We got into the pelvic floor conversation in Saturday's PAIN CARE + yoga class, and I wrote what follows to further our on-the-mat conversation.

"Pain down under" is not only a run away epidemic - for both young and old, men and women, - but also a taboo topic. We don't openly talk about it - at least not as much as we should in order to find good, workable and side-effect free solutions. Let's change that - shall we?

I am keeping this e-mail short + sweet  - it is pre-Xmas rush after all. Yet, I hope that I have included enough information for those of you dealing with pelvic pain to start seeing possibilities for improvement.

~ pelvic floor needs to be in a state of dynamic balance - strong enough to handle daily challenges, relaxed enough to not exert unnecessary tension on the joints and bones around it.

~ pelvic floor works in conjunction with respiratory diaphragm. If your breathing is sucky (yes, pun!), it will suck the life out of your PF.

~ sucking the belly in is a really bad habit to have: doing that changes intra abdominal pressure, creates more downward pressure on the PF, leading to tension, sneeze - leaks, and all that unpleasant jazz.

~ your sitting habits are immense PF tension contributors: if you are sitting with your pelvis tilted back and back rounded, you are shortening and tightening the back of the PF. This creates additional tension around the tailbone and low back.

~ reverse is also true - whenever we have chronic low back pain, we tend to contract buttock muscles and tuck the pelvis back, thus creating tension in the back PF and perpetuating pain.

Feel how you breathe

Relax your belly

Pay attention to how you sit

Follow these three steps and you will be off to a great start in reducing that chronic PF tension and pain.

P.S. PF RESTORE is a part of in-depth BALL+YIN workshop series. More on that in 2017!