How Breathing Affects Your Pelvic Floor
What’s the first thing I teach every single patient of mine?
How to breathe! I’m not kidding!
Now you might be thinking… 🤔
Who doesn't know how to breathe?
What does breathing have to do with pelvic health?
HOW Are You Breathing? 🌬️
Have you ever paid attention to your breathing patterns?
Do you tend to take shallow breaths through your mouth? Is it difficult to take a really deep breath through your nose? What about when you go to lift something – do you tend to hold your breath?
These are common patterns that many of us fall into over time. But why?
Well remember that "pregnancy posture" you developed while carrying your little one? Or that desk job that has you hunched over all day? Or that injury that sidelined you for a number of weeks?
These situations can physically limit how your diaphragm moves inside your ribcage. Then your body will adapt to this limited mobility and develop less effective breathing patterns that tend to stick around.
OK, so what’s the pelvic health connection?
The Dynamic Duo: Diaphragm + Pelvic Floor 👯♀️
Deep inside your torso, there's an incredible partnership happening between two dome-shaped muscles: your diaphragm at the top and pelvic floor at the bottom.
Here's what makes this duo so special:
They mirror each other's movements – when the diaphragm expands or contracts, so does the pelvic floor.
They move up/down together like a piston to manage pressure inside your torso (this gives us important support as we move).
This piston effect also helps massage food through our intestines (hello 👋 better digestion & better poops!).
A Partnership in Peril 🫤
When your diaphragm loses its ability to expand and contract well, your pelvic floor loses that ability too – leading to pesky symptoms like leaking, pelvic pain and even low back pain.
You may have thought that this is "just part of getting older." But it doesn’t have to be! (Especially if you take my new Pelvic Power program 😉)
Catch Your Breath! 🫁
Just like any other muscle, your diaphragm can:
Regain strength 💪
Increase flexibility 🤸♀️
Improve coordination with your pelvic floor 👯♀️
It just takes training! Try it right now, it'll only take 3 minutes.
Step 1 – Find Your Foundation (30 seconds)
Sit comfortably with feet flat on the floor
Place one hand on your lower ribs, one on your low belly
Drop your shoulders away from your ears (yes, even more!)
Feel your sits bones grounding into your chair
Step 2 – Notice Your Breath (30 seconds)
Breathe normally through your nose for 3 cycles
Notice where your breath naturally goes - no judgement, just observe. Does it stay high in your neck/chest? Does it travel down deeper into your torso? Does it go all the way down to your pelvic floor?
Step 3 – 360° Breathing (2 minutes)
Now place your hands on the sides of your lower ribs
Inhale again, deep through your nose, inviting your breath to expand into your hands and into the back of your ribcage, like you're filling a balloon.
Feel your diaphragm expand 360° around the base of your ribcage
Feel your side and back ribs widen into your hands, but try not to lift your shoulders
Feel the space between your sit bones widen as a result (that’s your pelvic floor expanding)
Exhale slowly and fully, feeling all of these muscles now contract
Feel how the space between your sit bones narrows (thats your pelvic floor contracting!)
Feel how your lower, middle, and then upper abdominals contract (in that order)
Feel how your ribs pull down and away from your hands
It’s totally normal for this to feel challenging at first. It will get much easier with daily practice!
Next Steps for a Strong Diaphragm + Pelvic Floor Connection 🤝
Practice 360° breathing for 5 minutes daily - consistency is key
Notice when you hold your breath during daily activities - bring your breath back in
Incorporate 360° breathing into your exercise movements
Need more guidance? I incorporate breathing into all my videos and online programs. Try these:
Check out my online learning & exercise programs here
Thanks for Reading! Please forward this newsletter to a friend and help spread the word on pelvic health! Questions, comments, requests for future newsletters? Send an email to info@pelvicsavvy.com.
Everyone deserves to breathe better,
Dr. Chris
Find me on Instagram & YouTube
I want you to have the knowledge & tools to make great health choices for yourself. Ideas shared in this blog do not constitute medical advice.
