How to Engage Your Pelvic Floor

Today we’re going to talk about how to do a pelvic floor contraction. The other issue that people run into is they know they are supposed to do Kegels or engage the pelvic floor, but they don’t know how to do that. They aren’t muscles that we usually think about activating, but many times when these muscles are weak or inhibited then you need to give a little more focus on how to contract those muscles so it becomes a little more automatic.
So think of your the pelvic floor as the bottom of the pelvic bowl. You’ve got your hips and hip bones and then the muscles kind of act like a hammock at the bottom of your pelvis. So you have superficial and deep muscles and they have different functions.
One cue is to think about closing the openings in your pelvic floor. So that is going to help activate the superficial muscles and then think about lifting to activate the deep muscles.
The pelvic floor muscles attach in the front to the pubic bone and into the coccyx or tailbone in the back. So we want to think about bringing those two points of contact together. Similar to how the bicep attaches to the shoulder and the forearm. So when we go to go a bicep curl we bring those two points together to contract.
The way to feel this, is to place one hand on the pubic bone and feel just underneath of it. In the back find your tailbone and take a big inhale and let those muscles relax. As you exhale think about closing the opening of the pelvic floor and lifting up and in.
Now you shouldn’t see a ton of movement elsewhere. You shouldn’t be squeezing your glutes, doing a crunch, or arching your back. It is a very subtle contraction and if you are having trouble with this, it is something we can address through physical therapy. We can help you find some different cues and let you know if you’re doing this exercise correctly!
Another way to feel how to engage your pelvic floor is from child’s pose. Bring your hips back against your heels and palpate just right under your SITS bones. Find your SITS bones and go just inside and do that same contraction. Inhale to relax and exhale to draw up and in. You should feel those muscles under your fingers pulling up and in and tightening very slightly.

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Got cut off? If one felt a tear like thing 20 years ago while sitting at the office around ano rectal urethral area...anatomical damage....what could it be.? Any clues darling. Regards from France.