There are 2 words that I use in almost every session with a client: fascia and flow.  We want our fascial system to be fluid: mobile, hydrated, elastic, adaptable.  Beyond its most common function of providing our body's structural support, new research has shown the many roles of fascia:

• supports our sensory nerves and proprioception
• assists our body in metabolic functions
• defends our body against bacteria and other organisms
• helps cells transport nutrients to other cells
• houses cells that assist in tissue repair

There are different categories of fascia that I will not dive into, but you can read more about them in this blog about Understanding Fascia.  Holding patterns and tensions in the fascial system can be a major contributor to pain and health.

I have been reading the book, My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem.  This book "is a call to action for Americans to recognize that racism is not only about the head, but also about the body.  Menakem introduces an alternative view of what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched racialized divide and takes readers through a step-by-step healing process based on the latest neuroscience and somatic healing methods." Quote from the back cover of the book.

​I have been taking time with the second part of Menakem's book, which is titled "Remembering Ourselves".  He says, "The place to begin the all-important healing of trauma is with the body.  Your body.  Each of our bodies."  He provides body and breathing practices to get to know, experience and understand the body.  I have been enjoying these practices and have incorporated some of the ways to settle into a movement practice.  The movement sequences shared below bring in novel ways to move the spinal chain and mobilize the joints.  "Sometimes trauma energy can get stuck in the joints," Manakem states.  The momentum and rotations can help to release the energy and reduce the tension along the kinetic chain. 

We take breathing for granted: I am alive, therefore I am breathing well.  Unfortunately, this is just not true.  Almost everyone could benefit from breathing better.  When it comes to getting out of pain, or healing the core from abdominal wall separation to leaking urine, the first step to improved function is to learn how to breathe better.  Breathing better doesn't mean taking big breaths, in fact, breathing better means breathing slow, low & less.  If you want to dive into the depths of why its important to breathe slow and less check out these books:

• Oxygen Advantage
• Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

In my practice, I like to work with the body wholistically.  From this wholistic lens, how we move and use our body in the day to day affects the health of our tissues and systems. Habits that are repeated day in and day out can become a "tax" on the tissues and systems.  A VERY common habit that I see in our bodies is breath holding.  Chronic breath holding increases internal pressure and stresses the nervous, hormonal and immune systems.  Over time, this can impair physical and psychological (our brains consume 20 % of the body's oxygen supply) function.  

Observe yourself over the next few days to notice if you breath hold.  If you do, when does it happen?  Typically people breath hold with transitions such as getting out of bed/chair, bending, lifting & reaching.  People also tend to hold with multi-tasking such as cooking, gardening, house cleaning.  Breath holds happen when thinking, or concentrating such as writing a letter, putting on make up, or learning a new skill.  We want to be able to experience every moment of our daily life with our breath steady and paced to meet the task at hand.  Breath holding is a sign of stress and living life on automatic!
Being in the present moment is the way out of breath holding!

• You can't talk and hold your breath at the same time (really, you can't) so sing or hum while cooking dinner or cleaning, etc.
•  To prevent the tendency to breath hold with transitions such as getting out of bed/chair, bending, lifting & reaching: count out loud to 10 throughout the task, or you could just exhale on the effort phase of the movement.
• Pair a task that you do often throughout the day with breathing "low, slow and less": while you wash your hands, paused at a stop light, picking up the kids toys from the floor, etc.
• Simply just notice.  When you are  _______  can you find your breath and let that be your anchor to whatever you are doing.

Below I share 2 drills to connect you to your core.  The silent breathing is great to find the slow, low and less.  The Exhalation drill is a great way to bring in the expansion and contraction of your abdomino-thoracic cylinder!

​Susan McLaughlin is a physical therapist who specializes in the management of pelvic floor and orthopedic dysfunctions. She is the owner of ALIGN integration|movement in Salt Lake City, UT.  Helpful tips and other self care strategies can be found at www.alignforhealth.com.

Link to Anatomy in Motion's, Wake your body up!

Unfortunately, many of us don’t grow up in a nurturing environment.  But as Bruce Lipton says in his book,  “...when the environment was less than optimal, the cells faltered.  When I adjusted the environment, these ‘sick’ cells revitalized.”  As adults we can change the signals to optimize the environment for growth.  Environment and behavior CAN change your life!
When I began my healing journey years ago, I asked myself:  How can I create an environment to allow my cells to be vital and healthy?
In my own personal quest, I have directed my focus on creating an optimal environment for my wellbeing through wellness practices, alignment principles and healing my childhood wounds.  Consistent practice of relaxation techniques, postural alignment, and observation of my movement habits laid the foundation for me to be more efficient in the use of my body, and in that, I was able to come out of 10 years of chronic low back and sacroiliac pain.  Now that I have been out of pain, I continue to nurture my health and healing on a daily basis.
Here are some suggestions to optimize your environment for wellbeing:

• Stand more and sit less
• Get good sleep
• Hydrate/water: At least half of your body weight in ounces
• Notice your habits: change those that aren't serving you and continue the habits that enhance
• Hug/touch
• Limit alcohol, caffeine and processed foods
• Meditate
• Walk/Move/Exercise
• Laugh/sing
• Receive body work: massage, acupuncture, chiropractic, physical therapy 
• Engage in therapies: EMDR,  SE, RET, Feldenkrais

References: 
1. Lipton, B (2005). The Biology of Belief. Santa Rosa, CA: Elite Books.
2.  ​Powledge, T. (2011) Behavioral Epigenetics: How Nurture Shapes Nature BioScience 61: 588-592.

It takes practice to UNDO tensions.  Our tension patterns are so hard-wired.  Healing DR, UI and POP requires integration of the core system: head and neck, ribcage, diaphragm, abdominals, pelvic floor AND re-establishing new connection to our nervous system.
Try this right now:
Sit for a moment and notice your breathing. 
Now start to nod your head up and down as if you are saying yes, or lift your arm up and down. 
Did you hold your breath?   
It is a simple move, and yet more than likely, you held your breath. We should be able to move and breathe at the same time. 
​When we hold our breath we are tensing muscles and increasing pressure into our body wall.  This load to the tissue adds up over time.   Doesn't this make you curious how often you might be holding your breath all day long? One of the keystones to healing the pelvic floor and the abdominal wall is to connect to our breath, allow the abdominals and pelvic floor to move, decrease the tensions in the neck, shoulder girdle, ribcage and lower back.  

There are so many different ways to sit yet most of us spend time sitting in chairs at work, at school, at the movies, etc. And yes, there a lot of different ways to sit in a chair, but mostly when we sit we are leaning back into the chair, allowing our spine and pelvis to collapse. Over time, this constant load onto the flexed spine, the sacrum and supporting ligaments can create muscular and connective tissue adaptations. If we can make some simple changes in our sitting habits, we can change the loads and environment within the tissues to improve blood flow, cellular remodeling to potentially get us out of a back ache or even a pelvic floor issue.

A big part of my time in a session involves education.  Education and information for the client (anatomy, pain science, muscle function, etc.), and reeducation of the client's neuromuscular system. Our body is super smart; it finds a way to move and will continue to do this movement over and over again even though this particular strategy may not be the most effective for the health of the tissue or system.  Part of my job as a therapist is to see the non optimal strategy and teach the client how to reeducate their system for health and longevity.
One of the biggest areas of poor strategies and body confusion is at the core. The core is an area of the body that has a lot of hype.  Fitness pros are making bank teaching people how to strengthen their core to look ripped and lean. Unfortunately a "fit looking" core doesn't mean it is a functional core.

To understand the core, I like to start with the breath.  Little do we know that many of us are 1) holding our abs in all day so that the muscles don't get to fully move and relax or 2) barely breathing.
In an ideal world, when we are at rest whether sitting or in standing, all of our muscles should be at their resting length. Muscles can generate the greatest amount of force at their resting length: not too short, or not too long.

• Holding in abs:  When we are holding are abs in all the time, the muscles are already contracted in the shortened position.  When the body moves and the muscles are required for support, there is not adequate movement (because it is already shortened) to generate the greatest force.  That means that the smooth orchestration of timing, coordination of the muscles have also been glitched.  Misuse of the core happens and compensations result.  Holding in the abdominals also increases pressure in the system: upward toward the diaphragm or downward toward the pelvic floor.  These pressures and tensions can affect digestion/GERD, menstruation, organ prolapse, abdominal wall separation/hernias.
• Barely breathing:  Many people breathe shallow, with minimal diaphragm movement and mostly upper chest and neck movement.  This does not allow for the natural active range of motion that should happen with each breath. On the inhale the diaphragm shortens, pushing downward to make room for the lungs to fill with air.  As the diaphragm shortens, the abdominals and the pelvic floor oppose by lengthening.  Then on the exhale, the abs and pelvic floor shorten and the diaphragm goes back to its resting length.  This movement allows for blood flow, oxygen delivery, optimal muscle function and management of internal pressures.  Shallow breathing can lead to a hyper-ventilatory state which can present as:  increased tension, aches and pains, poor concentration and weird sensations in the body (numb, tingling). 

The first step to strengthening the core is to move all the parts.  The gif above shows the movement of the deeper canister: diaphragm, pelvic floor and abdominals.  The abs and pelvic floor are opposing the diaphragm during inhale and exhale. Can you feel your pelvic floor move during breathing?  Can you feel your abs move?  You might notice that you can only move your chest at first.  See if you can start to bring awareness into: upper abdominals, then belly button, then lower abdominals, then pelvic floor (typically I have people sense the anus- we are used to holding our sphincter muscles to prevent passing gas.  See if you can let the sphincter go on the inhale, then notice if it lifts back up on the exhale). Don't force or try to take big breaths, just direct your focus.  Allow your breathing to be effortless, inhale/exhale are balanced.   Remember your core cannot be strong unless is can access it's full range of motion.  
Know your core: 1) stop holding your core tight all the time (that includes wearing spanx) and 2) learn how to let your core move during breathing.