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Getting Out Of Back Pain

11/18/2022

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Tension in the back is all too common! A high percentage of my clients are coming to see me because of it.

Many people who also see me for pelvic issues such as urinary leakage, pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic pain or healing abdominal separation postpartum say that they have a history of back pain that comes and goes, or experiences persistent chronic back pain.

Understanding some of the contributing factors to excessive tension in the muscles of the back can be key to decreasing or eliminating  pain, and improving function.
  • Breathing Patterns
  • Postural Patterns
  • Movement Patterns
  • Stress, Nervous System Regulation & Lifestyle Habits

Breathing Patterns

Because breathing is automatic, we don't always notice HOW we breathe.  Becoming a better breather is key to oxygen delivery, nervous system regulation, core movement and stability.  If the diaphragm is not moving well neither is the ribcage or the core canister.  You have got to move it to use it!​
  • Core Breathing
  • Oxygen Advantage
  • Buteyko Breathing

Postural Patterns

Our posture is created by our emotional states and how we move and present ourselves in the world.  Become more aware of unnecessary tensions that are affecting our postural state.
  • ​Feldenkrais Lessons: Posture for Life
  • Alexander Technique: 5 tips for standing posture
  • Katy Bowman of Nutritious Movement: Lower your risk of injury with proper alignment

Movement Patterns

I am sharing a home program circuit of some of my favorite moves to decrease tension in the back.  The emphasis here is to release the back extensors through breath, positioning and recriprocal inhibition (contracting  the abdominal flexors to relax the back extensors).

Stress Patterns

We live our lives in automatic.  How can we bring more presence to our lives in order to optimize nervous system signaling and therefore appropriate cues for the health of each system of the body.  
  • Understand and tend to the nervous system: Predictive Processing -Why expectation matters for movement and pain, Befriending your nervous system (50% off right now!),  Learn to repair your nervous system.
  • Mindfulness and Stress Reduction: Online programs with Tara Brach, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
  • Lifestyle Habits: Be True- Discover your core values and live your life on purpose (if you go to SoulSalt's IG page you can find the Black Friday/Cyber Monday code for 50% off),  Hire a Wellness Coach
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.
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Healing Your Abs Postpartum

5/16/2022

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Healing the Abdominal Wall Postpartum
Postpartum Body
Of course, I am biased, but I believe that every person that gets pregnant and gestates a baby for 9 months and then goes through the intense experience of delivery, should go see a Pelvic Health Physical Therapist (or Occupational Therapist) in the postpartum period (even if it has been many years since the last delivery).

At the Postpartum evaluation I can assess the integrity of the pelvic floor and the abdominal wall.  When I assess the abdominal wall, besides checking for diastasis recti,  I like to observe posture, breathing patterns and recruitment patterns of the core with different loads:
  • standing:  resisting the arms to movement in flexion, extension and rotation, forced expiration
  • lying on the back: lifting a straight leg, lifting both straight legs, resistance to the arms, forced expiration

A Common Core Pattern: Overactive upper abs and rib gripping

In a previous post I addressed how increased internal pressure contributes to prolapse and urinary incontinence.  Increased internal pressure can effect the healing of DR and the abdominal wall as well.  In the post mentioned above, I discuss and provide an example of what a non postpartum body looks like with overactive abs.  The tension created by the over activation of the upper abs and gripping with the diaphragm and muscles of the ribcage creates downward pressure into the lower abdomen and the pelvic bowl.  People who have this pattern also tend to over activate their neck, rib, diaphragm, and spinal extensor muscles.  In order to heal the DR and abdominal wall there needs to be better balance with all the muscles of the core.  In this post, I will share some moves to help you connect to your lower abs without recruiting your upper abs first.  

Are you an overactive upper ab and rib gripper?  How can you tell?
  • Your lower abs stick out compared to upper abs or despite working out, your lower abs still don't get toned.
  • When you engage your core you can see a crease across your ab above your belly button.  You can see a demonstration of this in the blog mentioned above.
  • Blow out really hard on your exhale like you are going to blow out 50 candle.  Do your lower abs push out?
  • When you lie on your back and lift both straight legs does your back arch, your neck tense, your ribs grip and your abs push out?

Even if you don't grip your upper abs, these moves can still be helpful for you!

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.
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Breathing for a Healthy Core

7/29/2020

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Exhalation activates the parasympathetic system and increases vagal tone
Exhalation stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and increases vagal tone.
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.  

Break the habit of breath holding

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!

Suggestions for breaking the habit 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.
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REset & REstore: improving vagal tone

8/17/2019

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In this blog I want to share some simple tools to improve health, growth and restoration via nervous system regulation and improving vagal tone. 

In a prior blog I talked about the autonomic nervous system, and each blog since has built on the next.  In my last post, I shared some breathing variations to tap into relaxation and vagus nerve activation.

If you are not sure what the vagus nerve is, I think this article gives a good review of its function.

Exercises to promote vagal tone

  • If you want to have a deeper understanding of your Vagus nerve and autonomic nervous system, but don't want to sift through the boring science, Stanley Rosenberg has written a great book "Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve: Self Help Exercises for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma and Autism".  The video below demonstrates the basic exercise to activate the vagus nerve.
  • Jill Miller has many videos on youtube exploring the vagus.  Here are a couple that I like:
  • If you want to optimize your health and wellness, check out the website of Restorative Breathing.  A few years ago I took a course from Lois Laynee and it was the beginning of my journey into healing my nervous system.  Back in July she posted this on her Facebook page: "Do you know the easiest, natural way to balance the autonomic nervous system? Breathing through your nose all night long [as well as during the day]! If you can't breathe through your nose all night long, the brainstem cannot regulate the autonomic nervous system."  Something clicked for me, and I got back on the protocol that I learned from her training years ago.  In order to keep my mouth closed, every night I tape my mouth shut so my brainstem can settle.  Just in these last 3 weeks of taping, I have almost eliminated a constant twitch in under my left eye, I am waking up more rested and  I have less stiffness in my feet when I get out of bed.
  • Irene Lyon describes herself as a nervous system specialist.  She has one of the first online programs for healing the Nervous System: "Tune Up your Nervous System and Rev Up Your Life". 
  • Connect to the environment using your senses: orienting to bring yourself back into the present, and into your body.

Healing the nervous system is a process.  We have many layers to support and unfold.  These five tools above can get you started.  I look forward to support you on your healing journey.
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.
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Breathing Variations

7/17/2019

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Breathing to restore Autonomic Regulation
A healthy autonomic nervous system (ANS) is fluid, bouncing between the green and yellow zone.
In my last post I talked about the Autonomic Nervous System using the analogy from the Polyvagal Theory of a traffic light:
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  • Green is the safety zone: our social engagement system.  our heart rate slows, digestion activates, facial muscles are responsive,  eyes are soft and able to make contact, hearing is turned on.
  • Yellow is the danger zone:  our heart rate increases, pain increases, muscles are mobilized for movement, flat facial affect, the middle ear is turned off in order to hear lower threat tones.
  • Red is the life threat zone: our system goes into freeze/immobilization.  This zone leads to metabolic shut down.

Breath is the one thing we can do to mediate the ANS

One of the first tools I go over with clients is to reeducate proper breathing mechanics.  Most of the clients that I work with have pain or are wanting assistance to heal from leaking urine, prolapse or abdominal wall separation.  Getting movement in the core system and regulating the nervous system are top priority for healing, therefore, breathing is the bridge between the range of motion of the core team AND the ANS.  For most of us, breathing is unconscious, and we have developed strategies to just get by, such as shallow breathing, open mouth breathing, shoulder and neck breathing, etc.  In order to heal, we need to get out of a habitual pattern, change the loads, get better oxygen and carbon dioxide balance in order for the blood to deliver the oxygen molecule to the tissues.

Optimal Breathing Pattern.  The importance of CO2 as well as O2

Breathing variations to mediate the ANS: Coming back to the safety zone or green light

  • Canister Breathing: Movement of the muscles in the breath cycle during quiet breathing: diaphragm, abdominal wall, pelvic floor and ribcage all move proportionally together.
  • Balanced Breathing: This breath is great to bring the system into coherence and presence.  Inhale and exhale are even.  Example: inhale is 4 seconds, exhale is 4 seconds.
  • Silent Breathing: This breath is great to do to distract the brain from breathing and give the system a different task: pay attention to the silence rather than the breath.   I give this to clients  who try to "Make" the breathing happen and are doing a lot of "Efforting" and excess to get the abdominal wall to move in 3D.  The quiet helps the system respond more efficiently.  Plug ears so you can't hear inside your head.  Adjust your breathing so you don't hear the breath in/out.
  • Slower Rate and Longer Exhales: This breath allows your system drop into a relaxation response. Slow your breathing rate and let your exhale go as long as you can (make sure you don't force your breath out and push; be gentle).
  • Using sound to enhance the relaxation response:  Let your vocal cords open (typically vocal folds are more open in the lower tone range) as you resonate your sound on the exhale into your lower abdomen and pelvic bowl (many women will do this innately during labor to open the pelvic bowel and the pelvic floor).  I like to use: "voo" as demonstrated in the video, or you could use "Ahh" or "OM".  This method is particularly helpful for high muscle tone in pelvic pain.
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.
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Understanding our Nervous System

3/19/2019

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The key to health: regulation of the autonomic nervous system
Traffic light analogy of the Autonomic Nervous System

​Understanding and tapping into our innate healing capacity and regulation of the nervous system is key for getting out of pain and improving function.  Many people have learned in school that the brain and the spinal cord are the central processing and relay centers, and the peripheral nerves take off from the spinal cord to drive the movement of our muscles.  More elusive in understanding is the part of our peripheral nervous system that goes to our smooth muscle and organs: the autonomic nervous system.  The autonomic nervous system keeps us alive.  It is important for basic metabolic functions such a breathing, heart rate, digestion, hormone regulation, sleep/wake cycles, sexual response, immunity, repair & regeneration, etc.

The Autonomic Nervous System: Polyvagal Theory

In 1994, Professor Stephen Porges proposed the Polyvagal Theory.  In this seminal work he describes the autonomic nervous system in more detail.  Rather than a 2 part system balance of sympathetic "fight or flight" and parasympathetic "rest or digest", he acknowledges the evolutionary nervous system development that brings the humaneness into being human such as connection, social engagement, relationship,  and the ability to have team work and community.  One of the best explanations of the Polyvagal Theory that I have heard is by Stephen's son, Seth.  I have posted the video below.  Please watch, and then watch again.
Polyvagal analogy of the traffic light:
  • Green is the safety zone: our social engagement system.  our heart rate slows, digestion activates, facial muscles are responsive,  eyes are soft and able to make contact, hearing is turned on.
  • Yellow is the danger zone:  our heart rate increases, pain increases, muscles are mobilized for movement, flat facial affect, the middle ear is turned off in order to hear lower threat tones.
  • Red is the life threat zone: our system goes into freeze/immobilization.  This zone leads to metabolic shut down.
A healthy autonomic nervous system is fluid, bouncing between the green and yellow zone.  

Nervous System Regulation: The Still Face Experiment

As humans we are wired to connect.  We need to have connection and safety to build a healthy nervous system. If you watched Seth's video above, you now have a deeper understanding of this.  Because the nervous system is so subtle, and because many of us have had "bad stuff/trauma" happen to us, (we can be stuck in a freeze state or amped up into hyperarousal, or stuck in both states) we don't always "get" this understanding of how important it is to heal at a nervous system level.  The still face experiment exemplifies what happens to the nervous system and subsequent behavior when connection and safety is withheld.  
The above video can be hard to watch.  In just 3 minutes of non responsiveness from the mother, the child turns her head and body away; she withdraws with a hopeless expression on her face.  To use the traffic light example, in the beginning we see activation of the green light, then mom becomes non responsive, the child escalates to the yellow light and when mom continues not to respond, the child collapses into the red light.  Fortunately, this was an experiment, and mom comes back to engage and repair to green light.

Now what?  How does this apply to me?

Our nervous system impacts our entire well being: emotionally, relationally, mentally and physically.  Common signs of dysregulation: depression, anxiety, numbed out, brain fog/can't concentrate, procrastination/resistance, chronic pain, gut issues, headaches, severe PMS, autoimmune disorders, hormone issues, pain, etc.  You may also find yourself continually getting injured or wanting to take your exercise to the next level and you end up hurting your back (knee, shoulder, foot, etc), or you keep going to the chiropractor and they tell you that you aren't holding your adjustments or you look in the mirror and notice that your body rests in rotation (one shoulder is higher or your head slightly tilts, etc).   We all have layers and layers of "stuff" that has happened to us over the years, some more than others.  By acknowledging that this "stuff" is held in our nervous system (and thus, our organs and connective tissues) we can start to become more vital by reconnecting & regulating our nervous system.  As Seth mentions in the video above, breath is key to mediating the autonomic nervous system.  In my next blog I will explore some breathing options to facilitate a relaxation response. 
If you are interested in learning how to be more ALIVE in your body, there are some great books and online programs available to get started:
  • Somatopia: this program is super affordable. It is a good place to start if you are completely new to the mind- body connection.  It goes over some of the foundational concepts and beginning techniques.
  • 21 Day Nervous System Tune Up: this is a more thorough self study program that offers a great Facebook support group.  It has explanations of the neuroscience and plenty of neurosensory exercises to keep you busy.
  • Crappy Childhood Fairy: to be honest, I haven't taken this course, but I am impressed by what I see on her videos.  She is not a therapist, or a health care provider, she is someone who had a "crappy childhood" and spent years in therapy.  It wasn't until she started working with the nervous system dysregulation that she started to heal.  Her program is based on the tools that she used to heal.
  • "The Body Keeps the Score", Bessel Van Der Kolk
  • "Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program for Restoring the Wisdom in Your Body", Peter Levine
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.
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Breathing Circuit

12/4/2018

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As a pelvic health specialist and a general orthopedic physical therapist, addressing the health of the "core" is essential to every client walking into my office.
What is the first and foremost requirement for healthy tissue?
MOVEMENT: 
  • Muscles can fully lengthen and shorten
  • Joints have the space, glide and spin for full active and passive range of motion
  • 3D Movement is available in all planes: rotation, sidebending and forward/backward bending

A healthy core is a core that moves.

Breathing brings vital movement to the core: expansion/compression of the ribcage, diaphragm, abdominals and pelvic floor. How do you breathe?  Where do you breathe?  Can you feel your ribs expand on inhale and compress on exhale?  Does your pelvic floor lengthen on inhale and shorten on exhale?  Does your back move with your breath?  For most people, the answer is "I don't know."  I really like to have my clients load the body in different positions in order to explore variations of breathing which can help them connect to their core. 
In the breathing circuit video posted below,  I go through 3 positions plus a typical "core stabilization" exercise: 
  • crocodile pose: on inhale, once the abdomen hits the floor (which is right away) take your breath into your back body.
  • child's pose: same as above
  • sitting: place hands on the side of the ribcage to feel the expansion/compression on inhale and exhale
  • bird-dog exercise:  typically when this exercise is taught, people are cued to draw in abs before lifting the arms and legs.  In this drill we want to maintain steady breathing with no holding of the core.  Be mindful as you lift your leg off of the floor.  Do not over extend the hip, as this will compress the spine.
​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.
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Heal Your Core: Trunk Rotation

11/1/2018

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Heal Your Core: Trunk rotation movement sequence
When I am working with clients who present with pelvic organ prolapse, urinary leakage, back pain or abdominal wall separation, there tends to be a few common patterns:
  • Breathing pattern issues
  • Misuse of the pressure system
  • Excessive tone/tension in one or more muscle groups: neck & jaw, upper abdominals & ribcage, paraspinals, pelvic floor.
Breathing is the first skill to reeducate.  I have written about this here and here and here.  Once the breathing pattern is reestablished in sitting or lying down, it is time to practice adding an additional skill on top of the breathing pattern.  Many times when we workout and even throughout the day as we do certain moves, we tend to hold our breath.  The key to a healthy core is to maintain the flow of breath throughout all movements.

Maintain steady breathing during each movement drill

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.
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Healing the Pelvic Floor: Decrease Muscle Tension

9/20/2018

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Healing Pelvic Pain
Pelvic pain of any kind: pubic symphysis pain, tailbone pain, pudendal neuralgia, bladder pain syndromes, pain postpartum, testicular pain, hamstring strain at pelvis insertion, and pelvic floor tension in general will benefit from increased blood flow and healthy tissue mobility.
I had a client recently say on the second visit, "Every time I do the body scan or check in with my breathing, I notice that I am holding the muscles of my pelvic floor.  How do I stop tensing the muscles all the time?"
Well, that is the million dollar question isn't it?  Yet, the first step in creating change, is to notice the "behavior" in the first place.  It is possible to stop tensing the muscles all the time.

First Comes Awareness, and then Change: 3 Key Steps to Decrease Tension

  1. BREATHE.  Breathing is the bridge between the autonomic nervous system, musculoskeletal system and the organs.  With every breath, there should be movement of the muscles of the core, which will also move the organs.  In this movement, the organs and connective tissues stay fluid, blood is circulating, delivering oxygen to the tissues and returning waste back to the heart.  To get a good visual of the movement during breathing watch this video (bonus if you speak french).  The inhale breath activates the sympathetic branch of the ANS, the exhale breath activates the parasympathetic branch.  Slow, rhythmic breathing with a longer exhale can bring in a state of calm which can reduce  tension patterns.
  2. REGULATE THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (ANS).  Typically this requires getting reconnected with the body: feeling your body and being IN your body.  Most of my clients benefit from downregulation techniques that can boost the  parasympathetic response which governs our health, growth, restoration and social engagement.  If you really want to dive into understanding the dynamics of our ANS,  learn more about the work of Stephen Porges, MD and The Polyvagal Theory. 
  3. MOVE. EXERCISE. DANCE. STRETCH. Some of my favorite movements and movers: Feldenkrais Method,  Anatomy in Motion,  The Melt Method, Nutritious Movement.  Below I share with you a simple  way to mobilize the tissues of the perineum with a soft rubber ball.

Soft Tissue Release of the Pelvic Floor

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.
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Healing the core: Are you tensing up just a little too much?

6/13/2018

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Healing abdominal wall separation (diastasis recti), urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse
Many clients that I work with are coming in to see me in order to heal from abdominal wall separation (diastasis recti), urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.  Our culture admires the look of rock hard bodies, and we are taught at a very young age to "hold it in", to look toned and fit.

Unfortunately, down the road, this holding and tensing interferes with our functional mobility, and the full range of motion of lengthening and shortening of muscle fibers.
What will it take for our muscle system to be at rest when we are at rest, and to be able to move through full range of motion when we are ready to move?

Rather than DO such and such exercise to strengthen this and that, we need to UNDO!

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.  

Core integration sequence: UNDOING tension in the neck and ribcage

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.
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Contact:  Susan McLaughlin, PT 801.859.4142
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