navigating (peri-) menopause
and the female pelvic floor
The menopause is a milestone in any woman’s life: a major transition into a different phase of womanhood. Any transition can be an uncomfortable and unsettling place, but menopause in particular comes with a lot of baggage, and can also be a time of navigating troubling symptoms, and of coming to terms with ageing.
Our bodies change as we age, of course, and the pelvic floor is no exception. Our inactive and sedentary life styles, hormonal fluctuations, loss of estrogen, and a widespread cultural disconnect from the pelvic floor - these are all additional challenges women face in maintaining or restoring a well-functioning pelvic floor into and beyond the menopause.
The menopause is more talked about these days. But many (most?) of us have not been taught about our pelvic floor. Women’s health is, typically, underfunded and under-researched. Yet there is growing evidence connecting yoga, pelvic health and emotional well-being. One recent randomized controlled pilot study found that pelvic floor contractions significantly reduced vaginal dryness in postmenopausal women: even in this small and limited way, it seems attending to the pelvic floor can offer support for some of the symptoms of menopause.
Research also suggest that pelvic floor training is most effective when woven into functional movement and whole-body coordination. This makes complete sense - the pelvic floor is a key participant in the orchestration of breathing, stability and movement. It helps us manage changes to abdominal pressure and it keeps us contained, both literally and energetically.
As we learn to engage with these muscles more sensitively - and, crucially, to relax them too - we improve blood flow and tissue resilience, we build our connection to the body, and learn to integrate the pelvis and pelvic floor into daily movement.
In Chinese Medicine, rather than the euphemistic (and non descriptive) term “The Change”, the female menopause is poetically called our Second Spring. It suggests a time of growth and positive change - a new, spring-like beginning.
Make this a time to reconnect with your body. Your pelvic floor is connected to so much that helps us live well: digestion, breathing, sexuality, energy, vitality, confidence, and grounding.
I’ll be running another course on the female pelvic floor this autumn - please do get in touch if you are interested or have questions. Here are the dates:
Dates: Saturdays: Sept 12; Oct 3; Nov 7
Time: 10am-12.30pm.
You can attend: in person, on-line, or via video recording afterwards.
Cost: £135 for the series. If you are not sure you can commit to all 3, come to the first one for £50 - and then decide.
Venue: Frankie's Yoga Studio, Stroud; or on-line.
Contact me to book a place, or for more information, or if you'd like to join but can't make the dates.
Just wanted to say thank you for the Pelvic Floor and Yoga workshops. I thought they were excellent with lots of useful information and practical exercises and approaches for looking after your pelvic floor. I came away thinking this was knowledge that every woman should have about the physiology of the pelvic floor and how it is integrated with breath and movement. There was a lot of attention to detail and care in the way you ran the classes: the exercises were interesting and well planned, you provided a safe and compassionate space for women to discuss particular issues and I appreciated the detailed summaries of each class you sent. I hope many more women benefit from your pelvic floor workshops.
R, Stroud
