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?

In my last post about breathing I talked about how optimal breathing is key to creating core strength.  The muscles of the core: the glottis (voicebox), the diaphragm, the abdominals and the pelvic floor all need to move in coordination for effective generation of force.  These muscles need to respond reflexively for whatever task is at hand, whether that be loading the dishwasher, working out at the gym, or chasing after your kids.
Healing from diastasis recti, pelvic organ prolapse and urinary leakage is not going to happen with 100s of kegels and abdominal bracing contractions.   Healing happens when we look at the whole system working together as a team.

Breathing is the key to life. If we can't breathe, we die within minutes.  Breathing is so essential to the health of our systems, yet rarely do people understand the connection and importance of HOW TO breathe effectively for the support of our core and the health of the shoulder girdle, hip complex, and lumbar spine.

I grew up playing sports, so I understand the importance of a  time out.  In sport we use a time out to take a rest, make substitutions, communicate with the team to re-strategize or to inspire.  Part of the work that I do with clients is to help support people to get out of pain.  Often I suggest time outs to check in with the body and make the changes as needed: how am I sitting or standing, am I breathing, am I holding tension?  These time outs are a great way to break the stagnation of the day, to connect with the body, and to come back into the present.  Way too often our day gets caught up into automatic drive.  So stop right now, get on the floor and try out these moves!

I know that you have heard it before: "Breath is life". Tuning into the breath is my top strategy for change in the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Focused breathing creates movement in the body: movement of organs, fascia, muscles and ribs.  Optimal breathing allows for the vital chemistry exchange to deliver nutrition to all of our cells for health and vitality.
Let's face it, life happens, and it's not always full of breath....  We hold, we limit and we restrict.
This movement sequence below is a great way to release the muscles surrounding the chest and to improve the expansion of the ribcage for better breathing.
Breathing better allows the oxygen to flow to our muscles and nervous system which can decrease tension and bring the body into ease.

During the gait cycle our spine goes through flexion, extension, side bending and rotation.  When we step forward and load onto that leg, the pelvis rotates away from the front leg, the lumbar & thoracic spine extends, rotates and sidebends toward the front leg and the cervical spine flexes, sidebends and rotates away from the front leg.  If what you just read is "gobblygook" just look to the picture on the left.  This soccer kick is a great demonstration of what the body does during gait: it is like a spiral.
Motion is our friend, and quite often we lose it, especially in the thorax.  Look around at people walking, how many people do you see who have an arm swing, much less rotation at their trunk?  Not many.  Are you one of them?
Test yourself: in sitting rotate your trunk right and left. Ideally you should have moved about 45 degrees.  In standing, plant your feet hip width apart and rotate, let your pelvis rotate as well.  Ideally you should move the trunk 90 degrees.  How did you do?  You may notice that you are stiff in both directions, or just on one side.  If you are stiff try these exercises below.  And then see if you can incorporate arm swing and rotation into gait.