Hidden power
sthira, sukha and the female pelvic floor
Gentle, empowering, and truly healing. I’ve noticed real improvements in bladder control, pelvic ease, and emotional connection after years of pain and disconnection. So grateful for this course. Rebecca
Sthira and sukha are two concepts found in Patanjali’s writings on the theory and practice of yoga - the Yoga Sutras. They are Sanskrit term denoting opposing qualities: steadiness and ease. These are fundamental to the practice of yoga, and we spend a lot of time exploring their relationship and how we might find balance between effort and ease, strength and flexibility, support and relaxation, stability and openness, doing and non-doing.
In terms of the pelvic floor, we are looking for exactly this balance between steadiness and ease, between sthira and sukha. The network of muscles that make up the pelvic floor provide a structure of support to contain our abdominal and pelvic contents. These muscles literally contain us, keeping our organs in place, and allowing us to control the need to urinate and defecate. But, as with all muscles, we need them to be pliable and responsive too, to allow for opening as well as closing; release as well as containment; mobility as well as stability. It’s a fine balance between control and surrender.
In terms of our more subtle experience of ourselves, the pelvic floor is also deeply involved in the feelings of safety and groundedness associated with the root chakra, and with the fluidity and freedom associated with the pelvic chakra. Not surprisingly, we may find that one aspect of their function is better developed in us than the other: we may be good at holding on and not so good at letting go, or vice versa.
Although the pelvic floor is so central to our bodily functions and the way we experience ourselves, most of us have not actually been taught how to sense this part of our body. What’s more, many women delay asking for help when they become aware of problems, and suffer in silence.
I’m offering some more workshops this spring to help empower women to learn about this part of the body. They are suitable for all women. There is no need to wait until problems arise.
We will learn to feel the pelvic floor, relax it, and to integrate it into both breathing and movement. We will learn how to reduce load on the pelvic floor from above, how to strengthen it, and how we can fully embody this amazing part of our anatomy.
In the process we will, I hope, learn to better love the beauty of our bodies.
Just contact me if you’d like to find out more, or book yourself a place. I will also record the sessions, so you can catch up if the date/s don’t suit you. You can send me a message via the link below, email me, or give me a ring.
If you came to these workshops last year and would like to refresh or deepen your knowledge, you’d be most welcome. Don’t hesitate to get in touch.