HELP!!!!! I am so stressed!!!!

I am going to respond, Sadiedog, but have to take a few pictures for emphasis...I'll be back in a little bit.

Hi Sadie,

Well, you realize I cannot see you and have no way of knowing what your structural issues are. Your description, however, brings up a most important matter that will be good to outline here. My hope is to have a more expanded version accepted by one of the major yoga journals.

I have been able to determine from working with women one-on-one that there are two major types of hyperlordosis (swayback). Type I is caused by short iliacus muscles - those that line the inside of the ilia (hipbones) and are continuous with the psoas muscles (iliopsoas). Contraction, or chronic shortening, of the iliacus draws the pelvis toward the thighs, resulting in an unattractive and pathological kind of swayback. More severe contraction is often seen in spastic paralysis.

The other type of hyperlordosis results from chronically pulling the shoulders back, as in military posture. Here I am trying to create the most swayed back possible, which requires that I pull my shoulders all the way back. By simply releasing my shoulders and pulling them down (not back!) making my upper back flat and broad, lifting my chest and pulling up through the back of my neck and head, my swayback completely disappears. This is the true neutral spine. It is impossible to hyperextend the lumbar spine while keeping the upper body in this posture.

You say you have a hyperlordotic spine and your narration seems to portray type I hyperlordosis. I began to figure this condition out after realizing that some women with significant incontinence also have this sort of swayback. What first caught my attention was that their second position plies were oddly similar - their bottoms held way out behind their plie. If their iliacus were more extended, they could get their pelvis over their plie.

A couple of weeks ago a local yoga teacher made an emergency appointment with me in hopes of my being able to help her with an acute attack of extreme back pain. I was astonished to learn that the major yoga studios in our town are teaching their students to pull their femurs (thighbones) back in standing posture. In the old days, it was traditionally taught to pull the femurs back, pull in the stomach, and tuck the tailbone under to straighten the spine as much as possible. They have finally “got it” that lordosis is a good thing, as is relaxing the lower belly, but for some inexplicable reason they haven’t let go of the femurs bit. They figure that pulling back the femurs is a good way to increase lordosis, when in fact, it creates type I hyperlordosis, misaligns the pelvis, places tremendous pressure on the SIJs, and as far as I can tell increases risk of SUI.

Why you don’t have a lot of back pain is a mystery, but I think the SIJs must adjust somewhat to misalignment over time. You’re right, flattening your spine into the floor feels good because it counteracts the unhealthy hyperlordosis. But in another way it is feeding the problem by weighting the lumbar spine into a flexed position where neither the SIJs nor the pelvic organs are supported. A small pillow or rolled towel under your lumbar spine would give passive stretch to that area. Not ideal for watching TV, though.

Whole Woman Posture should correct this problem. It supports natural spinal curvature by allowing the lumbar spine to take a truly neutral position - which may be very curvaceous in some women and not so much in others.

One of our human characteristics is a flexed tailbone, which anthropologists tell us is from lying flat on our backs. And it is true that early cultures are known to sleep all night flat on their backs. Lying flat out on the floor (wood is best) with no pillow allows the body to take its perfect shape - which is just like our standing posture. You can feel the lumbar spine pulling forward with every breath and this position is very therapeutic for SIJ dislocations.

As for kegels, you can do them sitting on a chair or stool in right-angle WW posture. Listen to your instincts. We don’t make much of kegels here because we know the pelvic floor is most functional in its full dimensions, which are obtained in these natural postures. Kegels stabilize a wobbly bladder neck, but that is all.

I don’t know how you are doing supine leg presses, but the key would be to have good lumbar support. Squats are fine - your sacrum is already parallel to the floor, btw - but the common notion of soft knees with weight-on-heels brings up another variation of type I hyperlordosis. Play with it and you will see.

I often say you can do anything you want as long as you do it in the right shape. This work is opposite of the “core” dynamics taught in so many systems of exercise, so I don’t know how it will translate to kickboxing, etc. Use your best judgment.

Hope you find a way to mellow out. Bach flower remedies and quality essential oils are wonderfully helpful.

Wishing you well,

Christine

Really interesting post and the pictures were worth a thousand words. By the way, Christine, ever since I saw the FAFP DVD, I've been meaning to tell you from one dancer to another -- NICE FEET!!!!!!! ;-)

"Hyperlordosis" sounds like somebody with an emperor complex, like maybe an extremely energetic Napoleon. :)

Your pictures, and some new lower back pain, make me wonder if I am exaggerating the WW posture to that point. I've always had lower back problems. I've been doing McKenzie back extensions to help that lower back curve, thinking it would help my POP get better. I did thousands of them a couple of years ago when my lower back "went out" and they really helped. I'm going to the chiropractor later this week.

I still seem to have weird, random leakage of urine, small amounts that I feel after using the toilet, and some leakage at other times for no apparent reason. And the cystocele often makes its presence felt as a bulge or a pinching sensation.

I live pretty far from Albuquerque. I still can't say it right, because I grew up watching Bugs Bunny. Nonetheless, I would like to visit sometime and see what I could learn in person. Keep the new discoveries coming. Thanks again.

Saddleup

The thin ring-with-support pessary shouldn't be problematic. The problem with larger pessaries is that they hold the vaginal walls open so that surrounding organs, under the forces of intraabdominal pressure, can ooze into that space. The vagina is supposed to be a closed, airless potential space. Many of us don't feel the need for a pessary, having drawn the organs forward enough to be more comfortable without one.

The only thing to think about is that pessaries (and any extra support) stop you from hearing your body talking ot you. I've never tried a pessary but do use tampons for support at times. When i do, i realise that actually i can't tell if i'm overdoing it--and that worries me. so i'd be very clear about your boundaries before you do something with a pessary, so that you don't overdo it. Granted if you do overdo it mildly some good firebreathing, nauli and a few days usually fix it--but, nicer to not have to go through that.

re the posture, it will get easier. at first i had to think about it all the time. now it's second nature. i just notice when i'm not in it now, not that i have to think to get into it. so sometimes i notice i'm slumping, and think eek! but most of the time, i'm just in it. and the tired muscles are long gone. also the thinking about the pop passes as well. now i just get on with it most of the time. so know that in time, going through the emotions, you come out the other side. i've found bach remedies, eft and homeopathy really helpful, especially as i'm a highly anxious person. but time and sharing are miracle workers....

I find low rise jeans do not cause any problems. The type I wear sit about 3 inches above my pubic bone-
so for me super low rise is great- and no squeezing tight waistbands- they have to fit just right (me and goldilocks). I have to search and search for just the right pair though because usually by the time I get the 'waist band' loose enough, the butt is saggy.

Hipsters are what you may be looking for.

Always beneath the belly, usually the fly is shorter too.

I've been wearing them for years, before any 'pop' happened to me.

Best is that I may continue wearing comfortable jeans.

That goes for undies too ... bikinis rule!

Cheers!

Oceanblue

Have a look at Levi’s “tilted jeans” also. They’re high in back and low in front (finally!), and therefore supportive of our natural shape. I bought the 542 tilted flare. Not crazy about the back flap pockets and they are cut so-o-o-o-o long, but otherwise very comfy. :) Christine

oh christine, those sound interesting! only question, what are the thighs like. most jeans seem cut for models... and my thighs are so not thin...

roomy, but not baggy, in the thighs. :)

I am not a fan of low rise either, Sadie. I prefer an elastic waist band. The secret seems to be getting enough volume into the lower abdomen. The butt can still be fitted quite closely. I have totally given up on buying trousers, cos none of them fit my odd shape, *and* allow room for my abdomen. I have now invented my own style.

My bod has 88cm waist, 111cm at 5cm below the waist, and 103cm hip measurement, so low rise jeans would just fall straight off!

My style has a slightly gathered waist all round, and very deep, self-fabric pockets in the side seams, with the slash going from waist band down to crotch height in the side seams. The long openings act like two big pleats and expand to accommodate my belly when I sit. They fall beautifully from just below my waist when I stand, though they are a wide leg trouser, not fitted like jeans. They are probably more like culottes.

Wearing jeans occasionally 'just to feel like yourself again' will probably suit you for a while. I prefer to feel comfortable all the time, so I am a new me, who no longer finds jeans to be the sort of garments I like to wear. I think it is the denim that is the good look, and that coordinates with modern fashion looks. I think it is the denim that is hard to get over. My style in denim would look ridiculous! If I want to wear fitted trousers I stick to stretch leggings / footless tights with near knee length shirt-dresses or jumpers, or wear a wrap around skirt over the leggings.

No denim jeans doesn't necessarily mean looking old and frumpy and dried up.

I wish I could find funky-coloured leggings to fit women with a sizeable belly. One lady with a similar body type I met buys maternity or extra large tights with a gusset, and cuts the toes off, then wears them as leggings with either socks and boots for winter, or sandals for summer. All I can find are sheers or heavy weight nylons in brown, black, white and grey. Boring. Whatever happened to bright plains, florals, animal prints, geometrics, stripes and spots, in cotton and spandex?

Have any of you stylish, biggish ladies got any Web Shops to suggest?

Louise

Hi Sadie,

Just would like to add that my underpants/undies/whatever are not limited to bikinis, but also hipsters and are even labeled as such :)

Even as a child, I did not like to have the conventional 'up to the waste' undies (my pref) as I found them to be uncomfortable.

Good Luck!

Oceanblue

me too! I was such a strange kid- needed the line on my socks to be just right- couldn't stand buttons or zippers- hated tight leg underpants and absolutely could not tolerate anything anywhere near my belly button-

Christine or whoever might help, will it be ok to do the beginning excercises on the dvd even if I can feel the bulge? Will it do any harm? Will it still help strengthen the pelvic floor even while the bulge is there?
Might be a foolish question but don't want to cause more trouble if you know what I mean.