Five stretches for the pelvic floor

child’s pose - Katee Lue

During the craziness of the Covid-19 pandemic I know that everyone is dealing with high levels of stress and tension on a daily basis. Stress affects us mentally and physically. The pelvic floor is a common place for stress to come to rest in the body. Stress can cause overactivity and shortening of muscles. Overactivity in the pelvic floor can cause or be related to pelvic pain, pain with intercourse, hip pain, low back pain, sacroiliac joint pain, urinary urgency, urinary frequency, urge incontinence, and stress incontinence. Hey, that is just about every symptom of pelvic floor dysfunction that there is. This means that everyone who has any pelvic floor symptom should work on lengthening those muscles!! These are five of my favorite stretches for lengthening the pelvic floor and managing muscle overactivity.

The piriformis is often blamed for pelvic, hip, and back pain, and it is definitely a muscle to assess and address, but the obturator internus is just as important and often ignored.

Pigeon pose is my personal favorite hip stretch. Not everyone tolerates it well, so if you try it and do not like the position or feel tense after then do not include it. Stretching needs to be individualized to each person.

This stretch gets right to the pelvic floor and is such a relaxing position. It should be an easy position to get into and relax.

Ending in child’s pose is a good way to bring it all together. Remember that this and every stretch position should be comfortable. Do not push yourself beyond what is comfortable for you.

Let me know which is your favorite stretch and whether you notice a difference in your pelvic floor symptoms. In some clients, downtraining is all it takes to get symptoms under control.