November 8, 2023 • 62 mins
Ready to revolutionize your relationship with your pelvic floor? This enlightening episode is like a road map to pelvic health, guiding you through gentle practices and their benefits, understanding the intricacies of your pelvic anatomy, and effective ways you can manage pelvic pain. I'll give you a primer on the the science behind pelvic floor dysfunction and I'll teach you a breathing technique to restore peace and harmony to this area.
This episode is a treasure trove of insights and practices that can help you cultivate a sense of comfort and safety within your pelvis. So join me, open your mind to new knowledge, and take control of your pelvic health.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Yin Yoga Podcast.
I'm your host, mandy Ryle, foryour pod practice.
Today, I am offering a practicethat was actually inspired by
an email conversation that I washaving with a podcast listener
who lives in the UK, and thislistener was experiencing some
pelvic pain, and, while thispractice is definitely not a
(00:25):
customized practice that'screated specifically for this
listener, it got me thinkingabout ways that we could instill
feelings of safety and comfortand even peace in the pelvis
when we're having somedisturbance there.
So this practice is incrediblygentle and features a breathing
(00:51):
practice, which I use all thetime with my clients who have
pelvic or hip pain.
Within the practice as well,you're going to get a little bit
of a primer into the anatomy ofthe pelvic floor, and I'm also
just going to reveal a littlebit of the most recent science
(01:13):
around managing pelvic pain andpelvic floor dysfunction, which
I think will be really useful tous Yin teachers and those of
you who actually areexperiencing pelvic pain.
For your practice, you reallyonly need a blanket and a couple
(01:33):
of yoga blocks.
If you would like to have abolster, just for your comfort,
I always recommend having thaton hand as well.
So if you have a request for aspecific practice that you would
like to see on a future podcast, don't hesitate to reach out.
You can always reach me on anyof my social media channels.
(01:54):
All of those are listed onevery single episode.
I absolutely love requests andwould love to hear from you If
you receive value from the YinYoga podcast.
(02:14):
I humbly ask you to considerbecoming a patron.
Patrons support the greatpractices and education on the
podcast and also get access tothe entire video practice
library.
In my online community, theSHIP School, my practice library
contains a huge variety ofmovement, mindfulness, strength
and even meditation practices.
(02:36):
The library is searchable forpain care practice resources to
address the most commonmusculoskeletal pain issues,
including back pain, neck andshoulder pain and hip pain.
The Yin teachers out there willlove a newly added feature the
experiential anatomy practicesection, where you get to dive
(02:57):
into learning anatomy throughyour very own body and breath.
This is all at your fingertipsfor a $15 donation each month.
You can cancel your patronageat any time.
Become a patron today.
I'll leave a link in the shownotes for you to get started.
(03:19):
Let's start by setting up yourprops.
Your blanket goes to the backof your mat and your blocks are
just to the sides of your mat.
If you have a bolster, it canalso go off to this side.
We'll just want to keep it outof the way for most of practice.
And then, once you got yourprops set up, you're going to
(03:39):
lay down on your back with yourhead on the blanket, and we'll
have the head cushioned but notoverly lifted.
So find a height for thatblanket where it's hitting that
sweet spot of comfort, but notinterrupting the curve of the
neck.
(04:02):
And if it's okay, today I'd liketo start with feet flat and
feet flat on the floor, kneecapspointed up, like you're
standing on your feet, and forsome it's comfortable to have
the knees falling together whenthe feet move a little wider.
So if you'd like you couldbring your feet wider, let your
knees fall together, and forsome that doesn't feel very good
(04:24):
.
So you do whatever works foryou.
I just want you to feel likeyou can rest in these first
moments of your practice.
Let your arms just find aresting position on you, out to
the side, and your pocketswhatever, whatever feels rested
(04:45):
for you, and begin to puttogether a breath which is a
little more engaged than yourunconscious breathing, maybe
(05:12):
finding that diaphragmaticbreath where you feel the belly
rise and fall with the in andthe out, and maybe it's not just
rising and falling but you feela little side to side or back
(05:35):
expansion as well with that inbreath.
And you might notice that onyour exhale you have the option
(05:57):
of just allowing the breath tofall out, since gravity is
assisting your exhale, or youcould control the exhale.
So, as you're feeling thatexpansion of the inhale, you are
(06:26):
experiencing a downwardmovement of the respiratory
diaphragm.
The reason that you feel yourabdomen expand is because your
diaphragm pushes down on yourguts and they've got no place to
go but out.
And then when you exhale,gravity is assisting your guts
(06:51):
moving back into the column andnestling themselves up into the
dome of the respiratorydiaphragm.
So the contraction of thatdiaphragm muscle moves your guts
down and out and then a slow,controlled release of that
(07:12):
diaphragmatic contractionrestores the shape of your
abdomen.
And just take your time justexploring that, exploring that
concept almost like a piston.
And of course you couldprohibit the downward movement
(07:46):
of the diaphragm by engagingyour abdominal wall.
So if you held your abdominalmuscles very tightly then the
downward descent of thediaphragm would be minimized in
favor of a costal movement,which would be your ribs.
(08:07):
You would feel almost a flaringof your ribs.
You can experiment with that ifyou'd like, okay.
And then come back to that nicesoft abdomen just responding to
(08:29):
the in and the out, theexpansion and the contraction.
So we often consider thisexpansion with the breath, but
it's less common that weconsider what happens at the
bottom of the visceral column,the pelvic floor.
What happens there?
(08:52):
Is there also an expansionthere?
And the answer is yes.
So as you breathe in, the domeof the respiratory and pelvic
diaphragms descend, and as youbreathe out, both ascend.
See if you can feel that now,and if you can't, it's okay.
(09:16):
This one's hard.
Let's add a little bit moreinformation, okay.
So if your knees have fallentogether, you're going to
separate them.
Your arms out to the sides.
(09:38):
Now, on your next in breath,let your right thigh fall open
like a half butterfly, let yourhips tilt to the right and if
you have to adjust the positionof the right foot to a narrower
position, you're welcome to dothat.
Okay, and then on the exhale,you're going to bring the right
knee back up.
Let's keep the left kneepointed up mostly and once again
(10:01):
allow the right thigh to openand the hip to tilt and then
exhale and come up.
So this time, see if you canimagine this expansion of the
right side of the pelvic floor,that dome descending even as
it's being stretched with themovement of the leg.
(10:22):
So it's kind of like you'resaying, hey, pelvic diaphragm,
why not expand a little bit more, like the beginning of a yawn
as the leg opens?
Yes, and you might notice thatas you exhale you sort of have
(10:48):
to engage in your pelvis, whichmeans you're engaging in your
pelvic floor and the exhale canassist that.
It's almost like a gathering upof your abdominal muscles, your
pelvic floor.
So see if you can experimentwith that for a moment.
And then you're going to bringthe right knee back up to the
(11:10):
right side of the pelvic floor.
No-transcript, let's do two more, and here's the last one your
(11:37):
right thigh.
You're going to open, butyou're going to keep it open as
you breathe in and out.
You may want to move both feetcloser to the midline to keep
that right thigh open.
Now Let your hips tilt to theright as much as you need to
(11:59):
Support the right thigh, if youneed to, and see if you can
continue to breathe and meditateon both of the diaphragms.
So both diaphragms make adownward excursion on the inhale
(12:20):
, both diaphragms relax backinto an upward excursion on the
exhale.
And if you can't feel it, it'sokay, because people can't at
first.
Alright, here we go.
(13:52):
Let's take one more breath nowin this half butterfly variation
, and then you'll bring theright knee back up, so two feet
once again planted, and I'llhave you draw your right thigh
(14:17):
toward your chest and then crossyour right ankle over the front
of your left thigh like afigure four and push down into
the left foot so you can shiftyour hips over to the right and
then tilt the figure four ontothe left.
So shifting hips so that youcan tilt the figure four to the
(14:37):
left.
So it's on its side, with yourleft thigh resting softly on the
floor.
The sole of the foot maybecomes all the way to the floor,
or perhaps we support it with ablock.
The chest remains open, the armwide, that right arm wide.
I'll give you that too.
There we are.
Nice, that's great, all right.
(15:02):
So let's come back to the breathand this exploration of the
pelvic floor.
So, on your inhale, I'd likefor you to very slightly press
that right thigh away.
Press it away and the anklewill be sort of pivoting over
(15:24):
the thigh and so the leg isn'tgoing to move much.
And then on the exhale it'sjust relax, just relax.
Inhale is push the thigh awayever so slightly, allowing the
ankle to just pivot off of thatleft thigh, and then exhale,
relax, relax, just continue likethat.
(15:50):
And let me kind of help to givesome context to this experience
.
Most people, including myself,for a long time, thought that.
I thought, and most peoplethink that the pelvic floor is
sort of like a sling at the baseof the pelvis and in many ways
the collective consciousness hasmade it a very delicate sling.
(16:11):
That's not what it looks likeat all.
It's actually a very, verythick system of muscle super
thick, crazy thick and thepelvic floor, while being some
muscles that are mostly relatedto just that area of that pelvic
(16:33):
bowl, also includes some ofyour external rotators, your
deep six hip rotators.
So as you push the thigh away,you are feeling those deep six
rotators at work and as you feelthose engaging, I want to let
(16:53):
you know that you are feelingyour pelvic floor.
You're feeling your pelvicfloor In addition to your
capacity for engaging them.
I want you to practice relaxingthem.
So that's why the exhale isjust for nothing, just for
relaxing.
Let's just do a few more ofthose, okay, and then we're
(17:39):
going to rest in this pose andI'll let you choose how much are
you going to continue to pressthe thigh open versus letting it
completely relax?
Okay, let's just take one morebreath.
(19:07):
And the figure four.
Excuse me, the twisted pigeon.
So the transition to the nextpose is a little bit different.
So I'm just going to have youfollow along step by step.
Okay, the top leg, that rightleg.
You're going to swing out tothe right front corner of your
(19:31):
mat, so the leg is going to befully extended and it's going to
slide out to the corner andeven a little bit wider, even a
little bit wider, yep.
And then you're going to creepthe left foot to your inner
right thigh.
So either the foot is againstthe thigh or I like to have my
toes under my thigh, especiallybecause my toes get cold.
(19:52):
So there's a little tip, okay,so, as you can see, we're kind
of putting together a bananatree.
We need to add the upper bodyto the banana shape, so the head
and shoulders are also going tomove to the right.
I do a little head push down,shoulders move right, then head
(20:12):
moves right, then head push down, shoulders, head, head,
shoulders.
If you need something underthat left leg, go ahead and take
it.
Yeah, that's great.
And let's use the breath againto explore, explore the
relationship between thesediaphragms, the pelvic floor,
(20:33):
the external rotators, theabdominal wall.
This time, when you breathe outon your out breath, I would
like for you to contract yourright glute.
I want you to just squeeze yourright butt cheek on your exhale
(20:55):
and then, on your inhale, justrelax, all right.
So find that powerful exhale,squeeze your right glute, maybe
hold just briefly at the bottomof that out Inhale and just
(21:15):
relax.
Okay, let's do a few more ofthose.
This can sometimes be asensitive movement, especially
on the right.
So if you're finding that it'ssort of making you a little
(21:39):
sensitive in your back or yourhip, just let me know.
I'll help.
(22:00):
The next time you exhale, yourglute is engaged.
You're going to hold, you'regoing to hold the engagement of
your glute.
You're going to breathe in andout.
Keep holding that contractedglute as you breathe in and out
and just notice how it feelsright.
(22:22):
It might feel inhibited, itmight feel stiffer in the right
side of the pelvic floor.
Perhaps you're noticing thatyou can't get as much of a full
breath.
There may be other thingshappening as well.
Maybe you feel like your heartrate goes up or you feel a
little tense.
One more breath in and out withthat right glute still
(22:43):
squeezing, and then the nexttime you breathe in relax your
glute and just remain in yourbanana tree.
Now the right glute is sneaky.
It's sneaky.
It likes to contract whenyou're not paying attention.
(23:08):
So I'm going to just have youenjoy the pose, but occasionally
check back in with that rightglute, see what's going on.
So most people think that thepelvic floor is like a bowl at
(23:33):
the base of the pelvis, but thatis not true.
At rest, the pelvic floorpresents like a dome, just like
the respiratory diaphragm, andmost people think that when you
(23:58):
engage your pelvic floor, thereis a lifting action, and that is
not untrue, but it isincomplete.
So to engage your pelvic floor,yes, there is a drawing up,
there is a contraction, but yourpelvic floor also contracts
(24:22):
when it descends with the breath.
This is an eccentriccontraction.
Usually it is a working stretchand somewhere in the middle of
those is a nice soft dome shape.
That is the pelvic floor atrest.
(24:43):
Check back in with that rightglute, we'll take one more
(25:14):
breath, and banana tree.
So before you come back to thecenter of the mat with your feet
flat, just kind of build alittle plan for how you're going
(25:39):
to get out of this pose.
Just kind of go through itmentally and then go ahead and
execute that plan, gettingyourself back to the center of
your mat with two feet flat.
If you need to reorganize propsor anything, you can do that
now as well.
And once you've found your wayback to the center of the mat
(26:02):
with the feet flat, maybe wideknees together, if you'd like,
notice the difference betweenthe right and the left side of
the pelvis, the right and theleft thigh, the right and the
left.
But cheek Now this time on yourin breath, your left thigh open
(26:43):
, your hips tilt left.
On your exhale the knee comesback up and the whole time that
right knee is going to staymostly pointed to the sky,
although it will probably tilt alittle.
So left thigh open and close.
Right thigh stays vertical ish.
(27:03):
Right thigh stays vertical, ish.
Yeah, and I'm seeing somereally good adjusting of the
position of the feet.
I like it.
So see if you can find thatstretching contraction on the
(27:30):
inhale, especially on the left,the pelvic floor is still very
much working, stabilizing,supporting, but it's also
stretching, not just because ofthe movement of the leg but also
because of the breath.
Right, wow.
(28:00):
And if you haven't already,it's time to tune in a little
bit to the opposite movement.
The exhale, the thigh comesback up.
Now it is an isometriccontraction pelvic floor and the
breath plays less of a rolesince the pelvic diaphragm is
(28:24):
moving to a resting position.
Alright, let's just do two more.
And the next time that thigh isopen, the hips are tilted.
(28:56):
You're going to stay.
Adjust the position of yourfeet if you need to support the
left thigh, if you need to, sothat you can relax into the pose
and just observe.
(29:18):
So for a long time, women weretold that the reason they were
having pelvic floor issues isbecause their pelvic floor was
weak, and what we're seeing nowin research is that that is
(29:40):
untrue and incrediblyunfortunate that people have
been given that impression.
So perhaps there's someweakness.
It's not because of tightness.
Let me rephrase that Perhapsthere is some weakness that
(30:10):
isn't related to being too lax.
I think that's what I want tosay.
So there's a misconception thatif something is very tight it
must be very strong, but that'snot true.
(30:33):
That defies the laws of physics, right?
Imagine you have a sling shotright and your rubber band is
super, super short and super,super thick and barely moves at
all.
How far are you going to beable to slingshot that rock?
Not very far, right.
So think about the type ofelasticity that would allow you
(30:56):
to shoot that rock really faraway.
So there's both strength andlength.
(31:37):
Let's take one more breath.
On your exhale, you'll bringthe left thigh back up.
Yes, you'll draw your leftthigh towards your chest before
(32:01):
crossing your ankle over yourright thigh close to your knee,
you'll push into your right foot, lift and shift hips to the
left.
Drop your figure four and tiltit to the right.
Yeah, tilt it to the right.
Yep, feel free to set up someprops.
(32:22):
What if we're here there?
Okay, chest is wide open, leftarm reaching out.
On your inhale, you're going topush your left thigh away.
On your exhale, you're justgoing to relax.
So, on the inhale, you willengage your pelvic floor and
(32:48):
external rotators On your exhale, you'll relax.
Just let everything come backto rest as best as you can.
So in research, what we see isthat more people have issues due
(33:25):
to something called hypertonicity, which is too tight and
weak, things like balanceissues, pain, discomfort.
(34:04):
So let's do two more of theseengaging inhales, softening
exhales, and then you'll justrest in your twisted pigeon,
(34:31):
finding the level of engage andsoft that works best for you in
the pose.
And so, in case you'rewondering, no, we do not need to
(34:57):
stretch the pelvic floor.
The tension of the pelvic flooris very finely calibrated to
the needs of the person, of theorganism.
What seems to be mostbeneficial is what you're doing
right now facilitating pelvicfloor awareness and a harmonious
(35:19):
relationship with therespiratory diaphragm.
So, previous пMON Ancient,we'll take one more breath in
(37:06):
the twisted pigeon here and thenwe're going to make that sort
of funky transition where thatpigeon leg, that left leg,
you're going to send out longand swing it past the front left
corner of your mat, past, yes,and we'll go ahead and bring the
(37:30):
sole of the right foot to theinner left thigh or maybe under,
and then let's make the bananahappen in the upper body as well
.
So you're going to creep yourhead and shoulders to the left.
Okay, feel free to support thatright leg, by the way.
(37:50):
Yeah, left, okay, arms, justhowever you want.
On your exhale, you squeeze yourleft glute, contract your butt
cheek.
On your inhale, you try torelease as much as you can.
(38:13):
Exhaling a squeeze for the leftglute, inhaling relax.
We'll do two more and the nexttime you're squeezing that glute
(39:19):
, you are engaged.
I'd like for you to continue tobreathe in and out.
Keep that left glute engagedand therefore also the pelvic
floor.
Continue to breathe in and outand just notice, notice what
shifts occur in the self, whichis the musculoskeletal system,
(39:43):
it's your nervous system, it'syour breath, it's your thoughts,
feelings, beliefs.
Let's notice what changes whenthere is an inhibition of the
pelvic floor.
And the next time you breathein, you're going to relax the
(40:06):
glute, relax the rotators, relaxthe pelvic floor and just hold
on your banana tree.
Good, check in with the rightand the left glute now.
(41:28):
Just check in, see what thelevel of engagement is currently
.
Just check in with the rightand the left glute and then
(41:56):
start to check in with the rightand the left glute and then
start to create a little planfor how you are going to release
(42:20):
this pose, to come back to theconstructive rest and then, when
you're ready, execute that plan.
So you'll be back in the centerof your mat with your two feet
flat and once you get there,you're just going to observe the
right and the left, right andthe left belly, right and the
(42:43):
left pelvis thigh, anything else.
Now your two feet are flat andabout hips width distance apart.
(43:06):
Your elbows you bring in so thatthey're on the mat with you and
then your hands you place onyour belly or on your heart,
whatever you can reach mosteasily with your elbows still
resting.
Keep your hands, your elbows asthey are, but do an anterior
(43:28):
tilt of your pelvis.
So you're going to rock towardsyour tail and allow the low
back to arch away from the matand then roll up the back of the
pelvis for a posterior tilt.
This time the tail will lift,the low back pushed down into
the mat.
Inhale for that anterior tilt,arching the back away from the
(43:52):
floor.
Exhale, maybe a little extrasqueeze as you tuck, feeling
that pelvic diaphragm rise up,lift up and then on the inhale
you'll feel it descend, justnaturally.
And then let's use the hands tokind of act sort of like a model
(44:13):
, all right.
So the next time you anteriortilt, so the back is arching,
your elbows stay on the floor,but your hands sweep down and
out like you're wearing a ballgown and you're going to do a
curtsy, almost right.
And then, as you posterior tilt, you exhale, your hands are
(44:34):
going to come back down and thenback up to your belly or chest
tuck so the hands sweep out torepresent this nice, gracious
expansion and release pelvicfloor anterior tilt, exhale.
Use the hands to gather up theenergy drawing, up, up, up, up,
up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up,up, up, up.
(44:56):
Inhale, gracious expansion arm.
Swing out anterior tilt, exhale.
Use the hands to draw in and upThree more, there's two and let
(45:29):
the arms and hands sort ofreflect the character that you
would like to have.
The attitude, the pelvicattitude.
That's a weird thing to have,but you know, okay, yeah, all
right, next time you're in thatposterior tilt position, hands
(45:50):
are on your chest, relax, justtake a few breaths, neutral,
bring your right knee towardyour right elbow, draw it in and
out Right knee, right elbow,good, and then I'm going to have
(46:12):
you grasp the knee with yourright hand, grasp the knee with
your right hand, go ahead andlift it up towards you a little
bit and then grasp the heel withyour left hand.
If you can grab it, and if youcan't get the heel, you can get
the ankle.
Whatever.
It's fine, whatever works.
So the knee is going to turnout.
So you're going to hold theknee in your right hand, the
(46:32):
heel in your left hand, andimagine that if you wanted to
which most of us can't you couldsort of cradle this leg like a
baby.
That's sort of the position ofthe leg to cradle it like a baby
and use the left leg, almostlike it's doing windshield
wipers, to rock side to side.
Just rock side to side.
(46:52):
So that left foot is going tokind of push you way over to the
right.
It's going to help you back tothe center.
It's going to push you way overto the left so you can kind of
rock the baby.
Essentially, yes, use yourbreath and your awareness of
your pelvic floor.
(47:13):
One of these external rotators,the obturator and Ternus, is a
little harder to feel, toexperience, and this is the best
position that I have found forobturator and Ternus.
So many of us feel very, verylimited here.
You might be feeling like youknow you have a really nice
(47:35):
strong, tight obturator andTernus, or maybe strong, weak
obturator and Ternus.
Excuse me, tight and weak iswhat I meant to say.
In any case, just breathe withthe movement rocking side to
side, just experience what'sthere.
(47:55):
It's not good, it's not bad.
It's just your body adapting tohow you move, how you think,
(48:21):
and then we'll bring that rightfoot flat, bring your hands onto
your chest or your belly Elbowsare on the floor and tear your
tilt Hands, sweep out, breathein, turn your face to the right
(48:45):
and then posterior tilt Handscome down and then in and then
up and your face to the centerthis time.
As your hands sweep out youranterior tilt face turn left,
exhaling, drawing in and up facecenter.
So we'll keep doing this, justturning the head side to side as
(49:07):
you do, your sweeping outanterior tilt pelvic floor,
descend, exhale center,posterior tilt pelvic floor, in
and up, and you might noticethat there is a slightly
different sensation on the rightversus the left side of the
(49:28):
pelvic floor as you're turningyour head.
I want you to notice this andif you don't, it's okay.
Maybe it's not for today, butanother day.
Just do one more of each.
One more of each with the headturning Okay, perfect.
(49:57):
And the next time you come backto that posterior tilt, your
hands are on your chest, justrest, everything, rest Neutral.
And this time you're going tobring your left thigh out and
toward your elbow, go ahead andlift it up and grasp the knee
left knee with your left hand,and with the right hand you'll
(50:18):
hold the ankle or the heel orwhatever you got, and you'll
kind of pull that leg acrossjust a little bit it doesn't
need to go far Like you're goingto cradle the baby and start
using that right foot to helpyou rock side to side, almost
like the right leg is doing awindshield waper.
Yeah, that's it, that's it.
That's it.
Just breathe with it, justobserve, right.
(50:42):
So what we're learning with moreresearch about the pelvic floor
is when people do the best, iswhen they have more awareness of
their pelvic floor.
Teaching somebody how to makeit stronger, weaker, whatever,
that doesn't seem to work.
As well as just teaching peoplehow to breathe and notice their
pelvic floor, which we're doingright now, let's just do a
(51:21):
couple more side to side,rocking side to side, letting
those hips tilt, if it's okay.
And this time back in thecenter, you'll stay.
You'll bring two feet flat.
(51:41):
This time.
Step your feet close together,keep your knees pointed up, but
step your feet close together,elbows on the floor, hands on
the belly or the chest.
Let's do another one of these,okay, this time on your anterior
tilt, hands sweep out, allowthose knees to open out to the
sides like a butterfly, a fullbutterfly.
(52:02):
And on the exhale your handscome down in up, knees back
together, squeeze, draw in andup on the pelvic floor.
So the hands are sort ofindicating the movement of the
pelvic floor.
So the inhale is for butterflyanterior tilt, the exhale is for
(52:24):
drawing those knees back uppelvic floor in up, up, up, up,
keep going.
Let's do a few more.
(52:53):
Okay, the next time you're inthe butterfly, those knees are
open, your hands are out, yourpelvis anterior tilt, let's just
stay.
And since we're going to be inthis pose for a little bit, if
you would like you could bringsome blocks under your thighs.
So, as we said before, the hipmuscles are getting stretched.
(53:19):
There's a good chance.
Pelvic floor is also receivinga little bit of tension, so you
might feel that there is tensionhere.
That's accurate.
There is tension here.
But see if you can stillbreathe, if you, even in this
more challenging, differentposition, can still observe the
(53:42):
harmony between respiratory andpelvic diaphragms.
See if that's possible.
Magda, magda, magda, ma.
Second view done.
(54:09):
The second view done the.
(56:05):
We'll just take a couple morebreaths in the sub pine
butterfly and then you'll useyour hands to help you bring
(56:26):
your knees back up and together.
If you have a bolster and you'dlike to use it, you could slide
it under your thighs as youextend those legs out long, and
if you don't, you're just goingto send the legs out nice and
long.
Heels are going to be about aswide as your mat.
(56:51):
That's a rough one to do, isn'tit, without making it all
wrinkled.
How's that?
Let me try it.
Is it okay?
Okay, on your inhale, feel thebelly expand.
This indicates the downwardexcursion of two diaphragms.
(57:13):
On your exhale, control therelease.
We'll continue to breathe likethat, with this expanding, and
maybe you'll imagine anexpansion, contraction of the
pelvic floor.
(57:33):
Maybe that expansion andcontraction could expand you,
right?
Maybe it's more than just thepelvic floor or the abdomen,
maybe it's the whole self.
And if you haven't already,it's time to sort of come back
(59:42):
to earth More accuratedimensions of self.
So for the next two or threeinhales, make them a little bit
(01:00:13):
longer.
A little bit longer on theinhale and you'll begin to
restore movement Fingers, toes,wrists, ankles.
Find your way onto the side ofyour choice.
(01:00:34):
We'll roll into your hands andrise up to your seat, press
(01:01:01):
palms together in front of yourheart.
Thank you so much forpracticing with me today, guys.
Welcome to the Yin Yoga Podcast.
I'm your host, mandy Ryle, foryour pod practice.
Today, I am offering a practicethat was actually inspired by
an email conversation that I washaving with a podcast listener
who lives in the UK, and thislistener was experiencing some
pelvic pain, and, while thispractice is definitely not a
(00:25):
customized practice that'screated specifically for this
listener, it got me thinkingabout ways that we could instill
feelings of safety and comfortand even peace in the pelvis
when we're having somedisturbance there.
So this practice is incrediblygentle and features a breathing
(00:51):
practice, which I use all thetime with my clients who have
pelvic or hip pain.
Within the practice as well,you're going to get a little bit
of a primer into the anatomy ofthe pelvic floor, and I'm also
just going to reveal a littlebit of the most recent science
(01:13):
around managing pelvic pain andpelvic floor dysfunction, which
I think will be really useful tous Yin teachers and those of
you who actually areexperiencing pelvic pain.
For your practice, you reallyonly need a blanket and a couple
(01:33):
of yoga blocks.
If you would like to have abolster, just for your comfort,
I always recommend having thaton hand as well.
So if you have a request for aspecific practice that you would
like to see on a future podcast, don't hesitate to reach out.
You can always reach me on anyof my social media channels.
(01:54):
All of those are listed onevery single episode.
I absolutely love requests andwould love to hear from you If
you receive value from the YinYoga podcast.
(02:14):
I humbly ask you to considerbecoming a patron.
Patrons support the greatpractices and education on the
podcast and also get access tothe entire video practice
library.
In my online community, theSHIP School, my practice library
contains a huge variety ofmovement, mindfulness, strength
and even meditation practices.
(02:36):
The library is searchable forpain care practice resources to
address the most commonmusculoskeletal pain issues,
including back pain, neck andshoulder pain and hip pain.
The Yin teachers out there willlove a newly added feature the
experiential anatomy practicesection, where you get to dive
(02:57):
into learning anatomy throughyour very own body and breath.
This is all at your fingertipsfor a $15 donation each month.
You can cancel your patronageat any time.
Become a patron today.
I'll leave a link in the shownotes for you to get started.
(03:19):
Let's start by setting up yourprops.
Your blanket goes to the backof your mat and your blocks are
just to the sides of your mat.
If you have a bolster, it canalso go off to this side.
We'll just want to keep it outof the way for most of practice.
And then, once you got yourprops set up, you're going to
(03:39):
lay down on your back with yourhead on the blanket, and we'll
have the head cushioned but notoverly lifted.
So find a height for thatblanket where it's hitting that
sweet spot of comfort, but notinterrupting the curve of the
neck.
(04:02):
And if it's okay, today I'd liketo start with feet flat and
feet flat on the floor, kneecapspointed up, like you're
standing on your feet, and forsome it's comfortable to have
the knees falling together whenthe feet move a little wider.
So if you'd like you couldbring your feet wider, let your
knees fall together, and forsome that doesn't feel very good
(04:24):
.
So you do whatever works foryou.
I just want you to feel likeyou can rest in these first
moments of your practice.
Let your arms just find aresting position on you, out to
the side, and your pocketswhatever, whatever feels rested
(04:45):
for you, and begin to puttogether a breath which is a
little more engaged than yourunconscious breathing, maybe
(05:12):
finding that diaphragmaticbreath where you feel the belly
rise and fall with the in andthe out, and maybe it's not just
rising and falling but you feela little side to side or back
(05:35):
expansion as well with that inbreath.
And you might notice that onyour exhale you have the option
(05:57):
of just allowing the breath tofall out, since gravity is
assisting your exhale, or youcould control the exhale.
So, as you're feeling thatexpansion of the inhale, you are
(06:26):
experiencing a downwardmovement of the respiratory
diaphragm.
The reason that you feel yourabdomen expand is because your
diaphragm pushes down on yourguts and they've got no place to
go but out.
And then when you exhale,gravity is assisting your guts
(06:51):
moving back into the column andnestling themselves up into the
dome of the respiratorydiaphragm.
So the contraction of thatdiaphragm muscle moves your guts
down and out and then a slow,controlled release of that
(07:12):
diaphragmatic contractionrestores the shape of your
abdomen.
And just take your time justexploring that, exploring that
concept almost like a piston.
And of course you couldprohibit the downward movement
(07:46):
of the diaphragm by engagingyour abdominal wall.
So if you held your abdominalmuscles very tightly then the
downward descent of thediaphragm would be minimized in
favor of a costal movement,which would be your ribs.
(08:07):
You would feel almost a flaringof your ribs.
You can experiment with that ifyou'd like, okay.
And then come back to that nicesoft abdomen just responding to
(08:29):
the in and the out, theexpansion and the contraction.
So we often consider thisexpansion with the breath, but
it's less common that weconsider what happens at the
bottom of the visceral column,the pelvic floor.
What happens there?
(08:52):
Is there also an expansionthere?
And the answer is yes.
So as you breathe in, the domeof the respiratory and pelvic
diaphragms descend, and as youbreathe out, both ascend.
See if you can feel that now,and if you can't, it's okay.
(09:16):
This one's hard.
Let's add a little bit moreinformation, okay.
So if your knees have fallentogether, you're going to
separate them.
Your arms out to the sides.
(09:38):
Now, on your next in breath,let your right thigh fall open
like a half butterfly, let yourhips tilt to the right and if
you have to adjust the positionof the right foot to a narrower
position, you're welcome to dothat.
Okay, and then on the exhale,you're going to bring the right
knee back up.
Let's keep the left kneepointed up mostly and once again
(10:01):
allow the right thigh to openand the hip to tilt and then
exhale and come up.
So this time, see if you canimagine this expansion of the
right side of the pelvic floor,that dome descending even as
it's being stretched with themovement of the leg.
(10:22):
So it's kind of like you'resaying, hey, pelvic diaphragm,
why not expand a little bit more, like the beginning of a yawn
as the leg opens?
Yes, and you might notice thatas you exhale you sort of have
(10:48):
to engage in your pelvis, whichmeans you're engaging in your
pelvic floor and the exhale canassist that.
It's almost like a gathering upof your abdominal muscles, your
pelvic floor.
So see if you can experimentwith that for a moment.
And then you're going to bringthe right knee back up to the
(11:10):
right side of the pelvic floor.
No-transcript, let's do two more, and here's the last one your
(11:37):
right thigh.
You're going to open, butyou're going to keep it open as
you breathe in and out.
You may want to move both feetcloser to the midline to keep
that right thigh open.
Now Let your hips tilt to theright as much as you need to
(11:59):
Support the right thigh, if youneed to, and see if you can
continue to breathe and meditateon both of the diaphragms.
So both diaphragms make adownward excursion on the inhale
(12:20):
, both diaphragms relax backinto an upward excursion on the
exhale.
And if you can't feel it, it'sokay, because people can't at
first.
Alright, here we go.
(13:52):
Let's take one more breath nowin this half butterfly variation
, and then you'll bring theright knee back up, so two feet
once again planted, and I'llhave you draw your right thigh
(14:17):
toward your chest and then crossyour right ankle over the front
of your left thigh like afigure four and push down into
the left foot so you can shiftyour hips over to the right and
then tilt the figure four ontothe left.
So shifting hips so that youcan tilt the figure four to the
(14:37):
left.
So it's on its side, with yourleft thigh resting softly on the
floor.
The sole of the foot maybecomes all the way to the floor,
or perhaps we support it with ablock.
The chest remains open, the armwide, that right arm wide.
I'll give you that too.
There we are.
Nice, that's great, all right.
(15:02):
So let's come back to the breathand this exploration of the
pelvic floor.
So, on your inhale, I'd likefor you to very slightly press
that right thigh away.
Press it away and the anklewill be sort of pivoting over
(15:24):
the thigh and so the leg isn'tgoing to move much.
And then on the exhale it'sjust relax, just relax.
Inhale is push the thigh awayever so slightly, allowing the
ankle to just pivot off of thatleft thigh, and then exhale,
relax, relax, just continue likethat.
(15:50):
And let me kind of help to givesome context to this experience
.
Most people, including myself,for a long time, thought that.
I thought, and most peoplethink that the pelvic floor is
sort of like a sling at the baseof the pelvis and in many ways
the collective consciousness hasmade it a very delicate sling.
(16:11):
That's not what it looks likeat all.
It's actually a very, verythick system of muscle super
thick, crazy thick and thepelvic floor, while being some
muscles that are mostly relatedto just that area of that pelvic
(16:33):
bowl, also includes some ofyour external rotators, your
deep six hip rotators.
So as you push the thigh away,you are feeling those deep six
rotators at work and as you feelthose engaging, I want to let
(16:53):
you know that you are feelingyour pelvic floor.
You're feeling your pelvicfloor In addition to your
capacity for engaging them.
I want you to practice relaxingthem.
So that's why the exhale isjust for nothing, just for
relaxing.
Let's just do a few more ofthose, okay, and then we're
(17:39):
going to rest in this pose andI'll let you choose how much are
you going to continue to pressthe thigh open versus letting it
completely relax?
Okay, let's just take one morebreath.
(19:07):
And the figure four.
Excuse me, the twisted pigeon.
So the transition to the nextpose is a little bit different.
So I'm just going to have youfollow along step by step.
Okay, the top leg, that rightleg.
You're going to swing out tothe right front corner of your
(19:31):
mat, so the leg is going to befully extended and it's going to
slide out to the corner andeven a little bit wider, even a
little bit wider, yep.
And then you're going to creepthe left foot to your inner
right thigh.
So either the foot is againstthe thigh or I like to have my
toes under my thigh, especiallybecause my toes get cold.
(19:52):
So there's a little tip, okay,so, as you can see, we're kind
of putting together a bananatree.
We need to add the upper bodyto the banana shape, so the head
and shoulders are also going tomove to the right.
I do a little head push down,shoulders move right, then head
(20:12):
moves right, then head push down, shoulders, head, head,
shoulders.
If you need something underthat left leg, go ahead and take
it.
Yeah, that's great.
And let's use the breath againto explore, explore the
relationship between thesediaphragms, the pelvic floor,
(20:33):
the external rotators, theabdominal wall.
This time, when you breathe outon your out breath, I would
like for you to contract yourright glute.
I want you to just squeeze yourright butt cheek on your exhale
(20:55):
and then, on your inhale, justrelax, all right.
So find that powerful exhale,squeeze your right glute, maybe
hold just briefly at the bottomof that out Inhale and just
(21:15):
relax.
Okay, let's do a few more ofthose.
This can sometimes be asensitive movement, especially
on the right.
So if you're finding that it'ssort of making you a little
(21:39):
sensitive in your back or yourhip, just let me know.
I'll help.
(22:00):
The next time you exhale, yourglute is engaged.
You're going to hold, you'regoing to hold the engagement of
your glute.
You're going to breathe in andout.
Keep holding that contractedglute as you breathe in and out
and just notice how it feelsright.
(22:22):
It might feel inhibited, itmight feel stiffer in the right
side of the pelvic floor.
Perhaps you're noticing thatyou can't get as much of a full
breath.
There may be other thingshappening as well.
Maybe you feel like your heartrate goes up or you feel a
little tense.
One more breath in and out withthat right glute still
(22:43):
squeezing, and then the nexttime you breathe in relax your
glute and just remain in yourbanana tree.
Now the right glute is sneaky.
It's sneaky.
It likes to contract whenyou're not paying attention.
(23:08):
So I'm going to just have youenjoy the pose, but occasionally
check back in with that rightglute, see what's going on.
So most people think that thepelvic floor is like a bowl at
(23:33):
the base of the pelvis, but thatis not true.
At rest, the pelvic floorpresents like a dome, just like
the respiratory diaphragm, andmost people think that when you
(23:58):
engage your pelvic floor, thereis a lifting action, and that is
not untrue, but it isincomplete.
So to engage your pelvic floor,yes, there is a drawing up,
there is a contraction, but yourpelvic floor also contracts
(24:22):
when it descends with the breath.
This is an eccentriccontraction.
Usually it is a working stretchand somewhere in the middle of
those is a nice soft dome shape.
That is the pelvic floor atrest.
(24:43):
Check back in with that rightglute, we'll take one more
(25:14):
breath, and banana tree.
So before you come back to thecenter of the mat with your feet
flat, just kind of build alittle plan for how you're going
(25:39):
to get out of this pose.
Just kind of go through itmentally and then go ahead and
execute that plan, gettingyourself back to the center of
your mat with two feet flat.
If you need to reorganize propsor anything, you can do that
now as well.
And once you've found your wayback to the center of the mat
(26:02):
with the feet flat, maybe wideknees together, if you'd like,
notice the difference betweenthe right and the left side of
the pelvis, the right and theleft thigh, the right and the
left.
But cheek Now this time on yourin breath, your left thigh open
(26:43):
, your hips tilt left.
On your exhale the knee comesback up and the whole time that
right knee is going to staymostly pointed to the sky,
although it will probably tilt alittle.
So left thigh open and close.
Right thigh stays vertical ish.
(27:03):
Right thigh stays vertical, ish.
Yeah, and I'm seeing somereally good adjusting of the
position of the feet.
I like it.
So see if you can find thatstretching contraction on the
(27:30):
inhale, especially on the left,the pelvic floor is still very
much working, stabilizing,supporting, but it's also
stretching, not just because ofthe movement of the leg but also
because of the breath.
Right, wow.
(28:00):
And if you haven't already,it's time to tune in a little
bit to the opposite movement.
The exhale, the thigh comesback up.
Now it is an isometriccontraction pelvic floor and the
breath plays less of a rolesince the pelvic diaphragm is
(28:24):
moving to a resting position.
Alright, let's just do two more.
And the next time that thigh isopen, the hips are tilted.
(28:56):
You're going to stay.
Adjust the position of yourfeet if you need to support the
left thigh, if you need to, sothat you can relax into the pose
and just observe.
(29:18):
So for a long time, women weretold that the reason they were
having pelvic floor issues isbecause their pelvic floor was
weak, and what we're seeing nowin research is that that is
(29:40):
untrue and incrediblyunfortunate that people have
been given that impression.
So perhaps there's someweakness.
It's not because of tightness.
Let me rephrase that Perhapsthere is some weakness that
(30:10):
isn't related to being too lax.
I think that's what I want tosay.
So there's a misconception thatif something is very tight it
must be very strong, but that'snot true.
(30:33):
That defies the laws of physics, right?
Imagine you have a sling shotright and your rubber band is
super, super short and super,super thick and barely moves at
all.
How far are you going to beable to slingshot that rock?
Not very far, right.
So think about the type ofelasticity that would allow you
(30:56):
to shoot that rock really faraway.
So there's both strength andlength.
(31:37):
Let's take one more breath.
On your exhale, you'll bringthe left thigh back up.
Yes, you'll draw your leftthigh towards your chest before
(32:01):
crossing your ankle over yourright thigh close to your knee,
you'll push into your right foot, lift and shift hips to the
left.
Drop your figure four and tiltit to the right.
Yeah, tilt it to the right.
Yep, feel free to set up someprops.
(32:22):
What if we're here there?
Okay, chest is wide open, leftarm reaching out.
On your inhale, you're going topush your left thigh away.
On your exhale, you're justgoing to relax.
So, on the inhale, you willengage your pelvic floor and
(32:48):
external rotators On your exhale, you'll relax.
Just let everything come backto rest as best as you can.
So in research, what we see isthat more people have issues due
(33:25):
to something called hypertonicity, which is too tight and
weak, things like balanceissues, pain, discomfort.
(34:04):
So let's do two more of theseengaging inhales, softening
exhales, and then you'll justrest in your twisted pigeon,
(34:31):
finding the level of engage andsoft that works best for you in
the pose.
And so, in case you'rewondering, no, we do not need to
(34:57):
stretch the pelvic floor.
The tension of the pelvic flooris very finely calibrated to
the needs of the person, of theorganism.
What seems to be mostbeneficial is what you're doing
right now facilitating pelvicfloor awareness and a harmonious
(35:19):
relationship with therespiratory diaphragm.
So, previous пMON Ancient,we'll take one more breath in
(37:06):
the twisted pigeon here and thenwe're going to make that sort
of funky transition where thatpigeon leg, that left leg,
you're going to send out longand swing it past the front left
corner of your mat, past, yes,and we'll go ahead and bring the
(37:30):
sole of the right foot to theinner left thigh or maybe under,
and then let's make the bananahappen in the upper body as well
.
So you're going to creep yourhead and shoulders to the left.
Okay, feel free to support thatright leg, by the way.
(37:50):
Yeah, left, okay, arms, justhowever you want.
On your exhale, you squeeze yourleft glute, contract your butt
cheek.
On your inhale, you try torelease as much as you can.
(38:13):
Exhaling a squeeze for the leftglute, inhaling relax.
We'll do two more and the nexttime you're squeezing that glute
(39:19):
, you are engaged.
I'd like for you to continue tobreathe in and out.
Keep that left glute engagedand therefore also the pelvic
floor.
Continue to breathe in and outand just notice, notice what
shifts occur in the self, whichis the musculoskeletal system,
(39:43):
it's your nervous system, it'syour breath, it's your thoughts,
feelings, beliefs.
Let's notice what changes whenthere is an inhibition of the
pelvic floor.
And the next time you breathein, you're going to relax the
(40:06):
glute, relax the rotators, relaxthe pelvic floor and just hold
on your banana tree.
Good, check in with the rightand the left glute now.
(41:28):
Just check in, see what thelevel of engagement is currently
.
Just check in with the rightand the left glute and then
(41:56):
start to check in with the rightand the left glute and then
start to create a little planfor how you are going to release
(42:20):
this pose, to come back to theconstructive rest and then, when
you're ready, execute that plan.
So you'll be back in the centerof your mat with your two feet
flat and once you get there,you're just going to observe the
right and the left, right andthe left belly, right and the
(42:43):
left pelvis thigh, anything else.
Now your two feet are flat andabout hips width distance apart.
(43:06):
Your elbows you bring in so thatthey're on the mat with you and
then your hands you place onyour belly or on your heart,
whatever you can reach mosteasily with your elbows still
resting.
Keep your hands, your elbows asthey are, but do an anterior
(43:28):
tilt of your pelvis.
So you're going to rock towardsyour tail and allow the low
back to arch away from the matand then roll up the back of the
pelvis for a posterior tilt.
This time the tail will lift,the low back pushed down into
the mat.
Inhale for that anterior tilt,arching the back away from the
(43:52):
floor.
Exhale, maybe a little extrasqueeze as you tuck, feeling
that pelvic diaphragm rise up,lift up and then on the inhale
you'll feel it descend, justnaturally.
And then let's use the hands tokind of act sort of like a model
(44:13):
, all right.
So the next time you anteriortilt, so the back is arching,
your elbows stay on the floor,but your hands sweep down and
out like you're wearing a ballgown and you're going to do a
curtsy, almost right.
And then, as you posterior tilt, you exhale, your hands are
(44:34):
going to come back down and thenback up to your belly or chest
tuck so the hands sweep out torepresent this nice, gracious
expansion and release pelvicfloor anterior tilt, exhale.
Use the hands to gather up theenergy drawing, up, up, up, up,
up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up,up, up, up.
(44:56):
Inhale, gracious expansion arm.
Swing out anterior tilt, exhale.
Use the hands to draw in and upThree more, there's two and let
(45:29):
the arms and hands sort ofreflect the character that you
would like to have.
The attitude, the pelvicattitude.
That's a weird thing to have,but you know, okay, yeah, all
right, next time you're in thatposterior tilt position, hands
(45:50):
are on your chest, relax, justtake a few breaths, neutral,
bring your right knee towardyour right elbow, draw it in and
out Right knee, right elbow,good, and then I'm going to have
(46:12):
you grasp the knee with yourright hand, grasp the knee with
your right hand, go ahead andlift it up towards you a little
bit and then grasp the heel withyour left hand.
If you can grab it, and if youcan't get the heel, you can get
the ankle.
Whatever.
It's fine, whatever works.
So the knee is going to turnout.
So you're going to hold theknee in your right hand, the
(46:32):
heel in your left hand, andimagine that if you wanted to
which most of us can't you couldsort of cradle this leg like a
baby.
That's sort of the position ofthe leg to cradle it like a baby
and use the left leg, almostlike it's doing windshield
wipers, to rock side to side.
Just rock side to side.
(46:52):
So that left foot is going tokind of push you way over to the
right.
It's going to help you back tothe center.
It's going to push you way overto the left so you can kind of
rock the baby.
Essentially, yes, use yourbreath and your awareness of
your pelvic floor.
(47:13):
One of these external rotators,the obturator and Ternus, is a
little harder to feel, toexperience, and this is the best
position that I have found forobturator and Ternus.
So many of us feel very, verylimited here.
You might be feeling like youknow you have a really nice
(47:35):
strong, tight obturator andTernus, or maybe strong, weak
obturator and Ternus.
Excuse me, tight and weak iswhat I meant to say.
In any case, just breathe withthe movement rocking side to
side, just experience what'sthere.
(47:55):
It's not good, it's not bad.
It's just your body adapting tohow you move, how you think,
(48:21):
and then we'll bring that rightfoot flat, bring your hands onto
your chest or your belly Elbowsare on the floor and tear your
tilt Hands, sweep out, breathein, turn your face to the right
(48:45):
and then posterior tilt Handscome down and then in and then
up and your face to the centerthis time.
As your hands sweep out youranterior tilt face turn left,
exhaling, drawing in and up facecenter.
So we'll keep doing this, justturning the head side to side as
(49:07):
you do, your sweeping outanterior tilt pelvic floor,
descend, exhale center,posterior tilt pelvic floor, in
and up, and you might noticethat there is a slightly
different sensation on the rightversus the left side of the
(49:28):
pelvic floor as you're turningyour head.
I want you to notice this andif you don't, it's okay.
Maybe it's not for today, butanother day.
Just do one more of each.
One more of each with the headturning Okay, perfect.
(49:57):
And the next time you come backto that posterior tilt, your
hands are on your chest, justrest, everything, rest Neutral.
And this time you're going tobring your left thigh out and
toward your elbow, go ahead andlift it up and grasp the knee
left knee with your left hand,and with the right hand you'll
(50:18):
hold the ankle or the heel orwhatever you got, and you'll
kind of pull that leg acrossjust a little bit it doesn't
need to go far Like you're goingto cradle the baby and start
using that right foot to helpyou rock side to side, almost
like the right leg is doing awindshield waper.
Yeah, that's it, that's it.
That's it.
Just breathe with it, justobserve, right.
(50:42):
So what we're learning with moreresearch about the pelvic floor
is when people do the best, iswhen they have more awareness of
their pelvic floor.
Teaching somebody how to makeit stronger, weaker, whatever,
that doesn't seem to work.
As well as just teaching peoplehow to breathe and notice their
pelvic floor, which we're doingright now, let's just do a
(51:21):
couple more side to side,rocking side to side, letting
those hips tilt, if it's okay.
And this time back in thecenter, you'll stay.
You'll bring two feet flat.
(51:41):
This time.
Step your feet close together,keep your knees pointed up, but
step your feet close together,elbows on the floor, hands on
the belly or the chest.
Let's do another one of these,okay, this time on your anterior
tilt, hands sweep out, allowthose knees to open out to the
sides like a butterfly, a fullbutterfly.
(52:02):
And on the exhale your handscome down in up, knees back
together, squeeze, draw in andup on the pelvic floor.
So the hands are sort ofindicating the movement of the
pelvic floor.
So the inhale is for butterflyanterior tilt, the exhale is for
(52:24):
drawing those knees back uppelvic floor in up, up, up, up,
keep going.
Let's do a few more.
(52:53):
Okay, the next time you're inthe butterfly, those knees are
open, your hands are out, yourpelvis anterior tilt, let's just
stay.
And since we're going to be inthis pose for a little bit, if
you would like you could bringsome blocks under your thighs.
So, as we said before, the hipmuscles are getting stretched.
(53:19):
There's a good chance.
Pelvic floor is also receivinga little bit of tension, so you
might feel that there is tensionhere.
That's accurate.
There is tension here.
But see if you can stillbreathe, if you, even in this
more challenging, differentposition, can still observe the
(53:42):
harmony between respiratory andpelvic diaphragms.
See if that's possible.
Magda, magda, magda, ma.
Second view done.
(54:09):
The second view done the.
(56:05):
We'll just take a couple morebreaths in the sub pine
butterfly and then you'll useyour hands to help you bring
(56:26):
your knees back up and together.
If you have a bolster and you'dlike to use it, you could slide
it under your thighs as youextend those legs out long, and
if you don't, you're just goingto send the legs out nice and
long.
Heels are going to be about aswide as your mat.
(56:51):
That's a rough one to do, isn'tit, without making it all
wrinkled.
How's that?
Let me try it.
Is it okay?
Okay, on your inhale, feel thebelly expand.
This indicates the downwardexcursion of two diaphragms.
(57:13):
On your exhale, control therelease.
We'll continue to breathe likethat, with this expanding, and
maybe you'll imagine anexpansion, contraction of the
pelvic floor.
(57:33):
Maybe that expansion andcontraction could expand you,
right?
Maybe it's more than just thepelvic floor or the abdomen,
maybe it's the whole self.
And if you haven't already,it's time to sort of come back
(59:42):
to earth More accuratedimensions of self.
So for the next two or threeinhales, make them a little bit
(01:00:13):
longer.
A little bit longer on theinhale and you'll begin to
restore movement Fingers, toes,wrists, ankles.
Find your way onto the side ofyour choice.
(01:00:34):
We'll roll into your hands andrise up to your seat, press
(01:01:01):
palms together in front of yourheart.
Thank you so much forpracticing with me today, guys.
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