Every women has heard that we should be doing our kegel exercises, but how many of us are actually doing them? So many women have been taught to dismiss discomfort, to normalise leaking, heaviness, or disconnection… but this is not the standard you were designed to live by.
So, why is your pelvic floor health important?
Supporting your pelvic floor health equals support for your entire body and how you function day to day! Your pelvic floor muscles are a part of your core system and assist in keeping you stable when you move. They sit at the base of your pelvis and play a key role in stability and control. Think of them like a hammock that supports your bladder, uterus and bowel. Basically, it’s one of those muscle groups you don’t think about much, until it’s not working well and then it can heavily impact your everyday life.
Like any muscle, the pelvic floor needs attention and training to stay strong. A weakened pelvic floor is very common as women move through life. Common factors include pregnancy and birth with the extra weight your body is carrying, aging as your bodies muscles naturally lose strength and elasticity, and the changes as you move through menopause and your pelvic tissues thin and weaken.
Every day habit changes
Along with working your pelvic floor muscles, there are changes you can make to your every day habits that will assist. Things like, not straining when going to the toilet, placing your feet on a stool while toileting (so your knees are higher than your hips), ensuring your core is activated when lifting heavy objects, having good posture and low impact workouts will all release pressure from those muscles. These every day habits support you long term and all the work you’re doing.
What’s an overactive pelvic floor and how to help
Whilst learning to strengthen your pelvic floor is important, it is just as important to learn how to relax those muscles. An overactive pelvic floor can cause just as many issues as a weak one. If your pelvic floor is overactive, you may notice things like, pain or pressure in your pelvis and vulva, difficulty fully emptying the bladder, pain or discomfort during intercourse, constipation and a general feeling of heaviness or tightness. An overactive pelvic floor is often mistaken for a weak one due to leakage and urgency as the muscles aren’t coordinating properly.
Lay on your back and breathe deeply, as you exhale imagine your pelvic floor relaxing. You can also try yoga poses such as child's pose, or any deep hip openers to help release tension. As women we hold a lot of tension and stress in our pelvis and womb space. Dearmouring practice using our Cervix Serpent Wand can help to release stored trauma, encourage the body to relax and brings awareness to those often forgotten about areas of our bodies. Vaginal de-armouring is a beautiful practice of consciously applying pressure on your vulva or inside your vagina, with the intention to put gentle pressure on points of tension, deeply breathe and allow the pressure to release and melt away.
How Do I Know If It's Over Active Or Under Active?
We get it, it can become confusing especially when the symptoms can present themselves in similar ways. Things to look for with an over active pelvic floor would be, pain during sex, difficulty starting urination, constipation or straining, pelvic, lower back or hip pain. Signs to look out for with an under active pelvic floor would be urinary leakage, difficulty holding in gas, feeling a heaviness or dragging sensation, reduced sensation during sex. A simple check in with yourself asking, Do I have trouble letting go while toileting, or holding in. Along with this, it is also important to note that all pelvic floor physios will be able to perform an assessment and let you know how to best support your pelvic floor moving forward.
Understanding prolapse
If you are experiencing a dragging sensation or “heavy” feeling that gets worse as the day progresses, you may have a prolapse. Some describe the feeling as something falling out. So how can you support or reverse a prolapse? It is important to support the pelvic floor muscles to reduce the pressure. Allocate 10-15 minutes a day to your kegel exercises. If you are using a tool like the Kgoal or Yoni egg and feel like you can not hold it in, that is okay! Take gravity out of the situation by sitting or laying down. Your muscles are still working in these positions and it will instil more confidence to keep going with these exercises. Core stability, not straining, and glute strength all help is supporting your pelvic floor and reduce the symptoms of prolapse. It is important to know when to seek professional help. If you have a noticeable bulge, difficulty urinating or using your bowl, or pain that effects your every day life it is important to be seen by a gynaecologist or pelvic floor physiotherapist.
The Importance of Your Pelvic Floor During Menopause
We hear many women who are entering or in menopause, use language like “that’s not needed anymore” or normalising a weak pelvic floor with “that would just fall out”. Our womb space is so often forgotten about as women, and we are told to just live with it. But you shouldn’t have to! Your pelvic floor supports so much of your body, not just your pelvic space. We recommend all women using the tools above to help improve their pelvic floor, however if you are in menopause, your body will naturally start producing less estrogen which means your pelvic tissue with thin and lose elasticity. You may want to seek additional support with prescribed medications such as estrogen which can help improve tissue strength.
How to strengthen the Pelvic Floor
Good news is there is lots you can do to help strengthen your pelvic floor muscles.
It begins with learning how to properly engage and relax your muscles. Try lifting and squeezing as if you are gently trying to stop urinating mid-stream. This will also activate your lower tummy and deep core muscles. Hold for a few seconds before releasing, and remember to breathe! Whilst not tensing your thighs or butt.
If you are unsure you are doing it correctly, try our KGoal Libido pelvic floor trainer. This amazing little device is designed to vibrate inside and outside when you squeeze and engage your pelvic floor. Hello instant cheeky reward for your work! It’s truly revolutionary and every women deserves one! Alongside the vibration confirmation, you can also download the KGoal app which offers guidance and personalised workouts.
Another amazing little tool for your pelvic floor is a Yoni Egg. As soon as the egg is inserted, your vaginal walls will naturally start contracting around the yoni egg to ‘hold’ it in. Then to intensify the workout for your muscles, you can add in intentional kegel exercises with breathwork. Try our 7 Day Yoni Egg Immersion for a guided program to get the most out of your Yoni egg work. The Yoni Egg also helps with increasing pleasure by sitting against the vaginal walls, activating those nerves that may have gone numb over time and increasing blood flow to those areas.
Building this into your weekly routine will make a big difference! Consistency is key when working with your pelvic floor. Every day is the goal but even starting with a few times a week, you're going to notice a difference.
Pelvic floor health is not a luxury and while issues like leaking, heaviness, or discomfort are often labelled “common,” they are not something you have to simply accept. With the right awareness, support, and simple daily habits, the pelvic floor can be strengthened and cared for at every stage of life. You deserve to move through life without limitation! It’s never too early or too late to start.
With love and health,
Mikay x
