by Eliza Sterling

Every woman, regardless of her age or fitness level, has likely experienced an unfortunate incident where the challenge of a too-intensive HIIT class led to a moment of momentary bladder control loss. If this rings a bell, then it’s time you renewed your acquaintance with a silent but significant group of muscles—your pelvic floor.

A Deeper Understanding of Your Interior: The Pelvic Floor

The pelvic floor’s role in the body is tremendously crucial, considering its discreet nature. Nestled deep in the pelvis that runs from your pubic bone to the spine’s base, this vital muscle network forms a basin-like structure that supports and holds the pelvis contents, including the uterus, vagina, bowel, and bladder, in place.

However, these muscles’ underlying weakness becomes apparent with stress incontinence—an involuntary urine leakage during physical exertion. This prevalent issue affects approximately a quarter of all women. Factors like hormonal shifts during pregnancy and menopause, potential damage from childbirth, urinary tract infections, and natural aging can contribute to a weak pelvic floor, with further implications on core strength and sexual responsiveness.

Strengthening Your Core with Yoga: A Natural Remedy

Yoga, revered for its multifaceted physical and mental benefits, can indeed aid in combating stress incontinence. Positive results emerge as yoga strengthens your pelvic floor. A credible study published in Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery indicated that with just six weeks of yoga therapy, women experienced 71% fewer stress incontinence episodes—a stark contrast to the 25% increase in the control group.

While yoga has a host of poses that can alleviate symptoms, the pelvic floor requires not just strength but also flexibility. Effective poses include the Child’s Pose, which can be done anytime, and the Reclined Cobbler to help you engage your pelvic floor on a deeper level by relaxing your inner thighs. Furthermore, you might find Garland Pose, or yoga squats much safer than regular squats while you work on restoring your pelvic floor strength as it enables more powerful muscle contractions.

Moving in Rhythm: Breathing and the Pelvic Floor

Breathing and its effect on the pelvic floor cannot be understated. The pelvic floor and diaphragm move in sync as you breathe—descending as you inhale and lifting as you exhale. This synergy is clearly visible with focused abdominal breathing, leading to an engaged and relaxed pelvic floor alternation with each respective exhale and inhale.

Pairing the Breath with Yoga for Pelvic Power

From strengthening mountain pose by engaging the inner thighs to blissful baby pose for a calming back massage, our fitness specialists provide top tips for engaging and fortifying those crucial pelvic floor muscles via popular yoga poses.

Next time you partake in your yoga session, remember these effective adaptations to help overpower the situation of stress incontinence and maintain your beloved fitness routines without any unwarranted interruptions!

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