Strengthen the pelvic floor with yoga
Aug 20, 2021
Strengthen the pelvic floor with yoga: little effort with great effect
The pelvic floor is one of the parts of the body that we underestimate the most. This is because the term often comes up for the first time in the course of pregnancy. This should urgently change. For both women and men, it is essential for their own body image and health to pay attention to the pelvic floor.
Natural functionality can be weakened by physical overload, obesity, poor posture of the body, surgery and medication - not to mention stretching due to pregnancy and childbirth.
If no preventive measures are taken or not taken at an early stage, a weakened pelvic floor can lead to incontinence. So that you wet yourself, for example, through stress or bouncing movements. Doesn't sound good, does it?
The good news is that you can effectively strengthen your pelvic floor with the right yoga exercises. In the following article we tell you why a strong pelvic floor is so important and how you can train it - and show you that pelvic floor training with yoga is easier than you think.
Why is a strong pelvic floor important in everyday life?
The pelvic floor is the connective tissue-muscular floor of the pelvic cavity. It is responsible, among other things, for closing the urethra and intestines through tension and opening them through relaxation.
It also plays a crucial role during sexual intercourse. In short, an erection or orgasm is hardly possible without the cooperation of the pelvic floor. Another important function is the so-called reflexive counter-holding: When pressure is exerted on the abdominal cavity, the pelvic floor tenses to protect it.
A weakened pelvic floor can therefore sometimes cause moderate to severe impairments in everyday life. So it's time to get active if you're not already. If you already do yoga for the pelvic floor, you may find one or two suggestions for your further training in our tips.
What about pelvic floor training before and after pregnancy?
Statistically, women are more often affected by a weakening of the pelvic floor than men. This is not least due to anatomy: female tissue tends to give way more easily by nature. Most women are familiar with a weakness of the connective tissue - even if it is mostly external.
Especially in pregnant women, it becomes clear why the connective tissue has to be so flexible. In the process, the female body ensures that enough space is created and even temporarily shifts organs.
But it is precisely this top performance, which the pelvic floor, among other things, achieves during pregnancy, that also leads to weakening. The pelvic floor gives way. After pregnancy, you should definitely stabilise it with intensive pelvic floor training. This is the only way to avoid the aforementioned impairments that a weakened pelvic floor unfortunately inevitably causes.
Reading tip: Find out how you and your little darling can relax with yoga after pregnancy in our article "Yoga after birth: feel-good momentsfor you and your baby".
What exercises help to strengthen your pelvic floor?
There are various exercises to stretch and strengthen the pelvic floor. In fact, pelvic floor training through yoga is particularly suitable. Because most of the exercises are located here anyway. Whether pelvic floor training in a sitting or standing position - there are very simple and gentle exercises with which you can achieve good results. We have put together a few exercises that you can use to start your training.
Before the start: prepare pelvic floor training
The descriptions of typical pelvic floor exercises say that you should tense your pelvic floor. But how exactly does that actually work? Before you start with your yoga exercises, we would like to give you two tips:
- To tighten your pelvic floor, imagine you are tightening your lower muscles in your lower abdomen and letting them travel upwards like a lift.
- Go to the toilet before you start exercising to empty your bladder. This way you avoid unwanted surprises: As you are working the muscles that are responsible for your sphincter muscles, you may experience urine leakage.
A chair is not just for sitting: activate muscles
With a simple piece of furniture like a chair as an aid, you can easily do something good for your pelvic floor. The following exercise is easy to do wherever you are. Here, one round with ten repetitions is suitable to achieve an effect.
- Sit upright on the seat of a chair and look forward. Feel your ischial tuberosities to locate the pelvic floor that is between them.
- Activate your muscles by tensing your orifices. Imagine that you are sucking your body inside. Make sure that you really only tense your pelvic floor muscles and do not activate the surrounding muscles.
- Hold this position for five seconds and then relax again.
Our tip: Just try it out even during working hours.
It can be so simple: Pelvic floor training in standing position
Pelvic floor training while standing is a very pleasant activity. You don't need any aids and the exercise is not complicated. The following exercise is quick and effective at the same time. Ten repetitions are ideal.
- Stand up straight and open your legs shoulder-width apart.
- Then bend your knees slightly. Rest your hands on your thighs. Keep your back straight.
- In this position, pull your pelvic floor inwards and hold the tension for about five seconds.
- Then release the tension and consciously relax your pelvic floor muscles.
Light-as-air butterfly: pelvic floor training while lying down
The "butterfly" is an excellent strength exercise for your pelvic floor. Perform this exercise in a way that feels comfortable for you. Repeat this pelvic floor exercise ten times.
- Lie on your back and put your legs up. Your neck remains long and flat on the floor. If necessary, you can place a flat pillow under your head.
- Let your legs fall apart straddling each other. Press the soles of your feet together. This straddle does not have to be very big. The important thing is to keep your back on the floor and the soles of your feet pressed together.
- Exhale and tense your pelvic floor, inhale and relax.
Practical pelvic floor training on the go: climbing stairs
As important as pelvic floor training is, it is easy to integrate the corresponding exercises into your everyday life. With minimal effort, climbing the stairs, for example, becomes the ultimate workout kick:
On each step, place only your forefoot, tense your pelvic floor and use the energy that collects here to push yourself upwards. This way you can climb every step and work out at the same time.
How do you develop a routine for your pelvic floor training through yoga?
As with all yoga exercises and sporting activities in general, the same applies to pelvic floor training: regularity leads to lasting training success. Since yoga for the pelvic floor is very uncomplicated, you can quickly develop a routine:
- When you schedule a regular yoga session, make pelvic floor yoga part of your asanas.
- For example, schedule the chair exercise for your lunch break or set another time that you already use for regular activities. Whether it's in the morning after reading the newspaper or in the evening before dinner, such fixed points help to routinely include another activity "in the programme".
The only thing that is essential is that you quickly get used to incorporating the exercises into your daily routine. If you consider pelvic floor yoga a normal part of your daily routine, it will quickly become a matter of course.
Pelvic floor training: an effort that pays off
To maintain or restore the natural functionality of the pelvic floor, you need one thing above all: patience. As you can see, the required exercises are quite simple.
Or in other words, you just have to get going to prevent problems like incontinence. It's totally worth the effort, don't you think? Give your pelvic floor the attention it deserves - you can only benefit.
