Hey there! There is a lot of pressure to have the best-working pelvic floor ever as a part of pregnancy, birth preparation, and healing postpartum... your pelvic floor better be doing well, or else. But what if you can't even feel your pelvic floor?

In this newsletter, I'm going to be sharing a few ways that you may be able to better connect with your pelvic floor! Hopefully one of these strategies will resonate with you, as different ones have felt better for me at different parts of my timeline.

The Pelvic Floor and Breath

Your pelvic floor is a part of your deep core canister and plays a big role in pressure management, aka your breathing. We can use our breath as a way to connect with our pelvic floor. But simply inhaling and exhaling may not be doing it for you.

1. You can adjust your position. Depending on how you are sitting or standing, your pelvic floor may have more stretch or tightness in different portions of the pelvic floor. If you are usually standing in a more extended position, with an arched back, it may be really hard to feel the anterior portion of your pelvic floor contract and lift up. Finding a slight round in your back may help you feel your pelvic floor more!
2. You can add some activation. You may find you feel your pelvic floor more if you squeeze a block between your thighs with adductor activation. Or you may feel your pelvic floor more if you press your knees out into a mini band with some abduction activation.

​

​Here is a blog I wrote about different exercises to support the pelvic floor!​

Another cool thing that I came across a few weeks ago is this finger pressing trick. Some of our commenters said it comes from yoga mudras and energetic pathways, while others said it relates to the nerve connections in our hands. If you know why this works, PLEASE let me know!

​

With this finger pressing trick, you press your thumb into each finger to feel your breath in different areas. When you press your index finger, you’ll feel more breath in your upper chest. Your middle finger = more sensation in your mid-back. Your ring finger = pelvic floor, although I find it more in my lower back and posterior pelvic floor. Your pinky = pelvic floor, but lower in the perineum. I find this more in the anterior pelvic floor.

I walk you through each finger placement with a different exercise to help release tension in different areas and support overall relaxation of the pelvic floor in this YouTube video.​

​

And you can read more of our pelvic floor connection tips in our latest blog post here.​

Stay Strong in Pregnancy and Motherhood!

MamasteFit is one of the only fitness training facilities in the country that exclusively works with in-person prenatal and postnatal fitness clients—and also provides hands-on birth support. Our prenatal and postpartum fitness programs aren’t random “safe” modifications pulled from the internet; they’re designed specifically for this stage of life, tested and refined with our in-person clients, and approved by our in-house pelvic floor physical therapists.

Our prenatal programs were created to keep you strong and pain-free throughout pregnancy with specialty exercises to help you prepare for birth with pelvic opening, pelvic floor, and birth prep movements.

Our postpartum programs were carefully designed with our in-person fitness clients and pelvic floor PTs to ensure there is a smooth transition from rehab and recovery to fitness. Many PTs recommend our programs for both pregnancy and postpartum because of how seamless they integrate with someone's 1-1 PT!

And if you are beyond the first 6–9 months postpartum and ready to continue strength training with us, check out our Beyond Postpartum Strength Program!​

This is the strength programming I personally use to feel strong in motherhood while continuing to support my pelvic floor and core.

The program moves through 6–8 week cycles with new workouts each phase. Every cycle focuses on a different training goal, including strength endurance, maximal strength, power, and stability so you can continue progressing long after the postpartum phase.