Pelvic Health and Alignment

Erin, Leah and myself working hard at the clinic This week I went to a yoga class for the first time in a long while. It was awesome! And very challenging.  In Grade 9 or 10 at school, I was getting disheartened by being one of the slower swimmers in my training squad. I told my Dad I didn't want to go anymore because I was the slowest and he said 'Well how are you going to get any better if you don't go'. I figured this made pretty good sense, so I kept at it, set some PBs, and his words have stuck with me ever since.  So for those who say they 'just aren't flexible' and 'never have been', how are you going to get any more flexible if you never do anything about it. Yoga isn't about being better than any one else in the class. It is simply a guided practice that you do for yourself. Pelvic floor dysfunction is often related to the lack of pelvic movement in our daily repertoire of positions (sitting in chairs, standing, walking a...

(The primary cause of my tailbone pain) Coccydynia is the fancy term for a sore tailbone. It can be caused by several different things but is often prolonged by pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. What is it? Coccydynia is essentially pain in the tailbone ( Coccyx = Tailbone, Dynia = Pain ) This can present as an achy/dull pain or sometimes more intense/sharp pain particularly with movement (eg. rising from sitting) or sitting for a long time. What causes it? Tailbone pain or coccydynia can be caused by a direct injury to the tailbone, however, t his does not necessarily mean that there is a fracture or dislocation of the bone or joint. Some related causes can include: Direct impact or a fall directly onto the tailbone, eg. while snowboarding or from a height Damage to the tailbone during childbirth (vaginal delivery)  Strain of the pelvic floor muscles from pregnancy Prolonged sitting with your weight on your sacrum and tailbone eg. flights/long car rides  (see...

I love travelling and feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to do so. However, one of the downsides about moving to the other side of the world is that you do spend a lot of time in transit just to get home for a visit. Over the last month and a bit, I have done a ridiculous amount of flying (for educational courses, home visits and fun), spending about 45hrs in the air (between Calgary, Vancouver, Seattle, Los Angeles, Brisbane, Sydney, Dallas and Austin) and a whole bunch more time in and around airports, taxis, buses and trains. All of this added up to a very sore tail bone and tight pelvic floor muscles and a lot of time to think about how travelling can affect your pelvic health.  Here are some of my travel-related observations to keep in mind that you can also apply to your everyday life! Sitting The most obvious downside to travelling is the looong amounts of time spent sitting and particularly the way that you sit. I have a tendency to curl up in my sea...

Today's post is slightly different to most of the others. I've never written a book review before (outside of primary school), however I just had to share this particular one with you. Recently I was lucky enough to get my own copy of... Alignment Matters by Katy Bowman! My first impression was: Oh my gosh this woman is smart! If you've never heard of her, Katy Bowman is a biomechanist from the USA and teaches thousands of people easy ways to look after their body and keep it functioning the way that it should. I love this book from a Physio perspective as there is a huge focus on prevention of injury and maintaing (or gaining) whole body wellness. The information throughout the book is very well researched but also easy to read for people with lots or little health education. The book is a collection of the first five years of her blog, organised into relevant categories and body parts with each gem of knowledge presented in short chapters. Great if you don...