What is the Umbrella Breath? The Umbrella Breath is an accessible, if not easier, way to strengthen your core and pelvic floor using the voice and the breath. Building core strength requires that you raise or create intra-abdominal pressure to create spinal stiffness. Doing this helps a person safely transfer a load that is beyond…
This week’s Pose of the Week is a Hip Hack called Kite Flying, or what I also call Two Strap Hip Release. Kite Flying is not your typical yoga posture. It’s actually a Medical Therapeutic Yoga technique I created to mobilize a hip joint that has been snarky for too long, and has created back…
What Mothers Want You to Know There are a lot of myths surrounding postpartum recovery. I’d like to bust just 6 of those myths in this short post. Becoming a mother through giving birth is a miracle – a transformative, profound rite of passage that can be a defining moment of a woman’s life. There…
What is a tight pelvic floor? In 2012 Dr. Stephanie Faubion from the Mayo Clinic wrote a scientific article on recognition and management of the “nonrelaxing pelvic floor,” at the time and probably still, an under-recognized and under-treated problem in women. The wonderful thing about this article was that it brought attention to a problem…
Pose of the Week is all about tackling hip and pelvic issues in yoga postures. The goal is to make a yoga pose fit your body, rather than trying to force your body to fit a yoga pose. Visit my blog to see the other Posts of the Week and sign up for my newsletter…
Misogyny in healthcare is a real problem. But it doesn’t stop there. A new mother contacted me in my office a few days ago. I spoke with this pleasant young woman in person for nearly a half hour, far beyond the free 10 minute consults I usually do. Here’s why: Women’s pain and suffering is…
The COVID pandemic has stopped much of the world as we know, creating a “new normal”. Once busy streets and shops are empty, activities are cancelled and you may not even be going to work. One thing that the virus has not stopped is pain and injury. Maybe you were seeing your PT when stay…
I am a human being first, a woman second, and a mother third. In that order. And yet, according to research, I will be judged (unfairly) and be valued less in society because of that last identity: being a mother. The reality is I will be paid less than a woman without children. I will…
The Voice is Queen in the Pelvic Floor Kingdom Did you know your voice is a KEY INDICATOR for your pelvic & sexual health? If you want to go the distance – whether in the boardroom or the bedroom – then you gotta make some noise. This is because women are notoriously ignored in both…
I remember the exact moment of excruciating pain when the well-meaning L&D nurse cranked back on my leg. I told her it hurt worse, but she misunderstood me. And she kept cranking. The pain was unbearable. And I was in too much agony to be able to voice any protest. So I kept pushing. My…
On November 8th I was invited to speak at the North Carolina Executive Mansion as part of a panel for the NC Chapter of the UN Women. What an amazing experience it was, and an honor and privilege to be able to sit on a panel with so many qualified women. In fact, every woman…
Yoga for New Moms: Breastfeeding & Caregiving Did you know that in a study of 500 first time moms followed for 3 months after birth, 92% of them reported issues and concerns with breastfeeding? The study concluded that all mothers need support after hospital discharge, and yet, most do not receive it in the US….