Hips, knees, feet

Hi Sarah

Your DH sounds pretty normal to me! I'd get something like, "Waddaya mean, knees?" At least you got an answer. I would just get a question back!

I get very confused by all this knees and hips stuff. I figure that my body will find its proper position if I let it. Everybody's knees are different. I think when you do all the exercises, trying not to compare your body to somebody else's. Just compare it to itself, and its range of movement. Hearing you saying that the inside arches of your feet aren't even touching the ground made me realise that mine don't *ever* touch the ground or anywhere near it. That causes other problems for me. I just got orthotics and they have really straightened up my walk. I don't get a stiff back standing at the sink any more, and I no longer go over on my ankles while walking, either.

Tucking and sucking is still pretty easy for me to slip into, even after 4 years of WW. I think it is everyday stress that reinforces it. I started my old job again today (only going back very part time), and I found myself consciously having to relax my glutes, belly and my shoulders all day. I really have to stop whatever I am doing and r-e-l-a-x. Hopefully that will get better as the weeks go by.

Cheers

Louise

the hip bone's connected to the leg bone the leg bone's connected to the knee bone.....
I think it will probably take some retraining- but maybe you will get your knees to orient more forward -I wonder if it will cause you pain though?
and feet are funny things...my second child has flat feet and it is so interesting to see how he compensates for it- he balances it out. His little toes on each foot stretch way out- and roll to the outer edge of the toe (instead of walking on the pad of the little toe). If at some point it causes him pain we will take him to see someone for orthotics.
I have heard that using wholewoman posture will cause your feet to spread to make a nice wide base. This happened to me with my first pregnancy- I got wider across the front of my foot (not longer thank goodness).

Thinking of it as all connected has sometimes made me wonder about those people who are duck footed- the ligaments that support the hips have got to be shortened across the back and lengthened across the front. I think this could predispose a person to prolapse the same as tucking under does- not sure though- just a thought.

Anyway it is amazing just how much more aware I got of my whole body when I started thinking about my posture.

Hey Sarah

This is getting really complicated. I am going to have to go back to the book and check it out again. I too have difficulty with why it is important to do ballet feet with the workout, yet keep feet pointing forward in everyday movement. I'll let you know if I can de-code it.

Hopefully Christine might jump in and give some clear succinct explanation.

You have a lot of questions and things you are trying to work out at the moment with these POPs. Keep asking the questions. Eventually we will tease out the solutions with you. I have been doing this WW stuff for four years now and I am still learning from every new Member, new things about my own body.

It *is* complicated because we are dealing with a 3D geometry and balance concept with pelvic anatomy; the digestive system to get the bowel moving consistently and with that funny anal sphincter thing you described earlier; the biomechanics of the skeletal structure; fitness and stability of the muscles around the pelvis; the integrity of the pelvic fascia; the way we live in our built environment; the way we clothe ourselves ; and the very soul of our being that has been kind of assaulted by diagnosis or dicovery of POP. No wonder you are having difficulty, the same sort of difficulty that all of us has had at the beginning. It is a whole body thing, not a gynaecological condition.

Fear not. It will get easier as you become more familiar with the concepts, and it becomes less of an effort to do things in a way that doesn't aggravate your POPs. As you slowly become familiar with it and experience the odd setback and recovery thing, you will start to intuitively understand it better, just by using your brain and body differently and immersing yourself in all our quirky little discoveries. You will also begin to have faith in your body again, and trust it again, and realise that the enormous betrayal you have experienced is not that bad. Then you eventually realise that the (metaphorical)load you carry is not so heavy. This leads to your seeing yourself in a better light. We all need some of that. :-)

The human body's design (any complex organism's design!) is just so amazing, the way it can deal with damaged bits by moving differently, strengthening one part to compensate for damage in another, rebuilding tissue, and even existing *at all* in its physical form with all its interrelated organs and systems, eg having two nostrils so we can still breathe, even if one is blocked; two eyes in case one is blinded. How sensible is that? I am sure the economic rationalists of the world would only have given us one of each if they designed our bodies, then complained that the engineers will face litigation for not checking the design before manufacture! ;-)

Just chill and take in what you can. It can be a slow process, and you will have more setbacks like the squatting one, but your body will recover its composure. ZYou have not said where you live? If you can get yourself to the Whole Woman Center for a few calm and clear hands-on sessions with Christine I am sure it would be a good investment of your time and effort. If you cannot do that you'll just have to fumble along with the rest of us. You'll get through it.

Cheers

Louise

Hi Sarah,

Yes, it’s complicated, but even a few basic anatomy concepts can help ground us intellectually within the physicality of our own body experience. The two work together and that’s why I’m working so hard to right the wrong science has committed regarding the position of the human pelvis within the standing body. What I am about to describe to you would be impossible to comprehend if you were conceptualizing your pelvis as a “bowl” with a short wall of bone in front.

First of all, we’re a lot more alike than different. Shouldn’t all horse knees point forward? If we were to see a knock-kneed horse we’d think, “My, that mare is deformed and must’ve been affected by some severe environmental or genetic factor.” We probably wouldn’t say, “Oh, what’s the problem? All horses are different.” With humans we accept musculoskeletal deformity as normal. I believe postural hygiene is as important as nutrition or brushing our teeth.

We walk with our feet pointing straight ahead because this is how the sacrum is best supported by the hip joints in its most stable position. Btw, the normal human footprint is devoid of impression where the arch is. When we rotate our hip joints outward (first position), the sacrum drops slightly due to the way the femur repositions in its socket – you can feel this yourself by placing your hand on your tailbone as you move between parallel and first. Alemama is absolutely right that when the hips are externally rotated (first position), the ligamentous structure around our pelvis is lengthened in front and shortened in back. When we suck and tuck in this position, the pelvic floor is shortened, the abdominal wall is shortened, and the pelvic organs are moved out of their “house” in the hollow of the lower belly.

However, if we pull up into WW posture in first position, we can move our lower belly (with organs) even further out in front of our pubic bones than we can with feet parallel. The tailbone will be just as high. Think of laterally rotating your femurs out of the way so you can move your lower belly forward. The relationship between your thigh, knee, ankle and foot should be exactly the same in first position as parallel – which is only possible when your knees are over your second and third toes.

I’m still learning as well and have only recently discovered the power of the round ligaments to pull the uterus forward. I was completely thrown off any consideration of the round ligaments because gynecology has consistently and adamantly insisted they have no supportive value. THAT’S SO NOT TRUE!! By the time the dust settles we’re going to know the almost magical power of the human female body to heal from these conditions. But we have to start by strengthening feet and knees and hips!

:) Christine