional to determine your need for a high-quality nutritional supplement.

Stronger Self - Stronger Connective Tissue

To support the strength of your connective tissue work to improve your emotional resilience. Just think how your skin feels younger and firmer and how you can naturally hold yourself stronger and taller when you are emotionally satisfied. Your structure strengthens from the feeling of being content and happy, so as the tone of your connective tissue. Here are a few tips on how to feel stronger emotionally:

Every job-well-done that comes with the feeling of achievement improves the tone of your connective tissue.

• Be kind and forgiving to yourself. We can expect a lot from ourselves and others can expect a lot from us. Sometimes it is impossible to live up to all of these expectations. Feeling unsatisfied and inadequate increases the feeling of physical weakness. So, be the first to forgive yourself your “short comings”.
• Face your obstacles bravely instead of avoiding or delaying them.
• Take charge of your destiny. Anticipate and embrace new challenges life brings you. Eliminate excuses and negative thoughts/beliefs, take action and achieve your goals.
• Get help if needed.

Recommended for the Brave with Softer Connective Tissue

Here is a great practice to tighten connective tissue in your private area.

Following a warm shower or wash gently pull your labia apart and for the briefest time splash the area with cold water from pubic bone to tail bone. Use a squirt bottle if needed. Make sure that even the most hidden cells get the sensation. Turn the water as cold as your soul can bear it - your body will be ok. You can start with a cool-esh temperature and gradually adjust to cold. Apply every day once (or more).

Taking care of your physical and emotional well-being as well as your pelvic floor is an extremely rewarding experience. Doing so resonates into countless areas of your life.

Protect your Pelvic Floor from your new year's workout resolution - February 2012

Being active is an essential part of being healthy and happy. Before you embark on a "let's get back into shape regime" however, please consider your pelvic floor. If you ever experience pelvic floor issues like bladder accidents, wind control issues, if you feel that your pelvic floor is pushing down during exercise or not engaging, you are struggling to lift and control it, urgency during or after you finish, consider modifying the following activities or choosing another form of exercise:

Running, jumping, boxing, core-abdominal workouts, (including crunches, rotations, lying down leg raises), heavy weight training, boot camp or combat classes, Pilates, fit ball, sports involving stop-start running and speedy directional changes, standing up work on the spinning bike, deep or side lunges, wide legged or deep squats, step classes or workouts, exercises with both feet off the ground (e.g. chin ups, triceps dips, plank) and full push ups.

If you continue with improper exercise choices for your pelvic floor you can aggravate already existing pelvic floor issues and make things worse. So be wise and patient and take action to strengthen you pelvic floor to match your body's fitness level. This way you can protect yourself from long term pelvic floor issues.

Your Pelvic Floor & Exercise - July 2011

Depending on your activity and condition exercise can present a significant challenge for your pelvic floor. Overly challenging your pelvic floor promotes incontinence and prolapse so it is wise to respect its limitations. If you pelvic floor is not able to withstand your chosen type or level of exercise:

• suspend the stressful activity
• change activities to yoga, low impact exercises, swimming, walking, dancing, a pelvic floor safer alternative of the same exercise  etc.
• strengthen your pelvic floor
• learn correct pelvic floor (and core) engagement, posture and breathing
• self regulate your workouts instead of keeping up with the group or instructor beyond your capabilities

Keep fit the right way!

Relax Your Abdominals for Better Pelvic Floor Health - September 2010

I attended a pelvic floor workshop which was conducted by a wonderful woman and outstanding physiotherapist Mary O’Dwyer (Mary’s newsletter is a must to sign up for!). I am more convinced than ever (if that was possible) that keeping the muscle of the pelvis strong and treating the area well is an absolute must to secure a great quality of life, sex and self esteem. Amongst many important issues, Mary has shone a special light on the importance of correct posture. In her book, Hold It Sister, she highlights the importance of a “relaxed waist.

Abdominal straining is one of the worst enemies of pelvic floor health. This is because when the big abdominal muscles (“the 6 pack”) contract or tension they create a push down onto the pelvic floor promoting incontinence and prolapse. So, to avoid long term pelvic floor stress inflicted we learn to recognise and minimise this downward moving force. I would like to explore the following two prominent areas - which sometimes go under the radar - for chronic and unnecessary abdominal tensioning:

• Posture and
• Movement

I would like to explore how to avoid abdominal pressure on the pelvic floor in posture. This is important as many women naturally hold themselves with overly contracted abdominals most of the time. This incorrect holding pattern does not only create constant downward pressure onto the pelvic floor, but it also compromises circulation, breathing and digestion. The only way to change this bad postural habit is to recognise and correct it. Here are my tips on how:

Stand as tall as you can be (if you have attended the course already apply natural posture). Notice how your abdominals feel. Are they contracted, partially tensioned or relaxed?

Slump down and allow your stomach to go totally floppy, soft and bulgy (without pushing). Take a moment to ensure that all the tension has gone. Take a few deep breaths, allowing your stomach to round forward and back. Can you feel any more tension released as you are breathing this way? This state is overly relaxed and incorrect. We only use it as a learning curve.

Slowly pull yourself up as tall as you can be again. Allow your abdominal wall to assume its natural state of tension without any deliberate effort from you. It is now still relaxed, but held, creating a gently rounding curvature from pubic bone to breast bone (unless you are pregnant). This is correct.

Take a few deep breaths, allowing the base of your ribcase to open with each breath. Make a record of how this feels in your mind.

Check your posture regularly throughout the day for excessive abdominal tensioning, standing and sitting.

Repeat this practice a few times if necessary to help determine correct abdominal involvement in posture.

It is normal to tension the abdominal wall as a response to stress, excitement, anxiety, fear or other emotional influences. Other reasons may include:

• sucking in your stomach to make it appear flatter
• tight clothing around the torso
• excessive abdominal or core training (e.g.: crunches, sit ups, leg holds/raises)
• incorrect instructions from parents or trainers like: “suck your stomach in” or “pull your bellybutton to your spine”

Whatever the reason is for excessive abdominal tensioning, unless released, it can become chronic and habitual. So self correct excessive abdominal tensioning regularly during your day to save your pelvic floor from excessive and unnecessary stress.

Find Out if Your Pelvic Floor Muscles Have the Correct Action - December 2010

The pelvic floor muscles contract automatically at appropriate times to ensure continence, pelvic organ placement and support for the spine. For many women this important pelvic floor action becomes compromised due to over-active outer abdominal muscles (rectus abdominis). This is a problem as –even despite strong pelvic floor muscles– bladder accidents and backaches are frequently experienced and prolapse is promoted if abdominal pressure becomes overwhelming for the pelvic floor. Here is an easy test to see if your pelvic floor muscles are activating correctly:

Sit with tall posture. Fully relax your stomach - allow it to go floppy without slumping. Take a few deep breaths. Allow your abdominals to round and draw back naturally with each breath.

Gently draw up your pelvic floor muscles to perform a general pelvic floor contraction (Zip Up if your have done the course).

As you are doing this look down to your stomach. If you can’t see well lift up your top or position yourself in front of a mirror. Ideally, you will see no significant signs of pelvic floor activation on your stomach. You may see a delicate movement around your bikini line—which is OK.

If your stomach stayed mostly motionless you have correct pelvic floor muscle action.

If your stomach creased or drawn in at the waist line, you will need to re-educate your pelvic floor muscles to work independently from your abdominal wall during ordinary everyday movement. This is essential to secure long term pelvic floor health.

Correct Abdominals Function Leads to Better Pelvic Floor Health - March 2011

There are many causing factors for prolapse and incontinence. As we discussed before, excessive outer abdominal function is one. This is because the contraction of the rectus abdominis muscle (or the 6 pack) creates an internal downward push onto the pelvic organs and pelvic floor muscles. This is normal, however if this pressure becomes excessive it can:

• contribute to the sinking of the pelvic organs and
• overwhelm the pelvic floor muscles ability to keep you dry, support the pelvic organs in good position and the spine

Therefore, it is important to know how to avoid excessive abdominal contractions if we want to prevent or reverse prolapse and incontinence. Here is another easy practice to help you in this regard.

Practice Relaxing Your Abdominals

Take one of the following positions:

on all fours or
sitting with knees apart leaning forward with elbows on knees.

Get comfortable and let your stomach go floppy and tension free. Make a note how this feels.

Feel Excessive Tension

Continue the above exercise by tensing your entire abdominal wall (this is excessive contraction) then fully relaxing it (this is excessive relaxation) a few times.

Become aware of what too much abdominal tension and relaxation feels like. During correct posture and movement abdominal involvement should be somewhere between these two extreme states.

Repeat the same exercise sitting and standing in tall posture.

Implement Correct Abdominal Tone

As you get on with your ordinary everyday activities check your abdominal wall regularly. The aim is to avoid overly working the 6 pack. If you notice any strong and noticeable tension RELEASE IT, without slumping. Your abdominal wall should feel relaxed, but held.