{"id":2037,"date":"2016-10-13T21:13:28","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T21:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=2037"},"modified":"2016-10-13T21:13:28","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T21:13:28","slug":"posture-breathing-and-pelvic-floor-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=2037","title":{"rendered":"Posture, Breathing and Pelvic Floor Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your posture plays a huge role in helping your body work effectively and functionally. Many of those aches and pains can all be related to poor posture, which can seem obvious. What can seem less obvious is the relationship between your posture and a weak pelvic floor. Posture can affect your bladder control, prolapse issues and weak pelvic floor problems. So it\u2019s vital to work on getting it right.<\/p>\n

Try this out\u2026Sit in a slumped position, with your shoulders rounded and your chest compressed. A fairly typical posture for those who sit alot, and often how we relax on the sofa! Now try to breathe deeply, you should find it is difficult to fill your lungs. In this slumped posture your abdominal contents become compressed and your diaphragm can\u2019t move downwards, so instead of using your diaphragm effectively you use your upper chest muscles to help you breathe.<\/p>\n

Slumped forward position and breathing with the upper chest muscles increase pressure on the pelvic floor. Not good.\u00a0 In this position your core muscles (including deep abdominal and pelvic floor) can\u2019t effectively counter the increased pressure.<\/p>\n

Guess what, sort out your posture and breathing and suddenly the core muscles start to work in the right way. Our bodies are built in an amazing way.<\/p>\n

So start focusing on your posture, with a tall spine, shoulders down in the back, ribcage soft and not pushed out, tall neck and allow there to be space for your abdominals to work.<\/p>\n

\"the-core2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Next focus on the breath. You want to breath using the diaphragm. That may sound obvious as it is how our bodies are built to work, but so many of us do not breath correctly. It is called Diaphragmatic breathing or thoracic breathing.\u00a0 Some people breath with just their tummies, some people breath with just their ribcage. You want to use BOTH.<\/p>\n

\"breathe_titled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Try out this exercise:<\/span><\/p>\n

Place 1 hand on the bottom of your ribcage and 1 hand on the side of your ribcage. Breathe in<\/b> slowly and deeply so that you feel your tummy rise and your ribcage expand out to the side. You want to focus on breathing into the tummy and ribcage whilst keeping the upper chest muscles relaxed. Think of your lungs like balloons expanding out to the side of the body.<\/p>\n

Breathe out<\/b> by letting the rib cage fall back to resting and the tummy fall back down.<\/p>\n

It takes practise and you may find it quite forced at first. Try practicing when you are relaxing or use it as a way to relax throughout the day and it will become habit.<\/p>\n

Exercise 2: breath with a band:<\/span><\/p>\n

Tie a band or a scarf round your body just below the ribcage. Sit with good posture, your ribcage over your pelvis. As you breath in<\/b> feel your ribcage expanding into the band. As you breath out<\/b> the ribcage decreases in size. The band can be a nice way to practice your breathing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your posture plays a huge role in helping your body work effectively and functionally. Many of those aches and pains …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[616,3,259,964,6,965,9],"tags":[1210,1213,1212,71,1007,1011,1006,175,118,1211,1214,815,967],"class_list":["post-2037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alignment-2","category-antenatal","category-bump-to-birth","category-core","category-exercises","category-pelvic-floor","category-postnatal","tag-breathing-and-pelvic-floor","tag-diaphragm","tag-how-to-breath-for-your-pelvic-floor","tag-pelvic-floor","tag-pelvic-floor-hampshire","tag-pelvic-floor-problems","tag-pelvic-floor-southampton","tag-pilates-hampshire","tag-pilates-with-priya","tag-posture-and-pelvic-floor","tag-priya-tew-pimp-your-pelvic-floor","tag-southampton-pilates","tag-weak-pelvic-floor"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3FIsx-wR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2371,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=2371","url_meta":{"origin":2037,"position":0},"title":"Hypopressives are coming to Southampton","author":"Priya Tew","date":"27 November, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Hypopressive exercise, is a relatively new technique developed to help with pelvic floor rehabilitation and postnatal recovery of the abdominals. It is a form of breathing and intense posture work that involves creating a vacuum with your breath. This activate the involuntary fibres of the pelvic floor and abdominals,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Alignment"","block_context":{"text":"Alignment","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=616"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2686,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=2686","url_meta":{"origin":2037,"position":1},"title":"The secret sect","author":"Priya Tew","date":"24 June, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Since starting specialising in postnatal womens recovery I feel like I've discovered a secret sect. An un-talked about condition that is just normalised by ladies and it shouldn't be. It has become something these ladies accept and life their life around. Why? Often I think life is busy, most of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bump to Birth"","block_context":{"text":"Bump to Birth","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=259"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/fachry-zella-devandra-461865-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/fachry-zella-devandra-461865-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/fachry-zella-devandra-461865-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/fachry-zella-devandra-461865-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/fachry-zella-devandra-461865-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1691,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1691","url_meta":{"origin":2037,"position":2},"title":"Pimp Your Pelvic Floor Was a Success!","author":"Priya Tew","date":"27 September, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This week we ran our first Pimp Your Pelvic Floor workshop. In fact it was our first every Pilates workshop! We had 5 ladies, 4 of whom were already mums and 1 of who was 36 weeks pregnant with twins! Plus we had the company of a beautiful 11 week\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AnteNatal"","block_context":{"text":"AnteNatal","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/KeepCalmandDoKegels.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/KeepCalmandDoKegels.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/KeepCalmandDoKegels.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/KeepCalmandDoKegels.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2066,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=2066","url_meta":{"origin":2037,"position":3},"title":"What postnatal pilates can do for you.","author":"Priya Tew","date":"9 January, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"When you are pregnant there is a lot of focus on keeping your body healthy, looking after yourself and putting you first. There is a lot more time to focus on exercising well, cooking good meals and thinking in general. The midwife and friends\/family are asking how your body feels,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bump to Birth"","block_context":{"text":"Bump to Birth","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=259"},"img":{"alt_text":"Postnatal Pilates: why all mums need it","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/PN-Pilates-quote--300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2305,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=2305","url_meta":{"origin":2037,"position":4},"title":"The 3 top benefits of postnatal pilates.","author":"Priya Tew","date":"17 September, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"It strengthens your core and fixes your body. This is HUGE NEWS. Mums are lifting, bending, rotating, reaching, rocking, pushing and feeding babies. A whole lot of work and strain on the body. The core is made up of the abdominal muscles, the back muscles and the pelvic floor. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AnteNatal"","block_context":{"text":"AnteNatal","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Breathe_titled-300x300.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1619,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1619","url_meta":{"origin":2037,"position":5},"title":"Pelvic Floor: It’s not all about the lift.","author":"Priya Tew","date":"14 June, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm slowly turning into a pelvic floor geek. Someone save me! Seriously I have learnt so much more about the pelvic floor in the past year and know I have more to learn. \u00a0It's pretty sad that so much of the information that is given out is so out of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Exercises"","block_context":{"text":"Exercises","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/RloMxlZxLZA\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2037"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2041,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2037\/revisions\/2041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}