These W.O.W. Chats are candid, clear, and concise Words of Wisdom gathered from people I respect and admire: professionals and friends I have connected with throughout my travels across the globe. This compilation is Part 6 of 7 of the 2018 interview collection of brilliant and binge-worthy tidbits of insight, information, life lessons, and more.
Hope you enjoy!
Your pelvic floor plays an important role not only in bladder, bowel, reproduction and sexual function, but also in hip function, breathing, core strategies, standing balance and more. The pelvic floor is also known to be intimately connected to the feet and the floor of the mouth. Pelvic health issues related to these many roles are commonly poorly addressed or often left untreated in both women and men.
Join Shelly Prosko, PT, C-IAYT, CPI, physical therapist and yoga therapist, for her 20 hour, Live In-Person, yoga therapy course focusing on pelvic floor health that offers a combination of inspiring, empowering, educational and valuable theory and practice. This course explores the evidence surrounding the biopsychosocial factors that influence pelvic floor function and integrates this evidence with yoga practices and philosophy that can be safely and effectively used to address and maintain optimal pelvic floor health in both men and women in an accessible way. Read more →
Copyright Ray Long, MD Used with Permission
Integrating Pelvic Floor Cueing into Your Yoga Classes
Shelly Prosko, PT, PYT, C-IAYT
It is wonderful to see the pelvic floor (PF) gain more media attention these days! As a yoga professional, you are well positioned to address PF wellness in your classes for both men and women. Unfortunately, accurate information about the PF is not always conveyed. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of practices to promote PF health? Kegel exercises? Mula bandha? If so, you may want to read on. Read more →
Dustienne Miller. At risk of sounding a bit creepy, I will admit that I have a huge “girl-crush” on this phenomenal woman. I remember about 5 years ago I came across her brilliant work as I was starting to travel around to teach PhysioYoga workshops for optimizing pelvic health.
Dustienne is a board certified women’s health physical therapist, Kripalu-certified yoga teacher, AND a professional dancer. She integrates her love of movement with physical therapy and yoga to help men and women who suffer from pelvic floor pain and dysfunctions.
Dustienne is the creator of a video series that uses yoga postures and breathing techniques to navigate pelvic pain and incontinence: Your Pace Yoga: Relieving Pelvic Pain and Your Pace Yoga: Optimizing Bladder Control. I have been tremendously inspired by these videos and I recommend them to my patients and students regularly.
Dustienne and I had the opportunity to dig deep into the inspiration behind her videos, their impact and if she’d do anything different:
Me: Let’s start with your inspiration. What prompted you to create these videos?
Dustienne: The videos were really born out of a true need for my patients. In 2011 I was working in NYC at Beyond Basics Physical Therapy, and I found myself giving my clients yoga home programs in stick figure form. I realized there was a massive void in video programming available and recognized the need for something to work with at home. Carryover between sessions and after discharge from physical therapy is sometimes a missing link in rehab. Yoga can be an important aspect of the patient’s home program and used for maintenance. I created a program my patients could use at their own pace, in their own space. Read more →
Well, I am finally dedicating an entire post to all these pelvic floor health Physio Yoga resources I’ve been creating and accumulating over the years: writing, filming, interviewing, sharing!
I will keep this post updated and current, and add any resources I find valuable to share. This information is targeted towards people like you who are interested in learning more about and optimizing pelvic floor health through yoga: the general public, the yoga teacher, yoga therapist, health care professional, or anyone simply looking for more quality information and resources on creating pelvic floor health for both men and women through Physio + Yoga.
The first resource is a great place to start: an article I wrote in the Winter 2016 Issue of the International Association of Yoga Therapists “Yoga Therapy Today” publication. It’s a concise summary of roles of the pelvic floor, factors influencing pelvic floor function, and how yoga fits in: Read more →
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