by Sasha Sigel
If you've ever wondered about the connection between yoga and pelvic health, you're in the right place! Yoga isn’t just about doing a headstand or touching your toes – it plays a central role in supporting your pelvic health. Before diving into how yoga can benefit this area of your body, let's take a look at what your pelvis actually is, and the common challenges that come up in this region.
What is the Pelvis?
Great question! The pelvis is the bony structure located at the bottom of your torso. It’s home to your internal pelvic organs, including the bladder, rectum, uterus, and prostate. These organs are supported by muscles that keep them in place– collectively, this group of muscles is called the pelvic floor.
Common Pelvic Health Challenges
While “pelvic health” has a reputation of being a “woman’s issue,” everyone has a pelvis. The specific anatomy and challenges will differ based on your body.
Let’s take a moment to recognize that while a symptom may be common, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s normal. For example, it’s common to leak urine as we grow older, but that doesn’t mean it’s normal and should go unaddressed. There are multiple ways to address incontinence– it doesn’t have to be an inevitable part of aging!
Some common pelvic health challenges include:
Pelvic Pain: There are many reasons for pelvic pain, such as pelvic floor dysfunction.
Incontinence/Urinary Issues
Stress Incontinence: Leaking urine due to sneezing, laughing, or standing up.
Urge Incontinence: Leaking urine due to a sudden, overwhelming urge to urinate.
Painful Bladder Syndrome/Interstitial Cystitis: Experiencing pain during or after urination, or discomfort with a full bladder.
GI Issues like IBS, constipation, or diarrhea.
Endometriosis & Adenomyosis: Inflammatory conditions where tissue grows in abnormal areas.
Organ Prolapse: When pelvic organs like the bladder or uterus slip downward.
Uterine Fibroids & Ovarian Cysts: Growths on pelvic organs.
PCOS: A syndrome with hormonal imbalance.
While some of these conditions aren’t (yet!) curable, there are treatment options to explore for all of them.
How Does Yoga Improve Pelvic Health and Relieve Pain?
Yoga is an excellent way to support pelvic floor health through pelvic floor exercises and specific practices that target strengthening, flexibility, and pain relief. One big benefit of yoga is that it can go with you anywhere, and be practiced at any time! You can do a few soothing movements from bed at 2am, or subtly try a breathing practice at your desk for 5 minutes.
But how exactly can yoga help with pelvic challenges?
1. Muscle Re-education
Yoga can help re-educate the pelvic floor and surrounding muscles, teaching them to work more effectively. Some folks may need strengthening practices to address issues like organ prolapse. Others may seek pain relief from endometriosis, which can be helped through mobilization and relaxation techniques.
One way to reintroduce yourself to your pelvis is through pelvic tilts. You can lie on the floor with your feet on the floor, knees bent. Gently tuck your tailbone (rounding the spine slightly) and untuck your tailbone (arching the spine slightly.) Go back and forth a few times. This movement creates more circulation and mobility in the pelvic region, and helps develop awareness of how our pelvis is moving in space.
Of course, there are nuances to all these conditions. I often suggest people visit a pelvic floor physical therapist, who can bring clarity to exactly what is happening in your pelvic floor muscles. After that visit, yoga can offer tailored practices to your body’s unique needs and symptoms
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2. Breathwork & Behavior Changes
Yoga offers a vast range of pranayama practices (breath and energy management techniques.) We can calm an overactive nervous system (and bladder!) through breath practices. Yoga can help you become more intimate with your body’s signals and skillfully respond to them (rather than react habitually.)
For those experiencing incontinence, I often suggest spending a few extra moments on the toilet after you’ve finished urinating. Take three slow breaths, imagining that your pelvic floor muscles can gently widen and lengthen on the inhale, and relax back to neutral on the exhale. In this way, we can encourage our bladder to fully empty and relieve feelings of urgency/anxiety around urination.
For those experiencing chronic pain, so much can feel out of our control. Introducing bite sized, intentional practices can restore a sense of agency in our body.
3. Nervous System Health and Pain Relief
Yoga supports nervous system regulation, which is essential for pain relief. With chronic pain, the nerves in a particular part of our body can lose connectivity to the brain. The brain senses there is pain, but can’t locate exactly where it’s coming from. This leads to an “everywhere, overwhelming” experience of pain, rather than a localized experience of pain specific to part of our body.
Through yoga for pelvic pain, we can improve signal strength and reestablish connection with specific parts of our body. We’re then able to more effectively treat pain. These awareness practices take time to build, especially when we’re used to being hypervigilant about pain. Over time, we can better understand the patterns our body and nervous system uses, and gently redirect ourselves towards more effective tactics.
I love to start by introducing movement that is pain free, so our brain can learn that not all movement brings pain. For example, try lying on your back with your feet on the floor, knees bent. Let your knees sway from side to side– but only a few inches in each direction. If, after a few rounds, that movement feels okay or good, you could increase the range of motion little by little. The important part is to stay within a range that feels easeful and soothing, and not push past that limit.
While many of us fall into the feeling that our pain will last forever, it’s important to know that pain can change over time.
4. Focusing on Apana Vayu
In yoga, energy is often described as flowing in five main directions, or “vayus.” For pelvic health, I often focus on the apana vayu, which governs the downward and outward movements of energy. Apana vayu is linked to bodily functions like urination, bowel movements, and menstruation. By engaging in particular yoga postures, breathing techniques, and mudras (energetic hand seals), you can explore and improve your relationship with this energy flow.
One simple way to work with apana vayu is slowing down the exhale. Try a few rounds where you breathe in for the count of 4, and breathe out for the count of 5 or 6. (Breathe in and out through your nose, if possible.)
When we first come to yoga, it may take a long time to tune into your inner experience and find relaxation. But after consistent practice, we aim to more easily find rest and ease.
Tailoring Yoga to Your Needs
Your pelvic health challenges are unique, and it takes both time and trial + error to find the best yoga practices for you. Whether you need strengthening, relaxation, or improved breath control, yoga can be a valuable addition to your pelvic health journey. Over time, you’ll build a link between your mind and body, which can open up your inner world.
It’s important to consult with a healthcare provider, pelvic floor physical therapist, or a certified yoga instructor with experience in pelvic health to find the most beneficial practices for you.
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This content is for informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
Sources:
Stress Incontinence: https://www.health.harvard.edu/bladder-and-bowel/types-of-urinary-incontinence
Urge Incontience: https://www.health.harvard.edu/bladder-and-bowel/types-of-urinary-incontinence
Painful Bladder Syndrome/IC: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/interstitial-cystitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20354357
Endometriosis and Adenomyosis: https://www.healthline.com/health/womens-health/adenomyosis-vs-endometriosis
Organ Prolapse: https://www.nyp.org/womens/urogynecology/pelvic-organ-prolapse
Uterine Fibroids and Ovarian Cysts: https://www.healthline.com/health/womens-health/fibroid-vs-cyst#symptoms
PCOS: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/8316-polycystic-ovary-syndrome-pcos