Pelvic Health & Orthopedic Physical Therapy
Addressing your questions about pelvic, women's, and musculoskeletal health. Health is a journey. Movement is healing!
What are you doing right now? Finishing up work, cleaning, getting ready for the next day? When was the last time you checked in with yourself?
It is so important to tune into your body's needs. Too often we get caught up in the chaos of the world and forget to nourish our bodies. When was the last time you thought about your pelvic muscles? Are they feeling tense? Perhaps they aren't tense, but you never stop to engage them. We don't connect with our pelvis very often. It is so important to build this connection between the mind and the muscles. Understand where your pelvic muscles are. If they feel elevated or tense it is important to engage relaxation and lengthening strategies. If they are feeling weak and lack engagement you need to work in more challenges to these muscles with strengthening. When was the last time you took a deep breath and truly filled your lungs? Place one hand on your chest and one on your belly. Are you breathing with just your chest? Can you fill the abdomen instead? Employing diaphragmatic breathing can help to mobilize your pelvic muscles and stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system to calm your body down. This is one of my favorite strategies to implement in traffic (no hands required once you get the technique). Hydration nation. WATER is crucial to your body and health. Not coffee and tea (though we may feel the need to drink lots of caffeine). No, soda and flavored water aren't the same. Your body loses lots of water throughout the day, but it also requires water to function. Water helps the bladder and gastrointestinal tract to function better. The bladder is covered in muscle. We have to drink lots of water to get the bladder to expand to its full capacity and empty fully throughout the day. If we consistently don't drink enough the bladder capacity can start to decrease. The GI tract also absorbs the fluid from the contents. So if we do not replace the water in our body, the material in the colon does not move as easily through the system. Lastly, MOVE. Move often! It's that time of the year. The chill of winter nips at every exposed part of skin. You constantly feel dry. It is already almost the end of December. Everyone is caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. It is supposed to be a joyous and relaxing time of the year, but for most it is a time of insurmountable stress. Stress about meeting deadlines. Stress about finances. Stress about holiday shopping. Stress about time with family. Stress about lots about different things. Heck I feel it just when I am trying to get in and out of the parking lot at Target. I might just stop going until the holidays are over so I don't get hit.
Stress and anxiety can not only cause negative psychological health effects, but it can also have physical effects on the body. Stress can change your bowel movements, make you nauseous, change your sleeping patterns, make you feel less rested, and lower your ability to fight diseases. So during the craziness of the next few weeks remember to take a few minutes for yourself each day. One great way to practice self care is deep breathing and meditation. Utilizing the diaphragm (a muscle that sits under your lungs) to breathe deeper can help to relax your body and nervous system. It can also make you feel more well rested. Oh gosh you don't know how to meditate? There's an app for that, quite a few actually and YouTube videos galore. Here are just a few for your viewing pleasure: 1. Stop, Breathe, Think: Meditate 2. Smiling Mind 3. Aware: Meditation & Mindfulness 4. Headspace 5. Calm So download an app to your phone and set aside a few minutes before you start your day and at the end to help keep yourself in a positive space during the holiday season. We are once again sprinting towards the holidays and end of the year. It seems like there is so much that needs accomplished during the days and just too little time to get it done. In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season remember to take a little time for yourself.
I am one of the worst culprits when it comes to self care. I rarely make time for myself and as a result my health suffers. My stress levels rise and my head begins to rotate around on my body...Joking. But in all seriousness other aspects of my life and health are affected by my chronic state of increased stress. I have chronic headaches, migraines, and interrupted sleep. How does your stress affect you? Does it make you more irritable? Feel fatigued throughout the day? Maybe you are like me and you get lots of headaches and your stress makes it difficult for you to get a full night's sleep. The end of the year is the perfect time to start implementing new practices into your schedule. Why not take a little time every day for some self care in order to combat stress? Especially the daily stress compounded with holiday stress. Over the past two days I've started doing a little yoga before bed and the past two nights I've slept through the entire night. Studies say on average it takes approximately 66 days to make a practice habit. So let's enter the new year taking more time to ensure we take care of our mental wellbeing! Here are a few different ways to take some you time:
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AuthorHello! I am Caitlyn, Doctor of Physical Therapy and Board Certified Women's Health Physical Therapist working in St Louis, Missouri. Faculty in developing residency program. Endowarrior Categories
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July 2021
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