Pelvic Floor Yoga Training for Women: Issues, Weakness, Steps, Precautions and Benefits

You have a set of muscles working quietly in the background every day - laughing, sneezing, carrying babies, exercising - that most women never think about until there’s an issue with them - your pelvic floor muscles. When the pelvic floor muscles are weak or out of balance, it has a ripple effect throughout all aspects of your life in ways that are either embarrassing or upsetting.

The good news is that yoga can be one of the strongest and least invasive ways to elevate, repair, and reconnect with these underused areas of your body. 

What exactly is the Pelvic Floor?

The pelvic floor is a group of muscles and connective tissue located at the bottom of the pelvis that resemble a hammock. The pelvic floor supports the bladder, uterus, and bowel; is a vital component to core strength; affects sexual performance; aids in digestion; and of course, plays a key role during pregnancy and childbirth.

Studies show that one third of all women will experience some type of pelvic floor dysfunction in their lifetime.  However, this is one of the least discussed subjects in women's health.

Yoga changes that. 

Common Issues and Signs of a Weak Pelvic Floor

A lot of women suffer with pelvic floor weakness without ever identifying that pelvic floor weakness is causing their issues. Some signs to look for include:

• Leaking urine when you sneeze, cough, laugh or exercise.
• Having to rush to the rest room often or always feeling like you need to go to the rest room.
• Having low back pain that continues to hurt.
• Having pain or discomfort when being intimate with your partner.
• Feeling heaviness or pressure in your pelvic area.
• Having difficulty completely emptying your bladder or bowel.  
• Not having good core stability and/or balance issues.

All of the above are common symptoms, but just because they are common doesn't mean that you have to just accept them. With conscious, consistent yoga practice, you can experience significant changes in your life. 

How Does Yoga Help the Pelvic Floor?

Traditional exercise does not generally address the pelvic floor as well as yoga does. Yoga focuses on breath control, body alignment, awareness of movement, and being present through all of the aforementioned elements - all of which distribute equal amounts of importance to your health and well-being of the pelvic floor.

Strength-related pelvic floor dysfunction could also be due to involuntary muscle tension. Because tension compresses the pelvic floor, it can lead to many of the same concerns caused by an undersized pelvic floor. The combination of contracts and relaxes will assist in developing balanced musculature.

Yoga Poses Best for Pelvic Floor Strengthening

The following are gentle, effective, and accessible poses for women: 

1) Malasana (Garland Pose / Deep Squatting) - This pose opens the hips and gently stretches the pelvic floor to release tension while building awareness.

2) Setu Bandhasana (Bridge Pose) - This pose strengthens the glutes, lower back, and pelvic floor simultaneously. You can increase engagement by performing a gentle Mula Bandha during your exhale.

3) Viparita Karani (Legs Up the Wall) - This restorative pose stimulates blood flow and decreases pressure on the pelvis, allowing the pelvic floor to completely relax.

4) Baddha Konasana (Butterfly Position) - This pose opens the inner thighs and groin and relieves tension in the pelvic area.

5) Balasana (Children's Pose) - This pose consistently releases tension in the pelvic floor, so that breath can easily drop to the belly and into the pelvic bowl.

6) Cat-Cow (Marjaryasana / Bitilasana) - This pose links movement in the spine with breath, while massaging the internal structures of the pelvis and increasing awareness of the pelvic floor.

Alignment and Posture Guide for Pelvic Floor Yoga

The position of your body is extremely important for the health of your pelvic floor. Many women do not understand how their daily habits of sitting and standing may place chronic strain on that area.

The following principles will help you to correctly align your body:

1. Keep your spine neutral - Do not place your tailbone (the low part of your spine) too far forward or too far backward in relation to the rest of your spine. Excessive tucking or excessive arching of your lower back will disrupt proper functioning of the pelvic floor.

2. When standing, your feet should be exactly as far apart as your hips with your weight evenly distributed through both feet; do not drop any of your weight onto one side of your body.

3. Allow yourself to breathe into your abdomen, If you breathe shallowly from your chest, the pelvic floor will remain in a state of tension continuously. When you breathe deeply into your belly, breathing with the diaphragm, you will naturally coordinate that movement with the natural movement of the pelvic floor.

4. When performing a yoga pose, engage your pelvic floor gently using a Mula Bandha (lift) up as you exhale and release it completely as you inhale. This rhythmic movement will be far more effective than trying to hold it tight all the time.

5. Avoid straining at the pelvic floor,  Pressing down as you would during constipation is one of the fastest ways to weaken the pelvic floor over time.

Precautions to Keep in Mind

Pelvic floor yoga is gentle, but a few important precautions apply:

If you have had pelvic organ prolapse, recent surgery or are recovering from childbirth, it is extremely important to work with an experienced teacher. 

If you already are experiencing weakness or prolapse, you should avoid doing high-impact movements, deep twists, and heavy movements using just your core muscles, including traditional abdominal crunches. 

When doing any yoga poses, at all times you should never hold your breath. Breath coordination is a key component of safely engaging and maintaining the pelvic floor. 

If at any time you experience pain, pressure, or even the sensation that you are being heavy while performing any yoga pose, you should stop doing the pose until the symptoms have gone away. 

After the first three months of pregnancy, no poses that compress the abdominal area, including lying flat on your back for extended amounts of time, should be performed.

The Role of Meditation in Pelvic Floor Health

Many people store emotional tension in their pelvic floors. Examples of these types of factors that cause stored tension include anxiety, past trauma, stress, or simply sitting for an extended amount of time. As a result, the pelvic floor can become tight over months (sometimes years) without our conscious knowledge of this process happening.

Meditation techniques such as body scan meditation and yoga nidra allow women to develop more conscious relationships with this part of their anatomy by directing gentle awareness down into the lower abdomen and pelvic area where the nervous system will begin to release its grip on this area as you continue working on this process through regular relaxation practices. Many women have found surprising amounts of tension being held in their pelvic floor without having realized it prior to starting their guided meditations or daily guided relaxation exercises.

Over the course of time, at least 10 minutes per day of focused relaxation practice provides women with a consistent opportunity to help them heal their pelvic floor.
 

Pelvic Floor Yoga in Pregnancy - What Changes?

As your baby grows, the weight of your baby and the hormonal changes that are happening to your body puts a tremendous amount of stress on your pelvic floor muscles during pregnancy. The hormone relaxin causes the ligaments and joints to loosen, so in addition to all the stress being placed on the pelvic floor due to the weight of the growing baby, there is also a chance that the pelvic floor muscles will be overstretched.

To help prepare for labor, alleviate pelvic girdle pain, and discomfort in the lower back, among others, pelvic floor yoga during pregnancy will focus on the following techniques: 

✔ Gaining strength slowly and in a sustainable way.

✔ Alleviating pain from the pelvic girdle and discomfort from the lower back.

✔ Getting the muscles ready for labor, which will include learning to release the muscles, not just engage them.

✔ Breath-work to help you stay calm during contractions.

Pelvic floor yoga is an integral part of any structured prenatal yoga teacher training in Rishikesh. As a yoga teacher specializing in this field, you will not only learn the poses, but also how to modify the poses for each trimester, how to read a student's body, and learn how 

Pelvic Floor Yoga in Postnatal Recovery

The pelvic floor requires recovery, treatment, and slow rebuilding immediately following the delivery of a baby-vaginally or by cesarean. One of the most common mistakes made by new moms is beginning to exercise soon after childbirth, which could result in permanent damage to the body. 

The first step in having a healthy pelvic floor after childbirth through the practice of postnatal yoga is to simply reconnect with your pelvic muscles. After having a baby, many women have lost the awareness of their pelvic muscles due to epidurals or long durations of labor. 

Once new moms have learned how to reconnect with the pelvic floor muscles, they can then practice different restorative yoga poses, breathing techniques, and then finally use strength training to build back their pelvic floor pelvic floor muscles.

Completing a postnatal yoga teacher training in Rishikesh will provide teachers with the necessary knowledge to help their students safely and effectively through the postnatal recovery period. These teachers will learn about the timelines for recovery, diastasis recti, hormonal shifts, and the emotional burden of being a new mother.

Learning This at the Source - Rishikesh

Rishikesh is a special place for women and yoga instructors who are looking for an in-depth experience with this practice. This city has over 5,000 years of yogic history, and the teachers there support women throughout their journey (from their first period), pregnancy, mothering, and beyond.

At the Rishikesh Yoga Ashram, we share this knowledge through traditional and modern approaches. Whether you are searching to heal yourself or you want to teach women's health using yoga, the courses (i.e., prenatal yoga teacher training in Rishikesh and the postnatal yoga teacher training in Rishikesh) provide a complete, compassionate base on which to build your career.

Rishikesh Yoga Ashram is the best yoga yoga school in Rishikesh for women-focused training. It uses true Vedic practices combined by an anatomical understanding of how to support women during every stage of their life.

If you feel called towards this route, please do so. The Yoga Teacher Training in Rishikesh will benefit you, and your body and your children will bless you!

Final Thoughts

Your pelvic floor isn’t something to be "fixed". Your pelvic floor is a part of you; it deserves your attention, consciousness, and caregiving just like any other part of your body does. Yoga will work with your pelvic floor wherever your pelvic floor is - whether it’s tight, weak, healing or even simply not acknowledged.

Start small. Start with your breath. Bring your consciousness down toward your pelvic floor. And if you’re ready to go deeper - either for you or to support other women - Rishikesh and its exceptional teachers are waiting for you there.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Pelvic Floor Yoga Training for women? 

Pelvic Floor Yoga Training is a form of yoga specifically designed for women to Improve the strength and flexibility of their pelvis. Women do pelvic floor yoga to help with conditions such as incontinence, pelvic pain, instability, and recovery after childbirth. 

2. What are the common signs of weak pelvic floor muscles? 

Common signs of weakness in the pelvic floor are leaking urine when you sneeze or cough, feeling like you need to go to the bathroom all the time, experiencing lower back pain, and having pressure in your pelvic region. Other signs can be pain during intercourse, and having poor core stability. 

3. How does yoga help strengthen the pelvic floor? 

Yoga Can Help You Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor by utilizing the Breath, proper alignment of the body, and being aware of your body. Unlike isolated exercises like Kegels, yoga works the pelvic floor as part of the whole body; teaching the pelvis how to contract and also be released completely - this is the only way to achieve true wellness. 

4. Which yoga poses are best for pelvic floor strengthening? 

The following poses-the Malasana, Setu Bandhasana, Baddha Konasana, Viparita Karani, Balasana, and Cat-Cow-can help you to strengthen, relax and connect with your pelvic floor. Each pose activates different muscle groups within the pelvic area; however, some will work on building strength while others will help to develop relaxation or create a connection to that muscle group through breath and awareness. 

5. What precautions should women take during pelvic floor yoga? 

Whenever possible, pelvic floor yoga should be practiced with a qualified instructor if you have prolapse, have had recent surgery, or after having recently given birth. Be sure to not hold your breath while performing poses, avoid straining while performing poses, avoid doing deep twists, and not perform any high-impact exercises on your pelvic floor. Also, any pregnant woman should refrain from doing any poses that require extended periods of laying on her back past 12 weeks gestation. 

6. How is pelvic floor yoga different in prenatal yoga training? 

With prenatal yoga training, the emphasis is placed upon assisting a woman with the weight of the growing fetus, preventing or alleviating pelvic girdle pain, and preparing for labor by offering guidance on how to perform contractions appropriately (by releasing before making an effort), and a personalized approach toward modifying yoga poses according to the trimester of pregnancy and individual woman requirements. 

7. What is the role of pelvic floor yoga in postnatal recovery? 

Following childbirth, pelvic floor yoga allows women to be aware of how to restore their body using gentle yoga poses. After performing gentle yoga poses, women may feel ready to incorporate restorative and strength-training yoga poses into their exercise routine. In addition, pelvic floor yoga assists with diastasis recti, hormonal healing, and assisting with the emotional journey associated with motherhood. 

8. What is proper alignment and posture in pelvic floor yoga? 

Correct alignment during pelvic floor yoga can be achieved by maintaining a neutral spine, distributing your weight evenly between both feet, breathing using your diaphragm and using a rhythmic pattern of Mula Bandha, meaning that you use your exhalation to engage your Mula Bandha, and your inhale releases your Mula Bandha. It is also important to avoid tucking your tailbone or keeping continuous tension in your lower abdomen when practicing yoga. 

9. What are the overall benefits of pelvic floor yoga training for women? 

Some of the benefits of practicing pelvic floor yoga include better bladder control, reduced pain in both the lower back and the pelvic region, improved core stability, improved posture, pregnancy and recovery after childbirth are easier, emotional stability, enhanced body awareness, and an enduring connection (mind-body) with their own body and their feminine power.