This Saturday, September 22 marks the beginning of Fall.  The change of seasons here in Salt Lake City is invigorating: brisk mornings and evenings require putting on layers, and the leaves are turning orange, yellow and red.  This change feels so synchronized, steady and effortless.

If only changing habits and behaviours could be so elegant...  

A transition of seasons may appear effortless, because of the consistency in change month after month.  We can apply this concept of change to our own habits and behaviours: big changes most often happen from a sequence of small solutions strung together.

Using research from business, psychology, sociology and neuroscience, brothers Chip and Dan Heath have written a book called Switch: How to change things when change is hard.  This is a “how to” book that begins with a premise:

All change efforts have certain patterns that are similar

• You must start acting differently
  
• You must change your situation
• You must change how you feel and what you think
• You must get the emotional brain and the thinking brain to integrate

This Fall, ALIGN has teamed up with SoulSalt coaching to create a program for change.  We call our program Ultimate Freedom:  Finding your way out of pain.  We are seeking individuals who are in pain, and who are ready to move through it!  Ultimate Freedom is a 5 week intensive, that is offered in either a group or an individual format.

Utilizing principles of coaching, neuroscience, movement and neuromuscular education,  Ultimate Freedom will assist to restore you through a season of change, and a future of no pain!

If I said that I was going to run a marathon in 9 months, it is common knowledge that I would need to get ready for it.  I would have to set a training schedule to prepare my body for the long distance: 26.2 miles, average completion time 4 hours.

What if I said that I was pregnant, and I was going to give birth in 9 months.  Would the expectation be that I would train for this?  Probably not.  Why is that?  For many first time mothers, labor can last for hours, with the average length of active labor being 12 hours give or take.  Preparing the body to sustain increasing mass during pregnancy and preparing the hips and the pelvis for vaginal delivery should be part of the “mother to be” training.

In order to have a pain free pregnancy and complication free vaginal delivery here are some requirements:

• Strong thigh muscles to support the weight of the torso
• Hip mobility
• Moveable sacrum
• Strong deep abdominal muscles
• Pelvic floor muscles that will yield

Your training program should include:

Walking 
Walking with a reciprocal arm swing incorporates whole body movement which enhances circulation, strengthens the legs, and frees the pelvis.  Work up to walking 5 miles a day (this does not have to be done all at once).

Optimal postural alignment
We tend to carry our pelvis out in front of our ankles. 
 A forward pelvis affects: 

• the stability of the pelvic girdle which can create pubic pain or sacroiliac dysfunction
  

• the function of the pelvic floor which can cause the muscles to become shortened and unyielding 
• the position of the sacrum relative to the pubis which decreases the distance of the pelvic inlet.

Ideally we want to have the skeleton stacked so that we have the line of gravity going through the ear lobe, midpoint of shoulder, hip, knee and ankle.

Footwear choices affect alignment.  Any shoe with a heel will angle the body forward. The body compensates for this by tucking the pelvis under, bending the hips and knees.  Over time this can shorten the muscles on the back of the leg which can pull the pelvis out of alignment creating back pain and pelvic floor dysfunction.  Choose shoes that are flat and allow your toes to wiggle.

Hip mobility and leg strengthening
Squatting improves the mobility in the hips, strengthens the glutes and legs, promotes a wider pelvic outlet and allows the pelvic muscles to yield.
Exercises to address lateral glute strength will prevent the pregnancy waddle and decrease the instability and excessive motion at the pelvis.

Deep abdominal and pelvic floor training
Learn how do activate your deep abdominal muscle transverus abdominus without holding your breath.  Learn how to utilize this muscle for the pushing stage of labor.  The TRA is best activated during the exhale of the breath cycle: draw your belly button to your spine.

Learn how to let the pelvic floor relax in order to allow the baby to pass through without tearing (yes, this takes practice). The pelvic floor should relax/yield on the inhale of the breath cycle.  Imagine the ischial tuberosities (SITS bones) widening as the pelvic floor relaxes.