If I said “flex your bicep” – I’d bet you’d be able to make your upper arm muscle look like Popeye’s (or Arnie’s depending on how buff you are).
If I said “engage your pelvic floor”- who knows what would happen. You might squeeze the front as if trying to stop yourself from peeing. Or you might squeeze the back as if trying to stop a sneaky fart. Or you might squeeze the whole caboodle- everything from the waist down, (Like driving down a country lane praying that the oncoming lorry won’t squish you. You clench like crazy, hold your breath and shut an eye too)
So, which is it? The front? The back? The middle bit? Something else?
Does it really matter? Can’t I just engage the whole region and hope that’ll do the trick. Well, the short answer is: no.
We need to be able to engage different muscles to do different actions. (It’s a bit like clenching both fists if you want to pick up a feather.) For example, in Pilates, often the focus is on activating the pelvic floor muscles with a scooping action, lifting and drawing in the lower abdominals. Conversely, lifting weights such as heavy lifts like squats or deadlifts, has cues for a ‘bearing down action‘ of the pelvic floor (aka the Valsalva manoeuvre). This bracing action helps support heavy lifts and stabilize the spine*.
In yoga, the pelvic floor engagement cues depend on style and pose. At one point in Ashtanga Vinyasa the idea was to keep the pelvic floor engaged for the entire 90 minute practice. In poses like Bridge or Wheel, instructors may cue for a lifting and toning of the pelvic floor to support the spine and pelvis in backbends. In seated poses or forward folds, there may be cues to gently release and relax the pelvic floor to allow for deeper relaxation and surrender. In pranayama (breathing techniques) there are different suggestions depending on what type of breath you are practicing.
Multisensory Approach
Recently, in class I might have asked you to lift your big toes whilst keeping the other toes on the ground and then swapping over. Often I see people’s fingers moving instead of the toes**- mine included! To help with this Herculean task of lifting the big toe, I suggest you look at the part of the body you want to move, because this action activates the visual cortex, which then sends signals to the motor cortex: the region of the brain responsible for planning and executing voluntary movements. If nothing moves, I might suggest to physically touch your big toes with your hand. Now you’ve further engaged sensory receptors, strengthening the neural connection between visual input and tactile feedback.
This multisensory approach bridges the gap between visual perception and kinaesthetic awareness, making it easier for the brain to command the intended movement. Most of the time people end up in fits of laughter, because the toes just don’t seem to want to do as they are told! But as with everything -practice makes perfect.
Mapping Out The Area
Having a multisensory approach helps for any part of the body, including the pelvic floor, but for reasons of taboo, religion, culture and a whole lot more, it’s not an easy cue for me to ask the class to put your hand on your pelvic floor, especially if next door’s spin instructor is bellowing “come on, push, push, harder…” to the tech version of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s get it on”.
So here is something you can do at home…
Put your hand on your perineum and breathe deeply a few times, tune inwards. As you breathe there is movement in this area?
(Where is my perineum? It is the landing stripe between the vagina or testicles and the anus.)
A Bit of Anatomy
During inhalation, the diaphragm, a dome-shaped muscle that separates the thoracic (upper chest) and abdominal (lower torso) cavities, contracts and moves downward. Like an elevator descending towards the abdominal cavity, it creates space in the thoracic cavity for the lungs to expand. Simultaneously, the pelvic floor muscles, situated in the abdominal basin, adjust their tension to support the descending diaphragm, akin to an elevator shaft accommodating the movement. You will feel the expanding chest up top and a subtle sensation of release or softening in the perineal area down below.
Conversely, as you exhale, the diaphragm relaxes and ascends back to its resting position under the ribs, resembling the elevator going back up. Meanwhile, the pelvic floor muscles gently contract and lift to support the organs and maintain pelvic stability. This upward movement may manifest as a subtle sense of engagement or elevation in the perineum.
So now you have a sense of this area, and you know that it moves when you breath – now what?
Can you move it?
How to Waggle Your Bits
Can you move your clitoris towards your anus? Or move your penis towards your anus? (I know, I know. Why are you reading this trying to move bits of the body that are quite happy tucked away and forgotten about -unless they’re coming out to play and then I really don’t want to discuss it here thank you very much). But how can we strengthen something that we don’t know if we can move?
Sit on the edge of a chair or on one of those big exercise balls if you have one, lean the torso forward and try to move your clitoris/penis down and back up. (You could always get a mirror and see what you are doing- remember the visual cortex can send a message to the motor cortex). If you consciously direct your attention to an area in your body calmly you enhance neuroplasticity in this region, and experience a significant reduction in stress levels.
More isn’t necessarily better
Being able to perform this contraction and lifting action of the pelvic floor muscles can improve support for the pelvic organs, enhance continence, better sexual function and a host of other things. BUT it’s not just about being able to engage the muscle, it is also about being able to let it go. Just like any other muscle you can over work it. Imagine if all you did everyday was keep your bicep engaged – what do you think would happen?
Various physios have talked about clients who spent years contracting their pelvic floor muscles whilst they did yoga or Pilates day after day, year after year and now have pelvic floor muscle fatigue and issues with decreased control over bladder or bowel function and a weakness in the area. As with everything- it is about moderation. Pelvic floor engagement is not a one-size-fits-all endeavour.
Find out more
AND guess what? We have a workshop that looks at the relationship between movement, breath, and pelvic floor function. How pelvic floor engagement can influence and refine your yoga practice. ‘We’ meaning -myself and the lovely Jo Harris a yoga teacher trainer who is also a pregnancy and post-natal teacher trainer and currently training as a birth and postnatal doula.
The plan for the 2 hour workshop is to look at the anatomy of the area, work out where it is in our body, and understand what to do with it when we do certain movements and breathing, does it help with deep backbends? Jumping? Breathing? At end the session there will be a guided meditation exploring muladhara or root chakra associated with feelings of safety security and stability (but that is a whole different blog post). The simplest thing is to come to the workshop
*Here is a study about the Valsalva Maneuver.
*The Toe & Sphincter Connection
Researchers have found a surprising neural link between the big toe muscle (flexor hallucis longus or FHL) and the anal sphincter. The brain controls the many muscles in our bodies by combining their actions into groups called muscle synergies. While we know this happens, we're not sure exactly how the brain does it. When voluntarily contracting the FHL muscle, the anal sphincter also contracts involuntarily. But it doesn’t work the other way round, ie while contracting voluntarily your sphincter your toe muscle involuntarily contracts. I promise I am not making this up read here.