October 20, 2025 • 41 mins
Hi!! I would love to hear from you!
Pelvic health should be simple to talk about, yet most of us only notice our pelvic floor when something goes wrong—leaks during workouts, urgency on a long shift, pain with intimacy, or stubborn constipation. We invited occupational therapist and yoga teacher Becca Meredith to open the door with clarity and care. She walks us through what the pelvic floor actually is, why tone can be too low or too high, and how breath, posture, and the nervous system shape everything from bladder signals to sex and recovery after birth.
We get practical about real-life patterns: nurses and teachers holding pee all day, kids avoiding school bathrooms, and the brain–bladder connection that gets dull when we delay. Becca explains how she assesses alignment through the thoracic spine, sacrum, and hips, why internal work is only one option—and always consent-based—and how external fascial release, mindful cues, and targeted strength can change reflexes fast. A case of workout-related leaks shows how pairing bridges, adductor activation, and smart Kegels can build control without obsessing over contractions. We also dig into constipation as a hidden driver of leaks, bedwetting routines that help, and hydration that supports an even-tempered bladder.
Our conversation spans pregnancy prep, VBAC considerations, postpartum diastasis, prolapse support, and the shifting terrain of perimenopause. Becca shares why hypertonic floors need down-training, not more squeezing, and how breath into the back ribs can unlock the back of the pelvic floor. She also previews Arvigo Mayan Abdominal Therapy for scar tissue, endometriosis, cesarean recovery, and a gentler path to restore organ mobility. The throughline is hopeful and human: when we create safety, listen to the body, and train with intention, strength follows softness.
If pelvic health has felt confusing or off-limits, this is your guide to clear language, actionable steps, and compassionate care. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help more listeners find trustworthy pelvic health support.
Becca helps patients restore balance, rebuild confidence, and reconnect with their bodies in empowering ways.
Website: https://enlightenedpelvichealth.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (01:08):
Hello, and welcome back to Empowered Ease.
I'm your host, Jen Olinger, andtoday I'm so excited to welcome
my guest, Becca Meredith.
She's an occupational therapist,a yoga teacher, a mama, Reiki
practitioner, and a whole light,wholehearted lover of light.
Becca graduated with hermaster's in occupational therapy
(01:28):
in 2012 and has practiced acrosssettings from home health to
hospitals.
In 2018, she fell in love withyoga and immediately began
teaching, adding chair yoga andprenatal and postnatal
specialties.
Since then, she's been deepeningher work into pelvic health,
completing OT Pioneer's pelvicfloor training, pelvic rehab
(01:50):
manual assessment and treatment,and certification as a pregnancy
and postpartum correctiveexercise specialist.
In 2023, she also completedholistic postpartum training
with the Institute for BirthHealing.
Becca's passion for servingwomen grew out of her own pelvic
health journey as a reminderthat the body is completely
(02:10):
interconnected, and when onething is off, the whole system
and our sense of self can shift.
She blends Welcome Becca.
How are you doing?
I'm doing well.
How are you doing?
Good.
I have been looking forward tohaving you on.
Actually, just talking to youfrom I think prior to even me
having this podcast, I heardabout what you do.
(02:32):
And as a nurse too, the polarfloor is a common, common topic
among us because we have poorpelvic floor habits.
So tell me a little bit, I guesslike just a briefly kind of like
what you do.
I know you live in the St.
Louis, the Metro East St.
Louis area, and kind of like Igot into it.
(02:53):
And yeah, what's your what'syour junior?
SPEAKER_01 (02:56):
Absolutely.
So well, I mean, plenty ofthings, what the pelvic floor is
and what it does, but it's agroup of muscles that's within
our pelvic bowl, our pelvicbones.
Um, and they all kind of interare interwoven together.
It's super cool, and it's notreally muscles that you can see,
like your biceps and your quadsand all that good stuff.
You can see those muscles andyou can see them move.
Your pelvic floor, you can'treally see it that much, but
(03:18):
it's lots of functions to it,and really we don't really
notice it until something goeswrong.
And so then that's when somebodycomes to see me.
Hey, I'm peeing my pants.
Hey, I have really like a lot ofpressure down in my vagina, down
bulging, feels weird when I goto the bathroom, go poop pee,
whatever.
Pain, pain with sex, that's abig one.
(03:39):
So until something kind of isgoes off haywire, that's when
they typically come and see meand they learn about the public
floor.
How I got here was, you know,I'm a mom, mom of four.
And so pregnancies, fourpregnancies, four deliveries,
all that good stuff.
With my first baby, I had apsiotomy.
And so healing from that was, Ithink that's probably the most
(03:59):
painful thing that I've everhealed from in my entire life at
up until this point.
But that kind of brought on myhealing from hint from that
first baby, really brought on alot of leaking when I was
working out and pain with sexand just pain in general.
And, you know, I kind of justlike went about my life and was
like, well, I guess this is justlike kind of what it is, which
is what a lot of moms will say,or people will say they think
(04:22):
that it's normal.
And even back to like when I wasa kid, I remember having giggles
and continence.
So like laughing so hard andpeeing my pants as a kid and
being like, what in the world isgoing on?
And so really dating back, I wasa college soccer player and very
athletic as a kid.
And so I probably had ahypertonic pelvic player, which
we can talk about in a second.
So had dysfunction, you know,had my first baby, kind of just
(04:46):
like negligent and justoblivious to like the world of
pelvic health.
And then when I got pregnantwith my second, I actually
started doing yoga teachertraining.
And so that kind of like shiftedin me and like just the books we
were reading, the conversationsthat we were having, the things
that we were looking at.
It's not just about stretching,it's just not about yoga poses,
(05:06):
but it was a lot of self-study.
And so, you know, duringpregnancy, I had to learn how to
modify my practice and justtrying to learn more about
childbirth and alternativeoptions rather than just
listening to your doctor anddoing exactly what you're
supposed to do to have a baby.
So I did a lot of learning andself-discovery with my second
pregnancy, and I think that kindof was like the taste that I
(05:29):
needed for getting into women'shealth.
And then had my baby.
It was a very traumaticdelivery.
So birth trauma is one of myfavorite topics to talk about,
unfortunately.
But had her, and then she was,you know, just under a year when
COVID hit, the pandemic hit.
And I think that was like alsoanother time that a lot of
people had that kind of turningthat lens inward to be like, am
(05:50):
I happy with my life?
Like, is this what I'm supposedto be doing?
You just really learned likewhat your priorities were.
So I guess that was like some ofour benefits to the pandemic,
although it was terrible.
I hope we never have that everagain.
But so a lot of courses becameaccessible.
So I got to take a lot ofdifferent intro OT to uh pelvic
health with OT lens.
(06:11):
So being an occupationaltherapist since 2012, you know,
working with primarily the olderadult populations on hip
replacement, stroke recovery,rehab to home.
I this was like a whole newworld for me.
And having the yoga teachertraining was definitely a
different experience.
And I loved having that OT sideof things as a yoga teacher.
(06:32):
But yeah, did some trainingswhenever a pandemic was
occurring, going on, whatever,was pregnant with my third
during that.
So that was super cool.
The stuff that I was learning, Iwas also pregnant.
And so it was again this otherexperience and perspective while
I was learning because I wasactually pregnant.
And then when he turned about ayear, I opened up my practice
and I primarily treat in myoffice in uh Maryville,
(06:55):
Illinois.
I also have a spot in O'Fallon,Illinois, which is where me and
my family live.
My family and I live and teachyoga locally in the area as
well.
And I treat anything andeverything with pelvic floor
problems that pop up.
Um that is awesome.
It was like the longest,weirdest answer.
(07:16):
I feel like I was all over theplace.
But no, I love it.
It's perfectly perfect.
SPEAKER_00 (07:19):
No, because I like honestly, you brought me so many
places.
I was thinking, like, so do mostpeople come to you?
Is it after birth charm?
Is like the most common, or doyou get like elderly
incontinence?
Because I didn't think aboutelderly incontinence.
Honestly, I was just thinking,like, how many nurses do you
probably see?
Because we have a lot ofincontinence issues.
I've been told it's from holdingit too long and with full
bladders.
I'm not really sure.
We also are very dehydrated, butyes, I never know.
(07:41):
They're also moms, a lot ofmoms, too.
SPEAKER_01 (07:43):
So I have a current patient on caseload, and yeah,
that was like the first topicthat I was like, How often are
you going to the bathroom?
She's like, Maybe once in my12-hour shift.
And I was like, You have to gomore, you know.
My teachers, my teachers,they'll hold their pee.
Oh, yeah, you would think aboutthat.
SPEAKER_00 (07:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (07:57):
And so here's the reasoning of why we because our
brain and our bladder isdirectly connected.
And so whenever we don't go tothe bathroom and we hold our pee
all day long, this is commonwith little kids too.
They hold their pee all day longwhen they're at school because
they don't feel safe in thebathroom or they're just too
busy and occupied with what'sgoing on.
Same thing at work with nursesand teachers.
We kind of like almost likedeaden the sensory system to be
(08:20):
like, we can hold the bladder,we can hold the bladder.
And then you're at capacity oflike how much fluid can be in
your bladder.
And then it's like you're justreally, really disconnecting
that connection that you'resupposed to have a healthy
connection between the brain andthe bladder to properly empty
out when it's supposed to.
So then when you do go to thebathroom and it's super, super
full, maybe you're not emptyingthe pee out all the way.
(08:41):
So it's just building up somereally unhappy bladder habits.
SPEAKER_00 (08:46):
That's so interesting.
And then you, when you mentionedhaving and like giggle
incontinence as a child, I'mlike, I didn't even think about
the kids would have pelvic floorissues either.
And I totally like, I rememberlaughing myself so hard.
I peed myself one time, I was inshock.
I thought something was wrongwith me.
I know.
What just happened?
What just like I swear you dothat purpose because I really
thought people that did thatbefore were just like doing it
(09:08):
for attention.
I like, you know, as a kid.
Not now, obviously.
But yeah, um, yeah.
So what's up with that?
SPEAKER_01 (09:13):
Yeah, and I don't, I don't really specialize in
pediatrics and kiddos.
When I do, it's like, hey, mykid, it's like a kid that I
probably know, or a friend ofmine that has a kid that's bed
wedding or giggles incontinenceis a popular one.
Bed wedding is a really popularone.
Um constipation is provenconstipation is probably the
cause until proven guilty orinnocent, whatever it is,
(09:35):
multiple times.
Um so because that's reallycommon in kiddos, like the I
mean, even in adults too, isconstipation.
That's what's causing theincontinence.
It can be because if you thinkabout your pelvic bowl, you've
got your bladder, your uterus,and then your rectum.
And so if you have built up poopin there and you're not going to
the bathroom, it could bepressing forward onto the
(09:57):
uterus, pressing forward ontothe bladder.
And also you got to think aboutit like when you're constipated,
when you're full of poop, likeyou're probably not very
comfortable.
Like you're anxious, so anxious.
You're anxious, you're holding,you're holding so all of that
tension that you're holding,you're squeezing your cute
little butt cheeks, like you'reyou're holding on to all of that
tension.
And so then we're building thatpelvic floor dysfunction because
(10:19):
kind of what I mentioned aboutlike a hypertonic pelvic floor.
So typically, if you zoom out topatients and like you asked
about like what's the mostcommon reason somebody comes and
sees you?
If you zoom out, I can usuallycategore, categorize my patients
into they have hypotonic pelvicfloor, so low tone, or they have
a hypertonic.
Sometimes they can have both,which is really tricky to treat.
(10:42):
But so we kind of go from there,like, oh yes, you have low tone,
we need to work onstrengthening, probably
coordination is a big one, butit's not everything.
There's lots of other thingsthat that are moving parts that
go with the pelvic floor thanjust doing Kegels, which we can
talk about in a second.
And then if they havehypertonic, so they have a
tighter pelvic floor, we have towork about how can they relax.
(11:02):
Because the example that I give,which I think is is pretty easy
to understand, and it's notquite the same.
But on the example that I giveis like the bicep.
If I want to strengthen my bicepmuscle, I'm not gonna put a
weight in it, I'm not gonnahold, hold, hold this position
the whole time.
Because if I try to move my armto reach something out of the
cabinet or something off thefloor or whatever it is
(11:23):
functionally, it's gonna be sotight and it's gonna be so
stuck.
There's no function to it.
It's the same thing with ourpublic floor if we're
constipated.
We're holding on to our publicfloor, whether it's the glutes,
the core, whatever, because wefeel so uncomfortable.
The pelvic floor doesn't knowhow to relax, it doesn't know
how to soften.
So then we have to build thiskind of connection back up to
really find the balance betweenlengthening and contracting the
(11:47):
pelvic floor.
SPEAKER_00 (11:48):
Interesting.
I had no idea.
I've never thought about it inthese terms, but I'm loving it
so much.
So, okay, I've obviously heardof key all.
Yes, which is funny because oneof my friends I was telling her
that I was having you on, she'slike, Man, this reminds me I
needed to do my kegalls.
I'm like, that's probably theonly thing I think of.
So, what are some of the likeother things like if that are
(12:11):
the other like physicalpractices or therapies, or how
do you work with people?
What can people expect?
I guess.
SPEAKER_01 (12:17):
That is a really great question because there's
lots of pelvic core therapistsout there.
Social media is great andfantastic, and there's you know,
some pelvic core therapists thatare like so anti-Kegel because
it's just like the worst thingin the world.
And then there's other peoplethat it's like that's a lot of
older OBs will be like, you justneed to do your Kegels or you
know, whatever it is.
(12:37):
That's very outdated.
And so I think pick kegels andpelvic floor contractions, same
thing, are very empowering to belike, okay, those are my muscles
that we're talking about, whichI'm it's hard to at first
identify muscle groups, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (12:51):
Like if you have never like locked into your body
before, it's like a process.
So I could see where that wouldhelp you.
Like so many people my muscles.
SPEAKER_01 (12:59):
They're like, I don't know if I'm doing it
right.
Like they squeeze their buttcheeks, they squeeze their
muscles, and those things areall a part of it, but they are
not your pelvic floor.
And so there's lots of differentcues that that you can utilize
with it.
But yeah, it is just a very,very small part.
And I do offer internal uh work,so that's going in through the
vagina and kind of assessing thepelvic floor, all of the
(13:19):
muscles, making sure we don'thave any trigger point or any
tension, and then assess, Imight have them key goal, see if
they can lift up the pelvicfloor, all of that good stuff.
But that's usually, I mean, Idon't even always do that the
first session.
That's usually a second or thirdsession into it.
And that's just a tool.
I've had lots of patients thatwe have not done any internal
work because I think having thattrauma-informed lens and
(13:40):
approach is super importantbecause you don't know what
somebody's been through.
And you know, usually with a lotof cues and feedback, sitting on
an exercise ball, sitting on aPilates small ball, a roll, lots
of different things.
You can kind of feel that, evenusing your hand, you can feel
maybe a little bit of a lift anddifferent visualization
mindfulness strategies that youcan really connect into your
(14:02):
public floor.
SPEAKER_00 (14:03):
So there's like more than one strategy.
Oh, yes, absolutely for people'scomfort level.
Because that was one thing Ididn't even think about with
someone else, of course.
Chatty, little chatty Kathy overhere.
But um, was like, yeah, they dointernal work.
And I was like, Oh, okay,totally makes sense.
Like, but I didn't think of thatbefore, and I could only imagine
if someone was coming to you,like, that's a good thing to be
(14:24):
prepared for.
Internal work is an option, sookay.
SPEAKER_01 (14:27):
Yeah, and it's I like to always say, like, this
is not a pap smear, you're not,I'm not gonna use the speculum
on you.
Thank god you're in acomfortable spot, you're not
with knee stirrups in.
Like, I try to make my office ascozy and comfortable, and of
course, getting consent andsaying, like, this is I'm gonna
tell you exactly what I'm gonnado before I do it, and making
sure that's okay, constantlychecking in with the the patient
(14:49):
to make sure that everything isokay.
They feel safe, they feelsupported, all of that good
stuff.
And it's, you know, it's notlike a quick we're in and out
kind of thing.
We're taking the time to reallypinpoint what could be
potentially causing the problem.
But like I said, that's like,you know, further into the
assessment or further into acouple of sessions.
I look at the whole body, so I'mgonna look at rotation of the
(15:10):
upper spine, so the thoracicspine, seeing if we have any
kind of limited range of motionthere.
I'm gonna look up, of course, atthe pelvic bone, so the tops of
the hips, I'm gonna look at thesacrum, that low part of your
back.
It's like an upside-downtriangle.
That's a big factor.
And the the pelvis in general isa ring, so it's connected at the
pubic bone at the front and thenat the SI joints in the back.
(15:31):
And so we have to kind of justcheck and make sure that we're
not having any misalignmentthere because if we're
misaligned at any of the pelvicbones, then the pelvic floor is
going to be kind of compromisedtoo.
So we want to find the alignmentat the pelvic bones first before
we start to address the muscles.
And then, yeah, mind mindless,mindfulness strategies,
(15:51):
connecting in, seeing if theycan connect into those muscles,
see if they can connect intothemselves and just notice like
what does what pops up mentally,emotionally, or can they not
even connect in because they'rejust so feeling like they're,
you know, those buzzingreminders of stuff they have to
do after, or anything thatpopped up.
Or I've had lots of patientsthat, you know, tears are often
coming up because they'rethinking back to different
(16:12):
traumas that they've maybe hadbefore.
SPEAKER_00 (16:14):
Whether it's I feel like that probably carries shame
too, because like just anythingwith our private areas, we're
taught that from a young agethere's shame involved.
SPEAKER_01 (16:22):
Yes, shame and yeah, that you're like just talked
about it, talk about it, oryou're just supposed to accept
it for what it is.
And so yeah, having thatconversation like in a very safe
supported environment isextremely important, and having
the time to do so because Ialways say, like, you know,
working at a hospital or workingat a clinic, I would probably be
(16:42):
kind of limited on how long Ican do that for.
And so I don't have to do thatbecause you know, I work for
myself.
So that's a big part of it.
But I'm trying to think of whatelse.
I feel like you asked somethingelse, and no, I can't remember
what it was.
SPEAKER_00 (16:55):
I do that all the time.
Rapid fire question.
Sorry.
So if you so when people come toyou, so it's kind of like we
start off by like assessingwhere the problem's at first,
and then you offer both likephysical practices for them to
do at home and with you, andthen there's internal options as
well for work.
(17:16):
What kind of what kind of workinternally do you do if someone
was to expect?
I mean, is that like somethingwe're comfortable talking about?
And here I'm just like I'mcurious.
I'm like, I'm a nurse, so I'mlike, tell me what happens.
SPEAKER_01 (17:25):
Absolutely.
So, like the pelvic floor, Ishould have I should have my
pelvic and our pelvis and mymuscles and all that stuff so
that I explain it to you.
But using our hands, so we'relike pretending that this is our
pelvis within that is they usedto say, like, when I started
when I became an OT, they calledit like your hammock muscles of
your pelvic floor, and that'skind of true to an extent, like
it has like that kind of likebowl-shaped hammock present
(17:47):
presentation, but it's more likea diamond-shaped bowl because
we've got a pubic bone that'slike our front of our pelvic
floor, we've got the tailbonethat's like the back of our
pelvic floor, and then we havethe sit spones, those side bony
parts of our butts when we sitdown, we can connect in and
anchor down.
So those are our four corners ofour pelvic floor, and within
that, yes, there's kind of likea hammock sensation or like a
trampoline is another one that Ilike to explain.
(18:10):
So you said what did you say forinternal?
Yeah.
So I either really just whatpeople would expect.
What we would do for liketreatment.
Um, well, first, so forinternal, I would look all
externally.
So I would look at hair growthpatterns, I would look at like
fascia of like where the pubicbone is.
I'll work around like almostlike I say, like in a clock-like
(18:32):
manner.
So we'll start at 12 o'clockwhere the pubic bone is, work
our way down to the their leftside, my right side, work our
way down, see if there's anykind of fascial restrictions at
the gluteal folds, the buttcheeks, the ischiorectal fossa,
like all of that area.
And then we work around to theperineum.
So that's the space between thevagina and the rectum.
And then we work our way over tothe other side.
(18:53):
So that's without even goinginternal at all.
That's all externally, okay?
And then I might have themkeagle, I might have them cough,
I might tell the have them seethat kind of check back in does
everything feel okay?
And then if they feel okay andwe want to see if we can go
further, we'll go in to assessthe first layer of the pelvic
floor.
So the first layer of the pelvicfloor, I can assess by the tip
of my finger.
(19:13):
So usually we do the exact samething.
We work around in that kind ofclock-like manner.
And then the second layer of thepelvic floor is usually my
second knuckle, and we're doingthe same thing, kind of move
around in that circulatemovement.
I might have them keegle, mighthave them cough at any point.
If we notice anything along theway of like, ooh, that feels
very uncomfortable, then we stopthere and we treat it.
SPEAKER_00 (19:33):
So are you checking for like tone and pain and like
like bogginess or like kind ofthings like that?
Is that what you're like to overtightening kind of things?
Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (19:44):
Yep, okay.
Tension and making sure thatit's like not too much tension,
like finding that healthybalance in between.
And then, yeah, might have themkeagle to see if they can engage
that part of the pelvic floor,right side compared to left
side.
Okay.
Front to back, basically.
And then yeah, third layer ofthe pelvic floor, the deepest
layer of the pelvic floor isusually from my second knuckle
all the way to the index finger.
So that's about how far myfinger is in.
(20:04):
It's not very far.
But yeah, stopping at any pointalong the way to see, just to
see what we find.
I'm trying to think of this weekwho I saw.
I think I saw somebodyyesterday.
And she's on her feet a lot atwork.
She goes to the bathroom prettyconsistently.
So we talked about like how muchwater she's drinking, because
(20:25):
that's a big factor of likehaving that perfect balance of
not too much acidic fluids inour bladder that's irritating,
make us think we have to go tothe bathroom.
SPEAKER_00 (20:33):
So we're supposed to for like an overactive bladder.
SPEAKER_01 (20:35):
Yeah, so we're supposed to drink half amount of
water and ounces of our weight.
So if we weigh 100 pounds, we'resupposed to drink 50, 50 ounces,
that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_00 (20:46):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (20:46):
So asking her that, yeah, she's on her feet a lot.
So then we assess like posture.
How does she hold her body?
Does she lean onto that leftside and squeeze that left butt
cheek to kind of stabilize her?
So we talked about that.
How can we change that?
How can we shift that?
And then I got her on the tableand I did all manual
adjustments, no internal, allmanual adjustments to her sacrum
(21:06):
because she was very flared onthe left side of her sacrum.
Did some soft tissue release tothe upper or the lower back, and
then we did internal.
This was the second visit thatwe were working together.
So then, yeah, walkthroughinternal.
We did the three levels of thepelvic floor.
Her complaint is leaking withcoughing, sneezing, working out,
working out specifically is whyshe's really coming to see me
(21:27):
because she wants to work outmore, but she's having all this
leaking.
So we did the assessment, nopain noted, no weird, funky
tension issues.
So then we were doing a lot ofkegels just to see, do you feel
that?
And said she said, yes, yes, Ido feel that sensation.
So we kind of were working withthat.
And what her home exerciseprogram was like when I left
(21:50):
left her with to do at home, wasyeah, you know, wouldn't it
wouldn't hurt to do some kegelsto bring some awareness to your
pelvic floor.
But really, what I wanted to dowith her specifically is she's
doing the Peloton app workout.
She's not doing for that.
And so I'm like, send me, tellme what you're doing.
What's your favorite kind ofworkout type of stuff to do?
And different ways that we moveour body is going to force our
(22:12):
pelvic floor to respond.
So, specifically with her, Ithink I had her do some bridge
squeezes with a ball in betweenthe legs.
So to get the inner thighsengaged, the pelvic floor is
going to respond, you know, geta little bit of overflow
response.
But then I might have heractually do, I'm like, okay,
maybe I'll have you do somekegels whenever you do your
bridge ball squeezes.
So you don't have to focus onkegels every single time you do
(22:34):
your deadlifts and your squatsand all of that good stuff.
But with this bridging ballsqueeze exercise we're gonna do,
I want you to do your keegleswith that.
They used to call it stoplightkeegles.
So every time you're at thestoplight, you're supposed to do
your keegles.
I'm like, you know, yeah, youcould do that if you wanted.
She could have done that if shewanted to.
But if we would have had apatient vice versa, of having
(22:55):
like a hypertonic pelvic floor,so lots of pain, pain with
insertion of for sex or toys ortampons or pap smears, I would
not have her do any kegels atall because that would just make
it all worse.
SPEAKER_00 (23:10):
She's overleased.
So okay.
This is I've so do a lot ofpeople hearing what you talk,
I'm wondering, is a lot of itlike alignment of their spinal
alignment?
I would think too, because likeI'm thinking like that could
throw it would throw a lot of itoff too.
It's just like I'm thinkingyoga, like stretching.
Are we do we need to loosenother areas of our body that are
(23:30):
affecting it too?
SPEAKER_01 (23:32):
It truly is a whole body approach.
Like you, you're not, that's whyI say like the internal portion
of it is just a teeny tiny piecebecause we are going to be
looking at, yeah, like you said,the spine, like, but like with
some of my patients, one of myother patients that I had
yesterday, she can barely twisther upper spine without twisting
her whole body.
(23:52):
And so it's so restricted at herupper spine and she can't
breathe, which we haven't eventalked about breath.
But if she can't breathe intoher back ribs and her back
diaphragm, all of that fascia,all of that connection down to
the pelvis is gonna becompletely restricted.
And so she's gonna have issueswith that back of the pelvic
floor as well.
She was my belly birther, sheattempted a V back.
(24:15):
So um, she had cesarian with herfirst, attempted the V back,
vaginal birth after cesarean,and something about the baby
just would not descend down intoher pelvis.
And I was telling her not tolike I I'm a big like language
matters and like how you say it,where when you say it, all of
that matters.
But there was a summit that Ilistened to and participated in
(24:38):
this past spring, and it was thepresenter did a lot of research
on VBACs and unsuccessful VVACs,whatever, and she talked a lot
about a lot about upper spinerestrictions and that something
about something with therestriction at the upper spine
really affects the baby to beable to fully engage into the
pelvic bowl.
How interesting.
(24:59):
So, you know, and I so I t Itold this to my patient
yesterday with like very muchlike, hey, this is take this as
much as you want to.
I don't, I'm not saying this iswhat it was, but and she was
very thankful for that becauseshe's like, you know, it's
validating to hear that, butalso just like, you know, I I
did all the things.
I did all of the spinningbabies, which is a popular thing
(25:19):
for for positioning and to getbaby into a good spot.
And she did all those things,and she's like, well, maybe it's
just how my body is, how mygenetics of my family, because
her mom actually came intosessions to watch the boys while
I would treat her.
And so I could look at her momand see kind of restrictions,
they had very similar posturepatterns.
SPEAKER_00 (25:37):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_01 (25:39):
So nothing that I would say that I could have
helped her get that V back, butI wish I would have seen her
during pregnancy to see what wecould have done to address that
earlier on.
She works from home, so she sitsat a desk all day, not all day
long, but she sits at a desk forlong portions of time.
SPEAKER_00 (25:55):
So I love that you say that because this is my
question now.
Like, so people that come toyou, because you said, like, I I
didn't even think about peoplewho are like having urgency
issues.
I'm always I'm thinking aboutleaking for the most part.
So, do you work with peoplewhile they're pregnant?
I know that's people work prettylike while they're pregnant to
stretch their pelvic floor.
I know I've heard of likeexercise you can do with your
(26:17):
partner to prepare for birth.
Do you work with people afterpregnancy, people who are having
incontinence issues, people arehaving urgency issues?
Am I missing anything like anypelvic or bladder issues that
you work with?
SPEAKER_01 (26:30):
Oh, yeah, definitely.
Like I have I've had a decentamount of like people that have
not had kids, young youngadults.
SPEAKER_00 (26:36):
Um I've never had kids and I started leaking like
I drip after a pee, which isnew.
And I was like, what the fuck?
SPEAKER_01 (26:43):
Like I didn't have babies.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
What is going on?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I've seen a fair amount oflike pre-k.
So I mean, they're young in mybook because they're like early
20s and I'm, you know, mid tolate 20s.
Oh, that is young.
I'm in my 40s, but so I'm justlike, okay, like, am I still
cool?
But like I've seen them forhypertonic pelvic floor.
(27:04):
So kind of similar to likeprobably what I had when I was
in college and in high school toIC.
I have another young patientthat has interstitial cystitis.
So basically inflammation of thebladder lining.
SPEAKER_00 (27:15):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (27:16):
A tough one to treat.
Endo, lots of endometriosispatients.
SPEAKER_00 (27:20):
Okay.
Because I'm thinking a lot ofpeople probably don't even know
this is an option.
So that's why I want to like runthrough this to be like, oh,
like maybe there's something Ican do, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (27:29):
Yeah, I mean, basically, if you have a pelvis
and a poly floor, you should seea pelvic floor therapist.
SPEAKER_00 (27:33):
Right.
And you're a woman, yeah, right.
Like, this is what happened.
SPEAKER_01 (27:37):
Ideally, like, I would like it in the run long
run to like see my patients oncea year, like just like you go in
for your well-wis women checkup.
Like, I think you should beseeing a pelvic floor therapist,
especially if you have prolapseon a diagnosis.
If you have a genetic history ofprolapse, if you had a genetic
history of like um family membergetting surgery for like mesh
(27:57):
repair or whatever, that wouldbe my dream world of seeing
somebody once a year to justlike check in, especially after
I've seen them.
But back to like what you'resaying about like seeing
pregnancy, like I love to see mypatients from like a couple
sessions during pregnancy and acouple sessions postpartum
because you know, like I love anon physical, so I like like a
(28:18):
non-medicated birth.
That's what I did with my girls.
And so I will get often a decentamount of patients that are home
birthers, so they're doingnon-medicated, no epidurals, no
medication at all, or they go tolike the birth center across the
river at Mercy, and they'replanning on just using a very
low intervention side because Ijust, I don't know, we all have
our passions.
And I just I learned a lot whenI was pregnant with my second
(28:39):
when I was doing my yoga teachertraining that I was talking
about.
And so I will get a lot of momsthat are looking for alternative
approaches, or just moms thatwant to like figure out like,
yes, I am planning to get theabdural, but like I want to try
to avoid a C-section.
What can I do in preparation forthat?
So we learn about the pelvis andconnection and not just the
physical standpoints, but themental emotional standpoint.
(29:00):
It's important to feel safewithin our nervous system.
So it's so then our body can letgo and be able to have the baby.
So yeah, seeing them along theirpregnancy, and then of course,
after they have the baby, it'slike just it's just the best
thing in the world.
And I teach yoga too, so I doprenatal and postnatal yoga
series often.
So I'll see my patients, youknow, they'll come to those
series too.
And so I just get to really seethem from this, and I'll do mom
(29:22):
and me.
I just did mom, mom and mewellness sessions.
And so, you know, I'll seepatients from before they got
pregnant, while they werepregnant, after they had the
baby, and then they're bringingtheir babies to it.
It's just like the freakingcoolest thing in the whole wide
world.
SPEAKER_00 (29:35):
Yeah, that sounds awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (29:38):
And so, but then yeah, I so I'll see in the
postpartum, and like if anythingpops up, like in that kind of
phase of life, and not just likeyou know, postpartum or fourth
trimester, the 12 weeks afteryou have a baby, it is it's
forever, like you your body haschanged forever.
Yeah, very menopause.
Like, that's the next one.
Is that I see that's me, yep.
(29:59):
So I see I see the hot flashes,I see the genito-urinary system
changes.
So germinus usually is a bigone, atrophy of the muscles, and
yeah, it's a wild stage of lifethat we're having this estrogen,
it's just like on this rollercoaster up and down, and then
throwing freaking everythingoff.
Yeah, it's bullshit.
(30:20):
It truly is like it's sounfreaking fair.
I shared it's been a while sinceI shared it, but it was just
like men enjoying their life,and then it's women, periods,
pregnancy, postpartum,perimenopause, like all of this
list of like all this stuff thatwe have while managing your
household and raising yourchildren and working, yeah.
So yeah, it's like anybody andeverybody.
SPEAKER_00 (30:45):
Do you okay?
This is maybe a silly question,but so if like my stepson has
had issues with wetting the bed,so is it is this something a
little like men can do too ifthey have urgency and
inconstancy issues?
SPEAKER_01 (30:56):
I do I do want to say that because even though I
don't treat penis owners becauseI've not taken the course on it,
and since it is just like me asa solo practitioner, like I
think it's another practice.
There too.
I do not, but there are somereally amazing people,
especially locally, thattreatment.
SPEAKER_00 (31:13):
So it exists for men too.
It's just a little differenttherapy.
This is only for women, anyway.
But I was just curious aboutthat.
Let's go to that.
SPEAKER_01 (31:20):
Like prostate issues, any kind of cancer, age.
SPEAKER_00 (31:24):
I've seen like bed wedding for little boys too.
That's right.
Bedweding for little boys.
Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (31:29):
Yep.
Yep.
So I would say, like him, Iwould be like, How often does he
go to the bathroom?
How often does he poop?
What is his poop?
SPEAKER_00 (31:37):
He's constipated all the time.
That's why when you said that, Iwas like, oh my God.
Any I mean on ADHD meds, whoprobably doesn't drink a lot of
water during the day.
So I'm like, oh he is a tenselittle anxious guy.
So I'm like, oh my God,everything he just said is him
on again to my own.
SPEAKER_01 (31:49):
And I would try for him, like pediatricians might
have suggested like Muralx orDulcilex or something like that.
I would, you know, those aregreat for temporary fixes, but I
would look into magnesium,magnesium calm.
They have kids' gummies.
I would look into that.
That's going to help his nervoussystem, but it's also going to
help like the consistency of hisstool so he's not having to push
it out.
Yeah, drinking water isdefinitely important.
(32:11):
Some of his medication isprobably throwing things off as
well, slowing down his hisdigestive system.
SPEAKER_00 (32:16):
I think it messes with his sleep a little bit too.
SPEAKER_01 (32:18):
So that's also like he's in a deep sleep finally,
and his body's finally relaxed.
So then it goes.
So yeah.
A couple other strategies thatwe've used for that is like, you
know, he might go to bed at hisbedtime at 7:30, 8 o'clock,
whatever.
And then you're staying up foryour bedtime rituals, whatever.
And then before you go to bed at10:30, 11, maybe you pop in
there, have him go to thebathroom really quick so he
(32:40):
empties empties.
SPEAKER_00 (32:41):
That's what we do.
We get him up at like midnightand we try to black.
SPEAKER_01 (32:44):
I'm sure he's not, you know, as much as I want to
be like, drink water, drinkfluids.
But like usually we say twohours before they go to sleep,
they should be cut off fromdrinking fluids, no juices,
Gatorades.
That was something that I had arecent patient.
They were like, Yeah, there he'sstaying up late because he's got
extracurricular activities andhe's been drinking Gatorade
because he's so you know busyand active with his sport.
(33:05):
He's so thirsty to hydrated.
We've been giving him greater,and that's super sugary.
And it's just for him thatinflammates, inflammates,
inflammates?
No, inflames his blast, yes,you're right.
SPEAKER_00 (33:18):
I got confused.
We'll just say irritates, okay.
The bladder was inflamed, isinflamed.
SPEAKER_01 (33:23):
Yes, yes, and it would irritate it, and so then
he would wet the bed.
And so sure shit, they stoppedgiving him Gatorade and they
just give him regular water, andhe's not having any issues
anymore.
SPEAKER_00 (33:32):
So oh my gosh.
Well, we are lucky, Jacks willonly drink water, but I was
like, I'm like, that's usuallynot a kid problem, uh that you
like an issue, but he'll onlydrink water.
We're lucky there, but I'm gladI can't wait to share this with
my his mom and my husband.
Thank you.
Okay, I know you're on a timecrunch.
We've probably got a few minutesleft.
I appreciate you coming on somuch.
I've learned so much.
(33:53):
I could honestly ask youquestions all day.
So we may have to do this again.
But there are a couple things Ialways ask, like, okay, number
one, I know that you are likedigging deeper into your own
practice.
You're extended I want tomention like you are extending
your own knowledge and like withPilates, so like learning more
about the body, and you're alsoextending into like some
abdominal therapies to add toyour practice for people, which
(34:14):
is really exciting.
So, what what will the abdominalstuff kind of add to what kind
of patients will you be able tosee?
SPEAKER_01 (34:20):
Yes, so it's called Arvigo Ad Maya Abdominal
Therapy.
It's like an actual, I guess,copyrighted, I don't know,
training program, but it'slegitimate.
Okay.
So I'm going to Portland at theend of this month for this, and
I can't freaking wait.
But it's really taking like thishands-on approach to treating
not just the abdomen, butdefinitely the back and the
(34:40):
reproductive organs.
So the ovaries, the uterus,fallopian tubes, looking at the
bladder, the rectum, theintestines as well.
Specifically with me, like, youknow, I treat a lot of moms that
have diastasis recti.
So that the separation of theabdominal muscles.
I'll treat a lot of herniarepair after they've had, you
know, babies, sometimes theycause hernias.
So there's lots of differentstrategies that we can use in
(35:02):
this my abdominal to treat thefascia and like a lot of
energetic work, which is kind oflike what I like to treat.
Like in the hospital setting,they probably wouldn't,
insurance would probably notcover this, but treating the
energetic approach to it becausejust like in yoga, we have
different chakras, differentpoints throughout our body,
energy, gatekeepers, locks,basically.
(35:25):
Well, the womb is so sacred.
Your bandas.
Yes.
And the womb is so sacred, wehold, you know, we we can create
life there.
We have cycles, we have thatsexuality as well, which is a
very important part of our livestoo.
But we hold a lot of traumas,whether they're big traumas or
(35:45):
little traumas, we hold a lot ofthat within our body.
And so if we don't treat that orwe're, you know, kind of
hesitant to even like see what'sgoing on within our uterus, then
I don't know.
I think we're holding ourselvesback in a lot of different ways.
So I'm hoping that this is whatthis abdominal treatment therapy
(36:06):
training is going to help.
Of course, the fascial umapproaches to it for like endo
patients.
Um, they have a lot of ifthey've had excision or
excisions, so where they'reactually taking the endo lining
out of their body or any kind ofscar tissue from a belly birth
or hysterectomy, like these areall really important things that
you can have a lot of scartissue built up or just
(36:28):
something is going off withinthe body internally.
And so treating that, makingsure that our fascia doesn't
have any restrictions there issomething that we'll definitely
be able to address with that.
SPEAKER_00 (36:38):
That is so cool.
You know, it's crazy is like howconnected it all is.
Like, really, honestly, like Ihad a a client of mine, and she
we were working through herafter cancer diagnosis
reconnection with her body, andshe had sleep apnea even though
she probably weighed 90 pounds.
But after she was able to likeget comfortable in her body
(36:59):
again, and like because she hadthis posture that was like this.
So when she was able to likeloosen her shoulders and
actually like be comfortablerolling her shoulders back, her
sleep apnea went away.
So it's just interesting, allthe things you're saying, it's
like so connected.
So I know you have to go here,so but I do want to ask you
before we go, I ask all myguests like what is your go-to
self-nurture when things getlike overwhelmed for you?
(37:20):
What do you do?
SPEAKER_01 (37:22):
That's a good question.
Cause this is like I was justtelling my one of my pelvic four
therapy buddies that like this.
I think this is like the mostchaotic, busiest month of my
life up to date because we aremoving into and you make time
for us.
I love it.
Trying to sell a house, tryingto sell our moving into a new
house, have four kids, have thebusiness, getting the
polyseature training, get readyto go to Portland.
(37:42):
It's just so bad.
So I think like my go-tostrategy is not going to be the
same as everybody.
And I think knowing that that'sokay, first of all, because
that's what I tell a lot of mypatients is we have to find what
makes sense to you, what makeyou make what makes you feel
safe within your body, so thenyour body can find softness.
And yeah, so you know,obviously, I love yoga.
(38:03):
I love getting on my yoga matand moving my body.
And I taught Disney kids yogalast night.
And although that was crazy andchaotic and overwhelming,
something about like theshavasana, we call it snack
shavasana.
So that's where you lay thereand you rest as corpse pose.
With kids, we do sh snackshavasna, so it keeps them still
while they're snacking on theirlittle snack in the finally
content after an hour of justlistening to Disney music and
(38:26):
all that good stuff.
And I'm just laying there on mymat with my eyes closed, even
just like softening to the tipof my tip of my nose, and just
feeling my breath moving inthrough my body, which we didn't
get to talk about breath.
We'll have to, we definitelyhave to do another one because
the breath is directly connectedinto the pelvic floor and our
nervous system.
So just feeling my body breatheand feeling my body could just
soften and be still is just thereset that I always need.
SPEAKER_00 (38:48):
So yeah, I love that.
Okay, we're definitely gonna dothis again.
We're gonna talk about yoga,we're gonna talk about breath,
and we're gonna talk about themind-body connection and like
your all that because that's Icould I number one, I want to
pick your brain, but number two,I love this stuff.
I'm like obsessed.
So we're absolutely thank you somuch for coming out.
Is there anything you want toleave our guests with?
And then also tell me for peoplewho just listen where to find
(39:10):
you.
I'm I'm gonna put all that inthe show notes, but if someone's
just listening how to find you,yes.
SPEAKER_01 (39:14):
So I try to be as active as I possibly can on
social media, not always greatat it, especially this month.
But I have my Instagram and myFacebook account.
And so I try to post like usefultools and tricks and all of that
good stuff, educational stuff onthere.
But then I have a website aswell.
It'swww.enlightenedpublichealth.com.
Um, you can always contact me onthere.
But yeah, I I teach yogaregularly at some local studios.
(39:38):
And so if like this month I'mbooked for patients, I'm not
taking any more patients onright now, but I always suggest
like if there is pregnancy orpostpartum or something's going
on, come to those prenatal,postnatal, you know, series.
And yes, you get to move yourbody and connect in that way,
but pick my brain there too.
So yeah, if there's anybodylocal that's wanting to come to
a yoga class, come and see mefor that too.
SPEAKER_00 (39:59):
That's how I heard about you talking about public
floor and yoga classes.
Someone told me that too.
And I was like, what?
What education does she have?
SPEAKER_01 (40:05):
Oh, it's just so nice too.
Like, even like on Sundays, Iteach a heated vinyasa class.
So it's like a power flow classand it's heated, so you get nice
and sweaty.
Um, but even that, like comingto a class like that, like just
connecting in, of course, withme, like I want to be
everybody's friend, but likeconnecting into the community
and connecting into prenatal,postnatal, connecting into other
(40:26):
mothers as well that are goingthrough something very similar.
SPEAKER_00 (40:28):
It's very oh yes, community, women healing
community.
That's something that comes upon the show.
Like it used to come up everysingle episode.
It's probably been a while, butit's so true.
We need some people whounderstand us.
Yep, absolutely.
I love it.
I love it.
I can't wait to talk to youagain.
Thank you so much for your time,and I'm so excited to share this
episode.
SPEAKER_01 (40:46):
Yay! Yay.
All right, well, I'll talk toyou later, okay?
SPEAKER_00 (40:50):
Yes, have a good day.
SPEAKER_01 (40:52):
See you later.
Bye.
Bye, hi.
Hello, and welcome back to Empowered Ease.
I'm your host, Jen Olinger, andtoday I'm so excited to welcome
my guest, Becca Meredith.
She's an occupational therapist,a yoga teacher, a mama, Reiki
practitioner, and a whole light,wholehearted lover of light.
Becca graduated with hermaster's in occupational therapy
(01:28):
in 2012 and has practiced acrosssettings from home health to
hospitals.
In 2018, she fell in love withyoga and immediately began
teaching, adding chair yoga andprenatal and postnatal
specialties.
Since then, she's been deepeningher work into pelvic health,
completing OT Pioneer's pelvicfloor training, pelvic rehab
(01:50):
manual assessment and treatment,and certification as a pregnancy
and postpartum correctiveexercise specialist.
In 2023, she also completedholistic postpartum training
with the Institute for BirthHealing.
Becca's passion for servingwomen grew out of her own pelvic
health journey as a reminderthat the body is completely
(02:10):
interconnected, and when onething is off, the whole system
and our sense of self can shift.
She blends Welcome Becca.
How are you doing?
I'm doing well.
How are you doing?
Good.
I have been looking forward tohaving you on.
Actually, just talking to youfrom I think prior to even me
having this podcast, I heardabout what you do.
(02:32):
And as a nurse too, the polarfloor is a common, common topic
among us because we have poorpelvic floor habits.
So tell me a little bit, I guesslike just a briefly kind of like
what you do.
I know you live in the St.
Louis, the Metro East St.
Louis area, and kind of like Igot into it.
(02:53):
And yeah, what's your what'syour junior?
SPEAKER_01 (02:56):
Absolutely.
So well, I mean, plenty ofthings, what the pelvic floor is
and what it does, but it's agroup of muscles that's within
our pelvic bowl, our pelvicbones.
Um, and they all kind of interare interwoven together.
It's super cool, and it's notreally muscles that you can see,
like your biceps and your quadsand all that good stuff.
You can see those muscles andyou can see them move.
Your pelvic floor, you can'treally see it that much, but
(03:18):
it's lots of functions to it,and really we don't really
notice it until something goeswrong.
And so then that's when somebodycomes to see me.
Hey, I'm peeing my pants.
Hey, I have really like a lot ofpressure down in my vagina, down
bulging, feels weird when I goto the bathroom, go poop pee,
whatever.
Pain, pain with sex, that's abig one.
(03:39):
So until something kind of isgoes off haywire, that's when
they typically come and see meand they learn about the public
floor.
How I got here was, you know,I'm a mom, mom of four.
And so pregnancies, fourpregnancies, four deliveries,
all that good stuff.
With my first baby, I had apsiotomy.
And so healing from that was, Ithink that's probably the most
(03:59):
painful thing that I've everhealed from in my entire life at
up until this point.
But that kind of brought on myhealing from hint from that
first baby, really brought on alot of leaking when I was
working out and pain with sexand just pain in general.
And, you know, I kind of justlike went about my life and was
like, well, I guess this is justlike kind of what it is, which
is what a lot of moms will say,or people will say they think
(04:22):
that it's normal.
And even back to like when I wasa kid, I remember having giggles
and continence.
So like laughing so hard andpeeing my pants as a kid and
being like, what in the world isgoing on?
And so really dating back, I wasa college soccer player and very
athletic as a kid.
And so I probably had ahypertonic pelvic player, which
we can talk about in a second.
So had dysfunction, you know,had my first baby, kind of just
(04:46):
like negligent and justoblivious to like the world of
pelvic health.
And then when I got pregnantwith my second, I actually
started doing yoga teachertraining.
And so that kind of like shiftedin me and like just the books we
were reading, the conversationsthat we were having, the things
that we were looking at.
It's not just about stretching,it's just not about yoga poses,
(05:06):
but it was a lot of self-study.
And so, you know, duringpregnancy, I had to learn how to
modify my practice and justtrying to learn more about
childbirth and alternativeoptions rather than just
listening to your doctor anddoing exactly what you're
supposed to do to have a baby.
So I did a lot of learning andself-discovery with my second
pregnancy, and I think that kindof was like the taste that I
(05:29):
needed for getting into women'shealth.
And then had my baby.
It was a very traumaticdelivery.
So birth trauma is one of myfavorite topics to talk about,
unfortunately.
But had her, and then she was,you know, just under a year when
COVID hit, the pandemic hit.
And I think that was like alsoanother time that a lot of
people had that kind of turningthat lens inward to be like, am
(05:50):
I happy with my life?
Like, is this what I'm supposedto be doing?
You just really learned likewhat your priorities were.
So I guess that was like some ofour benefits to the pandemic,
although it was terrible.
I hope we never have that everagain.
But so a lot of courses becameaccessible.
So I got to take a lot ofdifferent intro OT to uh pelvic
health with OT lens.
(06:11):
So being an occupationaltherapist since 2012, you know,
working with primarily the olderadult populations on hip
replacement, stroke recovery,rehab to home.
I this was like a whole newworld for me.
And having the yoga teachertraining was definitely a
different experience.
And I loved having that OT sideof things as a yoga teacher.
(06:32):
But yeah, did some trainingswhenever a pandemic was
occurring, going on, whatever,was pregnant with my third
during that.
So that was super cool.
The stuff that I was learning, Iwas also pregnant.
And so it was again this otherexperience and perspective while
I was learning because I wasactually pregnant.
And then when he turned about ayear, I opened up my practice
and I primarily treat in myoffice in uh Maryville,
(06:55):
Illinois.
I also have a spot in O'Fallon,Illinois, which is where me and
my family live.
My family and I live and teachyoga locally in the area as
well.
And I treat anything andeverything with pelvic floor
problems that pop up.
Um that is awesome.
It was like the longest,weirdest answer.
(07:16):
I feel like I was all over theplace.
But no, I love it.
It's perfectly perfect.
SPEAKER_00 (07:19):
No, because I like honestly, you brought me so many
places.
I was thinking, like, so do mostpeople come to you?
Is it after birth charm?
Is like the most common, or doyou get like elderly
incontinence?
Because I didn't think aboutelderly incontinence.
Honestly, I was just thinking,like, how many nurses do you
probably see?
Because we have a lot ofincontinence issues.
I've been told it's from holdingit too long and with full
bladders.
I'm not really sure.
We also are very dehydrated, butyes, I never know.
(07:41):
They're also moms, a lot ofmoms, too.
SPEAKER_01 (07:43):
So I have a current patient on caseload, and yeah,
that was like the first topicthat I was like, How often are
you going to the bathroom?
She's like, Maybe once in my12-hour shift.
And I was like, You have to gomore, you know.
My teachers, my teachers,they'll hold their pee.
Oh, yeah, you would think aboutthat.
SPEAKER_00 (07:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (07:57):
And so here's the reasoning of why we because our
brain and our bladder isdirectly connected.
And so whenever we don't go tothe bathroom and we hold our pee
all day long, this is commonwith little kids too.
They hold their pee all day longwhen they're at school because
they don't feel safe in thebathroom or they're just too
busy and occupied with what'sgoing on.
Same thing at work with nursesand teachers.
We kind of like almost likedeaden the sensory system to be
(08:20):
like, we can hold the bladder,we can hold the bladder.
And then you're at capacity oflike how much fluid can be in
your bladder.
And then it's like you're justreally, really disconnecting
that connection that you'resupposed to have a healthy
connection between the brain andthe bladder to properly empty
out when it's supposed to.
So then when you do go to thebathroom and it's super, super
full, maybe you're not emptyingthe pee out all the way.
(08:41):
So it's just building up somereally unhappy bladder habits.
SPEAKER_00 (08:46):
That's so interesting.
And then you, when you mentionedhaving and like giggle
incontinence as a child, I'mlike, I didn't even think about
the kids would have pelvic floorissues either.
And I totally like, I rememberlaughing myself so hard.
I peed myself one time, I was inshock.
I thought something was wrongwith me.
I know.
What just happened?
What just like I swear you dothat purpose because I really
thought people that did thatbefore were just like doing it
(09:08):
for attention.
I like, you know, as a kid.
Not now, obviously.
But yeah, um, yeah.
So what's up with that?
SPEAKER_01 (09:13):
Yeah, and I don't, I don't really specialize in
pediatrics and kiddos.
When I do, it's like, hey, mykid, it's like a kid that I
probably know, or a friend ofmine that has a kid that's bed
wedding or giggles incontinenceis a popular one.
Bed wedding is a really popularone.
Um constipation is provenconstipation is probably the
cause until proven guilty orinnocent, whatever it is,
(09:35):
multiple times.
Um so because that's reallycommon in kiddos, like the I
mean, even in adults too, isconstipation.
That's what's causing theincontinence.
It can be because if you thinkabout your pelvic bowl, you've
got your bladder, your uterus,and then your rectum.
And so if you have built up poopin there and you're not going to
the bathroom, it could bepressing forward onto the
(09:57):
uterus, pressing forward ontothe bladder.
And also you got to think aboutit like when you're constipated,
when you're full of poop, likeyou're probably not very
comfortable.
Like you're anxious, so anxious.
You're anxious, you're holding,you're holding so all of that
tension that you're holding,you're squeezing your cute
little butt cheeks, like you'reyou're holding on to all of that
tension.
And so then we're building thatpelvic floor dysfunction because
(10:19):
kind of what I mentioned aboutlike a hypertonic pelvic floor.
So typically, if you zoom out topatients and like you asked
about like what's the mostcommon reason somebody comes and
sees you?
If you zoom out, I can usuallycategore, categorize my patients
into they have hypotonic pelvicfloor, so low tone, or they have
a hypertonic.
Sometimes they can have both,which is really tricky to treat.
(10:42):
But so we kind of go from there,like, oh yes, you have low tone,
we need to work onstrengthening, probably
coordination is a big one, butit's not everything.
There's lots of other thingsthat that are moving parts that
go with the pelvic floor thanjust doing Kegels, which we can
talk about in a second.
And then if they havehypertonic, so they have a
tighter pelvic floor, we have towork about how can they relax.
(11:02):
Because the example that I give,which I think is is pretty easy
to understand, and it's notquite the same.
But on the example that I giveis like the bicep.
If I want to strengthen my bicepmuscle, I'm not gonna put a
weight in it, I'm not gonnahold, hold, hold this position
the whole time.
Because if I try to move my armto reach something out of the
cabinet or something off thefloor or whatever it is
(11:23):
functionally, it's gonna be sotight and it's gonna be so
stuck.
There's no function to it.
It's the same thing with ourpublic floor if we're
constipated.
We're holding on to our publicfloor, whether it's the glutes,
the core, whatever, because wefeel so uncomfortable.
The pelvic floor doesn't knowhow to relax, it doesn't know
how to soften.
So then we have to build thiskind of connection back up to
really find the balance betweenlengthening and contracting the
(11:47):
pelvic floor.
SPEAKER_00 (11:48):
Interesting.
I had no idea.
I've never thought about it inthese terms, but I'm loving it
so much.
So, okay, I've obviously heardof key all.
Yes, which is funny because oneof my friends I was telling her
that I was having you on, she'slike, Man, this reminds me I
needed to do my kegalls.
I'm like, that's probably theonly thing I think of.
So, what are some of the likeother things like if that are
(12:11):
the other like physicalpractices or therapies, or how
do you work with people?
What can people expect?
I guess.
SPEAKER_01 (12:17):
That is a really great question because there's
lots of pelvic core therapistsout there.
Social media is great andfantastic, and there's you know,
some pelvic core therapists thatare like so anti-Kegel because
it's just like the worst thingin the world.
And then there's other peoplethat it's like that's a lot of
older OBs will be like, you justneed to do your Kegels or you
know, whatever it is.
(12:37):
That's very outdated.
And so I think pick kegels andpelvic floor contractions, same
thing, are very empowering to belike, okay, those are my muscles
that we're talking about, whichI'm it's hard to at first
identify muscle groups, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (12:51):
Like if you have never like locked into your body
before, it's like a process.
So I could see where that wouldhelp you.
Like so many people my muscles.
SPEAKER_01 (12:59):
They're like, I don't know if I'm doing it
right.
Like they squeeze their buttcheeks, they squeeze their
muscles, and those things areall a part of it, but they are
not your pelvic floor.
And so there's lots of differentcues that that you can utilize
with it.
But yeah, it is just a very,very small part.
And I do offer internal uh work,so that's going in through the
vagina and kind of assessing thepelvic floor, all of the
(13:19):
muscles, making sure we don'thave any trigger point or any
tension, and then assess, Imight have them key goal, see if
they can lift up the pelvicfloor, all of that good stuff.
But that's usually, I mean, Idon't even always do that the
first session.
That's usually a second or thirdsession into it.
And that's just a tool.
I've had lots of patients thatwe have not done any internal
work because I think having thattrauma-informed lens and
(13:40):
approach is super importantbecause you don't know what
somebody's been through.
And you know, usually with a lotof cues and feedback, sitting on
an exercise ball, sitting on aPilates small ball, a roll, lots
of different things.
You can kind of feel that, evenusing your hand, you can feel
maybe a little bit of a lift anddifferent visualization
mindfulness strategies that youcan really connect into your
(14:02):
public floor.
SPEAKER_00 (14:03):
So there's like more than one strategy.
Oh, yes, absolutely for people'scomfort level.
Because that was one thing Ididn't even think about with
someone else, of course.
Chatty, little chatty Kathy overhere.
But um, was like, yeah, they dointernal work.
And I was like, Oh, okay,totally makes sense.
Like, but I didn't think of thatbefore, and I could only imagine
if someone was coming to you,like, that's a good thing to be
(14:24):
prepared for.
Internal work is an option, sookay.
SPEAKER_01 (14:27):
Yeah, and it's I like to always say, like, this
is not a pap smear, you're not,I'm not gonna use the speculum
on you.
Thank god you're in acomfortable spot, you're not
with knee stirrups in.
Like, I try to make my office ascozy and comfortable, and of
course, getting consent andsaying, like, this is I'm gonna
tell you exactly what I'm gonnado before I do it, and making
sure that's okay, constantlychecking in with the the patient
(14:49):
to make sure that everything isokay.
They feel safe, they feelsupported, all of that good
stuff.
And it's, you know, it's notlike a quick we're in and out
kind of thing.
We're taking the time to reallypinpoint what could be
potentially causing the problem.
But like I said, that's like,you know, further into the
assessment or further into acouple of sessions.
I look at the whole body, so I'mgonna look at rotation of the
(15:10):
upper spine, so the thoracicspine, seeing if we have any
kind of limited range of motionthere.
I'm gonna look up, of course, atthe pelvic bone, so the tops of
the hips, I'm gonna look at thesacrum, that low part of your
back.
It's like an upside-downtriangle.
That's a big factor.
And the the pelvis in general isa ring, so it's connected at the
pubic bone at the front and thenat the SI joints in the back.
(15:31):
And so we have to kind of justcheck and make sure that we're
not having any misalignmentthere because if we're
misaligned at any of the pelvicbones, then the pelvic floor is
going to be kind of compromisedtoo.
So we want to find the alignmentat the pelvic bones first before
we start to address the muscles.
And then, yeah, mind mindless,mindfulness strategies,
(15:51):
connecting in, seeing if theycan connect into those muscles,
see if they can connect intothemselves and just notice like
what does what pops up mentally,emotionally, or can they not
even connect in because they'rejust so feeling like they're,
you know, those buzzingreminders of stuff they have to
do after, or anything thatpopped up.
Or I've had lots of patientsthat, you know, tears are often
coming up because they'rethinking back to different
(16:12):
traumas that they've maybe hadbefore.
SPEAKER_00 (16:14):
Whether it's I feel like that probably carries shame
too, because like just anythingwith our private areas, we're
taught that from a young agethere's shame involved.
SPEAKER_01 (16:22):
Yes, shame and yeah, that you're like just talked
about it, talk about it, oryou're just supposed to accept
it for what it is.
And so yeah, having thatconversation like in a very safe
supported environment isextremely important, and having
the time to do so because Ialways say, like, you know,
working at a hospital or workingat a clinic, I would probably be
(16:42):
kind of limited on how long Ican do that for.
And so I don't have to do thatbecause you know, I work for
myself.
So that's a big part of it.
But I'm trying to think of whatelse.
I feel like you asked somethingelse, and no, I can't remember
what it was.
SPEAKER_00 (16:55):
I do that all the time.
Rapid fire question.
Sorry.
So if you so when people come toyou, so it's kind of like we
start off by like assessingwhere the problem's at first,
and then you offer both likephysical practices for them to
do at home and with you, andthen there's internal options as
well for work.
(17:16):
What kind of what kind of workinternally do you do if someone
was to expect?
I mean, is that like somethingwe're comfortable talking about?
And here I'm just like I'mcurious.
I'm like, I'm a nurse, so I'mlike, tell me what happens.
SPEAKER_01 (17:25):
Absolutely.
So, like the pelvic floor, Ishould have I should have my
pelvic and our pelvis and mymuscles and all that stuff so
that I explain it to you.
But using our hands, so we'relike pretending that this is our
pelvis within that is they usedto say, like, when I started
when I became an OT, they calledit like your hammock muscles of
your pelvic floor, and that'skind of true to an extent, like
it has like that kind of likebowl-shaped hammock present
(17:47):
presentation, but it's more likea diamond-shaped bowl because
we've got a pubic bone that'slike our front of our pelvic
floor, we've got the tailbonethat's like the back of our
pelvic floor, and then we havethe sit spones, those side bony
parts of our butts when we sitdown, we can connect in and
anchor down.
So those are our four corners ofour pelvic floor, and within
that, yes, there's kind of likea hammock sensation or like a
trampoline is another one that Ilike to explain.
(18:10):
So you said what did you say forinternal?
Yeah.
So I either really just whatpeople would expect.
What we would do for liketreatment.
Um, well, first, so forinternal, I would look all
externally.
So I would look at hair growthpatterns, I would look at like
fascia of like where the pubicbone is.
I'll work around like almostlike I say, like in a clock-like
(18:32):
manner.
So we'll start at 12 o'clockwhere the pubic bone is, work
our way down to the their leftside, my right side, work our
way down, see if there's anykind of fascial restrictions at
the gluteal folds, the buttcheeks, the ischiorectal fossa,
like all of that area.
And then we work around to theperineum.
So that's the space between thevagina and the rectum.
And then we work our way over tothe other side.
(18:53):
So that's without even goinginternal at all.
That's all externally, okay?
And then I might have themkeagle, I might have them cough,
I might tell the have them seethat kind of check back in does
everything feel okay?
And then if they feel okay andwe want to see if we can go
further, we'll go in to assessthe first layer of the pelvic
floor.
So the first layer of the pelvicfloor, I can assess by the tip
of my finger.
(19:13):
So usually we do the exact samething.
We work around in that kind ofclock-like manner.
And then the second layer of thepelvic floor is usually my
second knuckle, and we're doingthe same thing, kind of move
around in that circulatemovement.
I might have them keegle, mighthave them cough at any point.
If we notice anything along theway of like, ooh, that feels
very uncomfortable, then we stopthere and we treat it.
SPEAKER_00 (19:33):
So are you checking for like tone and pain and like
like bogginess or like kind ofthings like that?
Is that what you're like to overtightening kind of things?
Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (19:44):
Yep, okay.
Tension and making sure thatit's like not too much tension,
like finding that healthybalance in between.
And then, yeah, might have themkeagle to see if they can engage
that part of the pelvic floor,right side compared to left
side.
Okay.
Front to back, basically.
And then yeah, third layer ofthe pelvic floor, the deepest
layer of the pelvic floor isusually from my second knuckle
all the way to the index finger.
So that's about how far myfinger is in.
(20:04):
It's not very far.
But yeah, stopping at any pointalong the way to see, just to
see what we find.
I'm trying to think of this weekwho I saw.
I think I saw somebodyyesterday.
And she's on her feet a lot atwork.
She goes to the bathroom prettyconsistently.
So we talked about like how muchwater she's drinking, because
(20:25):
that's a big factor of likehaving that perfect balance of
not too much acidic fluids inour bladder that's irritating,
make us think we have to go tothe bathroom.
SPEAKER_00 (20:33):
So we're supposed to for like an overactive bladder.
SPEAKER_01 (20:35):
Yeah, so we're supposed to drink half amount of
water and ounces of our weight.
So if we weigh 100 pounds, we'resupposed to drink 50, 50 ounces,
that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_00 (20:46):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (20:46):
So asking her that, yeah, she's on her feet a lot.
So then we assess like posture.
How does she hold her body?
Does she lean onto that leftside and squeeze that left butt
cheek to kind of stabilize her?
So we talked about that.
How can we change that?
How can we shift that?
And then I got her on the tableand I did all manual
adjustments, no internal, allmanual adjustments to her sacrum
(21:06):
because she was very flared onthe left side of her sacrum.
Did some soft tissue release tothe upper or the lower back, and
then we did internal.
This was the second visit thatwe were working together.
So then, yeah, walkthroughinternal.
We did the three levels of thepelvic floor.
Her complaint is leaking withcoughing, sneezing, working out,
working out specifically is whyshe's really coming to see me
(21:27):
because she wants to work outmore, but she's having all this
leaking.
So we did the assessment, nopain noted, no weird, funky
tension issues.
So then we were doing a lot ofkegels just to see, do you feel
that?
And said she said, yes, yes, Ido feel that sensation.
So we kind of were working withthat.
And what her home exerciseprogram was like when I left
(21:50):
left her with to do at home, wasyeah, you know, wouldn't it
wouldn't hurt to do some kegelsto bring some awareness to your
pelvic floor.
But really, what I wanted to dowith her specifically is she's
doing the Peloton app workout.
She's not doing for that.
And so I'm like, send me, tellme what you're doing.
What's your favorite kind ofworkout type of stuff to do?
And different ways that we moveour body is going to force our
(22:12):
pelvic floor to respond.
So, specifically with her, Ithink I had her do some bridge
squeezes with a ball in betweenthe legs.
So to get the inner thighsengaged, the pelvic floor is
going to respond, you know, geta little bit of overflow
response.
But then I might have heractually do, I'm like, okay,
maybe I'll have you do somekegels whenever you do your
bridge ball squeezes.
So you don't have to focus onkegels every single time you do
(22:34):
your deadlifts and your squatsand all of that good stuff.
But with this bridging ballsqueeze exercise we're gonna do,
I want you to do your keegleswith that.
They used to call it stoplightkeegles.
So every time you're at thestoplight, you're supposed to do
your keegles.
I'm like, you know, yeah, youcould do that if you wanted.
She could have done that if shewanted to.
But if we would have had apatient vice versa, of having
(22:55):
like a hypertonic pelvic floor,so lots of pain, pain with
insertion of for sex or toys ortampons or pap smears, I would
not have her do any kegels atall because that would just make
it all worse.
SPEAKER_00 (23:10):
She's overleased.
So okay.
This is I've so do a lot ofpeople hearing what you talk,
I'm wondering, is a lot of itlike alignment of their spinal
alignment?
I would think too, because likeI'm thinking like that could
throw it would throw a lot of itoff too.
It's just like I'm thinkingyoga, like stretching.
Are we do we need to loosenother areas of our body that are
(23:30):
affecting it too?
SPEAKER_01 (23:32):
It truly is a whole body approach.
Like you, you're not, that's whyI say like the internal portion
of it is just a teeny tiny piecebecause we are going to be
looking at, yeah, like you said,the spine, like, but like with
some of my patients, one of myother patients that I had
yesterday, she can barely twisther upper spine without twisting
her whole body.
(23:52):
And so it's so restricted at herupper spine and she can't
breathe, which we haven't eventalked about breath.
But if she can't breathe intoher back ribs and her back
diaphragm, all of that fascia,all of that connection down to
the pelvis is gonna becompletely restricted.
And so she's gonna have issueswith that back of the pelvic
floor as well.
She was my belly birther, sheattempted a V back.
(24:15):
So um, she had cesarian with herfirst, attempted the V back,
vaginal birth after cesarean,and something about the baby
just would not descend down intoher pelvis.
And I was telling her not tolike I I'm a big like language
matters and like how you say it,where when you say it, all of
that matters.
But there was a summit that Ilistened to and participated in
(24:38):
this past spring, and it was thepresenter did a lot of research
on VBACs and unsuccessful VVACs,whatever, and she talked a lot
about a lot about upper spinerestrictions and that something
about something with therestriction at the upper spine
really affects the baby to beable to fully engage into the
pelvic bowl.
How interesting.
(24:59):
So, you know, and I so I t Itold this to my patient
yesterday with like very muchlike, hey, this is take this as
much as you want to.
I don't, I'm not saying this iswhat it was, but and she was
very thankful for that becauseshe's like, you know, it's
validating to hear that, butalso just like, you know, I I
did all the things.
I did all of the spinningbabies, which is a popular thing
(25:19):
for for positioning and to getbaby into a good spot.
And she did all those things,and she's like, well, maybe it's
just how my body is, how mygenetics of my family, because
her mom actually came intosessions to watch the boys while
I would treat her.
And so I could look at her momand see kind of restrictions,
they had very similar posturepatterns.
SPEAKER_00 (25:37):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_01 (25:39):
So nothing that I would say that I could have
helped her get that V back, butI wish I would have seen her
during pregnancy to see what wecould have done to address that
earlier on.
She works from home, so she sitsat a desk all day, not all day
long, but she sits at a desk forlong portions of time.
SPEAKER_00 (25:55):
So I love that you say that because this is my
question now.
Like, so people that come toyou, because you said, like, I I
didn't even think about peoplewho are like having urgency
issues.
I'm always I'm thinking aboutleaking for the most part.
So, do you work with peoplewhile they're pregnant?
I know that's people work prettylike while they're pregnant to
stretch their pelvic floor.
I know I've heard of likeexercise you can do with your
(26:17):
partner to prepare for birth.
Do you work with people afterpregnancy, people who are having
incontinence issues, people arehaving urgency issues?
Am I missing anything like anypelvic or bladder issues that
you work with?
SPEAKER_01 (26:30):
Oh, yeah, definitely.
Like I have I've had a decentamount of like people that have
not had kids, young youngadults.
SPEAKER_00 (26:36):
Um I've never had kids and I started leaking like
I drip after a pee, which isnew.
And I was like, what the fuck?
SPEAKER_01 (26:43):
Like I didn't have babies.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
What is going on?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I've seen a fair amount oflike pre-k.
So I mean, they're young in mybook because they're like early
20s and I'm, you know, mid tolate 20s.
Oh, that is young.
I'm in my 40s, but so I'm justlike, okay, like, am I still
cool?
But like I've seen them forhypertonic pelvic floor.
(27:04):
So kind of similar to likeprobably what I had when I was
in college and in high school toIC.
I have another young patientthat has interstitial cystitis.
So basically inflammation of thebladder lining.
SPEAKER_00 (27:15):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (27:16):
A tough one to treat.
Endo, lots of endometriosispatients.
SPEAKER_00 (27:20):
Okay.
Because I'm thinking a lot ofpeople probably don't even know
this is an option.
So that's why I want to like runthrough this to be like, oh,
like maybe there's something Ican do, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (27:29):
Yeah, I mean, basically, if you have a pelvis
and a poly floor, you should seea pelvic floor therapist.
SPEAKER_00 (27:33):
Right.
And you're a woman, yeah, right.
Like, this is what happened.
SPEAKER_01 (27:37):
Ideally, like, I would like it in the run long
run to like see my patients oncea year, like just like you go in
for your well-wis women checkup.
Like, I think you should beseeing a pelvic floor therapist,
especially if you have prolapseon a diagnosis.
If you have a genetic history ofprolapse, if you had a genetic
history of like um family membergetting surgery for like mesh
(27:57):
repair or whatever, that wouldbe my dream world of seeing
somebody once a year to justlike check in, especially after
I've seen them.
But back to like what you'resaying about like seeing
pregnancy, like I love to see mypatients from like a couple
sessions during pregnancy and acouple sessions postpartum
because you know, like I love anon physical, so I like like a
(28:18):
non-medicated birth.
That's what I did with my girls.
And so I will get often a decentamount of patients that are home
birthers, so they're doingnon-medicated, no epidurals, no
medication at all, or they go tolike the birth center across the
river at Mercy, and they'replanning on just using a very
low intervention side because Ijust, I don't know, we all have
our passions.
And I just I learned a lot whenI was pregnant with my second
(28:39):
when I was doing my yoga teachertraining that I was talking
about.
And so I will get a lot of momsthat are looking for alternative
approaches, or just moms thatwant to like figure out like,
yes, I am planning to get theabdural, but like I want to try
to avoid a C-section.
What can I do in preparation forthat?
So we learn about the pelvis andconnection and not just the
physical standpoints, but themental emotional standpoint.
(29:00):
It's important to feel safewithin our nervous system.
So it's so then our body can letgo and be able to have the baby.
So yeah, seeing them along theirpregnancy, and then of course,
after they have the baby, it'slike just it's just the best
thing in the world.
And I teach yoga too, so I doprenatal and postnatal yoga
series often.
So I'll see my patients, youknow, they'll come to those
series too.
And so I just get to really seethem from this, and I'll do mom
(29:22):
and me.
I just did mom, mom and mewellness sessions.
And so, you know, I'll seepatients from before they got
pregnant, while they werepregnant, after they had the
baby, and then they're bringingtheir babies to it.
It's just like the freakingcoolest thing in the whole wide
world.
SPEAKER_00 (29:35):
Yeah, that sounds awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (29:38):
And so, but then yeah, I so I'll see in the
postpartum, and like if anythingpops up, like in that kind of
phase of life, and not just likeyou know, postpartum or fourth
trimester, the 12 weeks afteryou have a baby, it is it's
forever, like you your body haschanged forever.
Yeah, very menopause.
Like, that's the next one.
Is that I see that's me, yep.
(29:59):
So I see I see the hot flashes,I see the genito-urinary system
changes.
So germinus usually is a bigone, atrophy of the muscles, and
yeah, it's a wild stage of lifethat we're having this estrogen,
it's just like on this rollercoaster up and down, and then
throwing freaking everythingoff.
Yeah, it's bullshit.
(30:20):
It truly is like it's sounfreaking fair.
I shared it's been a while sinceI shared it, but it was just
like men enjoying their life,and then it's women, periods,
pregnancy, postpartum,perimenopause, like all of this
list of like all this stuff thatwe have while managing your
household and raising yourchildren and working, yeah.
So yeah, it's like anybody andeverybody.
SPEAKER_00 (30:45):
Do you okay?
This is maybe a silly question,but so if like my stepson has
had issues with wetting the bed,so is it is this something a
little like men can do too ifthey have urgency and
inconstancy issues?
SPEAKER_01 (30:56):
I do I do want to say that because even though I
don't treat penis owners becauseI've not taken the course on it,
and since it is just like me asa solo practitioner, like I
think it's another practice.
There too.
I do not, but there are somereally amazing people,
especially locally, thattreatment.
SPEAKER_00 (31:13):
So it exists for men too.
It's just a little differenttherapy.
This is only for women, anyway.
But I was just curious aboutthat.
Let's go to that.
SPEAKER_01 (31:20):
Like prostate issues, any kind of cancer, age.
SPEAKER_00 (31:24):
I've seen like bed wedding for little boys too.
That's right.
Bedweding for little boys.
Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (31:29):
Yep.
Yep.
So I would say, like him, Iwould be like, How often does he
go to the bathroom?
How often does he poop?
What is his poop?
SPEAKER_00 (31:37):
He's constipated all the time.
That's why when you said that, Iwas like, oh my God.
Any I mean on ADHD meds, whoprobably doesn't drink a lot of
water during the day.
So I'm like, oh he is a tenselittle anxious guy.
So I'm like, oh my God,everything he just said is him
on again to my own.
SPEAKER_01 (31:49):
And I would try for him, like pediatricians might
have suggested like Muralx orDulcilex or something like that.
I would, you know, those aregreat for temporary fixes, but I
would look into magnesium,magnesium calm.
They have kids' gummies.
I would look into that.
That's going to help his nervoussystem, but it's also going to
help like the consistency of hisstool so he's not having to push
it out.
Yeah, drinking water isdefinitely important.
(32:11):
Some of his medication isprobably throwing things off as
well, slowing down his hisdigestive system.
SPEAKER_00 (32:16):
I think it messes with his sleep a little bit too.
SPEAKER_01 (32:18):
So that's also like he's in a deep sleep finally,
and his body's finally relaxed.
So then it goes.
So yeah.
A couple other strategies thatwe've used for that is like, you
know, he might go to bed at hisbedtime at 7:30, 8 o'clock,
whatever.
And then you're staying up foryour bedtime rituals, whatever.
And then before you go to bed at10:30, 11, maybe you pop in
there, have him go to thebathroom really quick so he
(32:40):
empties empties.
SPEAKER_00 (32:41):
That's what we do.
We get him up at like midnightand we try to black.
SPEAKER_01 (32:44):
I'm sure he's not, you know, as much as I want to
be like, drink water, drinkfluids.
But like usually we say twohours before they go to sleep,
they should be cut off fromdrinking fluids, no juices,
Gatorades.
That was something that I had arecent patient.
They were like, Yeah, there he'sstaying up late because he's got
extracurricular activities andhe's been drinking Gatorade
because he's so you know busyand active with his sport.
(33:05):
He's so thirsty to hydrated.
We've been giving him greater,and that's super sugary.
And it's just for him thatinflammates, inflammates,
inflammates?
No, inflames his blast, yes,you're right.
SPEAKER_00 (33:18):
I got confused.
We'll just say irritates, okay.
The bladder was inflamed, isinflamed.
SPEAKER_01 (33:23):
Yes, yes, and it would irritate it, and so then
he would wet the bed.
And so sure shit, they stoppedgiving him Gatorade and they
just give him regular water, andhe's not having any issues
anymore.
SPEAKER_00 (33:32):
So oh my gosh.
Well, we are lucky, Jacks willonly drink water, but I was
like, I'm like, that's usuallynot a kid problem, uh that you
like an issue, but he'll onlydrink water.
We're lucky there, but I'm gladI can't wait to share this with
my his mom and my husband.
Thank you.
Okay, I know you're on a timecrunch.
We've probably got a few minutesleft.
I appreciate you coming on somuch.
I've learned so much.
(33:53):
I could honestly ask youquestions all day.
So we may have to do this again.
But there are a couple things Ialways ask, like, okay, number
one, I know that you are likedigging deeper into your own
practice.
You're extended I want tomention like you are extending
your own knowledge and like withPilates, so like learning more
about the body, and you're alsoextending into like some
abdominal therapies to add toyour practice for people, which
(34:14):
is really exciting.
So, what what will the abdominalstuff kind of add to what kind
of patients will you be able tosee?
SPEAKER_01 (34:20):
Yes, so it's called Arvigo Ad Maya Abdominal
Therapy.
It's like an actual, I guess,copyrighted, I don't know,
training program, but it'slegitimate.
Okay.
So I'm going to Portland at theend of this month for this, and
I can't freaking wait.
But it's really taking like thishands-on approach to treating
not just the abdomen, butdefinitely the back and the
(34:40):
reproductive organs.
So the ovaries, the uterus,fallopian tubes, looking at the
bladder, the rectum, theintestines as well.
Specifically with me, like, youknow, I treat a lot of moms that
have diastasis recti.
So that the separation of theabdominal muscles.
I'll treat a lot of herniarepair after they've had, you
know, babies, sometimes theycause hernias.
So there's lots of differentstrategies that we can use in
(35:02):
this my abdominal to treat thefascia and like a lot of
energetic work, which is kind oflike what I like to treat.
Like in the hospital setting,they probably wouldn't,
insurance would probably notcover this, but treating the
energetic approach to it becausejust like in yoga, we have
different chakras, differentpoints throughout our body,
energy, gatekeepers, locks,basically.
(35:25):
Well, the womb is so sacred.
Your bandas.
Yes.
And the womb is so sacred, wehold, you know, we we can create
life there.
We have cycles, we have thatsexuality as well, which is a
very important part of our livestoo.
But we hold a lot of traumas,whether they're big traumas or
(35:45):
little traumas, we hold a lot ofthat within our body.
And so if we don't treat that orwe're, you know, kind of
hesitant to even like see what'sgoing on within our uterus, then
I don't know.
I think we're holding ourselvesback in a lot of different ways.
So I'm hoping that this is whatthis abdominal treatment therapy
(36:06):
training is going to help.
Of course, the fascial umapproaches to it for like endo
patients.
Um, they have a lot of ifthey've had excision or
excisions, so where they'reactually taking the endo lining
out of their body or any kind ofscar tissue from a belly birth
or hysterectomy, like these areall really important things that
you can have a lot of scartissue built up or just
(36:28):
something is going off withinthe body internally.
And so treating that, makingsure that our fascia doesn't
have any restrictions there issomething that we'll definitely
be able to address with that.
SPEAKER_00 (36:38):
That is so cool.
You know, it's crazy is like howconnected it all is.
Like, really, honestly, like Ihad a a client of mine, and she
we were working through herafter cancer diagnosis
reconnection with her body, andshe had sleep apnea even though
she probably weighed 90 pounds.
But after she was able to likeget comfortable in her body
(36:59):
again, and like because she hadthis posture that was like this.
So when she was able to likeloosen her shoulders and
actually like be comfortablerolling her shoulders back, her
sleep apnea went away.
So it's just interesting, allthe things you're saying, it's
like so connected.
So I know you have to go here,so but I do want to ask you
before we go, I ask all myguests like what is your go-to
self-nurture when things getlike overwhelmed for you?
(37:20):
What do you do?
SPEAKER_01 (37:22):
That's a good question.
Cause this is like I was justtelling my one of my pelvic four
therapy buddies that like this.
I think this is like the mostchaotic, busiest month of my
life up to date because we aremoving into and you make time
for us.
I love it.
Trying to sell a house, tryingto sell our moving into a new
house, have four kids, have thebusiness, getting the
polyseature training, get readyto go to Portland.
(37:42):
It's just so bad.
So I think like my go-tostrategy is not going to be the
same as everybody.
And I think knowing that that'sokay, first of all, because
that's what I tell a lot of mypatients is we have to find what
makes sense to you, what makeyou make what makes you feel
safe within your body, so thenyour body can find softness.
And yeah, so you know,obviously, I love yoga.
(38:03):
I love getting on my yoga matand moving my body.
And I taught Disney kids yogalast night.
And although that was crazy andchaotic and overwhelming,
something about like theshavasana, we call it snack
shavasana.
So that's where you lay thereand you rest as corpse pose.
With kids, we do sh snackshavasna, so it keeps them still
while they're snacking on theirlittle snack in the finally
content after an hour of justlistening to Disney music and
(38:26):
all that good stuff.
And I'm just laying there on mymat with my eyes closed, even
just like softening to the tipof my tip of my nose, and just
feeling my breath moving inthrough my body, which we didn't
get to talk about breath.
We'll have to, we definitelyhave to do another one because
the breath is directly connectedinto the pelvic floor and our
nervous system.
So just feeling my body breatheand feeling my body could just
soften and be still is just thereset that I always need.
SPEAKER_00 (38:48):
So yeah, I love that.
Okay, we're definitely gonna dothis again.
We're gonna talk about yoga,we're gonna talk about breath,
and we're gonna talk about themind-body connection and like
your all that because that's Icould I number one, I want to
pick your brain, but number two,I love this stuff.
I'm like obsessed.
So we're absolutely thank you somuch for coming out.
Is there anything you want toleave our guests with?
And then also tell me for peoplewho just listen where to find
(39:10):
you.
I'm I'm gonna put all that inthe show notes, but if someone's
just listening how to find you,yes.
SPEAKER_01 (39:14):
So I try to be as active as I possibly can on
social media, not always greatat it, especially this month.
But I have my Instagram and myFacebook account.
And so I try to post like usefultools and tricks and all of that
good stuff, educational stuff onthere.
But then I have a website aswell.
It'swww.enlightenedpublichealth.com.
Um, you can always contact me onthere.
But yeah, I I teach yogaregularly at some local studios.
(39:38):
And so if like this month I'mbooked for patients, I'm not
taking any more patients onright now, but I always suggest
like if there is pregnancy orpostpartum or something's going
on, come to those prenatal,postnatal, you know, series.
And yes, you get to move yourbody and connect in that way,
but pick my brain there too.
So yeah, if there's anybodylocal that's wanting to come to
a yoga class, come and see mefor that too.
SPEAKER_00 (39:59):
That's how I heard about you talking about public
floor and yoga classes.
Someone told me that too.
And I was like, what?
What education does she have?
SPEAKER_01 (40:05):
Oh, it's just so nice too.
Like, even like on Sundays, Iteach a heated vinyasa class.
So it's like a power flow classand it's heated, so you get nice
and sweaty.
Um, but even that, like comingto a class like that, like just
connecting in, of course, withme, like I want to be
everybody's friend, but likeconnecting into the community
and connecting into prenatal,postnatal, connecting into other
(40:26):
mothers as well that are goingthrough something very similar.
SPEAKER_00 (40:28):
It's very oh yes, community, women healing
community.
That's something that comes upon the show.
Like it used to come up everysingle episode.
It's probably been a while, butit's so true.
We need some people whounderstand us.
Yep, absolutely.
I love it.
I love it.
I can't wait to talk to youagain.
Thank you so much for your time,and I'm so excited to share this
episode.
SPEAKER_01 (40:46):
Yay! Yay.
All right, well, I'll talk toyou later, okay?
SPEAKER_00 (40:50):
Yes, have a good day.
SPEAKER_01 (40:52):
See you later.
Bye.
Bye, hi.
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