The Yin Yoga Podcast
The Yin Yoga Podcast
Yin & Somatic Practice: Calming Pelvic Pain and Tension
Ready to revolutionize your relationship with your pelvic floor? This enlightening episode is like a road map to pelvic health, guiding you through gentle practices and their benefits, understanding the intricacies of your pelvic anatomy, and effective ways you can manage pelvic pain. I'll give you a primer on the the science behind pelvic floor dysfunction and I'll teach you a breathing technique to restore peace and harmony to this area.
This episode is a treasure trove of insights and practices that can help you cultivate a sense of comfort and safety within your pelvis. So join me, open your mind to new knowledge, and take control of your pelvic health.
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Welcome to the Yin Yoga Podcast. I'm your host, mandy Ryle, for your pod practice. Today, I am offering a practice that was actually inspired by an email conversation that I was having with a podcast listener who lives in the UK, and this listener was experiencing some pelvic pain, and, while this practice is definitely not a customized practice that's created specifically for this listener, it got me thinking about ways that we could instill feelings of safety and comfort and even peace in the pelvis when we're having some disturbance there. So this practice is incredibly gentle and features a breathing practice, which I use all the time with my clients who have pelvic or hip pain. Within the practice as well, you're going to get a little bit of a primer into the anatomy of the pelvic floor, and I'm also just going to reveal a little bit of the most recent science around managing pelvic pain and pelvic floor dysfunction, which I think will be really useful to us Yin teachers and those of you who actually are experiencing pelvic pain. For your practice, you really only need a blanket and a couple of yoga blocks. If you would like to have a bolster, just for your comfort, I always recommend having that on hand as well. So if you have a request for a specific practice that you would like to see on a future podcast, don't hesitate to reach out. You can always reach me on any of my social media channels. All of those are listed on every single episode. I absolutely love requests and would love to hear from you If you receive value from the Yin Yoga podcast.
Speaker 1:I humbly ask you to consider becoming a patron. Patrons support the great practices and education on the podcast and also get access to the entire video practice library. In my online community, the SHIP School, my practice library contains a huge variety of movement, mindfulness, strength and even meditation practices. The library is searchable for pain care practice resources to address the most common musculoskeletal pain issues, including back pain, neck and shoulder pain and hip pain. The Yin teachers out there will love a newly added feature the experiential anatomy practice section, where you get to dive into learning anatomy through your very own body and breath. This is all at your fingertips for a $15 donation each month. You can cancel your patronage at any time. Become a patron today. I'll leave a link in the show notes for you to get started.
Speaker 1:Let's start by setting up your props. Your blanket goes to the back of your mat and your blocks are just to the sides of your mat. If you have a bolster, it can also go off to this side. We'll just want to keep it out of the way for most of practice. And then, once you got your props set up, you're going to lay down on your back with your head on the blanket, and we'll have the head cushioned but not overly lifted. So find a height for that blanket where it's hitting that sweet spot of comfort, but not interrupting the curve of the neck.
Speaker 1:And if it's okay, today I'd like to start with feet flat and feet flat on the floor, kneecaps pointed up, like you're standing on your feet, and for some it's comfortable to have the knees falling together when the feet move a little wider. So if you'd like you could bring your feet wider, let your knees fall together, and for some that doesn't feel very good. So you do whatever works for you. I just want you to feel like you can rest in these first moments of your practice. Let your arms just find a resting position on you, out to the side, and your pockets whatever, whatever feels rested for you, and begin to put together a breath which is a little more engaged than your unconscious breathing, maybe finding that diaphragmatic breath where you feel the belly rise and fall with the in and the out, and maybe it's not just rising and falling but you feel a little side to side or back expansion as well with that in breath. And you might notice that on your exhale you have the option of just allowing the breath to fall out, since gravity is assisting your exhale, or you could control the exhale. So, as you're feeling that expansion of the inhale, you are experiencing a downward movement of the respiratory diaphragm. The reason that you feel your abdomen expand is because your diaphragm pushes down on your guts and they've got no place to go but out. And then when you exhale, gravity is assisting your guts moving back into the column and nestling themselves up into the dome of the respiratory diaphragm. So the contraction of that diaphragm muscle moves your guts down and out and then a slow, controlled release of that diaphragmatic contraction restores the shape of your abdomen. And just take your time just exploring that, exploring that concept almost like a piston. And of course you could prohibit the downward movement of the diaphragm by engaging your abdominal wall. So if you held your abdominal muscles very tightly then the downward descent of the diaphragm would be minimized in favor of a costal movement, which would be your ribs. You would feel almost a flaring of your ribs. You can experiment with that if you'd like, okay. And then come back to that nice soft abdomen just responding to the in and the out, the expansion and the contraction.
Speaker 1:So we often consider this expansion with the breath, but it's less common that we consider what happens at the bottom of the visceral column, the pelvic floor. What happens there? Is there also an expansion there? And the answer is yes. So as you breathe in, the dome of the respiratory and pelvic diaphragms descend, and as you breathe out, both ascend. See if you can feel that now, and if you can't, it's okay.
Speaker 1:This one's hard. Let's add a little bit more information, okay. So if your knees have fallen together, you're going to separate them. Your arms out to the sides. Now, on your next in breath, let your right thigh fall open like a half butterfly, let your hips tilt to the right and if you have to adjust the position of the right foot to a narrower position, you're welcome to do that. Okay, and then on the exhale, you're going to bring the right knee back up. Let's keep the left knee pointed up mostly and once again allow the right thigh to open and the hip to tilt and then exhale and come up.
Speaker 1:So this time, see if you can imagine this expansion of the right side of the pelvic floor, that dome descending even as it's being stretched with the movement of the leg. So it's kind of like you're saying, hey, pelvic diaphragm, why not expand a little bit more, like the beginning of a yawn as the leg opens? Yes, and you might notice that as you exhale you sort of have to engage in your pelvis, which means you're engaging in your pelvic floor and the exhale can assist that. It's almost like a gathering up of your abdominal muscles, your pelvic floor. So see if you can experiment with that for a moment. And then you're going to bring the right knee back up to the right side of the pelvic floor.
Speaker 1:No-transcript, let's do two more, and here's the last one your right thigh. You're going to open, but you're going to keep it open as you breathe in and out. You may want to move both feet closer to the midline to keep that right thigh open. Now Let your hips tilt to the right as much as you need to Support the right thigh, if you need to, and see if you can continue to breathe and meditate on both of the diaphragms. So both diaphragms make a downward excursion on the inhale, both diaphragms relax back into an upward excursion on the exhale. And if you can't feel it, it's okay, because people can't at first. Alright, here we go.
Speaker 1:Let's take one more breath now in this half butterfly variation, and then you'll bring the right knee back up, so two feet once again planted, and I'll have you draw your right thigh toward your chest and then cross your right ankle over the front of your left thigh like a figure four and push down into the left foot so you can shift your hips over to the right and then tilt the figure four onto the left. So shifting hips so that you can tilt the figure four to the left. So it's on its side, with your left thigh resting softly on the floor. The sole of the foot maybe comes all the way to the floor, or perhaps we support it with a block. The chest remains open, the arm wide, that right arm wide. I'll give you that too. There we are. Nice, that's great, all right.
Speaker 1:So let's come back to the breath and this exploration of the pelvic floor. So, on your inhale, I'd like for you to very slightly press that right thigh away. Press it away and the ankle will be sort of pivoting over the thigh and so the leg isn't going to move much. And then on the exhale it's just relax, just relax. Inhale is push the thigh away ever so slightly, allowing the ankle to just pivot off of that left thigh, and then exhale, relax, relax, just continue like that. And let me kind of help to give some context to this experience.
Speaker 1:Most people, including myself, for a long time, thought that. I thought, and most people think that the pelvic floor is sort of like a sling at the base of the pelvis and in many ways the collective consciousness has made it a very delicate sling. That's not what it looks like at all. It's actually a very, very thick system of muscle super thick, crazy thick and the pelvic floor, while being some muscles that are mostly related to just that area of that pelvic bowl, also includes some of your external rotators, your deep six hip rotators. So as you push the thigh away, you are feeling those deep six rotators at work and as you feel those engaging, I want to let you know that you are feeling your pelvic floor. You're feeling your pelvic floor In addition to your capacity for engaging them. I want you to practice relaxing them. So that's why the exhale is just for nothing, just for relaxing. Let's just do a few more of those, okay, and then we're going to rest in this pose and I'll let you choose how much are you going to continue to press the thigh open versus letting it completely relax? Okay, let's just take one more breath.
Speaker 1:And the figure four. Excuse me, the twisted pigeon. So the transition to the next pose is a little bit different. So I'm just going to have you follow along step by step. Okay, the top leg, that right leg. You're going to swing out to the right front corner of your mat, so the leg is going to be fully extended and it's going to slide out to the corner and even a little bit wider, even a little bit wider, yep. And then you're going to creep the left foot to your inner right thigh. So either the foot is against the thigh or I like to have my toes under my thigh, especially because my toes get cold. So there's a little tip, okay, so, as you can see, we're kind of putting together a banana tree. We need to add the upper body to the banana shape, so the head and shoulders are also going to move to the right. I do a little head push down, shoulders move right, then head moves right, then head push down, shoulders, head, head, shoulders. If you need something under that left leg, go ahead and take it. Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1:And let's use the breath again to explore, explore the relationship between these diaphragms, the pelvic floor, the external rotators, the abdominal wall. This time, when you breathe out on your out breath, I would like for you to contract your right glute. I want you to just squeeze your right butt cheek on your exhale and then, on your inhale, just relax, all right. So find that powerful exhale, squeeze your right glute, maybe hold just briefly at the bottom of that out Inhale and just relax. Okay, let's do a few more of those. This can sometimes be a sensitive movement, especially on the right. So if you're finding that it's sort of making you a little sensitive in your back or your hip, just let me know. I'll help.
Speaker 1:The next time you exhale, your glute is engaged. You're going to hold, you're going to hold the engagement of your glute. You're going to breathe in and out. Keep holding that contracted glute as you breathe in and out and just notice how it feels right. It might feel inhibited, it might feel stiffer in the right side of the pelvic floor. Perhaps you're noticing that you can't get as much of a full breath. There may be other things happening as well. Maybe you feel like your heart rate goes up or you feel a little tense. One more breath in and out with that right glute still squeezing, and then the next time you breathe in relax your glute and just remain in your banana tree.
Speaker 1:Now the right glute is sneaky. It's sneaky. It likes to contract when you're not paying attention. So I'm going to just have you enjoy the pose, but occasionally check back in with that right glute, see what's going on. So most people think that the pelvic floor is like a bowl at the base of the pelvis, but that is not true. At rest, the pelvic floor presents like a dome, just like the respiratory diaphragm, and most people think that when you engage your pelvic floor, there is a lifting action, and that is not untrue, but it is incomplete. So to engage your pelvic floor, yes, there is a drawing up, there is a contraction, but your pelvic floor also contracts when it descends with the breath. This is an eccentric contraction. Usually it is a working stretch and somewhere in the middle of those is a nice soft dome shape. That is the pelvic floor at rest. Check back in with that right glute, we'll take one more breath, and banana tree.
Speaker 1:So before you come back to the center of the mat with your feet flat, just kind of build a little plan for how you're going to get out of this pose. Just kind of go through it mentally and then go ahead and execute that plan, getting yourself back to the center of your mat with two feet flat. If you need to reorganize props or anything, you can do that now as well. And once you've found your way back to the center of the mat with the feet flat, maybe wide knees together, if you'd like, notice the difference between the right and the left side of the pelvis, the right and the left thigh, the right and the left. But cheek Now this time on your in breath, your left thigh open, your hips tilt left. On your exhale the knee comes back up and the whole time that right knee is going to stay mostly pointed to the sky, although it will probably tilt a little. So left thigh open and close. Right thigh stays vertical ish. Right thigh stays vertical, ish. Yeah, and I'm seeing some really good adjusting of the position of the feet. I like it. So see if you can find that stretching contraction on the inhale, especially on the left, the pelvic floor is still very much working, stabilizing, supporting, but it's also stretching, not just because of the movement of the leg but also because of the breath. Right, wow. And if you haven't already, it's time to tune in a little bit to the opposite movement. The exhale, the thigh comes back up. Now it is an isometric contraction pelvic floor and the breath plays less of a role since the pelvic diaphragm is moving to a resting position. Alright, let's just do two more. And the next time that thigh is open, the hips are tilted. You're going to stay. Adjust the position of your feet if you need to support the left thigh, if you need to, so that you can relax into the pose and just observe.
Speaker 1:So for a long time, women were told that the reason they were having pelvic floor issues is because their pelvic floor was weak, and what we're seeing now in research is that that is untrue and incredibly unfortunate that people have been given that impression. So perhaps there's some weakness. It's not because of tightness. Let me rephrase that Perhaps there is some weakness that isn't related to being too lax. I think that's what I want to say. So there's a misconception that if something is very tight it must be very strong, but that's not true. That defies the laws of physics, right? Imagine you have a sling shot right and your rubber band is super, super short and super, super thick and barely moves at all. How far are you going to be able to slingshot that rock? Not very far, right. So think about the type of elasticity that would allow you to shoot that rock really far away. So there's both strength and length.
Speaker 1:Let's take one more breath. On your exhale, you'll bring the left thigh back up. Yes, you'll draw your left thigh towards your chest before crossing your ankle over your right thigh close to your knee, you'll push into your right foot, lift and shift hips to the left. Drop your figure four and tilt it to the right. Yeah, tilt it to the right. Yep, feel free to set up some props. What if we're here there? Okay, chest is wide open, left arm reaching out.
Speaker 1:On your inhale, you're going to push your left thigh away. On your exhale, you're just going to relax. So, on the inhale, you will engage your pelvic floor and external rotators On your exhale, you'll relax. Just let everything come back to rest as best as you can. So in research, what we see is that more people have issues due to something called hyper tonicity, which is too tight and weak, things like balance issues, pain, discomfort.
Speaker 1:So let's do two more of these engaging inhales, softening exhales, and then you'll just rest in your twisted pigeon, finding the level of engage and soft that works best for you in the pose. And so, in case you're wondering, no, we do not need to stretch the pelvic floor. The tension of the pelvic floor is very finely calibrated to the needs of the person, of the organism. What seems to be most beneficial is what you're doing right now facilitating pelvic floor awareness and a harmonious relationship with the respiratory diaphragm. So, previous пMON Ancient, we'll take one more breath in the twisted pigeon here and then we're going to make that sort of funky transition where that pigeon leg, that left leg, you're going to send out long and swing it past the front left corner of your mat, past, yes, and we'll go ahead and bring the sole of the right foot to the inner left thigh or maybe under, and then let's make the banana happen in the upper body as well. So you're going to creep your head and shoulders to the left. Okay, feel free to support that right leg, by the way. Yeah, left, okay, arms, just however you want.
Speaker 1:On your exhale, you squeeze your left glute, contract your butt cheek. On your inhale, you try to release as much as you can. Exhaling a squeeze for the left glute, inhaling relax. We'll do two more and the next time you're squeezing that glute, you are engaged. I'd like for you to continue to breathe in and out. Keep that left glute engaged and therefore also the pelvic floor. Continue to breathe in and out and just notice, notice what shifts occur in the self, which is the musculoskeletal system, it's your nervous system, it's your breath, it's your thoughts, feelings, beliefs. Let's notice what changes when there is an inhibition of the pelvic floor. And the next time you breathe in, you're going to relax the glute, relax the rotators, relax the pelvic floor and just hold on your banana tree.
Speaker 1:Good, check in with the right and the left glute now. Just check in, see what the level of engagement is currently. Just check in with the right and the left glute and then start to check in with the right and the left glute and then start to create a little plan for how you are going to release this pose, to come back to the constructive rest and then, when you're ready, execute that plan. So you'll be back in the center of your mat with your two feet flat and once you get there, you're just going to observe the right and the left, right and the left belly, right and the left pelvis thigh, anything else. Now your two feet are flat and about hips width distance apart.
Speaker 1:Your elbows you bring in so that they're on the mat with you and then your hands you place on your belly or on your heart, whatever you can reach most easily with your elbows still resting. Keep your hands, your elbows as they are, but do an anterior tilt of your pelvis. So you're going to rock towards your tail and allow the low back to arch away from the mat and then roll up the back of the pelvis for a posterior tilt. This time the tail will lift, the low back pushed down into the mat. Inhale for that anterior tilt, arching the back away from the floor. Exhale, maybe a little extra squeeze as you tuck, feeling that pelvic diaphragm rise up, lift up and then on the inhale you'll feel it descend, just naturally.
Speaker 1:And then let's use the hands to kind of act sort of like a model, all right. So the next time you anterior tilt, so the back is arching, your elbows stay on the floor, but your hands sweep down and out like you're wearing a ball gown and you're going to do a curtsy, almost right. And then, as you posterior tilt, you exhale, your hands are going to come back down and then back up to your belly or chest tuck so the hands sweep out to represent this nice, gracious expansion and release pelvic floor anterior tilt, exhale. Use the hands to gather up the energy drawing, up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up. Inhale, gracious expansion arm. Swing out anterior tilt, exhale. Use the hands to draw in and up Three more, there's two and let the arms and hands sort of reflect the character that you would like to have.
Speaker 1:The attitude, the pelvic attitude. That's a weird thing to have, but you know, okay, yeah, all right, next time you're in that posterior tilt position, hands are on your chest, relax, just take a few breaths, neutral, bring your right knee toward your right elbow, draw it in and out Right knee, right elbow, good, and then I'm going to have you grasp the knee with your right hand, grasp the knee with your right hand, go ahead and lift it up towards you a little bit and then grasp the heel with your left hand. If you can grab it, and if you can't get the heel, you can get the ankle. Whatever. It's fine, whatever works. So the knee is going to turn out. So you're going to hold the knee in your right hand, the heel in your left hand, and imagine that if you wanted to which most of us can't you could sort of cradle this leg like a baby. That's sort of the position of the leg to cradle it like a baby and use the left leg, almost like it's doing windshield wipers, to rock side to side. Just rock side to side. So that left foot is going to kind of push you way over to the right. It's going to help you back to the center. It's going to push you way over to the left so you can kind of rock the baby.
Speaker 1:Essentially, yes, use your breath and your awareness of your pelvic floor. One of these external rotators, the obturator and Ternus, is a little harder to feel, to experience, and this is the best position that I have found for obturator and Ternus. So many of us feel very, very limited here. You might be feeling like you know you have a really nice strong, tight obturator and Ternus, or maybe strong, weak obturator and Ternus. Excuse me, tight and weak is what I meant to say.
Speaker 1:In any case, just breathe with the movement rocking side to side, just experience what's there. It's not good, it's not bad. It's just your body adapting to how you move, how you think, and then we'll bring that right foot flat, bring your hands onto your chest or your belly Elbows are on the floor and tear your tilt Hands, sweep out, breathe in, turn your face to the right and then posterior tilt Hands come down and then in and then up and your face to the center this time. As your hands sweep out your anterior tilt face turn left, exhaling, drawing in and up face center. So we'll keep doing this, just turning the head side to side as you do, your sweeping out anterior tilt pelvic floor, descend, exhale center, posterior tilt pelvic floor, in and up, and you might notice that there is a slightly different sensation on the right versus the left side of the pelvic floor as you're turning your head. I want you to notice this and if you don't, it's okay. Maybe it's not for today, but another day. Just do one more of each. One more of each with the head turning Okay, perfect.
Speaker 1:And the next time you come back to that posterior tilt, your hands are on your chest, just rest, everything, rest Neutral. And this time you're going to bring your left thigh out and toward your elbow, go ahead and lift it up and grasp the knee left knee with your left hand, and with the right hand you'll hold the ankle or the heel or whatever you got, and you'll kind of pull that leg across just a little bit it doesn't need to go far Like you're going to cradle the baby and start using that right foot to help you rock side to side, almost like the right leg is doing a windshield waper. Yeah, that's it, that's it. That's it. Just breathe with it, just observe, right.
Speaker 1:So what we're learning with more research about the pelvic floor is when people do the best, is when they have more awareness of their pelvic floor. Teaching somebody how to make it stronger, weaker, whatever, that doesn't seem to work. As well as just teaching people how to breathe and notice their pelvic floor, which we're doing right now, let's just do a couple more side to side, rocking side to side, letting those hips tilt, if it's okay. And this time back in the center, you'll stay. You'll bring two feet flat. This time. Step your feet close together, keep your knees pointed up, but step your feet close together, elbows on the floor, hands on the belly or the chest.
Speaker 1:Let's do another one of these, okay, this time on your anterior tilt, hands sweep out, allow those knees to open out to the sides like a butterfly, a full butterfly. And on the exhale your hands come down in up, knees back together, squeeze, draw in and up on the pelvic floor. So the hands are sort of indicating the movement of the pelvic floor. So the inhale is for butterfly anterior tilt, the exhale is for drawing those knees back up pelvic floor in up, up, up, up, keep going. Let's do a few more.
Speaker 1:Okay, the next time you're in the butterfly, those knees are open, your hands are out, your pelvis anterior tilt, let's just stay. And since we're going to be in this pose for a little bit, if you would like you could bring some blocks under your thighs. So, as we said before, the hip muscles are getting stretched. There's a good chance. Pelvic floor is also receiving a little bit of tension, so you might feel that there is tension here. That's accurate. There is tension here. But see if you can still breathe, if you, even in this more challenging, different position, can still observe the harmony between respiratory and pelvic diaphragms. See if that's possible. Magda, magda, magda, ma. Second view done. The second view done the.
Speaker 1:We'll just take a couple more breaths in the sub pine butterfly and then you'll use your hands to help you bring your knees back up and together. If you have a bolster and you'd like to use it, you could slide it under your thighs as you extend those legs out long, and if you don't, you're just going to send the legs out nice and long. Heels are going to be about as wide as your mat. That's a rough one to do, isn't it, without making it all wrinkled. How's that? Let me try it. Is it okay?
Speaker 1:Okay, on your inhale, feel the belly expand. This indicates the downward excursion of two diaphragms. On your exhale, control the release. We'll continue to breathe like that, with this expanding, and maybe you'll imagine an expansion, contraction of the pelvic floor. Maybe that expansion and contraction could expand you, right? Maybe it's more than just the pelvic floor or the abdomen, maybe it's the whole self. And if you haven't already, it's time to sort of come back to earth More accurate dimensions of self. So for the next two or three inhales, make them a little bit longer. A little bit longer on the inhale and you'll begin to restore movement Fingers, toes, wrists, ankles. Find your way onto the side of your choice. We'll roll into your hands and rise up to your seat, press palms together in front of your heart. Thank you so much for practicing with me today, guys.